Desiring Jesus

“O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” [1]

This language is not that of a sinner newly awakened to the sight of his lost state; it is the cry of a living but agonized believer, weighed down under a burden which is not himself, but which he longs to shake off from his renewed self.

“I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” [2]

This is the language of gratitude for the divinely provided remedy which immediately follows.

“Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain? The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others; who despises a vile person but honors those who fear the Lord; who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind; who lends money to the poor without interest; who does not accept a bribe against the innocent. Whoever does these things will never be shaken.” [3]

The Lord enjoys fellowship with those who delight in righteousness. What do you reap when you sow time with Jesus? You get more of Jesus!

[1] Romans 7:24
[2] Romans 7:25
[3] Psalm 15 

Faith and Love for God

When Jesus entered Jerusalem looking for the fruit of faith and love for God, He found the fruit He desired in a poor widow. As He prepared to give His life as a ransom for the salvation of sinners, He highlighted the fruit of faith and love for God in another woman. In both cases, their names are not mentioned in the Gospel of Mark, but their examples are appreciated by Jesus as the kind of faith and love for God that He commends.

“Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

Calling His disciples to Him, Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.’” [1]

“While He was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on His head.

Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, ‘Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.’ And they rebuked her harshly.

‘Leave her alone,’ said Jesus. ‘Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the Gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” [2]

“Holy Spirit, please fill us with a faith and love for Messiah like these two women exhibited.”

[1] Mark 12:41-44
[2] Mark 14:3-9

The Fruit Messiah Seeks

“As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, ‘Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’”

Messiah does not own an animal of His own. He depends on a miraculous provision to have one.

“They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked, ‘What are you doing, untying that colt?’ They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!’”

The people praise Messiah but have false perceptions of what He will do for them.

“Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, He went out to Bethany with the Twelve.”

He looked around and left.

“The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to find out if it had any fruit. When He reached it, He found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then He said to the tree, ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again.’ And His disciples heard Him say it.”

Just as He found nothing pleasing in the temple courts the previous day, He finds nothing pleasing on the fig tree and curses it.

“On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as He taught them, He said, ‘Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.’”

Messiah is displeased with the fruit in His Father’s house. He wanted to find praying and believing people but there were none to be found.

“The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill Him, for they feared Him, because the whole crowd was amazed at His teaching.”

The keepers and programmers of the temple courts want to kill Jesus. Only the fear what people might do to them stopped them from carrying out their plan.

“When evening came, Jesus and His disciples went out of the city. In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, ‘Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!’”

The withered fig tree is a metaphor for those who reject Messiah. They are accursed of God and destined for destruction.

“‘Have faith in God,’ Jesus answered. ‘Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.’”

Faith in God is what Messiah desires. He desires to see prayer. I desires to see people forgiving one another rather than exploiting and competing with one another.

“They arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to Him. ‘By what authority are you doing these things?’ they asked. ‘And who gave you authority to do this?’”

Jesus had stepped on their toes sort of speak. The religious leaders who should have humbled themselves before him are taking Him to task.

“Jesus replied, ‘I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin? Tell me!’

They discussed it among themselves and said, ‘If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin’ (They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet.) So they answered Jesus, ‘We don’t know.’ Jesus said, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.’”

John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. The religious leaders did not recognize Messiah because they refused to repent or to even consider that they had sin in their lives.

“Jesus then began to speak to them in parables: ‘A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed. He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But the tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.

What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. Haven’t you read this passage of Scripture: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes?’

Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders looked for a way to arrest Him because they knew He had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left Him and went away.”

Jesus made it clear to them that He was their Messiah and they were rejecting Him. They were evil tenants in His house and they would be evicted.

“Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch Him in His words. They came to Him and said, ‘Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because You pay no attention to who they are; but You teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn’t we?’

But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. ‘Why are you trying to trap Me?’ He asked. ‘Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.’ They brought the coin, and He asked them, ‘Whose image is this? And whose inscription?’ ‘Caesar’s,’ they replied. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.’ And they were amazed at Him.”

The religious leaders were concerned about earthly things. Could the Messiah help them to evade paying taxes? No He would not.

“Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him with a question. ‘Teacher,’ they said, ‘Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?’

Jesus replied, ‘’Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!’”

