Week of 23
Pentecost - Odd (Variable)
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Podcast Download: Week of 23 Pentecost - Odd (Variable)
Sunday 23 Pentecost - Odd (Variable)
First posted 10/22/05;
Podcast: Sunday 23 Pentecost - Odd (Variable)
Jeremiah 29:1, 4-14 - Jeremiah’s Letter to the Exiles;
Jeremiah 39:11-40:6 - Jeremiah Freed;
Acts 16:6-15 - Paul’s Call to Macedonia;
Luke 10:1-12, 17-20 - The Mission of the Seventy;
Jeremiah 29 Summary:
Jeremiah sent a letter of God’s Word to the exiles in Babylon (Chaldea). The Lord told them he had sent them into exile, and that they were to go on with life as usual, in the land of exile. They were to build houses, plant gardens, get married and have children; they were to multiply in number in exile. They were to seek and pray for the welfare of the city in which they dwelt in exile, because their welfare was dependent upon the city’s welfare. The Lord warned them not to listen to the prophecies of false prophets among them because the Lord had not sent them.
The Lord told the exiles that after seventy year’s exile in Babylon, the Lord would fulfill his promise to bring them back to the Promised Land. “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, and bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile” (Jeremiah 29:11-14).
Jeremiah 39 Summary:
While Jeremiah had been in the court of the guard under “house-arrest”, the Lord had told Jeremiah to tell Ebed-melech, the Ethiopian (who had rescued Jeremiah from starvation in the empty cistern; Jeremiah 38: 7-13), that God’s Word of judgment would be fulfilled upon Jerusalem and Judah, but that the Lord would deliver Ebed-melech from the Chaldeans, and he would not be killed, because he had trusted in the Lord.
Jeremiah had been taken in chains from the courtyard of the guard in Jerusalem to Ramah (Nebuchadrezzar’s headquarters during the campaign against Judah; northeast of Sidon) along with the other exiles.
Nebuchadrezzar had commanded Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, to take good care of Jeremiah and not harm him, but allow him to do as he chose. Nebuzaradan told Jeremiah that the conquest of Judah and Jerusalem had been the fulfillment of the judgment of the Lord God of Israel because Judah and Jerusalem had not obeyed the voice of the Lord.
Nebuzaradan released Jeremiah from his chains, and gave him freedom to go wherever he chose, so Jeremiah went to Mizpah (of Benjamin, eight miles northwest of Jerusalem; the capital of the Babylonian province of Judah), where Gedaliah (the Jew appointed governor by Nebuchadrezzar) resided.
Acts Summary:
On the apostle Paul’s second missionary trip with Silas, his fellow missionary, Paul was being led by the indwelling Holy Spirit (the Spirit of Christ; Romans 8:9b). They passed through the Galatia (a Roman province in middle Asia Minor), Phrygia (in northwest Asia Minor) and Asia (a Roman province in western Asia Minor; Asia Minor is now the nation of Turkey), and Bithynia (in northern Asia Minor) without preaching because the Spirit of Jesus forbade them to preach in those regions.
They went down to Troas (west coast of Asia Minor) and during the night Paul had a dream of a Macedonian man pleading for Paul to come and help the Macedonians. Paul concluded that the Lord was calling them to preach the Gospel in Macedonia (a Roman province in Eastern Europe, north of Greece).
Paul and Silas sailed from Troas to Samothrace and then to Neapolis and on to Philippi, the leading (but not capital) city of Macedonia. Paul and Silas stayed in Philippi for a while, and on the Sabbath they went to a riverside outside the city gate where they supposed a synagogue met for prayer (although there was apparently no building). There was a group of women gathered and Paul and Silas sat down with them.
A woman from Thyatira (in Asia Minor) was a merchant of purple goods (expensive royal clothing) and she was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to the Gospel Paul was preaching, and she and her household were baptized. Then she begged Paul and Silas to be her guests, if they considered her faithful to God, and Paul and Silas accepted her invitation.
Luke Summary:
There was a wider group of disciples who followed Jesus in addition to the Twelve of his inner circle. Jesus appointed seventy disciples to go out two by two, as he had sent out the Twelve (Luke 9:1-5), giving them similar instructions. They were to prepare the villages for Jesus who was about to visit. Jesus told them there was a great spiritual harvest to be reaped, but few laborers. They should pray to the Lord of the harvest (Jesus Christ) to send laborers to reap the harvest.
Jesus warned them that they would be like lambs in the midst of wolves. They were to take no extra clothes or any provisions, and were not to be delayed by strangers they might meet on the road. They were to enter, in peace, the home of whoever received them in each village and to stay there in one house, not moving from house to house in a village. They were to eat what was provided. They were to heal the sick and announce the coming of God’s kingdom.
If any town refused to welcome and receive them they were to stand in the street and proclaim that they refused to receive from the town even the dust which clung to their feet, but that town should realize that the kingdom of God had come near to them. Jesus declared that any village which did not receive his disciples would suffer greater punishment on the Day of Judgment than Sodom (the notoriously wicked city destroyed by God; Genesis 18:16-19:28) but were to leave it to the Lord to deal with on the Day of Judgment: Luke 9:51-56.
Commentary:
Judah, the remnant of Israel, had many warnings from prophets, including Jeremiah, that their disobedience of God’s Word and their idolatry (love of anything as much as or greater than the Lord) would lead to the fall and exile of Judah to Babylon, and the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. Even the pagan captain of the guard of the Chaldeans realized that the fall of Judah was the consequence of Judah’s disobedience of God’s Word, and was telling Jeremiah, whose prophecy the Chaldeans had fulfilled.
Note that the Spirit of the Lord was at work in the Chaldeans to punish Judah, and also to preserve Jeremiah and Ebed-melech, a Gentile who obeyed God. Judah could have avoided that terrible tragedy up to the verge of the siege of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 38:19-20).
The Lord punished Judah for sin (disobedience of God’s Word) and idolatry, but preserved a remnant of Israel, and fulfilled his promise to restore them to the Promised Land. God’s Word is always fulfilled, over and over as the conditions for its fulfillment are met. God’s Word contains both promises and warnings. Those who obey God’s Word receive the promises, but disobedience brings the punishment the warnings were intended to prevent.
After seventy years the remnant of Israel returned to the Promised Land and rebuilt Jerusalem and the temple. They trusted and obeyed the Lord for a time, but ultimately forgot the lessons of the Babylonian exile. The consequence was that they were unprepared to receive the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
Jerusalem and the just-finished Temple of Herod were destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. The Jews were scattered throughout the world, and Israel ceased to exist as a nation until after World War II, when the Jews began to return to reestablish Israel. The temple, on which the Covenant of Law of the sacrificial system of Judaism depends, has never been rebuilt.
The Apostle Paul is the prototype and illustration of a modern, “post-resurrection,” “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) disciple and apostle (messenger of the Gospel) of Jesus Christ, as each of us can be. Paul (formerly called Saul) had apparently never known Jesus during Jesus’ physical life and ministry; he first encountered the risen and ascended Jesus on the road to Damascus when Paul was a persecutor of Christians (Acts 9:1-21).
I believe that Paul was the disciple the Lord chose to replace Judas Iscariot, Jesus’ betrayer, who had been one of the Twelve original disciples of Jesus’ inner circle, instead of Matthias, whom the eleven remaining of the Twelve had chosen while they had been commanded by Jesus to wait in Jerusalem for the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-5, 8). The eleven didn’t have the benefit of the Holy Spirit and their decision was made by casting lots (like rolling dice), instead of the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Matthias was selected and there is no further mention of him, but after Paul’s “rebirth” by the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:17-20), he was the leading Apostle throughout the rest of Acts and writer of most of the Epistles (letters; to churches he founded).
Paul was faithfully trusting and obeying the guidance and relying on the empowerment of the indwelling Holy Spirit. He was staying out of areas the Holy Spirit had forbidden him, and going where the Holy Spirit led him. The conversion of Lydia was by the Holy Spirit working through Paul as Paul preached the Gospel at Philippi by the Holy Spirit.
Paul was fulfilling the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) which the resurrected Jesus gave to his disciples: to make disciples and teach them to trust and obey Jesus. Paul was fulfilling the apostleship given him by the risen and ascended Jesus, as Jesus had given the other Apostles, the Twelve and the Seventy, during Jesus' physical ministry on earth.
