Prophecy Update #777 – DO Weep For Me, Argentina

March 3, 2024

A plain sense reading of the Bible informs us there will be a Jewish Temple during the 7yrs preceding the return of Jesus:

Daniel, writing about 2600yrs ago, described the yet future world ruler we call the antichrist. He will enter the Holy of Holies and declare that he is God and demand to be worshipped.
Jesus quoted Daniel, reiterating the actions of the antichrist in the future Temple.

The 2^nd Temple was destroyed around 70AD. A Muslim Mosque sits on the Temple Mount.

Or does it?

Modern archaeology suggests at least two other sites on the Temple Mount that are the true location of the Temple. The Temple could be rebuilt without disturbing the Al Aqsa Mosque.

If they received permission to worship on the Temple Mount, the Jews could quickly set-up a Tabernacle like they had in the wilderness. It was a large tent 45’ long, 15’ wide, and 15’ feet high. Inside it there were two rooms separated by a thick fabric curtain:

The larger room (30’ by 15’ by 15’)was known as the Holy Place. It contained an altar on which incense was burned, a golden lampstand, and a wooden table overlaid with gold for the Bread of the Presence – twelve loaves, intended to represent the twelve tribes of Israel.
Behind the curtain there was the smaller of the two rooms. It was a perfect cube, 15’ by 15’ by 15.’ It was called the Most Holy Place, or the Holy of Holies. It contained the ark of the covenant and its lid, the mercy seat.

In 1987 the Temple Institute was founded with the purpose of making all the implements needed for Tabernacle worship and sacrifice. They used DNA to identify the priests. Everything has been ready for some time, except for one thing. In the OT Book of Numbers God specified that the sacrifice of a perfect red heifer was needed in order to use the ashes to ‘purify’ everything.

Red heifers who meet all the requirements are extremely rare:

Since Moses established the original Tabernacle, there have been only 9 red heifers.
The odds of finding one are 1 in 50,000.

Right now, today, there are four that qualify.

They came from the ranch of a believer in Texas.

There is chatter that the Jews are planning to sacrifice a red heifer this Passover season. A few weeks ago I quoted a top Hamas leader who, in a speech condemning Israel, mentioned that their plans to sacrifice the animal indicates their blatant disregard for non-Jews. He said the red heifer was one of the reasons Hamas attacked Israel.

Argentina has a new president, Javier Milei. He is beyond being a supporter of Israel. Though not a convert, he is obsessed with Judaism and has his own rabbi. He often entered campaign events to the sound of a shofar blowing, and he spoke about the Maccabees during his inaugural speech, which took place on Hanukkah.

Visiting Jerusalem was one of the first things he did after winning the election. He has promised to move the Argentine Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, recognizing it as Israel’s true capital. He prayed at the Western Wall where he genuinely wept among a crowd of supporters.

He told a Jewish apocalyptic story about several rabbi’s who see God’s Temple destroyed. One of them laughs. His colleagues asked how he could possibly laugh in the face of such a tragedy. He answered: “There is a prophecy about the destruction that says a fox will break into the Holiest of Holies. There is another prophecy that says the same place will be rebuilt. Now that I see with my own eyes the first prophecy come true, I laugh in joy and full of hope as the second prophecy will surely come true.”

The Arab world was incensed by the remarks and is accusing him of calling for their mosque to be destroyed.

Temple talk is a strong indicator that we are living just before the beginning of the 7yr Great Tribulation predicted in the Bible. You can read all about it in chapters 6-19 of the Revelation.

Jesus promised His Church, “I… will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth” (Revelation 3:10).

He keeps us entirely out of those 7yrs by raising deceased Church Age saints, then rapturing “we who are alive and remain.”

The return of the Lord for us is imminent. It could happen any time. Nothing needs to occur before Jesus can come for us.

Are you ready for the rapture? If not, Get ready; Stay ready; Keep looking up.

Ready or not, Jesus is coming!

He Reports, You Decide (Isaiah 53:1-3)

February 25, 2024

In 1964 the Warren Commission Report concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in assassinating President John F. Kennedy.

My dad said it was the CIA. Of course, he also maintained that all homeless people are millionaires and that seat belts kill more people than they save.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr is a reliable source. He is on record saying, “There is overwhelming evidence that the CIA was involved in [my uncle’s] murder.”

You don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to be suspicious of official government reports.

In the 8^th century BC God released a report.

His report can be trusted 100%. God is not a man that He should lie; For all the promises of God in [Jesus] are Yes, and in Him Amen.

Isaiah 52:13 through chapter 53:12 is a song with three verses in each of five stanzas. Bible commentators use every superlative in the English language to underscore its prominence. We are looking at each of the five stanzas separately. I’ll organize my comments about this stanza around two questions: #1 Do You Accept God’s Report?, and #2 Are You Ashamed Of God’s Report?

#1 – Do You Accept God’s Report? (v1&2)

In 1964 the Surgeon General published Smoking and Health.

It concluded that cigarette smoking was responsible for a 70% increase in the mortality rate of smokers over non-smokers. It estimated that average smokers had a nine-to-ten-fold risk of developing lung cancer compared to non-smokers.

My dad believed the Surgeon General’s report. He quit smoking that day, cold turkey.

There are a plethora of reports circulating that suggest how you ought to live:

How many religions are there? Experts say that there are 12 major religions and 4000+ ‘faith groups.’ Each one can be seen as a report about who or what is worshipped as god, and why.
It is anyone’s guess how many philosophies there are. They, too, report on the human condition.
Then there are the psychologies. Lots of them.

They can’t all be right. In fact, none of them are.

God’s inspired, authoritative Word, the Bible, is a report of the human condition. It is the only accurate report. Makes sense since God is the Creator of the universe, and you are made in His image.

Is God’s report reliable? How do we know, for example, that we are reading Isaiah?

Three words: Dead Sea Scrolls.

The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of ancient Jewish manuscripts. They were discovered over a span of 10 years, between 1946 and 1956, at the Qumran Caves on the northern shore of the Dead Sea. They date from the 3^rd century BC to the 1^st century AD. They include the oldest surviving manuscripts of entire books included in the Bible, along with extra-biblical manuscripts.

The Great Isaiah Scroll is one of the seven Dead Sea Scrolls that were first to be discovered. It is the entire Book of Isaiah from beginning to end (apart from a few small damaged portions). It is 1000 years older than the oldest Hebrew manuscripts known before the scrolls’ discovery. It is almost identical to the most recent manuscript version from the 900s AD. (Scholars discovered a handful of spelling and tense-oriented scribal errors, but nothing of significance).

One commentator wrote, “The Old Testament that we read today is the same one that existed in 100BC to 200BC. This means that the over 300 Old Testament prophecies of the coming Messiah pre-existed the birth of Jesus Christ.”

God’s “report” is not just the Book of Isaiah, or the Hebrew Scriptures. It is His complete revelation in the Bible. The Bible is one report given progressively. There were around 40 ‘reporters,’ but the Bible and tradition only mentions 35 by name. It was written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Koine Greek over a span of over 1500 years on three continents.

Reports can usually be summarized in a few words. My summary would be Sin, the Savior & Salvation.

Sin: “In the beginning,” just two chapters in, we read about Adam & Eve disobeying God’s one, simple, keepable command. In an essay, Richard Phillips writes, “Original Sin is a term that defines the nature of mankind’s sinful condition because of Adam’s fall. It teaches that all people are corrupted by Adam’s sin through natural generation, by which – together with Adam’s imputed condemnation – we all enter the world guilty before God. Original Sin shows that we sin because we are sinners, entering this world with a corrupt nature and without hope apart from the saving grace of God in the Gospel.”

The Savior: While Adam, Eve & the serpent were still in the Garden of Eden, God preached the first Gospel message. He said the Seed of the woman would come and defeat the devil. As the Bible progresses, we come to understand that the Seed of the woman would be God in human flesh. This God-man would act as our substitute. He would dive in our place taking upon Himself the punishment that was due Adam & Eve and all of their offspring.

Salvation: Jesus died, but rose from the dead. All humans who have no capacity to believe, and all who can & do believe, are counted as righteous and receive eternal life. All humans who have the capacity to believe but do not are consigned to eternal conscious torment in the Lake of Fire.

Isa 53:1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

The “arm of the LORD” is synonymous with salvation. Isaiah 59:1 NIV, “Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save…”

To whom was salvation revealed? It was revealed to the nation of Israel. God chose Abraham to start a new nation. He had a son, Isaac, who had a son, Jacob, who had twelve sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin.

The apostle Paul explains what was “revealed” to them: “[To the Israelites] pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God” (Romans 9:4-5).

God asks Israel, “Who has believed our report?” The prophets and John the Baptist and Jesus Himself reported God’s plan, but were rejected mostly by being killed.

The nation of Israel was tasked with presenting the Savior to the world as the solve for sin. He would set-up the Kingdom of God, with Jerusalem as its capital. All the nations of the earth would come to pay Him homage. They would hear the Gospel and multitudes would be saved.

John the Baptist preceded Jesus. They preached the same message: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” The disciples were constantly asking about the Kingdom – right up to the Lord’s ascension to Heaven.

The Savior came through Israel, miraculously. He came to His own… His own did not receive Him.

Why? One significant reason was that Jesus wasn’t the Savior they expected or wanted.

Isa 53:2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.

This is the collective voice and testimony of Jews in the future Time of Jacob’s Trouble that we more commonly call the Great Tribulation. They understand that their ancestors did not recognize Jesus… But they will!

I’m going to read verse two again and a few verses from the Revelation.

Isa 53:2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him.

Rev 19:11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.

Rev 19:12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself.

Rev 19:13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.

Rev 19:14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses.

Rev 19:15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

Rev 19:16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

Are Isaiah & the apostle John talking about the same Person? Yes, they are. It’s Jesus. The 1^st century Jews were anticipating the Savior described by John. They wanted ‘2^nd Coming Jesus.’

“For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground.” The “tender plant” is describing a sucker shoot that you might easily snap off. The “root out of dry ground” is an anomaly. Normally it doesn’t last.