The poor woman! Seven brothers and no baby. These supposed pastors are more concerned about the seven brothers who are impotent than the poor woman who was used by them for their pleasure. No she won’t be married to any of them in heaven. She will have the perfect husbandman of God in that day.

“One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked Him, ‘Of all the commandments, which is the most important?’

‘The most important one,’ answered Jesus, ‘is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.’

‘Well said, teacher,’ the man replied. ‘You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.’ When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, He said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ And from then on no one dared ask Him any more questions.”

The man was not far from the kingdom of God in that he understood loving God and neighbor is the fruit Messiah looks for, but he needed to believe in Messiah for this fruit to flow in and through his life.

“While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he asked, ‘Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the son of David? David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared: ‘The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at My right hand until I put Your enemies under Your feet.’ David himself calls Him ‘Lord.’ How then can He be his son?”

Jesus clearly declared to them that He is Messiah.

“The large crowd listened to Him with delight. As He taught, Jesus said, ‘Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.’”

Jesus did not turn a blind eye to the selfish ways in which the leaders were leading the people. He exposed them. He told His listeners that these leaders would be severely punished.

“Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

Calling His disciples to Him, Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.’”

Finally, Jesus found faith, love and selfless divine fruit in His Father’s house. This poor widow is one of Messiah’s people. She had faith in God and love for God.

Scripture quotes from Mark 11-12

Unashamed of Jesus Amidst Adulterers

“Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, ‘Who do men say that I am?’ So they answered, ‘John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered and said to Him, ‘You are the Christ.’ Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him.” [1]

“Who do men say that I am?” Most religious people underestimated Jesus. God greatly anointed John the Baptist, Elijah, and the prophets for His service, but Jesus is the Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah. He is the only Savior of the world. Peter had this revelation. “You are the Messiah.”

“And He [Jesus] began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He spoke this word openly. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.’” [2]

The disciples, including Peter, failed to see from the Scriptures that Messiah would suffer, be rejected, killed, and resurrected. For example, Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22 foretell of the Messiah’s suffering and resurrection. Peter took Jesus to task over His words about suffering and dying, but Jesus rebuked Peter, and told Satan to get behind Him. Peter was concerned about what people what think of Jesus talking like this. Satan wanted to block Jesus from going to the cross. He did not want Messiah to redeem people from their sins. He did not want Messiah to show religious people the glory of a life lived for God and others. Jesus told Satan to get behind Him. In other words, “Don’t try to thwart My divine calling Satan!”

“When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, ‘Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the Gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” [3]

Jesus called a group of people together and said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me [be a Christian], let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” To be like Jesus is to deny self of what the world seeks after the most, namely, to be the popular center of attention. God cherishes the one who loses self for Messiah and for His message of redemption [the Gospel]. Jesus urges us His listeners not to be ashamed of Him amidst an adulterous and sinful generation. Yes, adulterous, and sinful people don’t want to hear from a denier of self for the sake of Jesus and His Gospel, but this is the kind of witness they need.

Jesus calls us to deny ourselves, pick up our cross and to follow Him lest He be ashamed of us when He returns “in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

[1] Mark 8:27-30
[2] Mark 8:31-33
[3] Mark 8:34-38

Christmas Prayer

Christmas is about the opportunity to have an everlasting relationship with God thanks to our Heavenly Father sending His Son into the world to save us from our sins. While I rejoice in this marvelous miracle of God’s grace, I grieve and pray for those who leave Christ out of Christmas. Unless they come to believe and profess Him, He will not mention them as among those who can to stay in heaven with Him when they die.

“Jesus Messiah, You who saved me from my sin, please graciously reveal the Father to those who do not know God.”

“No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made Him known.” John 1:18

The Messiah who Refines

The Lord blessed me with promises from His Holy Word that He (the Messiah) will purify the messengers of His people and reward those people who honor and serve Him. The end result will be fathers and children having their hearts turned toward one another. Blessed be the Name of the Lord, and praise be to Him forever and ever!

“‘Who can endure the day of His [Messiah’s] coming? Who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former days.

So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,’ says the Lord Almighty.” [1]

“You have spoken arrogantly against me, says the Lord. Yet you ask, ‘What have we said against you?’ You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty? But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly evildoers prosper, and even when they put God to the test, they get away with it.’

Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in His presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored His Name. ‘On the day when I act,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘they will be My treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.” [2]

“‘Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘Not a root or a branch will be left to them. But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves. Then you will trample on the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,’ says the Lord Almighty.” [3]

“See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.” [4]

[1] Malachi 3:2-5
[2] Malachi 3:13-18
[3] Malachi 4:1-3
[4] Malachi 4:5-6

The Wounded Shepherd becomes the Glorious King

“In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.” [1] “Thank You Heavenly Father for sending the fountain who cleanses us from sin and uncleanness.”

“It shall be in that day that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they shall no longer be remembered. I will also cause the [false] prophets and the unclean spirit to depart from the land.” [2] “Thank You Heavenly Father for purging the land of deceptive images, misinformation, and defiling spirits.”

“And one will say to Him, ‘What are these wounds between Your arms?’ Then He will answer, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of My friends.’ Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the Man who is My Companion. Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered…” [3] “Thank You Lord Jesus for being wounded, even by Your friends, for the sake of our salvation. Thank You for being the faithful Shepherd, even when the mob came against You to arrest You.”

“I will bring the one-third through the fire, will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘This is My people;’ and each one will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’” [4] “Thank You Father for the remnant of those who love Your Name, and who remain faithful to You in spite of cruel and unusual punishment from those who hate You.”

“Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives… Thus the Lord my God will come, and all the saints with You.” [5] “We look forward to Your return O Lord, and Your millennial reign in Jerusalem.” “And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. in that day it shall be—'The Lord is one,’ and His Name one. …And no longer shall there be utter destruction, but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.” [6]

[1] Zechariah 13:1
[2] Zechariah 13:2
[3] Zechariah 13:6-7; Matthew 26:31
[4] Zechariah 13:9
[5] Zechariah 14:3-5; Revelation 20:4-6
[6] Zechariah 14:9, 11

Jerusalemites Turn to Jesus Their Messiah

The Lord foretold the breaking of His covenant with His people in the context of their betrayal of Him for thirty pieces of silver. He even speaks of this silver being brought into the house of the Lord for the potter. In hindsight, we know that was fulfilled on the night that Jesus Christ made a new covenant with the people of God. They would partake of His body and blood for the remission of their sins. He would from this day forth be the only Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. They would also celebrate His body and blood given for them in remembrance of His death until He returns.

“I took my staff, Beauty, and cut it in two, that I might break the covenant which I had made with all the peoples. So it was broken on that day. Thus the poor of the flock, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the Lord. Then I said to them, ‘If it is agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain.’ So they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver.” [1]

“And the Lord said to me, ‘Throw it to the potter’—that princely price they set on me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord for the potter.” [2]

“For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” “The Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.” [3]

After the prophecy of the old covenant of animal sacrifices being replaced by the new covenant of Christ giving His body and blood for our salvation, the Lord gave the prophet Zechariah a message about Jerusalem.

“And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it. In that day, the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the Lord before them. It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.” [4]

Jerusalem will be a heavy stone to the nations who have rejected Messiah because the people of Jerusalem will embrace Jesus Christ as their Messiah. They will exalt Him. They will become strong. Nations will be incited by satan to hate and destroy Jerusalem. They will feel that this new turn of events for Israel is a heavy burden that they cannot bear. They will come against Jerusalem but not prevail because the Lord will fight for them.

“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.” [5]

Yes, the people of Jerusalem shall be filled with the Holy Spirit. They will believe in salvation by God’s grace in Christ Jesus. They will pray in the Name of Jesus. They will know in their hearts that their sins pierced Him, and grieve for what they did, but also rejoice in Him as the promised Messiah by all the Bible’s prophets.

“And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” [6]

The dragon in the above passage symbolizes satan. He makes war against the people of God. The “her” in the above passage is a pronoun for the people who keep the commandments of God [the Law] and have the testimony of Jesus [the Gospel]. Such people seek to keep the commandments of God but know that their salvation is of the Lord Jesus who died for them on the cross to atone for their sins.

[1] Zechariah 11:10-12
[2] Zechariah 11:13
[3] Matthew 26:28;1 Corinthians 11:23-25
[4] Zechariah 12:2, 8-9
[5] Zechariah 12:10
[6] Revelation 12:17

Jerusalemites Embrace Messiah

Persia or modern day, Iran was considered the superpower of the world. Many of God’s people were living there but longing to be back in Jerusalem. The people sent men to the house of God to pray before the Lord, and to ask the priests and prophets there whether or not to keep the traditional days of fasting and weeping.

