Tag: zion

  • You Scoffers Who Rule Jerusalem – a Bed too Short

    You Scoffers Who Rule Jerusalem – a Bed too Short

    Perhaps by now you know from introduction in my previous post that the complainant in this case is the LORD. His indictment of leaders is not my complaint for today, but that of the prophet of Judah in the eighth century BC. Therefore Isaiah approaches these leaders, scoffers who rule Jerusalem with warnings from the LORD.

    Scoffers who rule …

    Our application, of course, may call the question to our own nations:

    Are our leaders also scoffers who rule with a bed too short?

    Let’s return to excerpts from the LORD’s rebuke from where we began previously. (You may follow various translations, including Hebrew, on the link below.)

    Scoffers who rule Israel

    Isaiah 28:

    14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers
    who rule this people in Jerusalem.
    15 For you said, “We have made a covenant with Death,
    and we have an agreement with Sheol;
    when the overwhelming catastrophe passes through,
    it will not touch us,
    because we have made falsehood our refuge
    and have hidden behind treachery.”

    Did the catastrophe pass over the Jewish leaders of Isaiah’s day?

    Again, as I pointed previously in our chronology of Israel, it did not. The Jews were overrun by Assyria in that day, as Empires rise and fall even unto this day. So what does the Lord promise through Isaiah to a people about to be taken from their homes to a foreign land?

    A Cornerstone in Zion

    If you do not already know it, you will find it helpful here to understand some significance of Zion to Hebrew history.

    צִיּוֹן

    Zion (153x), Sion (1x). Zion = “parched place,” a “sunny mountain,” a fortress, the southern and higher hill (of the LORD) upon which Jerusalem is built. On it set Mount Moriah, where the Temple was built and the LORD worshiped. It is used for the holy “city of David” specifically and for all of Jerusalem in general, especially by the prophets: Isaiah 47x, Jeremiah 32x and six other prophets 30x.

    16a [NASB] Therefore thus says the Lord God,

    “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone,
    A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed.

    This from the LORD, of course, is prophecy. The question we must understand is not only when, but the identity of this symbolic cornerstone of the Temple.

    Who IS this costly cornerstone of Israel’s future? And what makes this Savior of Israel so costly to the LORD?

    The one who believes will remain anchored to the Cornerstone of the heavenly Temple, established with justice as it’s measuring line and righteousness as its level.

    Yet if you do not hold to this cornerstone, a stumbling block to scoffers who rule without guidance from God — if you support godless scoffers who rule — then you will stumble as well on the cornerstone of righteousness. For like those you manipulate, you cannot hide on the day of your accounting before the LORD.

    What does Isaiah predict?

    Isn’t this the same prophet we hear quoted every year in this season leading up to remembering a birth of righteousness, the Cornerstone in Zion that rebuilds the Temple of the LORD for all time?

    Yes, Isaiah prophesies not only the fall of Jerusalem in their near future, but the coming of the Messiah of Israel born some seven centuries later.

    Consequence for Scoffers Who Rule

    Have you leaders been hiding behind lies of convenience?

    “Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies…

    Can you really hide the truth of your sins forever?

    “And the waters will overflow the secret place.

    The LORD and others, even your enemies, will find you out.

    “and your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
    when the overwhelming scourge passes through
    you will be beaten down by it.

    19 [CSB] Every time it passes through,
    it will carry you away;
    it will pass through every morning—
    every day and every night.
    Only terror will cause you
    to understand the message.

    NO PLACE TO HIDE FROM THE LORD GOD!

    Hear the word of the LORD, you scoffers who rule any of God’s people anywhere.

    Isaiah’s imagery shows the futility of trying to keep your sin from God, for it will be shown to others.

    Perhaps you will take this warning as your one and only opportunity to repent of your sin. Maybe just one of our scoffers who rule will humbly return to fear of the Lord, our heavenly Father.

    The Bed too short

    Do you recall when you were a child how you thought that you could hide from your father under the bed or from fearful noises under the covers.

    Indeed, the bed is too short to stretch out on,
    and its cover too small to wrap up in.