I might be missing something deeper, an analogy perhaps, but this seems to be a simple illustration of Jesus’ humiliation. By that we mean the Doctrine of Humiliation that consists of the rejection and suffering that Jesus received and accepted, including incarnation, suffering, death, and burial. God coming in human flesh – that is humiliation.

Notwithstanding God the Father’s sovereignty, Jesus was always in danger. Early on the family had to flee to Egypt because Herod was seeking to murder Him. Jesus didn’t use His deity to protect Himself. He wasn’t like Grogu, using telekinesis to direct objects or people with His mind. He was a vulnerable infant.

From the Garden of Eden forward, God’s report was always featured a genuine fragility. Episode after episode is a cliffhanger.

“He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him.”

It isn’t portraying Jesus as homely or undesirable. It’s saying that Jesus was not the guy you’d pick at graduation as Most Likely to be the Savior of the World.

Do you think of Jesus as charismatic? I mean in the nonbiblical use of the term. It’s OK to think of Him that way as long as we realize that it was because His Father in Heaven and the Holy Spirit were why He spoke like no one ever had, and why children approached Him without fear, and why sinners found in Him a refuge.

Think of it this way. If someone is naturally charismatic, and God is using them, we tend to think it is because of their personality. Obviously, God can, and does, use charismatic individuals, but it isn’t a prerequisite. A case can be made that God gets more of the glory He deserves if we are without form, comeliness, or beauty.

If you haven’t “received” God’s report – the Gospel – what are you living by? It cannot save you.

#2 – Are You Ashamed Of God’s Report? (v3)

Who is the poster boy for Scientology?

‘Poster boy’ is a colloquial term used to describe a person who epitomizes or represents a particular quality, cause, or image, often in a positive or idealized way. It is commonly used in a figurative sense to refer to someone who becomes a symbol or spokesperson for a specific idea, movement, or brand.

Tom Cruise is a pretty great poster boy. Handsome, charismatic, talented, successful, and he does his own stunts.

Who is the poster boy for Christianity?

I nominate the apostle Paul:

The missionary giant is estimated to have traveled 10,000 miles on foot preaching the Gospel.
He probably planted close to 20 churches, with many more born out of those by his apprentice leaders.
Of the 27 books in the New Testament, 13 or 14 are traditionally attributed to Paul.

That’s great… But it took quite a toll on his body.

2Co 11:23 [in] labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often.

2Co 11:24 From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one.

2Co 11:25 Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep;

2Co 11:26 in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;

2Co 11:27 in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness…

He had a terrible eye condition that was difficult to look at.
He described some kind of “thorn in his flesh” that contributed to constant physical pain and weakness.

That’s what a poster boy for Christianity should look like.

Isa 53:3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

First, a grammar lesson. The prophetic perfect tense is a literary technique that describes future events that are so certain to happen that they are referred to in the past tense as if they had already happened.

Who hid their faces, despised Jesus, and did not esteem Him? The leaders of the nation of Israel at the Lord’s first coming. These Jews are looking back at that 1^st century error. More importantly, they recognize the Lord as having to suffer first.

We keep referencing a future generation of Jews. They are the Jews in the future Time of Jacob’s Trouble.

The twelfth chapter of the OT Book of Zechariah describes the future time when all the world will gather their armies to destroy Israel. Then this will happen: “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn” (12:10).

The apostle Paul puts it like this: “And so all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26).

One thing I said we would note in chapter 53 is that each stanza can be paired with one of the 5 offerings in the Temple. The Meal Offering was (obviously) bloodless, an offering involving pure flour. If you get into it, you find that it typifies the pure, and therefore perfect, humanity of Jesus – the perfect humanness we see in this stanza.

Why would a believer be ashamed? Even the Church doesn’t get it right in terms of who & what we put forward on posters.

Let’s face it: We are grateful beyond our ability to express it for the Lord’s decision to be humiliated in in order to save us. We, however, don’t like humiliation when it is asked of us.

When Pastor Chuck Smith was getting to the end, he was in the pulpit with an oxygen tank and tubes. Critics – and there were many – thought he should get out of the way and turn the church over to a younger, healthy pastor.

“Thank you, Pastor Chuck, for that final lesson in humiliation.”

Prophecy Update #776 – It’s All In Your Head

February 25, 2024

We reserve a few minutes Sunday morning to suggest news, or trends, that seem to be predicted by the plain, futurist reading of the Bible.

We are careful to use recognized, reliable sources for news. There is a lot of sensationalism surrounding unfulfilled Bible prophecy, and we don’t want to add to it.

We’re not saying the things we report are the fulfillment of prophecy – only that they are the things you’d expect in light of the Bible’s unfulfilled prophecies.

The things we follow include:

Growing apostasy in the Church (Second Timothy 3:1-9).
Instantaneous global communication (Revelation 11:4).
The move towards a global government (Revelation 13).
The move towards a global cashless society, accessed by a personal identifier (Revelation 13).
An exponential leap in human knowledge (Daniel 12:4).
Tampering with DNA to alter what it means to be human
Israel regathered to the land promised to them by God.

All of these and more are trending today like never before.

This morning we will hear about a technological advancement that checks a few boxes in our list. Breitbart posted an article titled, Elon Musk Claims First Patient with Creepy Neuralink Brain Chip Can Move Mouse with Their Mind.

Excerpts:

Last month, Neuralink implanted its first computer chip into a human patient’s brain. Now, company founder Elon Musk says the patient has recovered fully and can move a computer mouse cursor simply by thinking.

Neuralink’s brain chip, now given the name Telepathy, aims to enable recipients to control devices like phones or computers with their minds.

While the company is still working to refine the technology, this first human trial marks a major milestone. The company states as its mission, “We hope to restore capabilities such as vision, motor function, and speech, and eventually expand how we experience the world,”

This advancement is noteworthy for several reasons. We know that in the Last Days there will be a global government. There will also be global a economy. The Bible speaks of a “Mark” by which people will be identified and be able to participate in society. The governing bodies will be able to track everyone via this Mark.

In addition to Neuralink as befitting what we are expecting, it also fits with the Bible’s predictions of an exponential growth bin human knowledge, and tampering with what it means to be human.

We believe that from chapter four through chapter nineteen in the Revelation are all unfulfilled future prophecies. There are many others in the Bible.

A Great Tribulation is predicted upon the whole earth. It will last for 7yrs. Towards the end Jesus Christ returns in glory to end a global conflict and establish the Kingdom of God on earth.

Jesus promised His Church, “I… will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth” (Revelation 3:10).

He keeps us entirely out of those 7yrs by raising deceased Church Age saints, then rapturing “we who are alive and remain.”

When? The return of the Lord for us is imminent. It could happen any time. Nothing needs to occur before Jesus can come for us.

Are you ready for the rapture? If not, Get ready; Stay ready; Keep looking up.

Ready or not, Jesus is coming!

Take A Chance On Elohim (Jonah 3)

February 21, 2024

“One answer, right now: Yes or no?” We’ve watched those scenes many times where a character is offered a sudden, life-changing opportunity. Their decision usually leads either to the saving of the world or their untimely death.

800 years before Christ’s birth, Nineveh found itself in a do-or-die situation. God sent them an urgent message. The people certainly didn’t deserve it. The courier didn’t want to deliver it. But the result was the greatest revival of all time. The entire city turned to God. Here’s how it happened.

Jonah 3:1-2 – The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: ²“Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach the message that I tell you.”

Most of you are familiar with Jonah’s story. Our focus tends to be drawn to him and the great fish, the storm on the sea – it’s a thrilling drama. But the Lord’s focus was on the people of Nineveh. And so, after the misadventure, chapter 3 opens with God saying, “Ok, let’s start over.”

This wasn’t just a second chance for Nineveh, it was also a second chance for Jonah. Jonah was a believer and a prophet, but, just like us, he had his shortcomings. He did not like Assyrians and he did not like the idea of God helping them. But, even though he had refused to obey God in chapter 1 – preferring to drown in the sea than preach to Ninevites – the Lord was still willing to commune with Jonah and even use him for heavenly purposes.

This was the second time God sent Jonah, but He didn’t say, “You know what a bad job you’ve been doing, right?” Or, “You’ve really been a disappointment, so you better make it up to Me.”

God is gracious. Even though Jonah had failed, even though we know he still has some serious heart issues to work out, there’s no condemnation only commission. “Get up, go, and preach.”

That’s essentially our same commission today as God’s messengers on planet earth. And God told Jonah to proclaim a specific proclamation. It was “the message that I tell you.”

Douglas Stuart writes, “Jonah, in other words, is here commanded to say exactly and only what Yahweh will tell him to say. He is held to a tight leash in terms of his verbal freedom.” Why? Because God’s message, His Gospel, is the power of God salvation.

The content of our preaching matters. Our job is to deliver God’s Word, God’s truth to a lost and dying world, not our own philosophies of life or goodness. His Word has power, not our ideas.

Jonah 3:3 – ³Jonah got up and went to Nineveh according to the Lord’s command. Now Nineveh was an extremely great city, a three-day walk.

Jonah obeyed and his obedience led to great spiritual fruit. It matters when we obey God. It matters when we disobey Him. Lives and futures hang in the balance.

What is meant by Nineveh being a “three-day walk.” Ancient history tells us that the circumference of the greater-Nineveh area, including outlying villages and territories was 60 miles. To give us some perspective, that whole area would be from here to Corcoran in the south, past LNAS in the west, up to Fowler/Kingsburg in the north, and Visalia to the east.

So maybe it was that large of an area. Or maybe it means that it took Jonah 3 days to go from neighborhood to neighborhood, preaching as he went. A three-day circuit, rather than three days to cut a straight line through.

Now, Nineveh was a large and powerful city. It had a population of 600,000 to 1,000,000 people. But this was a city at the end of God’s long-suffering rope. They had one last chance. The fish had been “prepared” for Jonah and received him, gladly for three days. The question was: Would Nineveh be willing to receive Jonah during his three-day visit? One answer, right now: Yes or no?

There’s a piece of language that’s easy for us to miss in English. We read Nineveh was “an extremely great city.” Linguists point out that, literally, the phrase is, “a city important to God.”

