Jeremiah-the End of a Nation

Posted on October 24, 2010 by JohnJ

On my way through the Scriptures I just finished Jeremiah and Lamentations. Such a sad and pitiful thing to have been given the jewel of the Earth only to squander it. To be given every good thing and to have sold it for nothing.

The Lord of Heaven and Earth had brought His people into a land flowing with milk and honey and asked only for obedience and respect in return. And for His part He would be their Shepherd and protector and give them every blessing. However they were warned that if they would ever reject Him they would be cursed and rejected. But they would pay no heed.

Even in this promise of the curse the Lord would be gracious, He would send His prophets time and time again and call them to repent and avoid the penalty for their sins. Time after time after time after time, but to no avail.

Jeremiah comes on the scene in the nations final days. And even in the midst of the curse starting to fall upon his people Jeremiah calls to them in the name of the Lord to stop their slide and to repent. Again all to no avail. Even God tells Jeremiah not to pray for his people, that He has had enough

But in the midst of all this destruction that is falling on the people the brightness of blessing is declared. The Lord Himself will establish a new covenant with His people. A different covenant, not like that which He made when He brought them out of Egypt with a strong arm and great displays of miracles, a covenant which they ultimately rejected. This covenant would be written on their hearts, instead of an outward list of laws they were constrained to follow written on paper, this law would be written on their hearts.

Jeremiah 31:31-33 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

This New Covenant is declared in the New Testament of our Bible. Jeremiah and all the prophets pleas to return to the Lord fell on deaf ears. But God promised hem a time when they would have ears to hear. Eyes to see.

Jeremiah 23:5-6 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The LORD our righteousness.'”

This finally came to pass 400 or so years later, when the promised Messiah, Jesus, came to His people in order to inaugurate this new covenant. But again, just like their fathers before them, God’s Word was rejected. Little did they suspect that this was according to plan, that the ultimate gift of salvation would be given to all mankind though the rejection of their Messiah, and the forgiveness of sins would be available to all people. The Lamb of God would take away the sins of the world.

The book of Jeremiah is a sad one to read, since it details painfully the final rejection of God’s message of hope, even though that hope would never be withdrawn. Within that graphic description of the destruction of “the daughter of my people” the seed of hope would lie. The new covenant would come, “the Lord our righteousness” would appear, the curse would be lifted ad the blessing realized.

Jeremiah 31:3-4 The LORD appeared to him from afar, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness. Again I will build you and you will be rebuilt, O virgin of Israel! Again you will take up your tambourines, And go forth to the dances of the merrymakers.”

Jeremiah 31:27-28 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of beast. As I have watched over them to pluck up, to break down, to overthrow, to destroy and to bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the LORD.”

Even today the people of Israel, as a nation, continue to reject their Messiah, just as they have always rejected His Word. Put the remnant continues to be called out of every nation and tongue, and even from out of Israel. As they will forever be His people, and Jerusalem will forever be His city where His name dwells.

[Scriptures taken from the New American Standard Bible © 1995]

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Isaiah Profit

Posted on October 7, 2010 by JohnJ

I’ve come halfway through my journey in the Scriptures, to my favorite book of the Old Testament. Isaiah. There is no more beautiful reading than the words of this prophet who saw the horrors of the declining days of the nation of Israel. Especially in contrast to the glories of the Kingdom under the reigns of David and Solomon. Maybe I love reading this book because so much of the writing is of God Himself, speaking to His people and us, directly, as if face to face. It will be fabulous to stand before Him one day and hear with our restored hearing His great voice. This is God himself calling to His beloved people to return to Him. With words of love and tenderness He woos His fallen tribe.

Isaiah 43:4 “Since you are precious in My sight, Since you are honored and I love you . . . “

Isaiah 51:12 “I, even I, am He who comforts you.

Isaiah 54:6-8 “For the LORD has called you, Like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, Even like a wife of one’s youth when she is rejected,” Says your God. “For a brief moment I forsook you, But with great compassion I will gather you. In an outburst of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, But with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you,” Says the LORD your Redeemer.