    Isaiah 28:20 CSB

    Isaiah illustrates that leaders seeking rest from any but God as laughable at best, but futile in any instance. Judah was burdened with threats from and alliances with other leaders. They sought rest from war and peace with the world flowing through their porous defences.

    Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

    Matthew 11:28 NLT

    Once Isaiah mentions their frustration of trying to sleep on a bed too short (their alliances with other evil leaders) and of remaining of cover of their trust in others, he again proceeds to prophesy what must happen.

    Parazim & Gibeon

    21 [NASB] For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim,
    He will be stirred up as in the valley of Gibeon,
    To do His task, His unusual task,
    And to work His work, His extraordinary work.

    You scoffers who rule in other places must understand the significance of these places to which Isaiah refers.

    So David came to Baal-perazim and defeated them there; 
    and he said,
    “The LORD has broken through my enemies before me
    like the breakthrough of waters.”
    Therefore he named that place Baal-perazim.
    They abandoned their idols there,
    so David and his men carried them away.
    - 2 Samuel 5:20-21

    David, King of a once-united Israel, did not win the land and the people without the help of the LORD!

    And there in his victory, David gave thanks to the Lord before the people of the land. Yet before David and following leadership of another revered man of God and giver of the Law [Torah], Joshua also credits the LORD who has taken this land from their enemies.

    Joshua 10:10 And the LORD confounded them before Israel, and He slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and pursued them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon, and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah.

    Warning & Advice to Scoffers Who Rule

    Isaiah speaks to scoffers of God. Yet are your ears this day so filled with twisted speech that you do not even understand the significance of his warning?

    לוּץ

    Scoffers translated from Hebrew luwts holds a pointed meaning. From Strong’s Concordance:

    לוּץ lûwts, loots; a primitive root; properly, to make mouths at, i.e. to scoff; hence (from the effort to pronounce a foreign language) to interpret, or (generally) intercede:—ambassador, have in derision, interpreter, make a mock, mocker, scorn(-er, -ful), teacher.

    “(from the effort to pronounce a foreign language) to interpret..” Sounds like #media, doesn’t it?

    Do you think even in seven-hundred some years before Christ scoffers who rule were any different than those who rule this day in the year of our Lord 2019?

    Of course not! These men and women of power: scorn, make mouths at, talk arrogantly; They boast, mock and deride.

    Isaiah warns:

    22 Now therefore, do not be mockers,
    Lest your bonds be made strong…

    Shall I mock Isaiah, scripture and the word of the Lord?

    (What do you think? Do you, your leaders or even opponents fear your shackles of slavery to lies tightening?)

    For I have heard from the Lord God of hosts
    Of decisive destruction on all the earth.

    Isaiah 28:22b NASB

    Decisive destruction on all the earth. It is not the causes for which these ambassadors of hypocrisy which will destroy the earth, the Lord God at a time and place of His Own choosing.

    Where’s a leader to hide?

    Again, Isaiah’ illustration of the futility of it all.

    • 24 Does the farmer plow continually to plant seed?
    • Or does he continuously break up and cultivate the soil?

    There’s a process here, a plan of the Lord; and you will be a part of it.

    • 25 Does he not level its surface
    • And sow dill
    • scatter cummin
    • And plant wheat in rows,
    • Barley in its place
    • and rye within its area?

    God’s ordered ways

    26 [CSB] His God teaches him order;
    he instructs him.

    27 Certainly black cumin is not threshed
    with a threshing board,
    and a cart wheel is not rolled over the cumin.
    But black cumin is beaten out with a stick,
    and cumin with a rod.
    28 Bread grain is crushed,
    but is not threshed endlessly.
    Though the wheel of the farmer’s cart rumbles,
    his horses do not crush it.

    Even a king, prime minister or president in a palace will see the ridicule of the farmer using the wrong tool to accomplish his purpose. Perhaps even a scoffer in Congress, Parliament or leadership claiming the rule of Law will see their own error and return to the Lord.

    Woe to the scoffers who rule the worldly cities.

    We cannot nearly complete the prophesies of Isaiah today. For if I continue, like Isaiah’s critics you would surely complain:

    “Law after law, law after law,
    line after line, line after line,
    a little here, a little there.”

    Therefore in closing I’ll caution US.