The Lord gave Zachariah a Word for them to obey the words of the former prophets. Those prophets who spoke to them when Jerusalem and the cities around it were prosperous! He summarized their words to them, saying, “Execute true justice, show mercy, and compassion everyone to his brother. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. Let none of you plan evil in his heart against his brother.”

Rather than keep traditions that were useless, the Lord urged them to do what was right by showing His mercy and compassion to one another. The Lord wanted them to stop exploiting widows, orphans, foreigners, and poor people. He wanted them to stop plotting evil against one another. God told them exactly what He expected of them if they wanted to return to their homeland. Their forefathers “refused to heed, shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears so that they could not hear. Yes, they made their hearts like flint, refusing to hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Thus great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. They would not hear, so they called out and I would not listen. I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they had not known.” [1]

But wait! The Lord was not done with His people. He gave Zechariah another word for them, saying, “I am zealous for Zion with great zeal; with great fervor I am zealous for her. I will return to Zion, and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth, the Mountain of the Lord of hosts, the Holy Mountain.” [2]

God’s people shall once again live in Jerusalem. “Behold, I will save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west; I will bring them back, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. They shall be My people and I will be their God, in truth and righteousness.” [3]

People will say, “Let us continue to go and pray before the Lord and seek the Lord of hosts. I myself will go also. Yes, many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord. In those days ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’” [4]

God will bring about the restoration of Jerusalem to Himself. His people shall worship and serve Him there. If this transformation had depended on the Jewish people, it would have never happened, but there is hope because God is able to do it and wants to do it. Jerusalem shall become a holy city full of grace and truth. The Lord fulfills His promises.

This principle is true for our churches today as well. Unless the Lord brings about the miracle of people returning to Him, it will not happen. But praise God, He does bring them to Himself by His grace in Christ Jesus! Not by our works! He transforms us as we embrace His Son Jesus as our Messiah, our Miracle Worker, and our Deliverer. Jesus Christ is the Helper of our Joy. Praise the Lord!

[1] Zechariah 7:1-14
[2] Zechariah 8:1-3
[3] Zechariah 8:7-8
[4] Zechariah 8:21-23

Zechariah’s Vision of the Living Word and Holy Spirit

“Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at His right hand to oppose Him. And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebukes you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” [1]

Jesus is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew name Joshua. Joshua means the Lord saves. The Lord gave Zechariah a vision of Messiah being slandered for His desire to save Jerusalem (the Jewish people) from their sins. Jesus never sinned but He bore the sins of others. God rebukes Satan for slandering His people.

“Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and was standing before the Angel. Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, ‘Take away the filthy garments from Him.’ And to Him He said, ‘See, I have removed Your iniquity from You, and I will clothe You with rich robes.’ And I said, ‘Let them put a clean turban on His head.’ So they put a clean turban on His head, and they put the clothes on Him. And the Angel of the Lord stood by.” [2]

The filthy garments represent the sins of God’s people. Joshua or Jesus bore our sin. He gave us His righteousness in exchange for our sin. Rich robes symbolize the righteousness He imputed to us. The clean turban symbolizes our new role in Christ. We are members of His body. We are a royal priesthood. The high priest of Israel wore a turban with “Holiness to the Lord” across the front of it. Having been transformed by the gracious work of Christ, our minds are now on heavenly things, the things of God. We are hidden with God in Christ.

“Then the Angel of the Lord admonished Joshua, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: If You will walk in My ways, and if you will keep My command, then You shall also judge My house, and likewise have charge of My courts; I will give you places to walk among these who stand here.” [3]

Here, the Lord speaks to Joshua as though He is us. He stands before God on our behalf. The call of Joshua [Jesus] and us His followers is to walk in God’s ways, keep His commands, and be judges in His house, and in-charge of His courts.

“Hear, O Joshua, the high priest, You and Your companions who sit before You, for they are a wondrous sign; for behold, I am bringing forth My Servant the Branch. For behold, the stone that I have laid before Joshua: upon the stone are seven eyes.