There’s a great spiritual harvest to be reaped today; there’s never been a greater need for spiritual guidance and meaning in life. Discipleship is not optional for Christians. Discipleship is the definition of an authentic Christian (see Acts 11:26b). Christians need to be discipled by disciples, to learn to trust and obey Jesus. It takes born-again disciples to make born-again disciples.
New disciples must obey Jesus’ command to wait in Jerusalem (the Church is the “New Jerusalem”) until they have been filled with the indwelling Holy Spirit, before going out into the world (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5, 8). Christians should be praying for workers to work in the spiritual harvest and then be willing to respond to Jesus’ call and instructions.
In a sense, we are all exiles from the Promised Land. Now is the time to turn to the Lord; to seek him with all one’s heart, while he may yet be found (Isaiah 56:6). The Kingdom of God has come near to you! The next event will be the Day of Judgment. God's Word is absolutely reliable. We will either spend eternity with the people of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Hell of fire, or with the people of God with Jesus in the Promised Land of Heaven. Jesus is the only way of salvation (John 14:6; Acts 4:12; see God's Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right, home).
Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?
Monday 23 Pentecost - Odd (Variable)
To be used only if there is a 24 Pentecost Sunday - Otherwise skip to 27 Pentecost.
First posted 10/23/05;
Podcast: Monday 23 Pentecost - Odd (Variable)
Jeremiah 44:1-14 - Oracle to Exiles in Egypt;
or 29:1, 4-14 - Oracle to Exiles in Babylon;
1 Corinthians 15:30-41 - The Nature of Resurrection;
Matthew 11:16-24 - This Generation;
Jeremiah 44 Summary:
Some of the people of Judah, the remnant of Israel, had avoided deportation to Babylon and were dwelling in Egypt. The Lord told Jeremiah to declare that the Jews who had taken refuge in Egypt from the exile of Judah to Babylon could not avoid God’s chastisement. The Jews in Egypt had seen God’s punishment of the northern Kingdom of Israel for disobedience of God’s Word and for idolatry (anything equal to or greater than love of God). Judah had refused to listen to and obey the Word of God condemning disobedience of God and idolatry. The Lord had given the conquest and destruction of Judah and Jerusalem to the Chaldeans because of Judah’s disobedience of God and their idolatry.
By leaving Judah in order to escape God’s Judgment, they had cut themselves off from the people of God. By their worship of idols they had condemned themselves to destruction, having forgotten the lessons of Israel's disobedience and idolatry. Judah had refused to repent and return to obedient trust in God’s Word. Accordingly, God had decided to destroy those who took refuge in Egypt, great and small, by sword and famine. None of the remnant of Judah who had escaped to Egypt would survive and return to the Promised Land.
Jeremiah 29 Summary:
In contrast, Jeremiah wrote to the people of Judah in exile in Babylon, to go about the routines of life in Babylon. They were to build houses and families; they were to seek the welfare of their cities and communities. The Lord warned them not to be deceived by false prophets.
The Lord promised that after seventy years he would bring the people of Judah back to their Promised Land. “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile” (Jeremiah 29:11-.14).
1 Corinthians Summary:
Paul asked why he would be willing to risk peril every day if there were no hope of resurrection. Why would Paul be willing to risk a “fight with beasts at Ephesus” (1 Corinthians 15:32; probably a metaphor for the riot at Ephesus: Acts 19:23-40). If there is no hope of resurrection from physical death, then one might as well “eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (Isaiah 22:13); there would be no reason not to indulge every pleasure while we can.
Paul warned Christians not to associate with anyone who denies the resurrection. We are not to continue to sin. Some (who call themselves Christians, including the Corinthian congregation) have no (personal) knowledge of God, for which the congregation should be ashamed.
Some want to know what kind of a body the resurrected will have. Paul calls those people foolish. Paul used a metaphor of a seed symbolically dying (buried) which produces a new body different from the seed. (Jesus used a similar metaphor; John 12:24). Each variety of seed produces the body God has chosen for it.
Varieties of animals have different kinds of flesh, according to God’s design. There also varieties of celestial bodies different from the terrestrial body, our Earth, and different orders of glory of their bodies.
Matthew Summary:
Jesus compared the people of “this” generation to children who expect others to conform to their self-centered expectations. John the Baptizer was accused of being demon-possessed because of his austere lifestyle; but because Jesus didn’t fast but ate and drank with tax-collectors and sinners he was accused of being a glutton and drunkard. Wisdom is demonstrated by deeds.
Jesus rebuked, for their lack of repentance, the cities where he had done most of his miracles. Jesus declared that if the miracles Jesus had done in Chorazin (a city only a few miles from Capernaum in Galilee) and Bethsaida (about 2 miles northeast of the Jordan River where it enters the Sea of Galilee; birthplace of Peter, Andrew and Philip, disciples of Jesus’ original Twelve) had instead been done in Tyre and Sidon (pagan cities of Phoenicia) they would have long since repented. Jesus said that if the miracles done in Capernaum (which became his headquarters after he was thrown out of Nazareth; Luke 4:16-30) had been done in Sodom (the notoriously wicked city; Genesis 18:16-19:28), Sodom would have repented and been saved from destruction. Jesus declared that on the Day of Judgment Tyre, Sidon and Sodom would fare better than these unrepentant cities of Israel.
Commentary:
Judah, the remnant of Israel, had many warnings from scripture, the prophets, including Jeremiah, and the example of the destruction of the northern Kingdom of Israel, of the consequences of sin (disobedience of God’s Word) and idolatry. Judah had an opportunity to repent and be saved from exile right up to the very verge of the siege of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans (Babylonians; Jeremiah 38:19-20).
The Lord was able to punish the people of Judah and still bring a remnant of his people back to the Promised Land, so that his eternal purpose, the coming of the Messiah, the savior and eternal king, could be fulfilled through them. The Lord’s punishment of Israel was intended for their good, so that they might repent, turn to the Lord and trust and obey him.
The seventy years of exile in Babylon was a virtual life sentence for those who were adults at the time of the deportation. The people who went into exile had an opportunity to learn obedience of the Lord during their exile. It was not the same individuals who returned to the Promised Land, but a renewed congregation of Israel, who trusted and obeyed the Lord.
Some of the people of Judah thought they could avoid God’s judgment and punishment by fleeing to Egypt. They attempted to provide their own salvation outside of God’s provision. They succeeded in escaping the fall of Jerusalem and deportation to Babylon, but by fleeing to Egypt they cut themselves off from the congregation of Israel, the people of God. Instead of accepting and cooperating with the Lord’s corrective discipline, they came under God’s wrath, condemnation and eternal destruction.
The Church is the “New Israel,” the “New People of God.” Egypt represents the wicked world now under Satan’s control. Babylon is a metaphor for the Church in this present sinful world, where the people of God will learn by God’s discipline to trust and obey him, and be spiritually "re-born" (as Israel was physically born-again in Babylon). They will ultimately be restored to the Promised Land of God’s eternal kingdom in heaven, if they cooperate with God’s discipline.
Babylon is also a metaphor for the eternal exile of the wicked to eternal destruction in Hell, where they will die eternally with no hope of return to the Promised Land of God’s eternal kingdom in Heaven. Only those who repent of sin and idolatry and turn to obedient trust in Jesus Christ, and who are "born-again" by the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit will return from the ‘Babylon” of this world to the Promised Land of Heaven.
We are all eternal beings in physical bodies. Physical death came into creation through the sin of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:1-19). God warned that if they disobeyed his Word they would die. Satan contradicted God’s warning, telling Adam and Eve they wouldn’t die (immediately, at the moment they disobeyed; Genesis 3:4), so they sinned, and became subject to physical death (Genesis 3:19). Jesus Christ, the Savior, is not God’s afterthought; Jesus has been “built in” to Creation from the very beginning by God’s intentional design (John 1:1-3, 14).
All have sinned and fall short of God’s righteousness (Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10) and the penalty for sin is eternal death (Romans 6:23). God has appointed for humans to physically die once and then comes resurrection to Judgment; not reincarnation; not “nothingness” (Hebrews 9:27). Everyone who has ever lived will be accountable to the Lord on the Day of Judgment for what they have done in this life; everyone will be raised from physical death to either eternal life in Heaven or eternal death in Hell (John 5:28-29).