    Hear the Lord your God, for woe is akin to death. Isaiah uses it more than any other Prophet of the Lord.

    Woe to the wicked! It will go badly with him,
    For what he deserves will be done to him. – Isaiah 3:11 NASB

    Woe to those who enact evil statutes
    And to those who constantly record unjust decisions,

    So as to deprive the needy of justice
    And rob the poor of My people of their rights…

    Now what will you do in the day of punishment,
    And in the devastation which will come from afar?
    To whom will you flee for help?
    And where will you leave your wealth?

    excerpt: Isaiah 10:1-3 NASB

    After these warnings to leaders of the nations and specifically Judah, Isaiah warns:

    “Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker—
    An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth!
    Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’
    Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’?

    Isaiah 45:9 NASB

    In a time yet to come — neither next Wednesday nor next year — Isaiah shows hope in a day to come and judgment against those who refuse the Way of the Lord, even those who yet deny the Truth Who IS and will judge from the Throne of Heaven, even those scoffers who rule in this life lacking regard for the Life that is to come — the life or the punishment after death.

    The LORD Rises Up

    Isaiah 33:

    Woe, you destroyer never destroyed,
    you traitor never betrayed!
    When you have finished destroying,
    you will be destroyed.
    When you have finished betraying,
    they will betray you.

    2 O Lord, be gracious to us; we have waited for You.

    Blessing or Woe?

    Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. – Matthew 5:5

    Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. – Matthew 5:7

    Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. – Matthew 5:10

    But woe to you, blind guides… scoffers who rule…

    “Woe to you also, lawyers! For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. –Luke 11:46

    Woe to the city of blood, totally deceitful, full of plunder, never without prey. – Nahum 3:1

    Your eyes will see the King in His beauty;

    They will see the land that is very far off.

    Isaiah 33:17 NKJV

    The Scroll of Isaiah

    Luke 4:

    17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him, and unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written:

    The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to preach good news to the poor.
    He has sent me
    to proclaim release to the captives
    and recovery of sight to the blind,
    to set free the oppressed,
    19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

    He began by saying to them, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.”

    The words of the Messiah Jesus from the Gospel of Luke 4:21

    And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:

    KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

    The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John 19:16 NKJV

  • They Stumble Because They Disobey

    They Stumble Because They Disobey

    The Apostle Simon Peter, who Jesus nicknamed, ‘the rock,’ warns the church about those who disobey God. He quotes scripture pointing to Christ as the cornerstone of the Temple and as a rejected stone causing some to stumble.

    As we suggested earlier in Apostates from Jude’s letter, these ‘religious’ opponents of Jesus often sway others to turn from the Lord. James also warns about Preaching to a Worldly Church, as do the Apostles.

    Peter reminds believers who hear his letter:

    For it stands in Scripture:
    See, I lay a stone in Zion,
    a chosen and honored cornerstone,

    and the one who believes in him
    will never be put to shame.

    So honor will come to you who believe; but for the unbelieving,
    The stone that the builders rejected—
    this one has become the cornerstone,

    and
    A stone to stumble over,
    and a rock to trip over.

    They stumble because they disobey the word; they were destined for this.

    1 Peter 2:6-8 CSB

    The Cornerstone in Zion

    stone wall "city of David" in Hebrew and English
    Zion צִיּוֹן

    Peter had witnessed the injustice to Jesus by Zion’s rulers first-hand. These same scornful men, a brood of vipers leavening the crowds of John the Baptist and Jesus – these arrogant religious scofferes pursued Peter and the Apostles, James and the church, and also Paul, Apostle to the gentiles.

    Peter quotes the prophecies of Psalm 118 and Isaiah, powerful imagery of the Messiah the Apostle had witnessed as he had entered Jerusalem with Jesus, who was crucified and then appeared alive after death on a cross.

    I shall not die, but live,
    And declare the works of the Lord.
    The Lord has chastened me severely,
    But He has not given me over to death.

    Psalm 118:17-18 KJV

    Two Herodian kings could not kill Christ and religious apostates who had turned against the Lord could not keep Jesus in the grave! Though the Lord rode into Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey triumphant as a king, His victory is that over sin and death by His Holy and Perfect Sacrifice on a Cross.

