Category: post-exilic prophets

Categorized! #5

Wednesday, April 27, 2022

“And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night” (Revelation 12:10 KJV).

Behold, the evil categorizer!

We return to Zechariah chapter 3: “[4] And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment. [5] And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD stood by.

“[6] And the angel of the LORD protested unto Joshua, saying, [7] Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by. [8] Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH. [9] For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. [10] In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree.”

Joshua the High Priest is given clean clothes, a type of Israel’s redemption to be God’s kingdom of priests in the ages to come. In verse 8, we see Messiah Jesus (“the BRANCH”). Of course, verse 9 hints at the New Covenant, Israel’s forgiveness, the LORD promising, “I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day” (cf. Zechariah 13:1,2—also Christ’s return; note chapter 12, verse 10, and chapter 13, verse 6).

Now, light has been shed on today’s Scripture….

Categorized! #4

Tuesday, April 26, 2022

“And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night” (Revelation 12:10 KJV).

Behold, the evil categorizer!

“Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?” (Isaiah 49:24). When the Devil disputed the validity of God’s promise to use defiled Israel in the ages to come, the Divine reply thundered: “[25] But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children. [26] And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.” While it was unclear to Satan and Israel in Isaiah’s day precisely how the LORD would address Israel’s sin problem, we (with a completed Bible in hand) realize that was Messiah/Christ Jesus promising to fight Satan face-to-face at Calvary 700 years into the future!

Though Israel is Satan’s spiritual prisoner, under the control of sin and useless to God, Messiah will liberate them and make them His people and cause them to be righteous. “For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he” (Jeremiah 31:11). Also see verses 31-34, the promise of the New Covenant, when Christ’s shed blood is applied to Israel’s national account, rendering her forgiven and cleansed of her filthiness (cf. Hebrews chapters 8–10). This new arrangement to permanently cancel the sin debt accrued under the Old Covenant (Law of Moses), will be ratified at the Lord’s Second Coming (Acts 3:19-21; Romans 11:26,27; Hebrews 9:14-17). Here, the Holy Spirit is poured out on Israel to cause them to walk in God’s ways, to be God’s people in the Earth, free from Satan’s evil categorizing of them (Ezekiel 36:25-38)….

Categorized! #3

Monday, April 25, 2022

“And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night” (Revelation 12:10 KJV).

Behold, the evil categorizer!

When the nation Israel entered the covenant or contract with the LORD God at Mount Sinai, they had already been notified of its severe conditions: “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel” (Exodus 19:5,6). The “if… then” requirement is noteworthy. If Israel obeyed God’s laws, then she would be His people. The converse was also true. If she disobeyed, then she would not be His people. Most foolishly, the Israelites agreed to this disastrous arrangement: “All that the LORD hath spoken we will do” (verse 8).

In Isaiah chapter 49, as Almighty God relates His wonderful promises to bless and use the nation Israel for His earthly purposes, a stern objection is raised in verse 24: “Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?” This is Satan’s boast, and its contents are extremely weighty. How can holy God use sinful Israel? What a dilemma! In the 700 years since Moses, they have defiled themselves and God’s land with false religion and devil worship! Satan brags, “They legally belong to me, God, for they have disobeyed You!”

Let us turn back to Zechariah 3:1-3, re-reading Satan’s accusation against Joshua the High Priest: “…Satan standing at his right hand to resist [oppose, contest] him…. Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.” As Israel was to be God’s kingdom of priests but corrupted herself with the evil world system, so Joshua the Jewish High Priest is dirty. Joshua symbolizes his nation, both equally unclean to serve in their God-given roles because they bear Satan’s attributes….

Our latest Bible Q&A: “What is an ‘execration?’”

Categorized! #2

Sunday, April 24, 2022

“And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night” (Revelation 12:10 KJV).

Behold, the evil categorizer!

When our English Bible names Satan as “accuser” in today’s Scripture, it supplies us with the translation of the underlying Greek word “kategoros.” Obviously, here is the origin of the English term “category.” As we categorize something, we are really judging it based on its size, shape, color, texture, and so on. That is, we have accused it of possessing or lacking certain qualities. Satan is functioning in this capacity with respect to believing Israel in today’s Scripture. Yet, before we look into the future any further, let us go back into history.

After a Jewish remnant returned to the land of Judah following the 70 years of Babylonian captivity, the Prophet Zechariah conducted his ministry. The restoration and rebuilding of Jerusalem and its Temple (Zerubbabel’s replacing Solomon’s) looks forward to Israel’s future kingdom restoration when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back to permanently deliver them from all five courses of punishment and bless them (see Leviticus 26:1-46, especially verses 40-46). In fact, the Book of Zechariah, written circa 500 B.C., has Messiah’s two comings in view (though only one coming is apparent to them at that time because God was withholding details of two advents).