Jesus is God’s only provision for our forgiveness of sin and salvation from eternal death (Acts 4:12; John 14:6). Those who have trusted and obeyed Jesus will receive eternal life in Heaven; those who have rejected and refused to trust and obey Jesus will receive eternal condemnation and destruction in Hell with all evil (Matthew 25:31-46; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right, home).
Paul warns Christians not to associate, within the Church, with anyone who denies the resurrection. There have been those false teachers within the Church in Paul’s time and ever since. Christians are not to continue in sin, which means we must trust and obey God’s Word, and avoid anything contrary to Jesus’ teachings, which are the Word of God (John 14:23-24).
Christians are not to tolerate members within the Church who continue in sin, or live in a manner contrary to the Word of God. Both congregations and nominal “Christians” should be ashamed of church members who are not disciples of Jesus Christ and have no personal knowledge of the Lord, through the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit; who are “professors;” “unregenerate;” who have not been “born-again.” There are many nominal “Christians” in the Church today.
There has never been a time in history when Jesus’ words about “this generation” have been more true than they are today. People expect the Church to be entertaining; “seeker friendly;” to cater to their worldly lifestyle instead of conforming them to God’s Word.
People expect the Church to influence God to do their individual secular will, instead of seeking to know and do God’s will. People want to establish their own “church” to cater to their desires and ideas of what “church” should be. People think they can be “Christians” without going to worship, and without reading, knowing, and obeying God’s Word. Jesus has promised to return on the Day of Judgment. What will he say about our Churches, our cities, our nations on that day?
We have the same choice the people of Judah had. We can attempt to avoid God’s judgment and try to save ourselves by some plan of our own, trusting in some false god or false prophet, or we can submit to God’s will and learn to turn to him in obedience, accepting his plan for our salvation. God promises that his plan will bring us to eternal life in the Promised Land of Heaven, but that any other way will cut us off from his promise and result in our eternal death and destruction.
Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?
Tuesday 23 Pentecost - Odd (Variable)
To be used only if there is a 24 Pentecost Sunday - Otherwise skip to 27 Pentecost.
First posted 10/24/05;
Podcast: Tuesday 23 Pentecost - Odd (Variable)
Lamentations. 1:1-5, (6-9), 10-12 - Lament of Jerusalem, the Widow;
Jeremiah 40:7-41:3 - Assassination and Third Revolt;
1 Corinthians 15:41-50 - Nature of the Resurrection;
Matthew 11:25-30 - The Father Revealed Through the Son;
Lamentations Summary:
The remnant of the army of Judah had scattered through the open countryside of Judah when Jerusalem fell. When they heard that Gedaliah, a Jew, had been appointed to govern the new Babylonian province of Judah, they went to Gedaliah at Mizpah (the new capital city). The leader of the Jewish resistance, Ishmael, was a member of the royal family (Jeremiah 41:1); Gedaliah, grandson of Shaphan, secretary of King Josiah (Jeremiah 40:9; 2 Kings 22:3-8; 25:22), was not.
Gedaliah told Ishmael and his men not to be afraid to submit to the Babylonian government, and all would be well with them. Gedaliah promised he would mediate Jewish interests well with Nebuchadrezzar (Nebuchadnezzar) the King of Babylon (Chaldea). The Jewish remnant in Judah could continue their normal lives.
Jeremiah 40 Summary:
Other people of Judah had escaped to Moab, to Ammon, and to Edom and other lands (east of the Jordan River) for refuge from the Chaldeans. When they heard that Gedaliah had been made governor they returned to Judah.
Johanan, a Jewish chief and a leader of the army went to Gedaliah and tried to warn him that Ishmael was plotting to assassinate Gedaliah, with encouragement from Baalis, king of the Ammonites. But Gedaliah refused to believe Johanan. Johanan asked Gedaliah privately to authorize him to assassinate Ishmael;
Johanan was trying to prevent Chaldean reprisals for a third revolt (Zedekiah’s revolt was the second, and precipitated the fall of Jerusalem). Ishmael asked why Gedaliah would allow Ishmael to assassinate him and cause the remnant of Judah to perish. But Gedaliah told him to stop making accusations falsely about Ishmael.
In September, 582 B. C.,* Ishmael and ten men came to Gedaliah in Mizpah, and assassinated him as they ate with him as his guests. Ishmael also killed all the Jews who served Gedaliah in Mizpah, and the Chaldean soldiers garrisoned there.
1 Corinthians Summary
Celestial bodies differ in glory; the Sun, the moon and stars have different degrees of glory. The resurrection of the dead is similar. Our earthly bodies are physical and perishable, but our resurrection bodies are spiritual and imperishable. Our earthly bodies are physically and morally weak; our resurrection bodies will be spiritually and morally strong.
The first created human, Adam, became a living being; a man of Earth, created from the dust of the earth (Genesis 2:7). Jesus is the last Adam, (the first to be raised to eternal life) the man from heaven, who became a life-giving Spirit. As we resemble Adam, our earthly ancestor, those who are of heaven who are raised to eternal life will resemble the Lord, our spiritual ancestor. Paul asserted that physical flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither can what is perishable inherit what is imperishable.
Matthew Summary:
Jesus declared that the mysteries of God have been hidden from those who consider themselves wise and understanding by worldly standards, and are revealed to those who are innocent and trusting like babies, in God’s gracious (unmerited, good) will. All things have been given to Jesus by God the Father. Only God the Father truly knows Jesus, and no one truly knows God the Father except Jesus and those to whom Jesus chooses to reveal God the Father.
Commentary
Jesus invites each of us to come to him and exchange our worries and burdens for true rest which only Jesus can give; to exchange the impossibly heavy burden of the yoke of God’s Old Covenant of Law, for the light, easily "do-able" yoke of faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ. Jesus invites us to learn from him (his word and example); we have no need to be worried or afraid of Jesus because he is gentle and humble, and our souls will find true rest only in him.
Judah had many warnings from scripture, from prophets of the Lord, including Jeremiah, and from the experience of the northern Kingdom of Israel’s destruction for disobedience of God’s Word and idolatry. Judah had an opportunity to repent and return to the Lord in obedient trust up to the day of the siege of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans (Jeremiah 38:19-20), but refused.
We are the “onlookers;” the “bystanders;” witnesses of Judah’s fall to God’s judgment and wrath upon the sin (disobedience and idolatry) and impenitence. The history of God’s dealings with Israel has been written down, in the Bible, for our instruction (1 Corinthians 10:11). In a sense, we are all God’s people because he is our Creator.
The exile of Judah, the remnant of God’s people, Israel, to Babylon is a metaphor for God’s judgment upon the sinful and impenitent. It is a metaphor for the Final Judgment when the wicked will be eternally exiled to the “Babylon” of Hell. It is also a metaphor for the physical life of Christians, the “New People of God,” in this present sinful “Babylon,” in which we learn to trust and obey Jesus, where we are “reborn,” and from which he has promised to restore us and lead us back to the Promised Land of his eternal kingdom in Heaven.
Jesus is the “Gedaliah” who promises to protect us from our spiritual enemy, Satan. Jesus is our mediator, for our good, with God, who is the sovereign ruler of Creation, and who promises to bring us back from “Babylon” to the eternal Promised Land of God’s eternal kingdom in Heaven.
Ishmael represents the Jewish religious authorities who thought they were doing God’s will by killing Jesus, God’s anointed eternal king. Ishmael and his men assassinated Gedaliah, and precipitated the deportation of the remnant of Israel to Babylon. They fled to Egypt, thinking they could find their own salvation, and escape God’s judgment and condemnation, but they discovered that they had cut themselves off from the congregation of God’s people and God’s redemption and renewal (Jeremiah 44:1-14; see entry for yesterday).
In this present creation, we have been given physical life in a physical body. This life is our only chance to seek and find God; our only chance to learn to trust and obey Jesus; our only chance to exchange our perishable physical bodies for imperishable spiritual bodies.