Behold, I will engrave its inscription,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘And I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. In that day,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘Everyone will invite his neighbor under his vine and under his fig tree.’” [4]

These verses confirm that Joshua refers to Messiah. Messiah is the Branch of God. God in flesh appearing! The seven eyes represent the seven spirits of God mentioned in Isaiah 11:1-2 and in Revelation 1:4. Jesus Christ is the One who removes the sin of God’s people in one day. He removes walls of sin that separate us from God and from one another. He brings us into fellowship under the shade of His vine and His fig tree.

“Now the angel who talked with me came back and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep. And he said to me, ‘What do you see?’ So I said, ‘I am looking, and there is a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it, and on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps. Two olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left.’ So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, ‘What are these, my lord?’ Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, ‘Do you not know what these are?’ And I said, ‘No, my lord.’ So he answered and said to me: ‘This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And He shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’ Then I answered and said to him, ‘What are these two olive trees—at the right of the lampstand and at its left?’ And I further answered and said to him, ‘What are these two olive branches that drip into the receptacles of the two gold pipes from which the golden oil drains?’ Then he answered me and said, ‘Do you not know what these are?’ And I said, ‘No, my lord.’ So he said, ‘These are the two anointed ones, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth.’” [5]

The Lord gave Zechariah a vision of the Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. His Son and His Spirit are the two olive trees of God that release His anointing among His people. They are authorized to do this not according to His people’s merits, but according to His grace. It is by these two Anointed Ones, the Word and the Spirit, that mountains are removed, and great things happen. Praise the Lord!

[1] Zechariah 3:1-2
[2] Zechariah 3:3-5
[3] Zechariah 3:6-7
[4] Zechariah 3:8-10
[5] Zechariah 4:1-7; 11-14

Jerusalemites Worshipping Jesus Christ

The word of the Lord came to Zechariah the prophet, saying, “The Lord has been very angry with your fathers. Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Return to Me,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord of hosts. The Lord of hosts says, ‘Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets preached, saying… ‘Turn now from your evil ways and your evil deeds.’ ‘But they did not hear nor heed Me,’ says the Lord.” [1]

The Lord refers to Himself as the Lord of hosts four times in the above passage. The word hosts is a translation of the Hebrew word “sabaoth,” meaning “armies.” The angelic armies of heaven! God has an army of mighty angels.

The parents of Zechariah’s audience had doubted God. They and their nation suffered dearly due to their poor choices. Their children responded to the Word of the Lord by saying, “Just as the Lord of hosts determined to do to us, according to our ways and according to our deeds, so He has dealt with us.” [2]

The Lord gave Zechariah a vision of the Angel of the Lord, and of various colored horses among myrtle trees. He heard the Angel of the Lord praying, “O Lord of hosts, how long will You not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which You were angry these seventy years?” The Lord responded with good and comforting words. The Angel said to Zechariah, “Proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “I am zealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with great zeal. I am exceedingly angry with the nations at ease; for I was a little angry, and they helped—but with evil intent. I am returning to Jerusalem with mercy; My house shall be built in it.” “My cities shall again spread out through prosperity. I will again comfort Zion and will again choose Jerusalem.” [3]

A generation of Jerusalemites had been exiled to various foreign lands due to the sins of their parents. The Lord was about to deal with their captors. He was going to bring His people back to Jerusalem with great zeal. He was going to have mercy on them. He would build His house among them, and their cities would prosper. He was going to comfort them.

The Lord showed Zechariah the four horns that had displaced their forefathers. And the Lord showed him four craftsmen. The Lord was going to use craftsmen [technological innovation] to terrify their enemies. [4]

The Lord showed Zechariah a man with a measuring line. He was surveying Jerusalem. The Lord declared, “Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls, because of the multitude of men and livestock in it. For I will be a wall of fire all around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.” [5]

The Lord told Zechariah that it was time for His people to escape from their captors and return to their homeland. God’s Word to those who had mistreated them was, “He who touches you touches the apple of My eye. They shall become spoil for my servants.” [6]

“Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! For behold, I am coming, and I will dwell in your midst. Many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and they shall become My people. And I will dwell in your midst. I will take possession of Judah as My inheritance in the Holy Land and will again choose Jerusalem. Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for He is aroused from His holy habitation!” [7]