Around here, we don’t think much of the “great” cities of the world. We’re disgusted by the decay and lechery and lawlessness of places like San Francisco and New York City. I’d venture to say that, on some level, we feel toward those places much like Jonah felt toward Nineveh.

Meanwhile, God says, “Nineveh is an important city to Me.” Why? Because He loved the people in those cities. He was not willing that they should perish, but perish they must if they stayed in their sin. But what an amazing revelation: God was personally concerned for Nineveh. Concerned enough to send them an ambassador. Concerned enough to unleash a storm on the Mediterranean sea so Jonah couldn’t escape. Concerned enough to prepare a great fish to swallow him up before the waves did. Concerned enough to suffer long with unlovely people.

Nineveh belonged to God. They were wayward, lost, and about to be consumed, but He wanted them back. He wanted them in His embrace. He wanted them alive.

Jonah 3:4 – ⁴Jonah set out on the first day of his walk in the city and proclaimed, “In forty days Nineveh will be demolished!”

Seven words (maybe eight in your Bible). In Hebrew it’s just five words. He probably said more than that as people came out and conversed with him, but it was a very straightforward message.

That word “demolished,” which you may have as “overthrown,” is interesting. Commentators point out that it’s a word that means “turned,” or, “overturned.” In this context it definitely speaks of destruction, but the word also carries an idea of transformation.

One way or another, in a few days, Nineveh would be changed. They’d either be turned to dust, or turned into disciples. One answer, right now: Yes or no.

That’s the choice still today, by the way: Death or deliverance. Human life can only take one of two turns. Maybe you’ve heard the old preacher adage: Turn or burn! It’s harsh, but it’s true. Turn or be overturned. Death or discipleship.

Jonah 3:5 – ⁵Then the people of Nineveh believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth—from the greatest of them to the least.

It took Jonah three days before he called out to God from the belly of the fish. The Ninevites responded on the very first day!

This book wants us to see the universal nature of God’s salvation: Anyone can be saved. Anyone can be forgiven.

Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian empire. This was not just an ancient San Francisco. As Jonah stepped through the city gates, it’s very possible that he walked past prisoners who had been impaled alive on pikes. One of the kings of Assyria had a habit of putting his enemies on display at the city gate, chained to a wild bear “that would slowly devour [them].” That was Monday Night Football for the Ninevites.

Even these people could be saved. And all of them would be. The entire city believed. Not only that, we see they had a living faith, full of action. They call a fast. They put on sackcloth.

Sackcloth was the clothing worn by the poor, by prisoners and slaves and those in mourning. It showed that they understood they had done wrong and wanted to change.

Now, the book does something that we might not see. When we see God and Jonah interacting, the Lord is referred to by His name, Yahweh. But here, with the Ninevites, we see that they believed “Elohim.” That’s a more general term, used of a variety of heavenly beings. The point is, these people didn’t know God’s name. They didn’t know everything Jonah knew. They didn’t know all the stories or the law of Moses or all the other important details – but they knew enough to be saved. The Lord doesn’t make people complete the SAT before allowing them into salvation. What did the tax collector pray? “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” That was the prayer of the Ninevites.

Jonah 3:6-8 – ⁶When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. ⁷Then he issued a decree in Nineveh: By order of the king and his nobles: No person or animal, herd or flock, is to taste anything at all. They must not eat or drink water. ⁸Furthermore, both people and animals must be covered with sackcloth, and everyone must call out earnestly to God. Each must turn from his evil ways and from his wrongdoing.

The king here is probably not the king of Assyria, by the way, just the ruler of the city. He makes this decree, but everyone was already doing it. We see that he, too, was genuinely convicted of sin and turning to God. He made it official. And he even stepped further from his position. He didn’t just wear sackcloth, he sat in ashes. He didn’t just fast, he extended the fast to the animals!

I’ve heard of lipstick on a pig…I’ve never heard of sackcloth on a pig. Some of you dress up your dogs in little outfits. I’m not sure how you keep farm animals covered in sackcloth. But they were serious. Everything in life stopped. No commerce. No games. No training. The entire city shut down and turned their attention to repentance and to this God Whose name they did not yet know.

It was a corporate action, but we also see the king talking about individual responsibility. “Each must turn from his evil ways.” God works with nations, blessing them or judging them, but at the same time, salvation is always an individual transaction between God and each person. And, in Nineveh’s case, it does not seem like God was doing the Abraham agreement: If I can find just 10 righteous people, I’ll spare the city. Each and all had this moment of choice.

How long did this fast go on? It’s hard enough to fast from food and this was also a no-water fast.

There’s an interesting difference in the Septuagint version. There Jonah says three days instead of forty days. If that is what Jonah said, it would make sense that their fast would last three days because that’s about as long as you can go without water before dying. It would illustrate the sincerity of their repentance. “In three days you’re going to be judged.” “Ok, well, we’re so willing to show our sorrow, we’re so dependent on God’s mercy, we will forfeit our lives at His feet.”

Either way, this is a very dramatic scene. Imagine the noise of the animals who are hungry and thirsty in their pens. Braying and lowing and pawing against the boards.

Jonah 6:9 – ⁹Who knows? God may turn and relent; he may turn from his burning anger so that we will not perish.

They were sincere but didn’t know what was going to happen. “Who knows? Let’s take a chance on this Elohim and see if maybe He’ll show us mercy.”

Why would they think God is merciful? Their gods certainly weren’t. Why stay and wait to see rather than flee for their lives? The answer comes to us in the Gospel of Luke. We’re told that Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh. He told them his story. How he had disobeyed God, but God, in His mercy and compassion and grace gave him a second chance.

We Christians are called to be living witnesses of God’s grace and mercy so that others can understand there’s grace for them, too. That Christ offers real hope – real restoration and refuge.

Who knows? Well, Jonah knew. That’s why he didn’t want to go to Nineveh. He knew God would be merciful. And, to his credit, it seems he communicated that idea to these pagans who then were willing to take a chance on it being true.

Jonah 6:10 – ¹⁰God saw their actions—that they had turned from their evil ways—so God relented from the disaster he had threatened them with. And he did not do it.

God can forgive anyone. He wants to forgive everyone. He can’t pretend we haven’t done evil – He’s not a God of compromise. But He is a God of compassion.

This is what God wanted all along: For Nineveh to realize they were far from Him and to turn back to Him so that He did not have to judge them for their wickedness. As Jonah will angrily say in chapter 4, “I know You’re a God Who is slow to anger and abounding in love!” The Lord wants to deliver people and cities and nations because they are precious in His sight.

The Ninevites did not convince God not to destroy them. They did not purchase their salvation with acts of piety. They received the mercy that God extended as a free gift.

Here is how they received it: First, they believed God. You are saved by grace through faith. Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.

Then we see in the kings words that, after they believed, they called out to God and turned from their sin. If a person actually believes the Gospel, that will be the result.

Psalm 91 tells us those who call on the Lord will be saved. And to turn to God means to turn away from sin, turn away from idols. It means we trust Him and receive His offer of rescue and transformation.

This chapter is an example of what is still true today. Jeremiah tells us that God still announces judgments on wicked nations, but that if that nation turns from evil, He will relent from bringing disaster. If they won’t, He won’t.

The individual situation is also the same. Maybe the modern Ninevite has more than three days or more than forty days, but there is a number. Maybe it’s 1,000 or 10,000. One day the offer of salvation will expire and judgment will fall. One answer, right now: Yes or no?

For all of us, Jonah 3 is a reminder that God has called to us. We must respond to Him. And as we respond to Him, He responds back again to us. As we draw near to Him, He comes near to us.

This moment of faith brought the people of Nineveh 100 years of grace. A hundred years! What might my faith and repentance and trust in God bring for my family, my community, my nation?

Come & Sing A Suffering Servant’s Song Of Sprinkling (Isaiah 52:13-15)

February 18, 2024

✅ Charles Spurgeon described it as “A Bible in miniature, the Gospel in its essence.”

✅ Kyle Yates called it, “The Mount Everest of Old Testament prophecy.”

✅ Frantz Delitzsch said it is “The most central, the deepest, and the loftiest thing that Old Testament prophecy has ever achieved. It is as if it had been written beneath the Cross upon Golgotha.”

✅ John Calvin said, “This chapter may be truly called the key to unlock the door of the whole Bible.”

✅ Ivan Engnell said, “Without any exaggeration, [it is] the most important text of the Old Testament.”

✅ Martin Luther: “This is truly the chief place in the Old Testament.”

✅ D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: “This chapter is the Grand Canyon of the Old Testament, displaying the depths and heights of God’s redemptive purposes.”

✅ J.I. Packer: “Here we find the beating heart of the Gospel, a chapter that encapsulates the essence of Jesus Christ’s redemptive work.”

✅ Oswald Chambers: “The entire Bible converges on the message of Isaiah 53.”

In terms of structure, the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah is a song. It contains five stanzas, each consisting of three verses. Because of its structure we are confident that the last three verses of chapter 52 belong as the first three verses of chapter 53. Remember, there were no chapter & verse divisions until around the 1200s.

We will listen to each stanza by itself. Today will be Part One of Five. Because each stanza contains three verses, I must adjust and organize my comments around three words: Servant, Suffer, and Sprinkle.

#1 – “Behold, My Servant” (v13)

➡ The Book of Isaiah is the most quoted book in the New Testament. The estimate is that there are over 60 direct quotations and numerous indirect references. (The Psalms are quoted more than Isaiah, but we consider them individual songs, not a single book.)

➡ Isaiah 53 is the most quoted chapter from the most quoted book.

There is no doubt that Jesus is the servant. There are, however, at least three other suggestions:

The nation of Israel.
King Darius of Persia.
The prophet Isaiah.

None of them make any biblical sense.

More importantly, the New Testament eliminates any confusion:

The Gospel of Luke records Jesus Christ stating: “For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined… For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in Me, ‘And He was reckoned with transgressors;’ for what is written about Me has its fulfillment.” The Scripture quoted was from Isaiah 53.
In Acts 9:35 we read how “Philip [the evangelist] opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him [the Ethiopian treasurer] the good news of Jesus.” Again, the Scripture was Isaiah 53.