We are all born into sin (disobedience of God; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10). The penalty for sin is eternal death (Roman 6:23). There is only one physical life on this earth and then we must all be accountable in the Final Judgment before the Lord (not reincarnation; not nothingness; Hebrews 9:27)! We inherited physical death from our ancestor, Adam; we inherit eternal life through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ, our anointed Savior and anointed eternal King (Messiah and Christ mean “anointed” in Hebrew and Greek, respectively).
Only Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit (John 1:32-34), only his disciples who trust and obey him (John 14:15-17). The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16).
One must be “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) to see (recognize around us, and enter into, individually) the kingdom of heaven. It is possible for one to know with certainty for oneself whether one has been born-again and received the indwelling Holy Spirit or not (Acts 19:2). Jesus is the life-giving Spirit (Romans 8:9) who gives spiritual, eternal life. (1 John 5:11-13).
God has hidden his mysteries from the rich and powerful so that they cannot take eternal life in the kingdom of heaven by deceit, force, or purchase. But the Lord wants us to receive his eternal kingdom by innocent and trusting faith like that of a child, as a gift. God has designed creation so that one cannot understand the mysteries of life without humble, obedient, trust in Jesus Christ.
The Old Covenant of Law was designed to teach us what God’s righteousness requires, and the impossibility of satisfying the demands of his law in our own human strength. We cannot earn his salvation from eternal death by our own merits. Salvation from eternal condemnation and eternal destruction is only by God’s grace (unmerited favor; free gift) through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9), God’s only provision for our forgiveness and salvation (Acts 4:12; John 14:6; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right, home).
Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?
*The Oxford Annotated Bible, Revised Standard Version, Ed. by Herbert G. May and Bruce M. Metzger, Jeremiah 40:13-41:3n, p. 968, New York, Oxford University Press, 1962.
Wednesday 23 Pentecost - Odd (Variable)
To be used only if there is a 24 Pentecost Sunday - Otherwise skip to 27 Pentecost.
First posted 10/25/05;
Podcast: Wednesday 23 Pentecost - Odd (Variable)
Lamentations 2:8-15 - False Prophets;
Jeremiah.41:4-18 - Pilgrims Killed;
1 Corinthians 15:51-58 - Victory over Sin;
Matthew 12:1-14 - Lord of the Sabbath;
Lamentations Summary:
The Lord was determined to destroy the wall of Jerusalem. God measured the wall with his “plumb line” and did not restrain his judgment against his “daughter,” Zion (Jerusalem; God’s people; Israel). All her defenses have been torn down. Her king and leaders were in exile among the Gentiles. The law (of Moses) was no more (was not being observed; the temple and priests had been destroyed). Her prophets received no vision from the Lord.
The elders sat on the ground in sackcloth and poured dust over their heads (in ritual mourning) and the maidens bowed down to the ground. The poet was weary from weeping; his soul was troubled and his heart was empty, because of the destruction of Jerusalem, the “daughter” of Israel. Infants and children fainted and died from hunger in the streets of the city.
The poet was at a loss for a comparison to the destruction of Jerusalem with which he could comfort her. The ruin of Jerusalem, the “virgin daughter,” was greater than vastness of the ocean. Who can restore her?
“Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions; they have not exposed your iniquity to restore your fortunes, but have seen for you oracles false and misleading” (Lamentations 2:14). All (Gentiles; Israel’s neighbors) who pass by gloat at the destruction of Jerusalem and say, “is this the city which was called the perfection of beauty and the joy of all the earth” (Lamentations 2:15c)?
Jeremiah Summary:
The day after the assassination of Gedaliah, the Jew who had been appointed governor of Judah by the Chaldeans, eighty Jewish pilgrims from Shechem (between Mt Ebal and Mt Gerizim; site of Abraham’s first altar and of the renewal of the Covenant after Israel took possession of the Promised Land), Shiloh (north of Bethel; early site of the tabernacle; Joshua 18:1-10) , and Samaria (capital of the northern Kingdom of Israel), came bringing cereal offerings and incense to offer at the temple in Jerusalem. (They apparently didn’t know of the destruction of the temple and city.) Their torn clothing and cuts on their body indicated mourning and repentance.
Ishmael, the instigator of the revolt against Chaldean government, and the leader of the assassination of Gedaliah, lured the pilgrims to Mizpah, where he and his men killed all but ten who bought their lives by offering stores of food. The bodies of the slain were thrown into and filled a cistern [which had been dug at the command of Asa, King of Judah (southern Israel), as defense against Baasha, King of (northern) Israel].
Ishmael captured all the rest of the people in Mizpah who had cooperated with Gedaliah, and set out to cross the Jordan River to the Ammonites (Ishmael’s ally against Gedaliah and the Chaldeans; Jeremiah 40:13-14). Johanan, the Jew whose warning, to Gedaliah, of Ishmael’s plot to assassinate him was disregarded (Jeremiah 4013-16), took his army to intercept Ishmael’s group, and they came upon them at a great pool (of water) at Gibeon. When Ishmael’s captives saw the forces of Johanan, they rejoiced and joined his group, but Ishmael and eight of his men escaped across the Jordan River to the Ammonites.
Johanan, his soldiers, and the rescued captives, camped at “Chimham’s Inn” (possibly the inn where Jesus was later born), near Bethlehem, headed for Egypt to escape the reprisal and deportation to Babylon which was certain to follow Ishmael’s revolt and assassination of Gedaliah.
1 Corinthians Summary:
Christ reveals what once were mysteries, known only by God. By the Holy Spirit, Paul declared that not everyone will die physically before Christ’s return on the Day of Judgment. All those still living at Christ’s return will be changed from perishable physical bodies to eternal spiritual bodies in the blink of an eye, at the sound of the last trumpet (signaling the end of this present age). All the dead will be resurrected in eternal bodies and all those still living will be transformed into eternal bodies. This mortal perishable nature must become immortal and imperishable.
This change from perishable mortality to imperishable immortality will be the fulfillment of God’s Word (Isaiah, 25:8; Hosea 13:14) that death will be vanquished. Sin is the “poisonous sting” which caused death, and was empowered by God’s Law. But thankfully God gives us the victory over sin and death through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ. So, Christians, be steadfast and unshakable in faith, always overflowing in the work of the Lord, certain that labor for the Lord will not be in vain!
Matthew Summary:
As Jesus and his disciples were passing through a grainfield on the Sabbath, his disciples were hungry and they were picking heads of grain to snack on. Pharisees (a strict legalistic faction of Judaism), among the crowd following Jesus, criticized Jesus for allowing his disciples to “harvest” and “thresh” grain, in violation of Sabbath laws. Jesus reminded them that David (who became the great king of Israel) had allowed his men to eat the Bread of the Presence in the temple, which was not lawful for any but priests to eat.
Jesus also reminded them that according to scripture, priests are required to offer sacrifices (which involve labor) on the Sabbath, without penalty. Jesus’ disciples’ were hungry, and following and serving Jesus was more important than the temple and the institutions and traditions of the Old Covenant of Law (and Jesus was superior to David).
Jesus entered their (these Pharisees’) synagogue, and encountered a man with one withered arm. The Pharisees asked Jesus whether it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath, hoping for Jesus to say something they could use against him. Jesus asked who of them wouldn’t rescue one of their sheep from a pit into which it had fallen on a Sabbath. The Lord loves us more than sheep. Jesus declared that it is always lawful to do good on the Sabbath. Jesus told the disabled man to stretch out his arm. The man’s arm was instantly healed as the man obeyed Jesus’ command.
Commentary:
Judah, the remnant of Israel, had been repeatedly warned by scripture, prophets of the Lord, including Jeremiah, and by the example of the destruction of the northern Kingdom of Israel, of the consequences of disobedience of God’s Word and idolatry. But Judah refused to repent and return to obedient trust in the Lord, up to the very day the Chaldean siege of Jerusalem began (Jeremiah 38:20). The Lord measured the Kingdom of Judah against his “plumb line,” God’s Word. Judah was far from the Lord, so the Lord allowed Judah to be conquered and deported to Babylon.
The temple and priests having been destroyed, forgiveness through the sacrificial system of the Law of Moses was no longer available. Judah listened to false prophets who told them what the people wanted to hear. False prophets prophesied lies and deception. Judah’s prophets had failed to fulfill their responsibility to expose Judah’s sin, so that Judah could repent and be restored to prosperity and blessing by God’s mercy and providence. Who can restore the remnant of Israel? Only the Lord, Jesus Christ!