Then, in the Book of Revelation chapter seven, Jesus Christ reveals 144,000 Messianic believers from twelve tribes of Israel to us, and after that a multitude of redeemed people from all the nations standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They are worshipping God. Heaven is filled with believers in Yeshua Ha Mashiach [Jesus Christ] from all nations. Multitudes shall be saved amidst days of great tribulation in the earth. The Lord will fulfill His Word that is recorded in Romans 11:12, “Now if their [the Jews] fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!” Jerusalem shall be filled with worshippers of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

[1] Zechariah 1:1-4
[2] Zechariah 1:6
[3] Zechariah 1:7-17
[4] Zechariah 1:18-21
[5] Zechariah 2:1-5
[6] Zechariah 2:6-9
[7] Zechariah 2:10-13

The Lord’s Word via Zephaniah

The Lord gave Zephaniah a message of warnings for evil doers and promises of blessings to those who trust in Him and honor Him with good deeds. Zephaniah’s name means “Hidden by God.” The Lord speaks to Zephaniah of being hidden from His wrath against sin during the day of disaster.

“I will stretch out My hand against… those who have turned back from following the Lord, and have not sought the Lord, nor inquired of Him.” [1]

The Lord speaks of coming with a whip for the complacent people who say in their heart, “The Lord will not do good, nor will He do evil.” Many years later, the Lord physically entered their temple with a whip and turned over their money tables. The Lord had told Zephaniah, “Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath.” [2]

The Lord had a word for the meek doers of justice among them, “Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth, who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of the Lord’s anger.” [3] Stay the course! A new day is coming, but there’s some dark days to get through first.

The Lord warned the Palestinians for their sins against His people, “Gaza shall be forsaken… the word of the Lord is against you…” “This they shall have for their pride because they have reproached and made arrogant threats against the people of the Lord of hosts. The Lord will be awesome to them, for He will reduce to nothing all the gods of the earth; people shall worship Him, each one from his place, indeed all the shores of the nations.” [4]

Zephaniah detailed the deeds that compelled the Lord to act against people, “Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted, to the oppressing city! She has not obeyed His voice. She refused correction. She has not trusted in the Lord. She has not drawn near to her God.” “Her prophets are insolent, treacherous people.” They did not want to be like their Creator. Zephaniah detailed to them what the Lord is like. “The Lord is righteous in her midst. He will do no unrighteousness. Every morning He brings His justice to light. He never fails.” [5]

The end goal of the Lord’s actions is to bring about a change in the hearts of people. “For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, that they all may call on the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one accord. From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia My worshipers, the daughter of My dispersed ones, shall bring My offering.” [6] He will bring together people who love to worship Him in the beauty of holiness.

“For then I will take away from your midst those who rejoice in your pride, and you shall no longer be haughty in My holy mountain. I will leave in your midst a meek and humble people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. The remnant of Israel shall do no unrighteousness and speak no lies, nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth; for they shall feed their flocks and lie down, and no one shall make them afraid.” [7] The remnant of God’s people shall reflect His values.

The Lord will bring about a day of singing, gladness and rejoicing for those who love Him. “Sing, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!” “The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” [8]

[1] Zephaniah 1:4, 6
[2] Zephaniah 1:11-12, 18; John 2:13-17
[3] Zephaniah 2:3
[4] Zephaniah 2:4-5; 10-11
[5] Zephaniah 3:1-2, 4-5
[6] Zephaniah 3:9-10
[7] Zephaniah 3:11-13
[8] Zephaniah 3:14, 17

Righteousness Shall Prevail

“The burden which the prophet Habakkuk saw.” Have you a burden for righteousness? Jesus declared, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” [1] The Lord satisfied Habakkuk.

Habakkuk means embrace. He wanted to embrace people. Accept them! Love them! But he could not embrace their deeds, so he gave his burden to the Lord…

“O Lord, how long shall I cry, and You will not hear? I cry out to You, ‘Violence!’ and You will not save. Why do You show me iniquity, and cause me to see trouble? For plundering and violence are before me; there is strife, and contention arises. Therefore the law is powerless, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround, the righteous; therefore perverse judgment proceeds.” [2]

He prayed the popular one-word petition to the Lord… “Why?” Why did the Lord give him an intense desire for righteousness if the Lord was not going to bring it about? He didn’t enjoy grief, but how he could feel otherwise?