Jesus is the servant who fulfills Isaiah 53. One commentator writes, “It is the unanimous testimony of the New Testament that the subject and theme of Isaiah 53 in the Old Testament is the Christ of Calvary.”

What if you did not have the unanimous testimony of the NT? It would be harder to come to a conclusion. It would be harder still if you were expecting a Military Messiah who would conquer your enemies on the field of battle.

The Ethiopian treasurer could not sort out Isaiah 53 until Philip provided the NT identification as Jesus.

We appreciate unlikely heroes. Strider the Ranger is the unlikely true King of Gondor in The Lord of the Rings.

Jesus was the unlikely King of kings who came to His own in order to bring them the kingdom. They did not receive Him.

Isa 52:13 Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently…

Christianity is unique in many ways. One of them is that our God humbled Himself and came as the servant of all. We’ve been singing a song for a while now that has a lyric, name another God like this. You can’t.

Jesus isn’t your personal servant, available to do your will. There’s a thing going around among Christians. It’s called “Demand Praying.” They emphasize a particular definition of the word “ask.” They say, “There is no doubt that this word describes someone who prays authoritatively, in a sense demanding something from God. This person knows what he needs and is so filled with faith that he isn’t afraid to boldly come into God’s Presence to ask and expect to receive what he has requested.”

Jesus served you by dying on the Cross and taking upon Himself your sin.

It follows that we serve by dying to ourselves daily. We don’t demand; we wait for the Lord to command.

You dads and moms – Are you teaching your kids to demand everything & anything that they want? Is that even a relationship? The person who does that in the NT is the Prodigal Son.

Did Jesus make demands upon His Father in Heaven? Did Jesus tell His Father what to do for Him? Just the opposite. “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of His own accord, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise” (John 5:19).

“Prudently” doesn’t capture the power of what is being said. The ISV translates it as prospering.

The effort to redeem lost humanity will prosper; it will succeed. It is the perfect plan executed by the perfect Person.

Isa 52:13 … He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high.

“Extolled” isn’t a word we use much. It has a bunch of possible definitions, e.g., “standard” (like a banner on a high pole), “lifted-up,” and “refuge.”

The Messiah would be a standard lifted up on a high pole for those who sought refuge.

If you are familiar with the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt, you will remember the episode in which poisonous serpents were in the Israelite camp biting and killing them. Moses put a bronze serpent on a pole. It was a standard. Any Israelite who was bitten could simply look at the pole lifted-up and it would be refuge to them in that they would not die.

Jesus told us that it was a picture of the salvation refuge He would accomplish by being “lifted-up” on the Cross. He said, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life” (3:14-15).

You may have seen a ‘B’ movie in which someone ends up in the snake pit. Multiple snakes bite and hang-on accompanied by lots of screaming. That is how unbelievers look from Heaven. Take refuge at the Cross. Look to Jesus for your help. The Cross upon which the Lord died is the only remedy for defeating “that Serpent of old, the devil and Satan” (Revelation 12:9).

“Exalted” also involves being lifted-up, but in context, Isaiah was no longer talking about the Cross. This is Jesus lifted-up to Heaven. In the Book of Acts the apostle Peter preached, “This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised Him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held by it” (Acts 2:23-24).

The Jews were awaiting the Messiah. Isaiah described Him. He would be a servant to all by dying in a manner illustrated by the serpent on the pole so that anyone who looked to Him for salvation would be saved. We can see this would be a hard sell for those with hardened hearts.

Lifted up was He to die
‘It is finished’ was His cry
Now in Heaven exalted high
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

#2- “Behold, My Suffering Servant” (v14)

After 20+ movies, in the final battle, CaptainAmerica finally said it: “Avengers, assemble.”

The way he said it, subdued, was an interesting choice.

Ecce Homo.

Those are the Latin words used by Pontius Pilate in the Vulgate translation of the Gospel of John. He presents a scourged Jesus, bound and crowned with thorns, to a hostile crowd. In English he said “Behold, the man.”

How did Pilate say it, I wonder? Was it matter-of-fact? Was it emotional? Was he loud or soft?

Three English words, two Latin words; the very brevity catches your breath. It was a live event. A man’s life was at stake. A nation was at stake. The world was at stake. Jesus must move forward, to the Cross.

Isaiah ecce homo’s in verse fourteen.

Isa 52:14 Just as many were astonished at you, So His visage was marred more than any man, And His form more than the sons of men;

There are a few ways of hearing this. One would be Pilate’s appraisal that Jesus was just a man. He was no threat to Israel or to Rome. Of course, Pilate was wrong.

Was it sympathy with which he spoke? Was Pilate saying, “Look at him. He’s barely recognizable as a man.”

Here is another, probably not what Pilate meant, but certainly appropriate. “Behold, Man,” as in Mankind.

Jesus was representing Mankind. His many biblical names include “The Last Adam” & “The Second Man” (First Corinthians 15:45, 47).

The first man, Adam, had failed. The Second Man, Jesus, had succeeded and was going to finish it by dying in our place.

God told Adam & Eve that if they disobeyed Him, they would die. They ate the forbidden fruit (probably a fig) and they died:

They immediately died spiritually.
They began to die physically.
They would die eternally – meaning they would die then live forever separated from God and in constant, conscious torment.

Thanks to our original parents, we inherit a sin nature. Sin is imputed to us. We commit individual sins.

Our only hope is that a Second Adam would be born, without a sin nature. He would have to resist the tempting of the devil. He would need to live a sinless life, and then be willing to die in our place.

Survey history. Could anyone else do this? Buddha? Mohammed? Vishnu? What would Confucius say?

The tempest’s awful voice was heard
O Christ, it broke on Thee!
Thine open bosom was my ward
It braved the storm for me
Thy form was scarred, Thy visage marred
Now cloudless peace for me.

#3 – “Behold, My Suffering Servant Sprinkles” (v15)

We need a cleansing which makes us fit for God’s holy presence. An outward sprinkling of water symbolized the inward cleansing of our souls.

Isa 52:15 So shall He sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths at Him; For what had not been told them they shall see, And what they had not heard they shall consider.

If you are a king but you keep your mouth shut before another king, that king is King of kings!

This is Jesus after His return. He establishes a Kingdom of God on Earth that will last one-thousand years. Israel, and Jerusalem especially, will be the capital of the world. Humans in mortal bodies will be on the Earth. They will need salvation, here depicted as “sprinkling.”

I again appeal to the remarkable conversion of the Ethiopian treasurer. Think of him in terms of verse fifteen. “For what had not been told [him he saw], And what [he] had not heard [he considered]. Philip told him the Good News of salvation; he saw it; his wanting to be baptized by Philip means he considered and received the Lord.

There will be a whole lot of sprinkling going on in the Kingdom.

There is something subtle happening in this song that we will get more into later (Lord willing).

It seems that the 5 stanzas match the 5 Levitical offerings in the OT.

We see the Burnt offering – 52:13-15
We see the Meal offering – 53:1-3
We see the Peace offering – 53:4-6
We see the Sin offering – 53:7-9
We see the Trespass (guilt) offering – 53:10-12

The Hebrew word for “burnt offering” means to ascend, literally to go up in smoke. The smoke from the sacrifice ascends to God, “a soothing aroma to the LORD” (Leviticus 1:9). The entire animal would be consumed (except for the hide).

It prefigures Jesus on the Cross in several ways:

His physical life was completely consumed. He genuinely died.
He ascended to God.
His covering (that is, His garment) was distributed to those who officiated over His sacrifice (Matthew 27:35).
He gives to those who believe in Him a robe of righteousness.

The Jews understandably had a hard time seeing the Messiah as a suffering servant. They do not see Him yet. Built into the Temple sacrifices was a symbolism that would help. All of the sacrifices, the rituals, the feasts… They all prefigured the coming Messiah, the Savior, Jesus.

Lord, through the blood of the Lamb that was slain
Cleansing for me, cleansing for me!
From all the guilt of my sin now I claim
Cleansing from Thee, cleansing from Thee

Sinful and black though the past may have been
Many the crushing defeats I have seen
Yet on Thy promise, O Lord, now I lean:
Cleansing for me, cleansing for me!

From all the sins over which I have wept
Cleansing for me, cleansing for me!
Far, far away, by the blood-current swept
Cleansing for me, cleansing for me!

Jesus Thy promise I dare to believe
And as I come Thou dost now me receive
That over sin I may never more grieve
Cleansing for me, cleansing for me!

Prophecy Update #775 – Please, Don’t You Be My Neighbor

February 18, 2024

We reserve a few minutes Sunday morning to suggest news, or trends, that seem to be predicted by the plain, futurist reading of the Bible.

We are careful to use recognized, reliable sources for news. There is a lot of sensationalism surrounding unfulfilled Bible prophecy, and we don’t want to add to it.

We’re not saying the things we report are the fulfillment of prophecy – only that they are the things you’d expect in light of the Bible’s unfulfilled prophecies.

The things we follow include:

Growing apostasy in the Church (Second Timothy 3:1-9).
Instantaneous global communication (Revelation 11:4).
The move towards a global government (Revelation 13).
The move towards a global cashless society, accessed by a personal identifier (Revelation 13).
An exponential leap in human knowledge (Daniel 12:4).

By far, however, the most important and exciting End Times indicator is the nation of Israel regathered to the land promised to them by God.

Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum writes, “Anyone who reads the Bible will soon realize that the Jewish people are the apple of God’s eye. Israel, they will quickly see, is the centerpiece of divine, prophetic activity.”

Dr. Michael Rydelnik writes, “It cannot be denied that not only have the children of Israel endured despite the harsh treatment they have received, but against all odds, after 2000 years of exile, the Jewish people have once again returned to the Land of Israel as the biblical prophets promised they would. The Hebrew prophets foretold a day when God would draw His people back to Israel. Although centuries of dispersion caused this aspiration to retreat into the far background of Jewish life, it never fully disappeared.”

Think of Israel today, and of Jerusalem in particular, while I read this verse from Zechariah. “And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it” (12:3).

It is expected, but not encouraging, that the US is wavering in support. I read an article whose title was a question, US & Arab States Plotting Imposed Peace Plan Upon Israel?