Ishmael is an example of Satan, who lures “pilgrims” seeking forgiveness and restoration to the false kingdom, where they are destroyed. They can be spared temporarily by paying ransom for their lives. Johanan is an example of the Lord, who has defeated Satan’s plot to eliminate the appointed “governor,” Jesus Christ, the eternal king of the kingdom of God’s people; Jesus rescues the captives of Satan, pays the ransom, sets them free, and makes possible their escape from destruction forever.
Jesus is the “plumb-line” by which all will be judged. Those who do not conform to Jesus in obedient trust will be eternally deported to the “Babylon” of Hell. Only Jesus “baptizes,” with the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit, only upon his disciples, who trust and obey him (John 14:15-17). The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16). It is possible for one to know with certainty whether one has received the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Acts 19:2). This life is our only opportunity to seek and come to a personal salvation from eternal death; to forgiveness of our disobedience of God, and to our restoration to fellowship and a personal relationship with God, only through Jesus Christ (Acts 17:26-27; 4:12; John 14:6).
We are all immortal souls in physical bodies. At the Day of the Lord, we will all receive immortality. The issue is where we will spend eternity. Those who have trusted and obeyed Jesus and have received the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit will spend eternity in the paradise of God’s eternal kingdom of Heaven; those who have rejected Jesus and have refused to obey him will spend eternity in Hell, with all evil, no longer receiving any of God’s blessing and providence. It will be eternal death for those who have not known, obediently trusted, and served Jesus.
Those who have not been “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) through the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ, are under the condemnation of God’s Law. Only through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus are we freed from the demands of God’s Law (Romans 8:1-2, 9).
Jesus has freed us from the demands of the law, not so that we might sin, but that we might be cleansed from sin and live according to God’s Word. To be freed from bondage to the weakness, the perishing nature of the flesh, and the condemnation of God’s Law, we must trust and obey Jesus Christ, as the disabled man was healed as he trusted and obeyed Jesus’ command to stretch out his arm.
Jesus came to free us from Satan’s grip; to rescue us from deportation to Hell and Death. If we will follow God’s plan, we will have life and we will prosper. We must not listen to false prophets with deceptive visions of victory, who offer alternatives to God’s plan. Jesus is God’s only plan. He is the only way (John 14:6). There is salvation in no one else (Acts 4:12; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right, home)
Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?
Thursday 23 Pentecost - Odd (Variable)
To be used only if there is a 24 Pentecost Sunday - Otherwise skip to 27 Pentecost.
First posted 10/26/05;
Podcast: Thursday 23 Pentecost - Odd (Variable)
Ezra 1:1-11 - Cyrus’ Decree;
Jeremiah 42:1-22 - Warning not to Flee to Egypt;
1 Corinthians 16:1-9 - Paul Plans to Visit;
Matthew 12:15-21 - Hope of the Gentiles;
Ezra Summary:
Cyrus, King of Persia (present day Iran) conquered the Babylonian (Chaldean; present-day Iraq) empire and began to reign in Babylon in 538 B. C.¹ The Lord “stirred up the heart of Cyrus” (Ezra 1:1), so that Cyrus made a proclamation in writing throughout his kingdom that the Lord God of heaven had given Cyrus all the kingdoms of earth, and had commanded Cyrus to build God a house in Jerusalem in Judah.
Cyrus told all the Jews in exile to go to Jerusalem to build a temple for the Lord God of Israel, and he told those of his subjects who were in contact with the Jews in exile to assist them by providing gold and silver, provisions, animals for transportation, and freewill offerings for the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. Cyrus’ command fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah that the Lord would bring his people back to the Promised Land after seventy years of exile in Babylon (Jeremiah 29:10).
The heads of all the families of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin (the two tribes of the southern Kingdom of Judah) and all the priests and Levites, and all the people of Judah who were in exile in Babylon, who were stirred by the Lord to return and rebuild the temple, prepared to go. The Gentiles (non-Jews) around them in Babylon gave them vessels of silver and gold, provisions, transportation animals and other gifts.
Cyrus also returned all the sacred vessels of silver, gold and bronze which had been carried off from the temple by Nebuchadrezzar (Nebuchadnezzar) the king of Babylon who had conquered Judah. Mithredath, Cyrus’ treasurer counted and turned over the sacred vessels to Shesh-bazzar (a Babylonian name of a Jewish court officer). There were a total of five thousand four hundred and sixty-nine gold and silver vessels which were brought by Shesh-bazzar from Babylonia to Jerusalem.
Jeremiah Summary:
Johanan had rescued captives from Ishmael, who had revolted against the Babylonian government of Judah, and assassinated Gedaliah, the Jew appointed by Nebuchadrezzar to be governor. Johanan and his officers came to Jeremiah, seeking God’s guidance whether to flee to Egypt to escape Babylonian reprisal for Ishmael’s revolt, or to remain in Judah. (Jeremiah may have been one of the rescued captives, since he was living with Gedaliah in Mizpah at the time of Ishmael’s revolt.)
Jeremiah promised to pray to the Lord for guidance and to faithfully and fully tell them God’s Word, holding nothing back. Johanan promised that he and his people would do whatever God answered, whether good or bad.
After ten days, Jeremiah received God’s Word in answer to his intercession. Jeremiah summoned Johanan and his officers and people and told them that God promised that if they stayed in Israel (Judah) God would build them up and plant them securely, because God had forgiven them. (I personally testify that when we seek God’s guidance we must be willing to wait for his answer; we must not ask his guidance and then go ahead with what we want and have already decided to do.)
The Lord told them not to fear the king of Babylon, because the Lord would be with Johanan’s group, the remnant of Judah, and would save and deliver them from the power of the king of Babylon. The Lord promised to influence the Babylonian king to allow them to remain in their land undisturbed. The Lord promised Johanan’s group that they would not be attacked and would have food to eat.
Jeremiah warned that if the remnant of Judah decided to go to Egypt to escape attack and reprisal by the Babylonians, and famine, instead of escaping these things they would come upon the remnant in Egypt and the remnant would be destroyed by sword, famine and disease in Egypt; there would be no remnant or survivors.
Jeremiah declared that the Lord had punished Judah and Jerusalem by the Babylonians, and if the remnant chose to go to Egypt in disobedience of God’s Word God would make them an example of God’s wrath and curse. They would never see the Promised Land again. Their disobedience would cost them their lives.
Jeremiah reminded Johanan and the remnant of Judah that they had promised to obey God’s Word, and that Jeremiah had declared God’s Word to them fully and accurately, as he had promised. Jeremiah said that they had never obeyed the Word of God declared by Jeremiah, and that they would die by sword, famine and disease in Egypt where they had desired to go to live.
1 Corinthians Summary:
Paul was taking a collection for Christians in Judea in the congregations he supervised, including Corinth and Galatia. He asked each member to give something each Sunday, according to their means, so that their contribution would be ready when Paul arrived. They could designate whoever they wanted to carry the gift to Jerusalem, with their letter of accreditation, and Paul was willing to accompany them if it seemed advisable.
Paul planned to visit the Corinthian congregation after passing through Macedonia. Paul wanted to spend some time with the Corinthian Christians, perhaps even over the winter, subject to the Lord’s approval. Meanwhile he was planning to stay in Ephesus until Pentecost (fifty days after Easter; the anniversary of the birth of the Church of Jesus Christ, with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit; Acts 2:1-13), because a wide door of opportunity had been opened there and many adversaries (who would like to see it closed).
Matthew Summary:
Jesus was aware that the Pharisees (a strict legalistic faction of Judaism; Jewish authorities) were seeking to destroy him, so Jesus withdrew, “and many followed him, and he healed them all” (Matthew 12:15b), telling them not to publicize Jesus’ healings. Jesus was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah; the chosen beloved servant of the Lord (God, the Father), with whom the Lord was well pleased. He was filled with God’s Spirit. He would proclaim justice to Gentiles. He would not be a rabble-rouser or stir up civil unrest; He would offer healing and restoration to those who were spiritually bruised and rekindle those who were like spiritually smoldering wicks. In him (divine) justice would be victorious, and Gentiles would find hope in his name.