Isaiah seems to be the entire Bible in miniature, you find God expressing the fact that all was created by Him, nothing excepted, then fallen mankind forsaking their creator, through the trails of the building of the nation of Israel, all the way to the redemption offered by a gracious God, taking away their sin by His Chosen One, calling on this One to carry away their burdens upon His own shoulders. (Is. 30:1 ff, Is 48, and Is 53). It is a delicious treat to soak in the encouragement of God making whole a broken and desolate people.

Some of the most magnificent verses of Scripture are found in Isaiah. Most notably are those verses that G. F. Handel chose for his opus, The Messiah.

Isaiah 9:2 The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them.

Isaiah 9:6-7 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.

Isaiah 40:1-2 “Comfort, O comfort My people,” says your God. “Speak kindly to Jerusalem; And call out to her, that her warfare has ended, That her iniquity has been removed, That she has received of the LORD’S hand Double for all her sins.”

Isaiah 53:3-6 He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.

Isaiah 60:1-2 Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth And deep darkness the peoples; But the LORD will rise upon you And His glory will appear upon you.

There are just too many to list. Go ahead and read through the book and find them all.

Some of my other favorite verses that magnify the Lord are these:

Isaiah 30:18 Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him.

Isaiah 6:1-5 In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.” And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”

And this verse which Jesus used to inaugurate His public ministry:

Isaiah 61:1-2 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD

To be sure there is a lot of judgement, doom and gloom – for those who maintain their rebellious natures. But it is the joy or restoration, of redemption, all those whose heart belongs to the Lord, that makes this book so amazing.

Isaiah 25:1-4 O LORD, You are my God; I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name; For You have worked wonders, Plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness. For You have made a city into a heap, A fortified city into a ruin; A palace of strangers is a city no more, It will never be rebuilt. Therefore a strong people will glorify You; Cities of ruthless nations will revere You. For You have been a defense for the helpless, A defense for the needy in his distress, A refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat; For the breath of the ruthless Is like a rain storm against a wall.

Isaiah 44:21-26 “Remember these things, O Jacob, And Israel, for you are My servant; I have formed you, you are My servant, O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me. “I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud And your sins like a heavy mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.” Shout for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done it! Shout joyfully, you lower parts of the earth; Break forth into a shout of joy, you mountains, O forest, and every tree in it; For the LORD has redeemed Jacob And in Israel He shows forth His glory. Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, “I, the LORD, am the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself And spreading out the earth all alone, Causing the omens of boasters to fail, Making fools out of diviners, Causing wise men to draw back And turning their knowledge into foolishness, Confirming the word of His servant And performing the purpose of His messengers. It is I who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited!’ And of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built.’ And I will raise up her ruins again.”

The first phrase here recalls words Jesus cried out in the Temple during the Feast of Booths (John 7:37):

Isaiah 55:1-6 “Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance. Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, According to the faithful mercies shown to David. “Behold, I have made him a witness to the peoples, A leader and commander for the peoples. Behold, you will call a nation you do not know, And a nation which knows you not will run to you, Because of the LORD your God, even the Holy One of Israel; For He has glorified you.” Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near.

And in case you thought the Lord didn’t know how to throw a party this is a delightful description of a future celebration:

Isaiah 25:6-9 The LORD of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, And refined, aged wine. And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples, Even the veil which is stretched over all nations. He will swallow up death for all time, And the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces, And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken. And it will be said in that day, “Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited; Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”

Talk about the ultimate in party favors! He swallows up the covering that clouds and dulls our very perception of our existence and the barrier between God and His people. And the comfort that comes from Him wiping away every tear, such consolation!

The profit in reading this book of Isaiah is like a breath of Spring after a cold dead Winter. In here is such a lovely depiction of our great God restoring all things, removing the distress of this present age. And having the opportunity to be part of it side by side with Him is something to be eagerly anticipated.