Excerpts:

A scheme has been uncovered that apparently would involve announcing – unilaterally – a Palestinian state right away.

The proposed plan, described by the Washington Post, calls for “the withdrawal of many, if not all, settler communities on the West Bank; a Palestinian capital in east Jerusalem; the reconstruction of Gaza; and security and governance arrangements for a combined West Bank and Gaza.”

Stunningly, the action could involve “early U.S. recognition of a Palestinian state – even as elements of political reform, security guarantees for both Israel and the Palestinians, normalization and reconstruction are being implemented.” Israel, according to reports, would be left out of the process entirely.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been opposed to such a move.

“1,400 murdered and the world wants to give them a state. It won’t happen,” National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said on social media.

Source: https://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=6692#google_vignette

We believe that from chapter four through chapter nineteen in the Revelation are all unfulfilled future prophecies. There are many others in the Bible.

One thing that is coming is a Great Tribulation upon the whole earth. It will last for 7yrs. Towards the end Jesus Christ returns in glory to end a global conflict and establish the Kingdom of God on earth.

Jesus promised His Church, “I… will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth” (Revelation 3:10).

He keeps us entirely out of those 7yrs by raising deceased Church Age saints, then rapturing “we who are alive and remain.”

When? The return of the Lord for us is imminent. It could happen any time. Nothing needs to occur before Jesus can come for us.

Are you ready for the rapture? If not, Get ready; Stay ready; Keep looking up.

Ready or not, Jesus is coming!

Everybody’s Fool (Psalm 14)

February 14, 2024

Only 8% of job applicants ever make it to the interview phase. On average, 118 people will apply for a given job these days. The pressure is compounded when you learn that 77% of recruiters will disqualify you as a candidate if they find a typo on your resume.

God isn’t hiring, but He does like to add people to His company. The problem is: None of us measure up. There’s no one good enough to be recruited. But, in God’s mind we’re all loved enough to be rescued.

The State of the Union, quarterly earnings calls, unemployment and inflation reports all evaluate what’s going on in a group and identify weaknesses and make projections. Psalm 14 is a sort of State Of The Human report for us. And, apparently the Lord really wants us to get this message, because this Psalm is published a second time almost word for word as Psalm 53. And Paul repeats much of it in his letter to the Romans. So, message received. This is the situation. This is the condition and position of man. And, it’s not a pretty picture.

Psalm 14:1 – For the choir director. Of David. ¹The fool says in his heart, “There’s no God.” They are corrupt; they do vile deeds. There is no one who does good.

“Rodents Of Unusual Size? I don’t think they exist.” That line in The Princess Bride is immediately and hilariously followed by a Rodent Of Unusual Size absolutely smashing Westley out of frame and chewing him up for a bit.

Just because a person says it doesn’t make it so. What novel or symphony or knock-knock joke ever wrote itself? What painting ever simply materialized on a blank canvas? But, this Psalm isn’t just talking about smug, YouTube atheists who take pleasure in mocking the idea that God exists. This includes people who live as if there is no God, whether they philosophically believe a God exists or not. And that is a much larger group of people.

The truth is, most people will tell you that they believe a God exists. 74% of Americans by one recent count. But how many live as if God exists?

To either reject the idea that God exists or to live as if it doesn’t matter, David says, is foolish. He uses a particular word here: The Nabal says in his heart “there’s no God.” Of course, many of you know there was a man named Nabal during David’s time who embodied foolishness. He was selfish and senseless and shortsighted. His foolishness went beyond being the local curmudgeon. He was a danger to himself and to others. His foolishness caused harm to his family, his community. It ultimately put him into an early grave and no one was sorry to see him go.

This is true of every fool, to one degree or another. Rejecting God results in corruption and vile deeds. I’m sure we can all identify some fools we know if we think for a moment. But David would have us sing this song with a mirror in our hands. “There is no one who does good.” We’re all fools.

Now, that is a bold claim. But if we pause to consider, we find that it is a very true claim. Any time I go my own way instead of God’s way, I am living as if there is no God or as if God does not care about my life. I’m a fool. Of course, I don’t consider myself a Nabal, but let’s see what God thinks.

Psalm 14:2-3 – ²The Lord looks down from heaven on the human race to see if there is one who is wise, one who seeks God. ³All have turned away; all alike have become corrupt. There is no one who does good, not even one.

There are lots of stories where the good guys are trying to find that special person who will become the chosen one. Willy Wonka found Charlie. Mr. Benedict found the four, extraordinary children who would comprise his Mysterious Benedict Society. Men In Black found Will Smith.

God looks down on everyone – in that last phrase it’s as if He even checks the list twice – and His finding is: There is no one who does good, not even one. It’s a poor showing for team humanity.

One translation says, “All turn astray, altogether befouled.” It’s not just that we’re misunderstood or that we’re being misused on Team Humanity. Sin has ruined us. And we see it’s not just in a passive way, as if, “Well, sin has stained us and that looks pretty bad.” No, it’s much worse than that because we have turned away from God. We have departed. We have defected. We have withdrawn from God. We all have made the same choice that Adam and Eve made, only we make that choice again and again, day after day. We’ve become corrupt.

That’s the second time David has used that word. That’s bad news because, when the Lord looked down on the earth at Noah’s time, He said, “Mankind is totally corrupt, so I have to judge them.”

Every time the Lord assesses humanity, this is what happens. Tower of Babel. The days of Noah. During Ezekiel’s time. During Jesus’ first coming to earth. The story is always the same.

Well, then, if no one does good and if no one seeks God, then does that suggest that God only saves some and doesn’t save others? Or that, as some Christian traditions teach, “regeneration precedes faith?” That since we’re dead in sin we can’t exercise faith? That a person only seeks God because determines that they do?

No. The Bible reveals to us that without the intervention of grace, humanity will always stay in sin. But, God has graciously intervened. He reveals Himself in nature and in His Word. He calls to us. He puts eternity in our hearts and determines the time and place in which we live so that we might grope for Him and seek Him, and He frees our wills so that we have a genuine ability to do so.

But without His intervention, we have no hope. And without His transformation, we remain in our sinful foolishness. We need a new nature, a new mind, a new heart that acts in response to grace.

Psalm 14:4 – ⁴Will evildoers never understand? They consume my people as they consume bread; they do not call on the Lord.

When a person rejects God, when they refuse to follow Him, the only alternative is to do evil. That’s the clear claim of the first 4 verses. That evil metastasizes and produces oppression. Harming others becomes commonplace – like eating bread before the entrée arrives.

But wait! Out of nowhere there are suddenly two groups being talked about. Up to this point, everyone has been lumped together. No one is good. Everyone is foolish. Now we see there is a group of evildoers and then there is a group that the Lord identifies as His people.

How do I get in the group of God’s people? Call on the Lord. Psalm 91 is all about the people who are protected and cared for by God. In that Psalm, the Lord says:

Psalm 91:15 – ¹⁵When he calls out to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will rescue him and give him honor.

On the flip side, when a person or a nation does not call on the Lord, the result is wrath.

Psalm 76:9 – ⁶Pour out your wrath [Lord] on the nations that don’t acknowledge you, on the kingdoms that don’t call on your name.

So these are the groups. Those who call on the Lord are brought into His family, transformed from the inside out, given heavenly honor. And then there are those who won’t believe God or live as if God doesn’t matter. That keeps you in your sinful foolishness and makes you a slave of evil.

Sadly, evildoers can come from anywhere. Think of the time of David and Samuel. There were Philistines. Those were obvious evildoers from outside. Very clear enemies with an obvious agenda. But then there were the sons of Eli. They were priests and should’ve been spiritual guides, but instead they abused the people, and ripped them off, and defiled God’s house. Later there was Absalom, David’s own son. He betrayed his family and the Lord.

All of these enemies came from different places, but the fruit was always the same. They all tried to devour others for their own desires. They all oppressed the weak and thumbed their noses at God.

Paul would make a list of evildoers in 1 Corinthians 6 and then said, “And such were some of you.” The good news is: The corrupted can become consecrated. Fools can become faithful. We all start as Nabal, but we don’t have to stay that way. The Bible has a book totally dedicated to learning God’s wisdom. Proverbs 1 opens by saying, “Take these words and with them you will be instructed in righteousness.” And when we follow God’s revelation, when we respond to His call and call back to Him, we become His people and the Lord protects His people. He provides for them. He communes with them.

Psalm 14:5 – ⁵Then they will be filled with dread, for God is with those who are righteous.

The fools of the world often seem to have one up on the people of God. But there is a reckoning coming. A judgment is coming on all who reject God. And, when that day comes, they will be filled with dread. Why? Because, without God, they go into eternity alone. Separate. Abandoned.

One of the Old Testament prophets wrote, “[The Lord] will chase His enemies into darkness.” The foolish unbelievers are headed toward a dreadful end because they will not accept God’s invitation to be with Him.

Now, we who believe in God and live like it are headed not to the end but toward a glorious new beginning. It’s only possible because God has gifted us His righteousness. Notice, it says “God is with those who are righteous,” not “Those who are perfect.” We’re not perfect. We’ll be perfected, but here and now we still fall short. We still make mistakes. We still fail to live up to the wisdom of God. But, we are clothed in His robe of righteousness, and that makes all the difference.

What a good reminder that God is with us. He’s here now, watching your life. Directing your life. Let’s act like it.

Psalm 14:6 – ⁶You sinners frustrate the plans of the oppressed, but the Lord is his refuge.

An attack on God’s people is an attack on the Lord Himself because He is our Refuge. We are in Him.

What did Jesus say to Saul on the road to Damascus? “Why are you persecuting Me?”

You Christians here tonight, remind yourself that God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in time of trouble. He is our Rock and stronghold. He is trustworthy and secure. We are invited to hide ourselves in Him and be sustained and satisfied by His grace. His ways are true. His Words are wisdom.

Why try to find security somewhere else? In life we face problems or we get scared or we get into trouble and our tendency is to look to some other human or some human system or use human ingenuity to outwit our trouble. But, if we understand Psalm 14, that’s just letting the inmates run the asylum and thinking things will be ok.