One of Zechariah’s prophetic visions is recorded in chapter 3: “[1] And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. [2] And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? [3] Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.” Satan is opposing Joshua the High Priest (not to be confused with Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ successor, who lived a millennium prior!). Joshua has been categorized as dirty, unfit for his noble office….

Seven Men Named Before Birth #3

Wednesday, August 4, 2021

“A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold” (Proverbs 22:1 KJV).

Who are the seven noteworthy men in Scripture named before their births?

As per the fifth course of chastisement in the Law of Moses, the idolatrous nation Israel was removed from the Land of Canaan via Gentile deportations and captivities (Leviticus 26:27-46). In the case of Judah, the Southern Kingdom, Babylon was its home for 70 years, circa 606–536 B.C. (Jeremiah 25:11,12; Jeremiah 29:10,11;  2 Chronicles 36:20,21). However, before Babylon thrice invaded and ultimately conquered Jerusalem, God promised a deliverer who would defeat/possess Babylon and grant the Israelites permission to return to the Promised Land and rebuild Jerusalem and its Temple.

“That saith of Cyrus [“possess the furnace,” King of Persia], He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid. Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;…” (Isaiah 44:28–45:1). Some 150 years after Isaiah, Cyrus—also called “Darius the Median”—fulfilled this prophecy concerning him (cf. Daniel 5:30,31; Daniel 9:1,2; 2 Chronicles 36:22,23; Ezra 1:1-3).

During the ministries of the Old Testament prophets, Israel repeatedly disregarded God’s messengers and remained in unbelief. Thus, the LORD warned He would eventually stop sending preachers to Israel (Amos 8:11-14). With Malachi’s ministry concluding, the Hebrew Bible was closed circa 400 B.C. No Scriptures were written either. (This is how we know the Apocryphal books are forgeries!) Finally, after four centuries of silence, God spoke to Israel again through John the Baptist’s ministry: “But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John [the Baptist, “favored of JEHOVAH”]” (Luke 1:13). Even after all this time, God in His grace still favors ungrateful Israel, and will still fulfill the covenants He promised them!

Now, the last man on our list, the greatest Man, the God-Man….

Confession Confusion #6

Saturday, June 26, 2021

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9 KJV).

Lo, the chief proof-text of the “short-account system!” (And how to look at it afresh, without [!] denominational eyeglasses!)

By the time of John the Baptist’s ministry and Christ’s earthly ministry, national Israel is still apostate (refusing God’s Word) but a believing remnant (the Little Flock) is confessing their sins and their forefathers’ sins. Recall Matthew 3:6 and Mark 1:5. Ever since Moses 16 centuries prior, Israel has failed to “do” “all that the LORD hath spoken” (Exodus 19:1-8). The Jews have been habitually idolatrous, violating their agreement with JEHOVAH God at Sinai. Experiencing the fifth course of judgment or chastisement (Leviticus 26:40-46), they must confess their sins so as to be delivered into God’s earthly kingdom and enjoy the Abrahamic Covenant! Yet, as previously noted, religious Israelites refuse to learn the lesson of the Law of Moses (see their sin problem). Regarding all other Jews “sinners,” they believe they have no sins to confess and thus refuse John’s water baptism (Matthew 3:7-9; Luke 3:7,8; Luke 7:29,30; cf. Matthew 9:10-13; Mark 2:15-17; Luke 5:29-32).

Today’s Scripture addresses these Jews who suppose themselves to be sinless, “good enough” in their works-religion: “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us” (1 John 1:7-10). First John 1:9 is written to unbelievers in Israel! Now, look at 1 John 2:12: “I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake.” Here is Israel’s believing remnant, the Little Flock.

Having now established the context of 1 John 1:9, let us summarize and conclude this devotionals arc….

Confession Confusion #5

Friday, June 25, 2021

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9 KJV).

Lo, the chief proof-text of the “short-account system!” (And how to look at it afresh, without [!] denominational eyeglasses!)

Obeying Leviticus 26:40-42, Daniel, Ezra, and Nehemiah all confessed sins in light of the Babylonian Captivity. “And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O LORD, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;…. And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God;…” (Daniel 9:4,20).

“O LORD God of Israel, thou art righteous: for we remain yet escaped, as it is this day: behold, we are before thee in our trespasses: for we cannot stand before thee because of this…. Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children: for the people wept very sore…. Now therefore make confession unto the LORD God of your fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange [pagan/heathen/idolatrous] wives” (Ezra 9:15; 10:1,11).

“Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father’s house have sinned” (Nehemiah 1:6). “And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers. And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the LORD their God” (Nehemiah 9:2,3).

Hence, John the Baptist’s converts were also confessing their sins….

Our latest Bible Q&A: “What is ‘surfeiting?’”

Jehoshaphat’s Bible Teachers #6

Thursday, May 28, 2020

“And they taught in Judah, and had the book of the law of the LORD with them, and went about throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught the people” (2 Chronicles 17:9 KJV).

Jehoshaphat was King David’s great-great-great grandson, ruling over the Kingdom of Judah more than a century after him. Early in his reign, Jehoshaphat wisely chose to commission Bible teachers to disseminate God’s truth throughout his kingdom.

If we have some good news, it is only natural to want to tell others about it. (Of course, similarly, it is human nature to want to share bad news—gossip—too!) In the form of sound Bible doctrine, the Word of God rightly divided, we have a message worth proclaiming to the world. It is a Gospel that will span the endless eons of eternity future: “Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and He rose again the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:3,4). “God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3,4).

We turn now the Apostle Paul’s words in 2 Timothy 2:2: “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.” As Jehoshaphat’s Bible teachers listened to the LORD through Moses, and then communicated that sound Bible doctrine with others in the Kingdom of Judah, so we hearken to the LORD through Paul, and then spread that message of God’s grace to Jew and Gentile alike.

“I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:1-4).

Being mindful of sound Bible doctrine will prevent us from going the way of ancient Israel, drifting further and further from the one true God and becoming increasingly misled! 🙂

Jehoshaphat’s Bible Teachers #5

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

“And they taught in Judah, and had the book of the law of the LORD with them, and went about throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught the people” (2 Chronicles 17:9 KJV).

Jehoshaphat was King David’s great-great-great grandson, ruling over the Kingdom of Judah more than a century after him. Early in his reign, Jehoshaphat wisely chose to commission Bible teachers to disseminate God’s truth throughout his kingdom.

We cannot love the Lord and not value His Word. Anyone who truly loves Jesus Christ will do whatever he or she can to teach that Word to others. The two greatest responses we can have toward the Scriptures is to first believe them and then share them.

Jehoshaphat believed the Holy Bible and then he ordered teachers to educate his people and remind them of their God’s Word to them and His will for them. Decades earlier, before he assumed the throne of his forefather David, Judah had forgotten the LORD and His Word to them. They were too preoccupied with pagan idols to concentrate on the one true God! Consequently, King Solomon’s heathenism engendered God’s wrath and split Israel and Judah, resulting in the divided kingdom now present during Jehoshaphat’s day.

Read of Ezra the Priest-Prophet-Scribe who lived a few centuries after Jehoshaphat. Ezra chapter 7: “[6] This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him…. [10] For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments…. [Artaxerxes King of Persia said] [25] And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that is in thine hand, set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them that know them not.”

Whereas Jehoshaphat lived before, Ezra conducted his ministry in Judah after the Babylonian Captivity. Now, God has already sent Judah out in exile because of idolatrous kings living subsequently to Jehoshaphat. We fight apostasy and heresy with sound Bible teaching….

A Mind to Work! #6

Saturday, May 25, 2019

“So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work” (Nehemiah 4:6 KJV).

It is a verse from Israel’s ancient records, but the underlying principle is most beneficial to us if we are willing to hear and believe it.

Read the rest of Nehemiah chapter 4 through to chapter 6. There were more struggles and challenges—including Israel’s enemies attempting to distract Nehemiah and waste his time (opening verses of chapter 6)—but “the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days” (6:15). God’s people “had a mind to work,” and, despite the escalating resistance, they completed their task!

We the Church the Body of Christ—2,500 years later—would do well to see that God’s people can indeed do whatever He calls them to do. No matter how relentless Satan is in opposing us, regardless of how many sinful people he can recruit to intimidate or silence us, God’s work will go on. Our Heavenly Father has called us Christians to build into our inner man, and the inner man of those we reach, an edifice of sound Bible doctrine. This information is likened unto “gold, silver, precious stones” (1 Corinthians 3:6-15); every other form of teaching is “wood, hay, stubble.” Rather than letting our attention be diverted with all sorts of nonsense, we must ignore the evil world system and believe God’s Word rightly divided so it can work in our lives!

Earlier, we referred to the Thessalonians. Let us revisit them one last time, 1 Thessalonians 1:8-10: “For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing. For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.” Did you see their Christian conduct? They believed sound doctrine, and had a mind to work (1 Thessalonians 2:13)!! 🙂