[Scriptures taken from the New American Standard Bible © 1995]

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The Ultimate Reality

Posted on September 25, 2010 by JohnJ

2Ki 6:17 Then Elisha prayed and said, “O LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” And the LORD opened the servant’s eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

2Cor 4:18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Col 3:2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.

One of my favorite stories in the Old Testament is the one where the ultimate reality, the real reality, is revealed to someone in fear of his life.

Read the story, it starts in 2 Kings chapter 6 verse 8. The king of Aram marches with his army all night to destroy the prophet Elisha because his national security is threatened, and he surrounds the city where Elisha and his fellow prophets are staying. In the morning one of Elisha’s attendants sees that they are surrounded and is panic stricken. Elisha prays for the youth, “O LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.”

And what happens next is one of the most amazing and encouraging events. The Lord opens the eyes of the youth and what does he see but that “the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” Elisha tells him, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

The declaration is that there is a reality all around us that is imperceptible to mankind. Just because we can’t see it with our eyes, touch it, smell it or taste it does not mean that it doesn’t exist. We are shackled with our limited apprehension to view only a limited spectrum of reality. Just as our eyes are able to only see a very thin slice of the electromagnetic spectrum, our physical senses can not discern the full and entire reality that surrounds us. Science cannot comprehend everything.

You can’t see God or His angels, but He and they are there nonetheless. And until the eyes of our heart are opened we will never be able to see this ultimate reality or be able to count on the power and strength that God can impart to us. (See Eph. 1:17-18)

This is why Paul cryptically encourages us in 2 Corinthians not to look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are unseen. Does that make sense to one who’s eyes are unopened? But when you realize that these things we actually see are decaying and will eventually disappear through degradation and corruption, this physical world can not be counted on. And when your eyes are opened as was Elisha’s attendant, you can be greatly encouraged to count on that which is larger, stronger, and more enduring. The things of God.

And so Paul tells us to keep looking up; there is more to the real life than what you see on this earth, and “those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” In doing so, with God’s aid you can overcome the things that this temporary reality throws at you.

[Scriptures taken from the New American Standard Bible © 1995]

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On-Call Crisis

Posted on September 20, 2010 by JohnJ

7:55 am
I thought last night that I should take a different tack than maintaining the state I was in last Friday, as I shuddered to take the On-Call laptop for the week upcoming. Instead of a defensive posture, trying to deal with the terrors surrounding me, I should rather take an offensive position. Let the Holy Spirit bathe me in grace and use His Word and power to attack those who would assail me with AOG phone calls. I’d do this by welcoming the intervention of our Lord in this affair. Anticipating how wonderfully God will work in my life. Wondering in what way He will be glorified.

I can understand how the Israelites might have felt as they fled from Pharoh’s army, even as the Red Sea parted its waters. That must have been an encouraging site. We might snicker at their nervousness at the impending doom, but we have the hindsight of reading ahead to the next verses. But after they went through the sea on dry land they watched Pharoh’s army hot on their heels catching up with them ready to pounce and destroy. In fear they cried out to Moses.

Exo 14:11 Then they said to Moses, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness?”

But he told them to wait again and see how great their God was. Verse 14,

But Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you today.”

And the waters came together crushing and drowning the enemy, and there was no more army! Instead of being in fear of their pursuers, they should have been excited in wondering how God would thwart their enemy.

I figured I might as well anticipate our Lord going in power before me, maybe someone would volunteer to take the on-call week fro me. I’ve had others do that in the past, they are probably in need of the money for the hours they get called. I need the money to, but not at the expense of my sanity! Last time I was the on-call buyer the Lord showed His power and grace by keeping me from getting any calls at all. Not one call came through for the 5 nights I had the laptop (someone volunteered to take the weekend duty). Getting no calls is unheard of. Usually it is crazy busy. I was very thankful for that expression of God’s kindness and intervention.