A “better” fool, or a lesser fool than the other fool is still a fool. We want to source the wisdom and insight and motivation and perspective we need for life from the Lord, our Refuge. That’s the climax of this song. Look at verse 7.

Psalm 14:7 – ⁷Oh, that Israel’s deliverance would come from Zion! When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

This is what we want. Not for a single problem to be solved but for all the foolishness of this life to be dealt with. That every enemy would be overcome, including the Nabal within our own hearts.

Our prayer can be: Lord, deliver me from Goliath, deliver me from Absalom, but also deliver me from myself. There’s a Nabal within, trying to take over, trying to coax me out of my Refuge. Lord, keep me close and save me from all these fools.

That phrase, “When the Lord restores the fortunes of His people” may say “brings back the captivity” in your version. Linguists argue over specifics, but literally the phrase is, that God would “turn the turning” of His people. What a beautiful picture this is – God bringing captives home. God, restoring the fortune of those who had lost everything. God turning and guiding and assisting us as we go His way.

At the end, the Psalm speaks to both Jacob and Israel. They’re the same people, of course, but on a devotional level there’s a wide difference between Jacob and Israel. Jacob was a scoundrel. Interestingly, one translation has verse 1 of this Psalm as, “The scoundrel says in his heart…”

If you were here for our Genesis studies we saw the life of Jacob and how he developed in understanding and faith in God. As God walked with him, he transformed him from scoundrel to servant. And so, we can join with this final verse and say, “Lord, deliver us! Turn our turnings. Turn us from scoundrels to servants. From fools to faithful. Bring us into Your company and transform our hearts and minds. Fashion us into wise doers of good and make us glad along the way.”

Jesus Wants To Keep You Barefoot & Preaching (Isaiah 52:1-12)

February 11, 2024

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

January 2, 1956, was the day that 29-year-old Jim Elliot had planned and prayed for. He and four other missionaries would be setting up camp in the territory of a dangerous and uncivilized Ecuadorian Indian tribe known then as the Aucas.

The Aucas killed strangers.

Nevertheless Jim Elliot had no doubt God wanted him to tell the Aucas about Jesus.

With Jim Elliot were Ed McCully, Roger Youderian, Pete Fleming, and pilot Nate Saint. They were flown in and dropped off on an Auca beach. Nate Saint then flew over the Auca village and called on loud speaker to come to the beach. After four days, an Auca man and two women appeared. They shared a meal with them and urged them to return with others.

January 8, 1956. Two Auca women walked out of the jungle. Elliot and Fleming waded toward them. As they got closer they heard a terrifying cry behind them. They turned and saw a group of Auca warriors, spears raised, poised to throw.

Elliot had a firearm, but the missionaries had vowed they would not kill an Auca who did not know Jesus to save himself from being killed. Within seconds, the missionaries were dead.

I came across a detail that was new to me. Two others had initially signed-on to accompany Elliot to Ecuador. They bailed on him. Wedding plans got in the way.

Did they dodge a spear? Or miss the honor of being martyred? That is for them to take before the Lord.

What we can glean is that it is possible for a believer to prioritize living in the material world over spiritual things.

In the eighth century BC, the prophet Isaiah saw 150yrs into the future of God’s chosen nation. He predicted the fall of Jerusalem to the armies of King Nebuchadnezzar. He saw the Jews led away as captives to Babylon. Isaiah also saw they would be freed by Cyrus of Persia to go home. Most of them, the majority, did not go home.

They prioritized living in the material world over spiritual things.

Since we live in a spiritual Babylon, we can ask, “Am I prioritizing living in the material world?

I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1 Get Up & Put On Your Beautiful Garments, and #2 Go Out & Show Off Your Beautiful Feet.

#1 – Get Up & Put On Your Beautiful Garments (v1-6)

The Bible reveals all human beings are sinners. To illustrate, we are told that our clothing is like filthy rags. Dressed in filthy rags, we cannot be admitted into Heaven. We need a white robe, called the “robe of righteousness.” Jesus is the only ‘distributor’ who has this robe. He gives it when you believe what He did for you on the Cross. You believe God and Jesus exchanges clothes with you:

The Lord takes away your filthy garments.
The Lord gives you His robe of righteousness.

It is a one-size-fits-all grace garment given to whosoever in the human race believes God.

Our chapter begins with “beautiful garments.”

Isa 52:1 Awake, awake! Put on your strength, O Zion; Put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city! For the uncircumcised and the unclean Shall no longer come to you.

It is crucial that we first read these verses, and all of Isaiah, and all the OT, as it pertains to its original audience. It is written to Jews of the southern kingdom of Judah. These verses… This chapter… Invites them to come home from Babylon.

The Lord depicts the city of Jerusalem as a woman who puts-on her Sabbath Day best.

We encounter this kind of illustration a few times in the Bible. The most prominent is at the end of the Revelation. We read, “One of the seven angels [said to the apostle John] “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” Sacrificing lambs anticipated the coming of a Savior who would be the final sacrifice required to forgive sin And [the angel] carried [John] away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed [him] the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God” (21:9-10).

The “bride” is the resurrected & rewarded Church. She is so identified with the city that it’s not wrong to call it the “bride.”

This trope is used humorously in the MCU when Captain America calls Spider-Man “Queens,” a Burroughs in New York.

The “uncircumcised” and the “unclean” refer to unbelieving Jews and unbelieving Gentiles, respectively. Are there in 2024 unbelievers in Jerusalem? Yes. That means Isaiah was talking about the far future, the Kingdom of God on Earth.

Isa 52:2 Shake yourself from the dust, arise; Sit down, O Jerusalem! Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, O captive daughter of Zion!

“Arise; Sit down.” They were to “arise” in Babylon and leave, then “sit down” in Jerusalem. There is no doubt all of the Jews ought to have left.

“Bonds of your neck” are those shackles that you see on ancient prisoners. That was how they were led in, but no how they would be let out.

Isa 52:3 For thus says the LORD: “You have sold yourselves for nothing, And you shall be redeemed without money.”

Slaves were bought & sold. The Jews were conquered and not sold. They could leave once King Cyrus of Persia gave them their freedom. There was no price to pay.

In the NT, the apostle Paul describes certain people as “having been taken captive by [the devil] to do his will” (Second Timothy 2:26). There are Bible commentators who say he is talking about believers, not unbelievers. I use it a lot to describe the irrational behavior of unbelievers. For example, some of the things going on in our country are not political issues. They are matters of common sense that every rational person ought to agree with. They are so irrational, so illogical, it leaves you scratching your head. Every time I see a biological man compete in a sporting event against biological women, that’s insane. It isn’t even debatable. Some principality or power thought it up and folks taken captive by Satan impose it.

Isa 52:4 For thus says the Lord GOD: ‘ “My people went down at first Into Egypt to dwell there; Then the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.

This is a 24 word summary of two thousand years of Jewish history, from the Exodus to the Assyrian invasion and ruin of the northern kingdom. It highlights the historic persecution and antisemitism against God’s beloved nation.

Isa 52:5 Now therefore, what have I here,” says the LORD, “That My people are taken away for nothing? Those who rule over them Make them wail,” says the LORD, “And My name is blasphemed continually every day.

Isa 52:6 Therefore My people shall know My name; Therefore they shall know in that day That I am He who speaks: ‘Behold, it is I.’ ”

When you read the Bible, it seems as though the Jews are in a constant state of rebellion and failure. God is over and over again forced to discipline them. The other nations of the world look upon this. They take advantage of the Jews, and they blaspheme the Lord. All that is going to end.

The last book of the Bible, in its closing chapters, describes a farther future. Babylon will be a city again. God will destroy her again and save His people.

James Bond walks out of the ocean. He removes his SCUBA gear and is perfectly clothed in a tuxedo, complete with lapel flower.

Believers in Jesus have additional wardrobe they put on over their robe. One is the armor of God. We are told to put it on because we are in a war against malevolent creatures.

In World War II, Allied forces invaded Normandy, France, to establish a beachhead.

We must not allow Satan to have the beachhead.

There are three lifestyles believers adopt on their journey:

You can think of your time on Earth with Jesus as if you are living on a luxury liner with the Church. You never get close to the beach because your life is about comfort.
You can disembark and get into a landing craft. You’ll take heavy fire. The Higgins Boat amphibious landing craft was typically constructed from plywood. It could ferry a roughly platoon-sized complement of 36 men to shore at 9 knots. Can you say “sitting duck?”
You can storm the beach. Wearied, wounded, wondering… We press on that [we] may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of [us]” (Philippians 3:12).

#2 – Go Out & Show Off Your Beautiful Feet (v7-12)

“In 2015 an exhibition of ancient clay tablets discovered in modern-day Iraq shed light on the daily life of Jews exiled to Babylon. The exhibition featured more than 100 cuneiform tablets, each no bigger than your palm, that detail transactions and contracts between Judeans driven from Jerusalem by King Nebuchadnezzar around 600BC.”

The Jews traded, ran businesses, and helped the administration of Babylon. One archaeologist said, “They were free to go about their lives, they weren’t slaves. Nebuchadnezzar wasn’t a brutal ruler in that respect. He knew he needed the Judeans to help revive the struggling Babylonian economy.”

Let’s say in Babylon you are a successful businessman with a comfortable life. Your kids are happy – your son plays football for the Babylon Bees, your daughter spends summers interning at the hanging gardens. All of a sudden you could go “home.” But… You are home. Only a handful of Jews who had seen the Temple would survive.

You’d be going ‘home’ to ruins, to a city with no walls and no Temple. There were no incentives. Materially speaking, it was foolish. You’d have to be stupid… or spiritual.

You might face a huge, life-changing spiritual decision. You will face many less drastic but just as important spiritual decisions. When you do, it is more than OK to be a faithful fool for Jesus. Choose the option that represents storming the beaches.

The last three verses of this chapter belong with chapter fifty-three. They are the LORD’s excited, enthusiastic anticipation of the return of the Jews to Jerusalem once Cyrus tells them they are free to go.

Isa 52:7 How beautiful upon the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good things, Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”

The “watchmen” of verse eight suddenly see heralds running in the mountains spreading Good News as they go. The “Good News” is the return of the Jews.