Commentary:
Nebuchadrezzar had been perceived as a threat to Judah, but it was only because Judah refused to repent, trust and obey God’s Word and refused to give up idolatry, that the Lord allowed the Chaldeans to conquer Judah. Judah could have repented and been spared, right up to the beginning of the Chaldean siege of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 38:20).
The Lord had promised beforehand that Judah would be exiled for seventy years in Babylon, and then God would bring the remnant back to the Promised Land (Jeremiah 29:10-14). It was seventy years from the destruction of the temple in 587 B.C. to its restoration in 517 B. C.
The Lord was able to raise up Cyrus, give him success over Babylon, and influence Cyrus to allow the remnant of Israel to return to the Promised Land. In addition, Cyrus returned the sacred gold and silver vessels which Nebuchadrezzar had plundered from the temple, and the Gentiles (non-Jews) supplied the remnant of Israel with supplies, transportation and money for their return to Israel. God’s Word is always fulfilled; he is completely faithful and abundantly able to keep his Word.
Jeremiah had warned the people of Judah not to resist Babylonian government. The people in exile in Babylon were to lead normal lives in Babylon and cooperate with Babylonian society. Those who remained in Judah were to cooperate with the Babylonian governor.
Ishmael didn’t obey God’s Word, and caused the deportation of seven hundred and forty five more Jews to Babylon. Johanan rescued a group of Jews from Mizpah whom Ishmael had captured. Johanan sought God’s guidance whether to remain in Judah or flee to Egypt, and the Lord reassured Johanan and his group that God would keep them safe in Judah, but if they didn’t obey God’s Word they would be destroyed in Egypt.
Jeremiah had faithfully and fully declared God’s Word to Johanan, but Johanan’s group didn’t believe Jeremiah, and fled to Egypt, taking Jeremiah and his secretary, Baruch. The fugitives from Judah reverted to the worship of the Queen of Heaven, Ishtar, which “persisted into Christian centuries… in the adoration of the Virgin.”² Babylon attacked (in 568/7 B.C.) when Amasis, the last great Egyptian Pharaoh, (570-526 B. C.) was defeated (cf. Ezekiel 29:19 f.; 30:24-26).³
Johanan professed to seek God’s will and promised to follow God’s Word for better or worse, but failed to fulfill his promise, In contrast, the Apostle Paul is the prototype and example of a modern “post-resurrection,” “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) disciple of Jesus Christ, which all of us can be. He sought and was obedient to God’s guidance; he trusted and obeyed God’s Word. Christians must not be intimidated; we must trust that God is faithful, abundantly powerful, able to fulfill what he promises, and able to deliver us from our adversaries.
Jesus had many adversaries. They only managed to crucify him because God allowed it and Jesus submitted to God’s will. Jesus knew that the Jewish authorities were seeking to destroy him but he didn’t let that threat keep him from trusting, obeying, and declaring God’s Word. Jesus’ adversaries didn’t have the last word. They crucified him but God raised him from the dead.
Sometimes we may find ourselves in a situation where the worldly, common-sense thing to do seems to be the opposite of what the Lord is directing us to do. In the case of Johanan and the rescued captives, human logic would tell us it would be safer in Egypt, since the Babylonians were likely to retaliate for the Judean revolt which Ishmael had instigated. In reality, though, the only true safety ever to be found in this world lies in trusting in the Lord.
By seeking his guidance daily, and learning to follow his direction, we learn that he is trustworthy and able to do what he says he will do. God has a plan for our eternal safety. Jesus is that plan. We need to follow and obey that plan. In worldly perspective that plan may seem foolish, even dangerous. It’s a great temptation to try to secure our own safety using worldly logic. Fleeing to Egypt seems so much safer that trusting the Lord in the midst of danger, but security apart from the Lord is a delusion.
Now is the time to make our travel plans. Are we heading for eternity with Jesus in Heaven or are we going to eternal death and destruction in the Hell of fire with Satan and his demons? The Word of God never fails. The Lord kept his promise to bring the exiles back to Jerusalem, and Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of the coming of the Messiah.
Jesus is the only way to God (John 14:6). Jesus is the only provision for our salvation (Acts 4:12). Unless we accept Jesus as our Lord and allow him to direct our travel plans, we will suffer eternal death in Hell.
Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?
¹ The Oxford Annotated Bible, Revised Standard Version, Ed. by
Herbert G. May and Bruce M. Metzger, Ezra 1:1-4n, p. 573, New
York, Oxford University Press, 1962.
² ibid; Jeremiah 44:15-28n, p. 972
³ The International Bible Commentary, New
International Version, Gen. Ed. (rev. ed.), F. F. Bruce,
(orig. ed. F. F. Bruce, H. L Ellison, G. C. D Howley, Jeremiah
43:8-14, (xxii. f.) Guideposts, Carmel, N.Y. 10512,
1979.
Friday 23 Pentecost -
Odd (Variable) To be used only if there is a 24 Pentecost Sunday - Otherwise skip to 27 Pentecost.
First posted 10/27/05;
Podcast: Friday 23 Pentecost - Odd (Variable)
Ezra 3:1-13 - Rebuilding the temple;
Jeremiah 43:1-13 - Nebuchadrezzar will conquer Egypt;
1 Corinthians 16:10-24 - Concluding messages;
Matthew 12:22-32 - Source of Jesus’ power;
Ezra Summary:
There were four groups of Jewish exiles returning to Israel from Babylon. The first, led by Sheshbazzar, started to lay the foundation of the temple in Jerusalem but was interrupted (Ezra 5:14-16). Zerubbabal led the second returning group. After they had settled, in the seventh month (September-October 520 B.C.*), all the people of Israel were assembled in Jerusalem, where Zerubbabel and Jeshua (Joshua, the priest) built an altar to the Lord and reestablished the daily morning and evening burnt offerings, beginning on the first day of the seventh month, and the annual feasts, beginning with the Feast of Tabernacles on the fifteenth day of the seventh month.
The people of Israel were afraid of the Gentiles (non-Jews; pagans) who had settled Israel during the exile (Ezra 3:3). People of Sidon and Tyre were hired with money and provisions to supply labor and materials for the temple, according to the grant given by Cyrus, King of Persia.
Fourteen months later, work was started on the temple foundation. Adult Levites were appointed to oversee the workmanship of the house of the Lord; Jeshua and his sons and Kadmiel, a Levite returned exile, and his sons, supervised the laborers. All the returning exiles assembled for the laying of the foundation, and there was a great celebration with music and praise to the Lord, in accordance with the directions for the dedication of the temple given by David (2 Chronicles 3:1; 29:25-30). There was great rejoicing, but also sorrow and weeping among the elders who had seen the first temple (built by King Solomon). The weeping mixed with and could not be distinguished from the shouts of joy, and the sound of the celebration was heard from a great distance.
Jeremiah Summary:
Johanan, leader of the remnant of Jews who had avoided exile in Babylon, sought God’s guidance through Jeremiah the prophet, whether to stay in Judah, or to flee to Egypt to escape Babylonian reprisal for the revolt of Ishmael which he had carried out contrary to God’s Word. Jeremiah fully and accurately declared God’s Word promising to protect and provide for the remnant if they remained in the Promised Land, but warning them they would perish if they disobeyed God’s Word and fled to Egypt.
When Jeremiah finished declaring God’s Word, Johanan and other insolent people with him accused Jeremiah of lying, and blamed Baruch, Jeremiah’s scribe, for plotting to deliver the remnant of Judah to the Chaldeans (Babylonians), to be killed or exiled. Johanan and his group did not obey God’s Word declared by Jeremiah, and took all the remnant of Judah who had escaped exile in Babylon to Egypt, taking Jeremiah and Baruch with them, and they arrived in Tahpanhnes (an Egyptian outpost on the border of Sinai).
In Tahpanhes, the Lord told Jeremiah to hide two large stones in the pavement at the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace in Tahpanhes. The Lord told Jeremiah that Nebuchadrezzar (Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon), who would accomplish God’s will, would place his throne and spread his canopy over the stones Jeremiah had placed. The Chaldeans would attack Egypt and the remnant of Judah would perish by sword, disease and captivity (as Jeremiah had prophesied).
The Lord said that he (through Nebuchadrezzar) would burn the temples and gods of Egypt and carry them away captive, and would clean Egypt “as a shepherd cleans his cloak of vermin (lice). The obelisks of Heliopolis (center of Egyptian worship of the sun god, Re) would be destroyed, and no one would oppose him.