6:30 pm
I have the laptop at home so I’m praying for God’s hand to keep away calls. No one came forth to volunteer my week. Let’s see the glory of the Lord in keeping the calls away. Of course, if He so wills that I take calls it is imperative that He lift me up in the spirit to work through His power. Even in the middle of the night.

[Scriptures taken from the New American Standard Bible © 1995]

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The Prayer List

Posted on September 18, 2010 by JohnJ

My prayer list starts with me asking for the Lord’s blessing in my own life, to keep me close to Him and make me hunger and thirst and delight in Him and His Word. It is easy in the madness of this life to lose focus on the things of the spirit, the things that really matter; the frailty of relationships, particularly with God Himself, is fraught with the all too human propensity to diminish. Having a hunger and a delight in our Lord and in His Word fosters in me the strength His Spirit gives to my every waking moment, and protects me from the attacks and arrows of the devil. Paul writes in Ephesians 6 “taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” This assurance of His protection and guidance, and the knowledge of the Word is vital in our daily walk in the Spirit.

Secondly I prayer for my wife. I’m ashamed to admit that I had not learned from the earliest days of walk in Christ that a daily prayer life is crucial, daily asking the Lord for His blessing and glory and salvation in the lives of my loved ones and friends. Only eventually I learned that it should be a daily exercise, and an important part of my relationship with the King of creation. So I pray for my wife for her joy in salvation, physical healing and protection, and joy in the Word and in her walk with our great God, and that she be a powerful influence for Christ on those she befriends and contacts.

I then mention my family and pray first and foremost for their salvation, that they might enjoy a deep and abiding faith in our remarkable Redeemer. That they can know for certain that by being born again they can see our Lord in the pureness of faith from a newly risen spirit and soul, and enjoy eternity in His comfort and presence. Again, I wish I had learned a long time ago the importance of praying for the salvation of my family. I don’t quite know why it took so long to realize I should be praying specifically for them. I’m appalled at the thought that if they do not come to a saving knowledge of the truth, as Paul writes (2 Timothy 2:5) “with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth,” they are outside the life that only comes from our Lord, and are condemned to death. It is an awful and terrifying thought that they might spend eternity outside of His presence. And so I ask, nay beg, that they all may “be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:4) Like Jesus’ parables of persistence in Luke 11:5 ff, and Luke 18:9, tenacity in prayer can have positive results, perhaps the Lord may relent and draw them to salvation.

After bringing my family before our Saviour in prayer, including in-laws, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews, I start with friends, that they also may have the delight of being born again and are imparted a living and exciting faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Who knows, our Heavenly Father might cause them to come to know Him at some point in time. I include the names of some people I have never met but through seeing them in some fashion in the world our Lord has impressed upon me that I pray for them, that they may enjoy life with Him as I do. Who knows, there may not be anyone else in the world praying for that particular individual. Again Paul states (Eph 6:18) “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.” Even though he specifically mentions the saints it can be extrapolated to include anyone, after all, he was the greatest evangelist to the Gentiles, i.e., all non-Jews. It was his mission to be a tool to save as many as possible through the Gospel, as he states concerning his ministry in 1 Cor 1:21 “God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.”

Finally my prayer list concludes by mentioning friends and acquaintances who know the Lord and are in the ministry, to bless them with the wisdom, power, and strength needed to be an instrument in the Spirit to share the Gospel and steal souls from the grasp of Satan. My prayer is for them to have a great delight in the Lord and His Word with which their ministry be driven by joy in Christ and empowered by His Spirit, as no doubt their work in the field is fraught with peril and difficulties.

My priority in prayer is for my family, for their salvation. Should our Lord ask me when I finally make it home, why I was not concerned enough with the eternal state of their souls to bathe them in prayer? I realize now they might have no other advocate on earth for the battle for their soul. It is a privilege to be able to ask my God to give to them the same joy and knowledge of a personal relationship with the great Redeemer and King.

[Scriptures taken from the New American Standard Bible © 1995]

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