The apostle Paul borrows this verse to describe believers heralding the Gospel in the Church Age (Romans 10:15). The Gospel message includes the understanding that Jesus has made peace between us and God.

For a run like that, unless you have Hobbit-feet you’d better be wearing Kicks. Why go barefoot?

Some fit Swede I found in my research wrote on his blog, “In the last twelve months, I have worn nothing but barefoot shoes or no shoes at all. Before that, I spent another twelve months in mostly barefoot shoes when working out, running, or going on walks. I’m not exaggerating when I say it changed my life.”

Research it for yourself. For health & fitness we ought to go barefoot.

I think I’m right in saying that the Jewish priests ministered in the Temple barefoot. We are not told that; we assume it because there is no description of footwear.

My speculation on the Barefoot Messenger Service is that it communicated a return to Temple worship. The barefoot priests had not been able to perform their tasks in the Temple for more than 70yrs. When they returned to Jerusalem, they built the Temple before the walls. Stupid – unless you understand that worship is warfare.

Why am I not preaching barefoot? Even more so, why does the worship team have shoes on? Answer two questions:

As a believer, is your body permanently indwelt by God the Holy Spirit?
As a believer, is worship an event or is it your lifestyle?

Since you are the Temple of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and your life is worship, shouldn’t you go barefoot at all times?

Isa 52:8 Your watchmen shall lift up their voices, With their voices they shall sing together; For they shall see eye to eye When the LORD brings back Zion.

Isa 52:9 Break forth into joy, sing together, You waste places of Jerusalem! For the LORD has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem.

The only commentary here is to note God’s joy. You & I can bring joy to God!! We are always quick to point out the truth that God does not need us. But that doesn’t cancel out His enjoying us. We are not just another something that God has created out of boredom. We are made in His image. We are meant to be His greatest, and therefore most beloved, creation.

Isa 52:10 The LORD has made bare His holy arm In the eyes of all the nations; And all the ends of the earth shall see The salvation of our God.

Maybe you’ve seen The Ghost & the Darkness. It is the terrifying but true story of two lions in Kenya, Africa, the Tsavo Man-eaters. In one scene a native, Mahina, thinks he has killed it. He looks at Val Kilmer and raises up his bloody arms in a victory pose. Yeah, they eat him later.

Isa 52:11 Depart! Depart! Go out from there, Touch no unclean thing; Go out from the midst of her, Be clean, You who bear the vessels of the LORD.

Isa 52:12 For you shall not go out with haste, Nor go by flight; For the LORD will go before you, And the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

Get up! Get out! You won’t need anything, so don’t be like your ancestors in the Exodus from Egypt and take spoil. March properly with the implements from the Temple that were stolen by Nebuchadnezzar. Don’t hurry in fear but enjoy the walk. God will guide & protect, and He has your ‘6’.

I used to think it was probably OK for some or even the majority of the Jews to remain in Babylon. But that’s just wrong. God told them to depart and get to Jerusalem.

The figure historians have arrived at is 80%. That is, 80% of the Jews in Babylon remained behind. You can read all about it in the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.

Without Jerusalem and the Temple, many prophecies about the coming of Messiah could not have been fulfilled by Jesus some 400yrs later.

We are set-up to examine ourselves, “Am I luxury crusin?” “Am I motoring to join the fight?” “Am I on the beach, sometimes running, sometimes crawling, but advancing?”

Were the missionaries of Operation Ecuador fools? Absolutely!

We aren’t in Ecuador but the mission is the same. We come together as the Church to be built-up in our faith in order to go out and do the work of the ministry. The work is the Great Commission, to go into the whole world with the Good News of salvation in Jesus.

We should be willing to be fools in Operation Hanford, or Lemoore, or NASLemoore, Corcoran, Armona, Grangeville, Avenal, Stratford, and, yes, Riverdale; in Operation My Home, My Workplace, My School.

Elizabeth Elliot wrote, “I have one desire now – to live a life of reckless abandon for the Lord, putting all my energy and strength into it.”

Prophecy Update #774 – My DNA’s Better Than Yours

February 11, 2024

“As the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.”
– Jesus

The Days of Noah are briefly described in the sixth chapter of the Book of Genesis. Fallen angels were attempting to change what it means to be human at a genetic level.

We find a more detailed description in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Discovered in the 1940s preserved in caves, the Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of ancient Jewish texts. They are about 60% biblical manuscripts and 40% manuscripts that were in circulation at the time. The 40% – they are not Scripture. They are not authoritative. What they are, however, is accurate history and prophecy. The first apostles and the early church fathers read them, quoted from them, recommended them, and believed them to be truthful, reliable documents. The Bible, in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, mentions about 20 of these books. It’s just wrong not to consult them.

Dr. Ken Johnson is a Dead Sea Scroll scholar & translator. He is also a Calvary Chapel guy He writes, “There… exist fragments of what is referred to as the Book of Giants. Though very badly fragmented, they provide more details on the practices of the fallen [angels].”

One of the fragments reads, “They took two hundred donkeys and asses[ccxc], two hundred rams and goats[ccxci], two hundred of the beasts of the field, including various types of animals and birds, for the purpose of mixing species.” (4Q531 Frag. 3).

Johnson explains what is meant:

The Book of Giants… details how the fallen angels descended from Heaven and studied all types of creatures from insects to mammals, birds, and even mankind. They took two hundred of each kind of animal or bird and cross bred them with another kind that had a similar chromosome count to create a creature with an unstable chromosome count. One example given in the text is sheep with 54 chromosomes and goats with 60 chromosomes. This produced a half-sheep, half-goat creature with 56 or 57 chromosomes. Only a few of the two hundred pair combinations would have the ability to reproduce. These unstable life-forms were then crossed with other unstable life-forms with a chromosome count not too different from their own. This process was continued until the desired creature was created. The Ancient Book of Jasher mentioned cross breeding cattle with birds. This might have been the origin of the legend of Pegasus, a winged horse.

Is it like the Days of Noah?

It is if we see a trend towards changing what it means to be human.

Elon Musk is forging forward with NeuraLink. A chip is inserted in your brain by which you can communicate with computers and other connected devices. It is being dubbed “The technology that could change what it means to be human.”

Let’s get really freaked-out. The Surgeon General of the Sunshine State has called for a halt in the use of COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines. His argument is that despite being told it is safe, the mRNA in these particular shots allow junk DNA to enter your cells and remain. Dr. Joseph Ladapo calls the new push to be vaccinated “anti-human.”

Vladimir Putin knows more about genetic alterations then he was willing to tell Tucker Carlson in their interview.

Jesus said the Last Days would be like the Days of Noah. There was a strong effort then and now to manipulate DNA & alter what it means to be human.

We live in the Church Age, between the first coming of Jesus and His return to establish and rule the Kingdom of God on earth. His return will be preceded by a seven year time of incredible trouble upon the earth. Most commonly it is called the Great Tribulation, but the prophet Jeremiah calls it the Time of Jacob’s Trouble. It is a reminder that God will use that time to reveal Himself to unbelieving Israel. By the end of the seven years “all Israel will be saved.”

Jesus promised His Church, “I… will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth” (Revelation 3:10).

He keeps us entirely out of the 7yr Great Tribulation by raising deceased Church Age saints, then rapturing “we who are alive and remain.”

When? The return of the Lord for us is imminent. It could happen any time. Nothing needs to occur before Jesus can come for us.

Are you ready for the rapture? If not, Get ready; Stay ready; Keep looking up.

Ready or not, Jesus is coming!

“When in the end that church will suddenly be caught up from this, then it is said, ‘There will be tribulation such as not been since the beginning, nor will be.’ ”

– Irenaeus (AD130-202), Against Heresies 5.29

How Does He Love Me? Let Me Count The Ways.

February 7, 2024

In 1850, Elizabeth Barrett Browning published Sonnet 43: How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. The poem was an exploration of the love she felt for her husband, Robert. Lizzie’s father did not approve, and so she and Bob not only courted but also married in secret. After the ceremony, they fled to Italy, where Elizabeth wrote her sonnets and the couple lived for 15 years.

Is Psalm 103, David writes a song that could be tilted How Do YOU Love ME? As the stanzas unfurl, we are reminded of the tender, unfailing, destiny-changing nature of God’s love for us. This is no love expressed in secret – it has been on display for thousands of years for all the world to see. It is His great desire that people know about His love. The world keeps turning because God wants to shower us with His love and draw others into relationship with Him.

Psalm 103:1 – Of David. ¹My soul, bless the Lord, and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

This song is directed inwardly. In it there are many Gospel truths and God is glorified – it’s very worshipful – but David’s message is to himself.

He speaks to his “soul.” If you’re like me, the soul seems like a ghostly thing. But in the Bible, the soul refers to your essential being. It’s your life, your mind, your will, your appetites, the things you yearn or thirst for. That which makes you you.

All of that, David says, should bless the Lord. Everything inside, all of my essence, every compartment of life. To bless means to praise, to kneel, to salute. David’s desire is that the entirety of his being would be oriented toward praising the Lord and loving Him.

Who are we to bless? It’s this Person Who loves us so well. Love has a name, and it’s Yahweh. We can personally know Him because He has revealed Himself in His Word.

Psalm 103:2 – ²My soul, bless the Lord, and do not forget all his benefits.

Another way to read that last phrase is, “Do not ignore all His dealings.” Derek Kidner says it seems David needed to rouse himself out of some sort of apathy or gloom. The best way to do that is to remember Who God is and what He has done. Remember His accomplishments.

We’re prone to forget the Lord’s dealings. There are warnings of God’s people forgetting the Lord in Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Hosea, 2 Peter, Hebrews, and Revelation. When we forget, we slide into discontent, discouragement, resentment, frustration, doubt. The Biblical antidote is to remember what God has done, how He deals with His people, and to remember the benefits of salvation.

Psalm 103:3-5 – ³He forgives all your iniquity; he heals all your diseases. ⁴He redeems your life from the Pit; he crowns you with faithful love and compassion. ⁵He satisfies you with good things; your youth is renewed like the eagle.

How does He love me? Let me count the ways: He forgives, He heals, He redeems, He crowns, He satisfies, He renews. What a list!