1 Corinthians Summary:
Timothy, son of a Greek father and Jewish mother in Lystra (in Asia Minor: present-day Turkey), had been discipled by Paul and traveled with Paul on missionary journeys. Paul asked the Corinthian Christians to welcome Timothy, to treat him as a fellow missionary of Paul, and help him to return to Paul, where his help was needed. Paul had urged Apollos, a fellow missionary, to visit the Corinthians, but Apollos either felt he couldn’t or that it was not God’s will at the time. Paul told the Corinthians that Apollos would visit when he had opportunity.
Paul urged the Christians to be watchful, courageous, strong and unshakable in their faith, and to let everything be done in love. Paul reminded them that the household of Stephanas had been Paul’s first converts in Achaia (one of two Roman provinces of Greece; the other was Macedonia), and they were serving the saints (Christians; the Church). Paul urged Christians to follow the example of such people, and all who work for the Gospel. Paul conveyed greetings and love from himself and fellow missionaries, and a prayer for Christ’s return: “Maranatha,” Greek, meaning, “Our Lord, Come”!
Matthew Summary:
A man made blind and mute by demonic possession was brought to Jesus. Jesus healed him and the man’s speech and vision returned. The crowds who witnessed the healing were amazed, and wondered if Jesus could be the Son of David (the Messiah, the anointed eternal heir to the throne of David; Matthew 1:1-16; Luke 2:4-7). But the Pharisees (strict legalistic faction of Judaism; religious authorities) said that Jesus was only able to cast out demons by the power of Belzebul (the prince of demons; Satan).
Jesus knew their thoughts and said that a kingdom divided against itself is torn apart, and a city or house divided cannot stand. Why would Satan attack his own kingdom? Jewish exorcists were also casting out demons, so if Jesus was casting out demons by the power of Satan, what was the source of the Jewish exorcists’ power? So the Jewish exorcists will be testimony against the Pharisees. But if it was by the Spirit of God that Jesus was able to cast out demons, then the kingdom of God was at hand. In order to rob a strong man’s goods, the strong man must first be restrained.
Jesus declared that whoever is not committed to following Jesus is working against him, and whoever is not bringing others to Jesus is impeding Jesus’ mission. Jesus declared that every blasphemy (speaking against God; insult; verbal abuse) is forgivable, except the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will not be forgiven. Blasphemy against Jesus is forgivable, but Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, in this age or the age to come.
Commentary:
God’s will is going to be done, whether we cooperate with him or not. God’s Word is completely true and reliable, and always fulfilled, not just once, but over and over, as the conditions for its fulfillment are met. God’s Word contains promises and warnings (both “carrot” and “stick”). Those who trust and obey God’s Word receive the promises; those who reject and disobey, receive the consequences the warnings were given to avoid.
God used King Cyrus of Persia to accomplish God’s promise to bring the Jewish exiles in Babylon back to the Promised Land after seventy years (Jeremiah 29:10). Zerubbabal, Jeshua and the returned exiles were cooperating with God’s will and plan.
Johanan was the leader of the people of Judah who had escaped exile in Babylon. He sought God’s Word and guidance on whether to stay in the Promised Land or to flee to Egypt. He promised to do whatever God declared through Jeremiah, but then rejected Jeremiah’s full and accurate proclamation of God’s Word.
Nebuchadrezzar was used by God to fulfill God’s punishment of the remnant of Judah who took refuge in Egypt. The refugees suffered the consequences of their disobedience; they received the disaster they hoped to avoid by trying to find salvation from God’s judgment by some other plan than God’s Word.
Paul is the prototype and illustration of a modern, “post-resurrection,” “born-again” disciple and apostle (messenger; of the Gospel) of Jesus Christ, as all of us can be. He had come to faith (obedient trust) in Jesus and to rebirth by the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Paul was formerly known as Saul; see Acts 9:1-20) after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension into heaven.
Paul is an illustration of one who is following the example of Jesus and completing the mission of saving people from eternal death through the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He was making disciples of Jesus and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commanded, fulfilling the Great Commission which Jesus gave to his disciples (Matthew 28:19-20). All Christians are to follow the example of Jesus, Paul and all fellow disciples and apostles, who are working for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ in power and glory to establish his eternal kingdom, which is the age to come.
Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!
The blind and mute man was physically disabled, but that disability was the manifestation of spiritual illness. Jesus healed the spiritual problem and the physical disability was healed. (Compare Paul’s healing on the road to Damascus; Acts 9:1-20).
The Pharisees refused to accept Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God. They rejected God’s Plan of Salvation (sidebar, top right, home). They accused Jesus of blasphemy (Matthew 9:3; 26:65), but it was they who were guilty of blasphemy, and they who blasphemed against not only Jesus but the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:24, 32). It was the Jewish religious leaders who were spiritually blind, because they could not recognize and acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God.
Those who are not following the example of Jesus and Paul are working against the Gospel and the kingdom of God in Jesus Christ. No one who is truly born-again will say anything against the Holy Spirit.
Are we open to the truth, or do we refuse to hear the truth because it doesn’t fit with our preconceived ideas? Do we acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God? Do we seek God’s will, regardless of whether it appeals to us personally, or do we want to know God’s will before we decide whether to do it, so that we can pick and choose?
Are we working for Jesus, or are we opposing him? Are we going to go to our eternal death in Hell with Satan and his demons in spite of the warnings in God’s Word because we don’t want to hear them, and refuse to believe? Jesus is the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but by him (John 14:6) There is salvation in no one else (Acts 4:12)
Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?
*The Oxford Annotated Bible, Revised Standard Version, Ed. by Herbert G. May and Bruce M. Metzger, Ezra 3:1-13n, p. 576, New York, Oxford University Press, 1962.
Saturday 23 Pentecost - Odd (Variable)
To be used only if there is a 24 Pentecost Sunday - Otherwise skip to 27 Pentecost.
First posted 1028/05;
Podcast: Saturday 23 Pentecost - Odd (Variable)
Ezra 4:7, 11-24 - Opposition to rebuilding;
Jeremiah 44:1-14 - No refuge in Egypt;
Philemon 1-25 - Mediator of reconciliation;
Matthew 12:33-42 - Request for a sign;
Ezra Summary:
During the reign of Artaxerxes, King of Persia (464-423 B. C.*), Rehum, the Persian commander (of the Persian province of “Beyond the River” which included Judah) and three of his Persian provincial officials in Israel wrote a letter to the king of Persia. The letter was written in Aramaic and translated. The letter was written on behalf of the Gentiles (non-Jews) who had been deported from their lands and settled in Samaria by Osnapper (Assurbanipal; the Assyrian king, after the fall of the northern Kingdom of Israel).
The purpose of the letter was to inform King Artaxerxes that the Jewish returnees from exile in Babylon were rebuilding Jerusalem, “a rebellious and wicked city” (Ezra 4:12b). They told the king that if the city was rebuilt and the walls restored, Jerusalem would refuse to pay taxes to Persia, and empire revenue would be impaired. Since the provincial officials earned their living from the empire, and were loyal to the king, they were informing the king, and they suggested that if he examined the royal records he would see that Jerusalem had a long history of rebellion and sedition. Once the city and its walls had been rebuilt the king would have no control and ownership in it.
The king replied that he had searched the records and verified that the provincial officials’ allegations were true. He gave the officials authority to decree that the city not be rebuilt and that work should cease, and they should diligently enforce the decree until the king ruled otherwise. The provincial officials went in force to Jerusalem and made the Jews stop work on the temple “until the second year of the reign of Darius, king of Persia” (Ezra 4:24).
Jeremiah Summary:
Jeremiah and his scribe, Baruch, had been taken to Egypt by the remnant of Judah which had avoided exile in Babylon, although God had warned the remnant through Jeremiah to stay in Judah. The remnant of Judah had settled in Migdol (on the Mediterranean shore of northern Sinai), at Tahpanhes (on the eastern border of Egypt), Memphis (on the Nile river) and in the land of Pathros (Upper Egypt; i.e. southern**).
