Category: The Nation Israel

The Living God #7

Monday, March 7, 2016

“For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?” (Deuteronomy 5:26 KJV).

Exactly why is the God of the Bible called “the living God?”

The 21st through 25th instances appear in the Pauline epistles. They are associated with us, the Church the Body of Christ. Paul penned in 2 Corinthians 3:3: “Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.” And, 2 Corinthians 6:16: “And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

Referring to grace assemblies in Crete, Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 3:15: “But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” And, 1 Timothy 4:10: “For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.” Finally, 1 Timothy 6:17: “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;”

While we will discuss this more fully later, for now, suffice it to say “the living God” that was once exclusive to the nation Israel can now be the God of the nations (Gentiles). That is, the one true God who did not deal with non-Jews apart from the nation Israel, is now offering fellowship with all people (Gentiles). In Paul’s writings, the Gentiles are urged to “turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (1 Thessalonians 1:9). Let us look in the Bible to see where Israel is urged to do the same!

Our latest Bible Q&A: “Why did Jesus select evil Judas Iscariot to be an apostle?”

The Living God #6

Sunday, March 6, 2016

“For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?” (Deuteronomy 5:26 KJV).

Exactly why is the God of the Bible called “the living God?”

We learn about Israel’s restoration in the last days, prophecy that will be fulfilled after our Dispensation of Grace ends: “Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God” (Hosea 1:10).

The next occurrence of the term is in the Apostle Peter’s famous profession of faith. Matthew 16:16: “And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” When the Lord Jesus is on trial, the high priest quotes the Old Testament, although in unbelief: “But Jesus held his peace, And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God” (Matthew 26:63).

Peter, spokesman of the 12 apostles, told Jesus in John 6:69: “And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God” (cf. Matthew 16:16, quoted above). Paul and Barnabas, travelling in Lystra, urged idolaters in Acts 14:15: “And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein:”

In reference to Israel’s future restoration in the Millennium, Romans 9:26 is Paul quoting Hosea 1:10, which we looked at earlier: “And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.”

We have ten more verses to survey, and then we can review what the term means.

 

The Living God #5

Saturday, March 5, 2016

“For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?” (Deuteronomy 5:26 KJV).

Exactly why is the God of the Bible called “the living God?”

When we get to the eleventh time the phrase appears in our King James Bible, it is used to contrast the God of the nation Israel to the idols of the Gentiles. Notice Jeremiah 10:10: “But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.”

Jeremiah 23:36 is a rebuke of Israel’s religious leaders for their deceiving the nation in the name of the one true God: “And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more: for every man’s word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God.”

We find the term twice in the book of Daniel. After Daniel the Prophet was thrown into the lions’ den for refusing to pray to a pagan king, Darius, King of Media, we read what happened the next morning. Daniel 6:20: “And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?” During the ordeal, Darius was evidently converted to Israel’s God. Observe what Darius said in verse 26: “I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end.”

So, we see that, in addition to denoting power and victory, the term “the living God” is used in contradistinction to idols, the gods of the heathen. There is still much to learn about “the living God,” for we are only halfway through our list of references.

The Living God #4

Friday, March 4, 2016

“For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?” (Deuteronomy 5:26 KJV).

Exactly why is the God of the Bible called “the living God?”

The fifth and sixth occurrences of the term “the living God” are 2 Kings chapter 19, verses 4 and 16. About 710 B.C., Assyrian King Sennacherib attempts to invade and destroy Judah and Jerusalem. Judaean King Hezekiah, seeking the LORD’S counsel, sends men to speak with the Prophet Isaiah.

These men tell Isaiah in verse 4: “It may be the LORD thy God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left.” And, Hezekiah prays in verse 16: “LORD, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, LORD, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God.” This is similar to when young David, anticipating military victory, spoke of “the living God” on Israel’s side (1 Samuel 17:26,36).

When the Psalmist saw God as his Deliverer, he wrote Psalm 42:2: “My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?” This closely resembles Psalm 84:2: “My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.”

Isaiah, commenting on the events of 2 Kings, used the term twice more. Isaiah 37:4: “It may be the LORD thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left.” Verse 17: “Incline thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open thine eyes, O LORD, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God.”

The Bible’s definition of “the living God” is becoming more pronounced.