Now, someone might say, “Wait just a minute. I’m diseased. I’m old and tired. The promises here don’t ring true.” How are we to deal with a phrase like, “He heals all your diseases?”

First of all, we see that phrase paired with “He forgives all your iniquity.” Biblical poetry often uses a literary method called parallelism which connects one line with another. In this couplet, David would have us think about spiritual and moral disease in our hearts resulting from sin. God heals those diseases. He heals the inner man. He takes a killer like Saul and transforms him into a hero like Paul. Paul was cured of his hatred, his violence, his self-righteousness.

Of course – in the end – all our physical diseases will be healed. The effects of sin will be undone in the Kingdom. That counts! We want healing now, and that’s ok, but we most definitely will be healed in eternity.

We’re not surprised when an old Christian dies, right? None of us think, “Well, I’m a Christian, so I’ll never get old and die.” Neither should a Christian be surprised when our bodies get sick.

That’s not to say God doesn’t still heal today. He absolutely does. Just yesterday I was talking to a friend of mine from out of town. He told me that about a week ago doctors found a very scary lump in his wife. They prayed about it for a week. They went back to the doctor yesterday morning and the lump is just gone! That’s not a coincidence and it’s not because my friend has more spiritual power than someone else. God decided to heal in that situation.

But not every sickness is healed in the here and now. That same friend has a very difficult, chronic illness that has not been healed. But in the end, we will be raised incorruptible, unsick, full of glory and vigor. That’s what God will do for us. And there we’ll be crowned with love and compassion.

The Lord crowns us with His attributes. He is the King of love. He is compassionate. And that’s what we’re going to look like in the end. It makes sense that we should look more and more like that as we walk with Him. Christians are being conformed into this image.

Meanwhile, the Lord promises to satisfy us, not with worldly things, but with good things. “No one is good but God alone.” Satisfaction in the Christian life comes from Godliness.

Psalm 103:6-7 – ⁶The Lord executes acts of righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. ⁷He revealed his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel.

God’s active love is applied personally, nationally, and globally. We’re told that He “executes acts of righteousness.” He performs it and advances it and manufactures it and accomplishes it. He is always right and always righteous.

People see suffering or injustice in the world and some react by saying, “How could a God love,” or “Why doesn’t God.” Those are hard questions, but those questions misunderstand the problem. God is always righteous. God is gracious even to the guilty. It is man who has fouled the earth.

Now God works tirelessly to save us from our own destruction. And He does not hide behind the scenes. He reveals and demonstrates His power and His truth. There He is, throughout all human history, accomplishing what He said He was going to do and telling us about it along the way.

People are intrigued with what billionaires do – the islands they buy, the places they go. The media always wants to know why did Elon Musk do this thing over here, or, what is Mark Zuckerberg building over there? They are enigmatic figures that we guess about.

We know Who God is. We know why God does things. He has revealed His ways and His deeds. We can go to the record right now and discover His plan, His principles, His character, His heart.

One of His righteous purposes is to execute justice for the oppressed. We want to be on His side of those issues. In the mid 1800s, there were some so-called Christians who tried to use the Bible to defend American slavery. What could be more unjust? I suppose those so-called Christians who try to defend abortion might take the cake.

God is a God of justice for the oppressed. He not only saves, He pours vengeance out on His enemies. He is keeping score and the score will be settled one day.

These references to justice in the Bible have propelled some churches into what is called the Social Gospel, where the focus ultimately shifts away from the spiritual onto the physical. The emphasis tends to become using human means and worldly structures to temporally benefit those who are oppressed or disadvantaged. Not all of those efforts are wrong, but what is wrong is pouring all of our activity into earthly programs, which will inevitably fail or become corrupted themselves.

Our hope can’t be in human programs, governmental systems, human leadership. I saw a flag outside a house the other day that said, “Jesus 2024: Our only hope.” That’s a good reminder of our spiritual reality. We should be as civically involved as the Lord leads us, we should seek to alleviate suffering, but the final answer isn’t a law or a leader or a poverty plan. It is God’s righteousness operating in many individual hearts that changes lives and exalts a nation.

Psalm 103:8-10 – ⁸The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love. ⁹He will not always accuse us or be angry forever. ¹⁰He has not dealt with us as our sins deserve or repaid us according to our iniquities.

God is so gracious, so faithful, so compassionate that even Israel is not abandoned by Him. God cannot and will not forsake Israel. Thank goodness, because we’re no more deserving of His mercy.

Back in Exodus, after the incident with the golden calf, the Lord came, dealt with that situation, and then identified Himself with the quote David uses here: Slow to anger. Abounding in love.

Late in Jeremiah, after all the pronouncements of judgment, God says, “No matter what, there is no way I would reject Israel.”

That doesn’t mean God doesn’t care about sin. Look at the history of Israel and the disciplines they endured. David would be the first one to tell you that sin has terrible consequences. But, in wrath God remembers mercy. Even when His anger must break out against sin, He is compassionate.

Kidner writes, “God, infinitely wronged, not only tempers [His] wrath, but tempers justice – though at what cost to Himself, only the New Testament would reveal.”

Our sin demands death and wrath. But God said, “I’ll pay the bill. I’ll send My own Son to die so that I don’t have to give these people what they deserve.” And even though we still go on sinning, He still relates to us in loving, merciful compassion.

Psalm 103:11-13 – ¹¹For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his faithful love toward those who fear him. ¹²As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. ¹³As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.

David uses three pictures here: One spacial, one theoretical, one familial, all to illustrate the fact that God’s love for you cannot be bounded. You can’t hit the edge. There isn’t an end.

Scientists recently discovered a new galaxy that is “baffling” astronomers. According to current space science theories it shouldn’t be able to exist. That galaxy is 300 million light years away. To give you some perspective, the space shuttle Discovery traveled at 5 miles a second. It would take the Discovery more than 37,000 years to travel one light-year.

The Lord wants you to know His hesed love for you is greater than the span of galaxies. Hesed is a word we’re less familiar with than the New Testament agape, but it is just as important. God’s hesed is not a feelings-based love. This is a love based on covenant loyalty. It is kind and steadfast and gracious, and strong. It is a love that is constantly shown in action and faithfulness. Just as east can never meet west, God’s love for you cannot come to an end.

If you want to experience this love, there is a requirement: You must fear the Lord. David is going to say that three times in these verses. The Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.

Psalm 103:14-16 – ¹⁴For he knows what we are made of, remembering that we are dust. ¹⁵As for man, his days are like grass—he blooms like a flower of the field; ¹⁶when the wind passes over it, it vanishes, and its place is no longer known.

We are nothing more than dust bunnies. Talk about a rags-to-riches story! Look at how frail, how fleeting a human life is in the grand scheme. And yet, we are the object of God’s special attention.

I’ve vacuumed up a lot of dust bunnies. I can’t say that I’ve ever felt any emotion for them. But look at the tenderness of God. Look at how mindful, how thoughtful, how caring He is toward us.

We would have no place unless God made a place for us, and that’s exactly what He’s done and is doing for us. The Lord has gone to prepare a place for His people – one that lasts forever.

Psalm 103:17-18 – ¹⁷But from eternity to eternity the Lord’s faithful love is toward those who fear him, and his righteousness toward the grandchildren ¹⁸of those who keep his covenant, who remember to observe his precepts.

David shows what it means to fear the Lord – it means to keep His covenant and to observe His precepts. To be in right relationship with this God Who loves so much requires that we understand Him and undertake what He commands. This is why we need to study the Bible. Emotional religiosity isn’t sufficient. It must be informed by the truth.

But we also should take to heart here that we will not be automatically spiritual, even if we study a lot. The Psalm opened with, “Don’t forget.” Here we see “those who remember to observe.” The Christian life is a conscious choice day-by-day, not just in the mind, but with all the soul. In heaven, we’ll be complete. We will have perfect free will. Obeying God will be then like breathing is now.

But on this side of eternity, it’s a walk that takes purposeful steps. In fact, the prophet Micah said, “Other people are following their gods, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God.”

Sadly, we tend to be faithless at times – to backslide or stop progressing or wander off the path. Praise God that when we are faithless He is still faithful. He keeps His covenant.

Psalm 103:19 – ¹⁹The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.

Yesterday I saw a video of the mayor of Chicago complaining at a press conference because of his low approval numbers and he essentially said, “You’re all expecting me to be mayor, but my kids have soccer games and I have other stuff to do in my personal life.”

God isn’t stressed out about His responsibilities. He’s not strained to His limits. He invites us to pile all our cares onto Him. He is the Almighty. He is absolutely in charge and His ways are the answer. If we want a better life, a better family, a better society, then we should recognize that Christ is King and His Kingdom will never end and then orient our lives accordingly.

Psalm 103:20-22 – ²⁰Bless the Lord, all his angels of great strength, who do his word, obedient to his command. ²¹Bless the Lord, all his armies, his servants who do his will. ²²Bless the Lord, all his works in all the places where he rules. My soul, bless the Lord!

David the dust bunny commanded the angels to praise the Lord. It is an astonishing thing that we will judge the angels one day. That should humble us. That should inspire us to serve the Lord in heart, mind, and body right now. To conduct ourselves as His people in His purposes.

In all the places where God rules. I was thinking how remarkable it is: God rules everywhere, except one place: the human heart. He doesn’t not force us to open that territory to Him. Almighty God allows rebellion. He allows people to shut Him out for a time – not forever. One day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

But for now, this wonderful Lord suffers long and He reveals Who He is, He reveals the power of His love and invites us to love Him in return.

Years before their marriage, Robert Browning had written a letter to Elizabeth Barrett. He had read some of her earlier poems and asked to meet her. She hesitated and resisted at first, but finally accepted the invitation. As a result, she discovered the great love of her life – her soul mate.

David took a look at these things and his response was, “My soul, bless the Lord!” Despite his earthly prominence, despite the mistakes he had made, despite the difficulties he faced, he realized the best thing he could do was receive God’s love and take his position in God’s Kingdom.

Psalm 116:12-13 – How can I repay the Lord for all the good he has done for me? ¹³I will take the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.

Calvary Hanford Transcripts

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