God’s Word came to Jeremiah in Egypt, that the remnant of Judah in Egypt had seen the destruction of Jerusalem and Judah. Jerusalem was now desolate and uninhabited because of the idolatry (love of anything or anyone equal to or greater than love of God) of the people of Judah. The Lord had repeatedly sent prophets to warn them not to do what God hates, but they didn’t listen and return to obedient trust in the Lord. So the Lord has caused the desolation of Judah and Jerusalem in his anger.
Then the Lord asked why the remnant of Judah had done great evil to themselves by cutting themselves off from Judah, the remnant of God’s people. Why have they provoked the Lord to anger by disobedience and by idolatry in Egypt where they chose to live, cutting themselves off from God’s people, and becoming a curse and derision among the nations of the earth? Have they forgotten the wickedness of their forefathers, of the leaders of Judah, of their own wickedness when they lived in Judah? To that very day they had not been willing to humble themselves; they had not feared God’s Word, and had refused to obey it.
Because of their impenitence and disobedience, the Lord had resolved to cut them off from Judah. The remnant of Judah in Egypt would be consumed; they would be destroyed by sword and famine. All the Jewish refugees in Egypt would be destroyed and would become an example of horror and God’s wrath. As God brought Judgment on Judah with sword, famine and disease, so also none of the remnant of Judah who fled to Egypt would escape, survive, or return to Judah, except for a few fugitives.
Philemon Summary:
While Paul was under house arrest in Rome, a runaway slave named Onesimus (meaning “useful”) was converted to Christ by Paul’s teaching. The slave’s master was Philemon, of Colossae, Phrygia, in Asia Minor (now Turkey), who had earlier been converted by Paul. The congregation in Colossae (to which Paul’s letter to the Colossians was addressed) met in Philemon’s home. Paul was writing to Philemon to effect reconciliation between Philemon and his runaway slave.
Paul rejoiced in Philemon’s love and faith, and prayed that Philemon’s sharing of faith would bring others to know the blessings we have in Christ. Paul had rejoiced in the love and comfort of Philemon’s love and his encouragement of the saints (Christians).
Paul, an ambassador and prisoner on Christ’s behalf, preferred to ask Philemon rather than to demand that Philemon receive Onesimus, whom Paul loved and considered his spiritual son. Paul said that the slave named “Useful” had been “useless” to Philemon in the past (having run away) but since his conversion, was “useful” to Paul and to Philemon. Paul would have been glad to consider and keep Onesimus’ service as a gift of support from Philemon, but preferred not to act presumptively, without Philemon’s consent, so that Philemon’s generosity would not be by compulsion by of his own free will.
Paul tactfully suggested that God’s providence was at work in Onesimus’ “separation” (running away), so that he might be returned to Philemon no more as a slave, but as the beloved Christian brother of both Paul and Philemon. So Paul asked Philemon, if he considered Paul his partner (in the Gospel), to receive Onesimus as if he were receiving Paul himself. If Onesimus owed Philemon anything Paul promised to personally repay it, but reminding Philemon of his debt to Paul for his conversion and salvation in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The repayment that Paul sought was the joy and encouragement of Philemon’s faith and love in Christ.
Paul trusted that Philemon would do what Paul asked and even more (perhaps giving Onesimus his freedom). Paul hoped to be delivered from his imprisonment through Philemon’s prayers, so that he could visit Philemon (and see how Onesimus was being treated).
Paul conveyed the greetings of Epaphras and Aristarchus (Colossians 4:10), fellow prisoners with Paul in Rome, and also of Mark (John Mark; probable author of the Gospel of Mark), Demas, and Luke (author of the Gospel of Luke), Paul’s fellow missionaries.
Matthew Summary:
The Pharisees (a strict, legalistic faction of Judaism; religious authorities) were seeking grounds to destroy Jesus (Matthew 12:14). They had challenged his authority and had blasphemed the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:24, 32). Jesus replied that only good trees produce good fruit; bad trees produce bad fruit.
Jesus called the Pharisees poisonous snakes! He told them that they couldn’t speak what is good because they were full of evil. A good person is a storehouse of goodness from which he brings forth good, but an evil person treasures what is evil and from that treasure he brings forth evil. Jesus warned that on the Day of Judgment, everyone will be accountable for every careless word they have spoken. Each individual will be condemned or acquitted by his own words.
The scribes (teachers of the Law) and Pharisees asked Jesus to give them a sign proving his authority, but Jesus said that they were an evil and (spiritually) adulterous generation, who were seeking a sign, but the only sign they would see is the sign of Jonah (the reluctant prophet to Nineveh). As Jonah spent three days and nights in the belly of the whale, so the Son of man (Jesus) will be three nights in the belly of the earth (the tomb).
At the Day of Judgment “this” generation will be condemned by the witness of the people of Nineveh. Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah, and the preaching of Jesus is much greater. The queen of the South (Southern Arabia; the Queen of Sheba) will testify against “this” generation, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and Jesus’ wisdom is greater than Solomon’s (Jesus is the power and wisdom of God; 1 Corinthians 1:24).
Commentary:
The returned Jewish exiles from Babylon were obedient to God’s authority, to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple, but the secular government of Persia saw that as a threat to their income and authority. The Persian king gave his provincial governors authority to use force to halt the rebuilding of the temple and the city. The Persian government shows the worldly use of authority to sustain its power and material benefit, without regard for God’s authority.
The remnant of Judah which had avoided Babylonian exile had taken refuge in Egypt in disobedience of God’s Word. They had many warnings from scripture, prophets of the Lord, including Jeremiah, and the example of the destruction of the northern Kingdom of Israel, and yet still refused to trust and obey God’s Word. They thought they could save themselves by some way other than God’s way; they thought they could disobey God’s Word, separate themselves from God’s people, avoid God’s discipline, and later return to the Promised Land.
God’s Word contains both promises and warnings (“carrot” and “stick”). To receive the promises we must trust and obey God’s Word; otherwise we will receive the consequences the warnings were intended to help us avoid.
Paul is an example of a leader of the Church who uses divine authority with love to mediate between brethren in Christ. Under Roman law, Philemon had absolute authority over the life and person of his slave. Paul is using love to motivate Philemon to obey God’s Word and to respond in love to Onesimus, rather than asserting his worldly authority.
Philemon is being discipled by Paul to grow in spiritual maturity. Paul is following Jesus’ example, and demonstrating that he is a disciple of Jesus Christ. Paul is mediating between master and servant, as Jesus mediates between ourselves and God the Father. Paul is an ambassador of Christ to the world and the Church.
The Pharisees were “run-away servants” of God, who were unwilling to accept Jesus’ love, authority and his mediation on their behalf to God. Jesus is the Messiah (Christ; God’s anointed eternal king) who was appealing to them in love, rather than compelling them by his power and authority. They refused to return to obedient trust in God’s Word. They wanted to be “kings” and to use their worldly power and authority to preserve their worldly “kingdoms” and their material well-being. They were trying to provide their own salvation by some way other than God’s way. Jesus is God’s only way (John 14:6); God’s only plan for our forgiveness and salvation (Acts 4:12; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right, home).
The scribes and Pharisees wanted “proof” that Jesus was the Messiah. For those who need “proof” to believe in Jesus there is none, but for those who believe (trust and obey) there is an abundance of proof. There were many “signs” done by Jesus and witnessed by the Jewish religious authorities, but they still asked for “proof.” The reason they didn’t believe the signs is because they wanted to be “lord;” they refused to believe the signs they saw.
God has always intended to create an eternal kingdom of his people who choose trust and obey him. God’s plan of salvation through Jesus Christ is not an “afterthought;” it has always been God’s plan, from the beginning of creation, and has been “built in” to the structure of Creation (John 1:1-3, 14).
This creation is our opportunity to seek and come to a personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ by the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Acts 17:26-27). Salvation is by God’s grace (unmerited favor; free gift), which can only be received by faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9). If Jesus were to prove that he is the Messiah and Son of God, then his Lordship would not be by our free choice through faith.
Are you willing to acknowledge your need for reconciliation, and accept the reconciliation which Jesus offers? Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?
*The Oxford Annotated Bible, Revised Standard Version, Ed. by Herbert G. May and Bruce M. Metzger, Ezra 4:7-23n, p.577, New York, Oxford University Press, 1962.
**ibid; Jeremiah 44:1n, p.971