The Living God #3

Thursday, March 3, 2016

“For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?” (Deuteronomy 5:26 KJV).

Exactly why is the God of the Bible called “the living God?”

The Jews, sons of Abraham but also (sinful) sons of Adam, had been barred from entering the Promised Land because of their unbelief (see Numbers chapters 13 and 14; cf. Hebrews 3:7-19). Refusing to take God at His Word, Israel doubted He would surely drive out their enemies. They doubted they would dwell safely in Canaan. So, once that generation had died off in the wilderness, at the end of 40 years, Moses addressed Israel’s new generations in Deuteronomy (see today’s Scripture). He reminded them just how strict God is under the current Covenant of Law. Not long after today’s Scripture, Moses died, making Joshua God’s leader for Israel. We come to the second instance of “the living God.”

Reading Joshua 3:10: “And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites.” Israel is where she was with Moses 40 years earlier, before the wilderness wanderings. Joshua reaffirmed that Israel had “the living God” on her side. There was great power to give them victory. While Israel under Joshua’s command had some notable military triumphs, Israel once again doubted God’s Word to her and was never faithful in remaining separate from her pagan neighbors.

The next two instances of “the living God” concern little boy David’s victorious fight with Goliath: “And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?….Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God” (1 Samuel 17:26,36). There is power with “the living God!”

The Living God #2

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

“For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?” (Deuteronomy 5:26 KJV).

Exactly why is the God of the Bible called “the living God?”

Israel, in today’s Scripture, acknowledged JEHOVAH as “the living God.” Additionally, they had told Moses in verse 27: “Go thou near, and hear all that the LORD our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the LORD our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it.” This was their problem—they wanted to “do” something.

Indeed, Israel was terrified to hear “the living God” thundering words on Mount Sinai. Why? They had agreed to a works-religion covenant with Him. They wanted Him to deal with them on the basis of their performance. He gave them their wish (note Exodus 19:3-8, and chapter 20). The Mosaic Law was a very strict system, especially dominated by fear. God, once their Blesser (Exodus chapters 14-18), now their Judge. Moreover, save for Moses, He would not tolerate man or beast ascending—or even touching—Mount Sinai. Trespassers approaching Him were to be immediately stoned or shot through with a spear (Exodus 19:12,13)!

Centuries earlier, God had selected Abraham and promised to make of him a special nation. God in His grace would make Abraham a blessing and then bless the world through Abraham—God’s gift! Abraham had to do absolutely nothing to get it. Notice, it would be what God would do, not what Abraham would do! Genesis 12:1-3: “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and [I will] make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and [I will] curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

The living God wanted to do something for and with Abraham and Israel. Israel, however, wanted to do something for the living God. They got death!

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The Living God #1

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

“For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?” (Deuteronomy 5:26 KJV).

Exactly why is the God of the Bible called “the living God?”

The title “the living God” appears 30 times in our King James Bible. Its first occurrence in God’s Holy Word is today’s Scripture. In the context, Moses is rehearsing for this new generation of Jews what happened 40 years earlier to him and their parents. There, at Mount Sinai, God had spoken to them His words. Moses had received the Ten Commandments, and the other demands of the Law. He had faithfully given those commands. They heard a grand voice that thundered from darkness, on a mountaintop that burned with fire. Today’s Scripture is Moses quoting what Israel’s leaders had told him 40 years prior to Deuteronomy. How they trembled to hear the Creator God’s voice!

Read today’s Scripture in context: “[23] And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire,) that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders; [24] And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth. [25] Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, then we shall die. [26] For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? [27] Go thou near, and hear all that the LORD our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the LORD our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it.”

Yes, Israel called the Creator God “the living God,” but they demonstrated they had no idea what it meant!

Bible Q&A #240: “‘The mysteries of the kingdom of heaven’ and Paul’s ‘mysteries’—same or different?”

Lamentations and Adulations #2

Saturday, February 27, 2016

“But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us” (Lamentations 5:22 KJV).

What a befitting end to the book of Lamentations!

Lamentations is actually the Holy Spirit through Jeremiah expressing His grief concerning the destruction His people brought upon themselves. But, it is also Jeremiah the Prophet voicing his praise of JEHOVAH God. The God of Israel is a good God, most forgiving and most gracious (Lamentations 3:22-25).