    Christ the Cornerstone

    Perhaps you know some lyrics from the 19th century hymn, The Church’s One Foundation, which shares this same imagery.

    The church's one foundation 
    Is Jesus Christ her Lord;
    She is his new creation
    By water and the Word...

    Mid toil and tribulation,
    And tumult of her war,
    She waits the consummation
    Of peace forevermore...

    The Apostle’s first letter to the church points back to the scripture of Isaiah, who states that the Lord’s foundation is firmly placed.

    “Surely My hand founded H3245 the earth,
    And My right hand spread out the heavens;
    When I call to them, they stand together.

    Isaiah 48:13 NASB – Strong’s reference H3245 – יָסַד

    In Scripture familiar to Peter’s first century readers, Isaiah chastises religious leaders who claim the Lord, but turn to a covenant with sin and death.

    Isaiah 28

    14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers,
    who rule this people in Jerusalem!

    … for we have made lies our refuge,
    and in falsehood we have taken shelter”

    Isaiah 28:15c ESV

    Peter quotes the LORD God from scripture in his accusation against those who turn from Christ Jesus.

    Isaiah 28:16 Therefore the Lord God said:
    “Look, I have laid a stone in Zion,
    a tested stone,
    a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;
    the one who believes will be unshakable.

    Is your faith in the Lord unshakable?

    The church is Christ’s followers; saints all, every living soul gathered in His Holy Name. Peter refers to the faithful as living stones.

    No building of earth – not a Temple or grand Cathedral; but saved souls as living stones, placed by the Creator next to Christ our cornerstone. Unshakable – to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

    How firm is your foundation in the Lord?

    Peter shows us to be as unhewn but useful stones for the Lord’s holiest of Temples, the Living place of worship to the LORD founded in Christ.

    Isaiah 28:17-18

    “I will make justice the measuring line
    And righteousness the level;
    Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies
    And the waters will overflow the secret place.

    “Your covenant with death will be canceled,
    And your pact with Sheol will not stand;
    When the overwhelming scourge passes through,
    Then you become its trampling place.

    Surely Christ has cancelled our covenant with death by His Sacrifice on the Cross.

    Peter’s Guidance for the Church

    Peter opens his first letter to the church: “To those chosen” or “To those who reside as aliens” or “To God’s elect, exiles scattered.. or “To the pilgrims of the Dispersion.

    These living stones are not recognized in this world as the church the Lord creates for true and eternal worship.

    Are you one who does not stumble?

    The world, even your neighbors, will treat you as aliens and attempt to shake your faith. Christians are as unwelcome in our 21st c. culture as the recipients of Peter’s first century letters to the church.

    In Jesus, Peter reminds us, our faith is solid – a firm foundation, level and straight. Peter precedes this call to the church from scripture with a firm exhortation meant to keep us from stumbling.

    Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander.

    1 Peter 2:1 CSB

    1 Peter 2:

    4 As you come to him, a living stone—rejected by people but chosen and honored by God— 5 you yourselves, as living stones, a spiritual house, are being built to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

    Do you stumble when you encounter Christ?

    How could you stumble? Or how will the faithful help you to keep from stumbling in your witness of Christ Jesus?

    By the plumb line of Christ’s righteousness in your works:

    • You no longer show malice [ill-will, wickedness, depravity, evil,trouble] toward others.
    • Of course you no longer use deceit, a key tool of Satan, to mislead any.
    • Christians more than most receive the world’s indictment of hypocrisy where Jesus is just a false mask taken on and off as we please.
      • If all the world’s a stage, then all wear the masks of hypocrisy.
    • Envy also shows a worldly desire over our hope for eternal riches in Christ.
    • All slander [backbiting] must stop in redeemed Christians.

    The Chosen Stone and His Chosen People

    Peter’s call to Christians, so clear to those introduced to Christ as a ‘chosen generation’ to proclaim the Gospel, bears repeating {from the NKJV} if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

    Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

    Now you are God’s people

    9 But you are a chosen generation… called out of darkness.. (the darkness of sin).

    Christ, the Cornerstone, called you into His Living Light, though you were once dead in your sins. Peter reminds the faithful saints called and hewn by Jesus into living stones:

    Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

    1 Peter 2:10 CSB

    Peter will continue to guide the church in our actions with each other and with others. Even some worshiping with us stumble, preferring our own easy grace, rather than be held accountable to our reshaping for a firm and level foundation formed by Christ Jesus.