As He told Moses many centuries before Jeremiah, Exodus 34:5-7: “[5] And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. [6] And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, [7] Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.”

No matter what horrible situation Israel placed herself into, there was (and always would be) assurance that JEHOVAH God would never give up on her. He would never leave her completely. Israel, as all of sinful mankind, turned out to be such a rotten nation. God had every right to utterly reject them and be very wroth with them. They had turned Jerusalem, the city where He desired to live with them, into a pagan shrine where they had literally set up idols to worship and serve! My, how He judged Jerusalem—yea, all of Israel. But, He will never break His Word to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

As Paul the Apostle commented, although Israel is set aside today in our Dispensation of Grace: “As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance” (Romans 11:28,29). God will make Israel His kingdom of priests in His own time. “Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old” (Lamentations 5:21—the verse before today’s Scripture). Israel’s best years are still future—due to God’s faithfulness, not hers! 🙂

Lamentations and Adulations #1

Friday, February 26, 2016

“But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us” (Lamentations 5:22 KJV).

What a befitting end to the book of Lamentations!

Lamentations was written by Jeremiah the Prophet to mourn (“lament”) the city of Jerusalem that now lay in ruins. Once a magnificent city, now a shame. Jerusalem, once world-renown for its military conquests and splendorous Temple, now un-walled and defenseless. Heathen neighbors laughed. Her inhabitants dragged off to Babylon—only a few poor people remain. Her kings slaughtered or imprisoned—the Davidic monarchy destroyed. Solomon’s magnificent Temple—now charred wood and scattered stones. JEHOVAH’S presence—long departed from Jerusalem. No economy, no Jewish government, almost no population, no religious system, no walls or military, no more Promised Land. All gone. Taken away. Indeed, Jeremiah aptly summarized it: “But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us!”

How God’s wrath fell upon His beloved city! We cannot imagine the violent fury that obliterated Jerusalem during Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar’s third invasion! (If God did that to His own nation, what is He going to all the Gentile nations one day?!) He was so very angry, so enraged, that He “utterly rejected” Israel! Once He came, there was nothing left! For five long chapters, Jeremiah poured out his heart, literally weeping throughout Lamentations. JEHOVAH God was just. Jerusalem, warned for centuries, completely refused to listen to prophets JEHOVAH had sent to warn her. Having reached the point of “no-return,” no repentance or conversion, judgment came! Jeremiah looked at Jerusalem in ruins, and he closed Lamentations with a very heavy heart: “But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us!”

A very depressing predicament—such extensive destruction makes Jerusalem appear perpetually ruined. But, small rays of hope appear in Lamentations 3:22-25: “[22] It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. [23] They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. [24] The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. [25] The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.” Jerusalem was destroyed, but not 100 percent annihilated. Her people were unfaithful to Him by worshipping and serving idols, but He would be faithful anyway!

Our latest Bible Q&A: “Who was Melchizedek?”

“Hate Speech” #7

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

“Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt” (Jeremiah 38:4 KJV).

Who is “this man?” And, what words is he speaking to make him worthy of being “put to death?”

About 600 years after the Prophet Jeremiah preached to Israel, the Apostle Paul preached to heathen. Note chapter 17 of Acts, when Paul and his ministry companions preached Jesus Christ: “[6] And when they [the unbelieving Jews] found them [Paul and Silas] not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; [7] Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.”

At this point, Paul has been preaching for over 20 years. The Jesus Christ who he had been proclaiming had angered many people all over the Roman Empire. Apostate Jews had heard of this renegade Pharisaical scholar preaching about an imposter he himself had once rejected and hated. Observe how those lost Jews accused Paul, Silas, and their ministry coworkers of “turn[ing] the world upside down” (Acts 17:6). As someone once commented, “Oh no, Jesus Christ through Paul was turning the world right-side up!” Indeed, lost man and God never see eye-to-eye. This world that God had originally created “good” is now evil. Mankind is evil, so he sees nothing wrong with the world; man views any improvement of it as bad. God, holy and just, recognizes the world as corrupt, and He will fully reclaim it from Satan one day!

Brethren, we know there is an everlasting devil’s hell waiting for all who die without Jesus Christ. May we, in love, reach them quickly with the message of Christ crucified for their sins, His burial, and His resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:3,4). Let them falsely accuse us. One way or another, in heaven or in hell, they will realize just how important that message is! 🙂