    I have begun the first letter of Peter from his challenging scriptural call to faithfulness in the second chapter. Next, we will return to the Apostle’s encouraging opening in chapter one, God-willing.

    To be continued...
    
  • That you may have Certainty – 5 – A King of the Jews

    That you may have Certainty – 5 – A King of the Jews

    King of the Jews

    Herodian coin from Judea with palm branch (right) and wreath (left), 34 AD.

    And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.” – Luke 23:3

    They had remembered  hearing the indictment of this gentile governor 

    while hiding their faces from his Roman judgment seat. Although complicit in Jesus’ prosecution, an illegitimate half-jew Herodian sat powerless while Roman troops ruled the streets of Jerusalem.

    While Jesus was not the kind of Messiah King they had expected, He did acknowledge the title bestowed by Jews accusing Jesus of treason against Judah and Rome.

    Most amazingly, Jesus has now appeared to these disciples after His resurrection! He continues to appear to hundreds of disciples; here and there, even in the locked rooms of Jerusalem.

    Herod’s rule as tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea, holds no authority over Judea, ruled by Marcus Pontius Pilatus, Roman prefect (governor) under the emperor Tiberius.

    Captive Israel, now named Judea, Samaria, Galilee and Perea had no king, only legions of Rome. Most  people lamented for the days of their strong kings, David and Solomon. Occasionally some rebelled against Rome, led by misguided ambitious young lions in hope of glory.

    Judge or King?

    From the day Israel crossed the Jordan its people encountered many kings of surrounding kingdoms. The Hebrew people had followed the Lord, but judges would become unable to rule this stiff-necked and proud people.

    1 Samuel 7:

    15 Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. 16 And he went on a circuit year by year to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah. And he judged Israel in all these places. 17 Then he would return to Ramah, for his home was there, and there also he judged Israel. And he built there an altar to the Lord.

    1 Samuel 8:

    “… Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.”

    More than a thousand years before Pilate judged Judea, here marks the beginning of kings of the Jews.  Samuel was no more inclined to accept a king of the Jews than the Roman governor Pilate.

    6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord said to Samuel,

    “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.

    8 According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. 9 Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”

    A King to rule over Israel

    A risen Christ Jesus must have reminded disciples of the Lord’s anointing of their kings. Its truth had not been as their traditions recalled, but rather a concession to the desires of their forefathers.

    1 Samuel 9:

    … “Behold, there is a man of God in this city, and he is a man who is held in honor; all that he says comes true. So now let us go there. Perhaps he can tell us the way we should go.” …

    5 Now the day before Saul came, the Lord had revealed to Samuel: 16 “Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have seen my people, because their cry has come to me.” 17 When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, “Here is the man of whom I spoke to you! He it is who shall restrain my people.”

    A Humble King and Triumphant Return

    What was it worshipers near Jerusalem had sung while laying palm branches before Jesus?

    “As for me, I have set my King
    on Zion, my holy hill.” 

    I will tell of the decree:
    The LORD said to me, “You are my Son;
    today I have begotten you.

    Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
    and the ends of the earth your possession.

    You shall break them with a rod of iron
    and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

    Psalm 2:6-9


    It had been a week of anointing for the King of the Jews.

    The Cross had not been the anticipated breaking of Israel’s oppressors, but the Lord’s embracing forgiveness for mankind.

    And now with a resurrection begins the ascent to His Kingdom of righteousness and everlasting reign. Jesus certainly must have repeated stories of the kings and predictions of the Prophets. For the Gospels retell those very scriptures.

    His disciples hear their beloved friend, the risen Messiah, tell why He had to be crucified on a cross and sacrificed for our sins.


    Zechariah 9:9

    Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
    Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
    Behold, your king is coming to you;
    righteous and having salvation is he,
    humble and mounted on a donkey,
    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.


    Come, Lord Jesus. 


    To be continued…

     

     

     

     

     

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