The Lord gave Habakkuk a “coming soon” preview: “I am raising up the Chaldeans…they all come for violence… they deride every stronghold…” The Lord was raising up a mighty army to humble defiant evil doers. “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.” [3] The word for “resist” in the original Greek means to set up a military against.

The Lord urged Habakkuk to, “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.” [4] So, he, like other Bible prophets, wrote down the Lord’s words, and the Lord brought His promise to pass in due season.

The Lord gave Habakkuk a spiritual truth that is quoted in the New Testament, and it is a foundational truth of Christianity: “Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith.” [5] Proud people will not admit their need of God. They trust in themselves. They justify themselves. The just people of this world live by faith in God’s Messiah, namely Jesus Christ His Son. They know by a gracious revelation of God that only the Name of Jesus is above other names. Evil bows to the Name of Jesus. Justice comes forth as God’s people trust in Him to turn the tide on it. Numerous stories in the Bible have the theme of God giving grace to the humble, and of God humbling the proud.

“He is a proud man… he enlarges his desire as hell, and he is like death, and cannot be satisfied...” “Because you have plundered many nations, all the remnant of the people shall plunder you…” “Woe to him who covets evil gain for his house, that he may set his nest on high…” “Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed, who establishes a city by iniquity!” “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” “The Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him.” [6] The Lord shall certainly bring about a day where righteousness prevails, and wickedness fails.

What did God’s Word do for Habakkuk? God’s Word gave him faith to keep on waiting upon the Lord. God’s Word yielded for him joy. By God’s Word he knew for certain that a day of salvation would come. He stopped looking to helpless humanity for help. He threw away the idol of self being the hero of the story. He placed all His confidence in the Lord.

“Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls—Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” [7]

[1] Habakkuk 1:1; Matthew 5:6
[2] Habakkuk 1:2-4
[3] Habakkuk 1:6, 9-10
[4] Habakkuk 2:1-3
[5] Habakkuk 2:4
[6] Habakkuk 2:5, 8-9, 12, 14, 20
[7] Habakkuk 3:17-18

Love - Recorded for 4th Sunday of Advent (2023)

I made the attached recording for the sake of a congregation that needed a preacher on 12.24.23. May the Word of God and the Testimony of Jesus yield good outcomes to the whosoever takes time to meditate on His Word and His testimony.

https://youtu.be/u-qXZz4wET8

The Gospel in the Book of Jonah

The people of Nineveh were wicked. God called Jonah to cry out against them. He fled not only from His responsibility, but also from the presence of the Lord…

“Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.’ But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.” [1]

His fleeing from the presence of the Lord, placed those in the boat with him in peril. The solution to save their lives was for those in charge of the passengers to throw Jonah overboard, which they did not want to do, but finally under duress they did. They asked the Lord to forgive them. [2]

“The Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” Jesus compared Jonah’s time in the belly of the great fish to His time in the grave. “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” [3]

“Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly.” Part of his prayer included this confession, “Those who regard worthless idols forsake their own Mercy. But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.” [4] He allowed something other than God to become greater to follow than God. In the process, He forsook God’s mercy which every person needs to be saved from their sin. Salvation is of the Lord!

“So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.” After Jonah’s resurrection from the watery graveyard, the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.” This time Jonah obeyed the Lord. The result was that the people of Nineveh turned to God to save them. [5]

Jonah should have trusted God the first time God called him, but the Lord allowed Jonah to experience a death and resurrection sort of speak. Jesus Christ went through such an experience for us. Due to our disobedience to God not for His own! But He came back from the dead and now, like Jonah, He sees many turning to God as they hear His Gospel. In this way, Jonah, by God’s work of grace and not his own, became a prophet and a metaphor of the Gospel of Christ.

[1] Jonah 1:1-3
[2] Jonah 1:4-15
[3] Jonah 1:17; Matthew 12:40
[4] Jonah 2:1, 8-9
[5] Jonah 2:10; 3:1-10

Shaking Up For Salvation

Amidst a message of divine judgment, God gives a message of hope to His people. The day of blessing comes to Israel as God’s Spirit brings them to faith in Jesus Christ (the only Anointed One - Messiah) of God to save them! [1]

Amos nine opens with a vision of the temple shaken by the Angel of the Lord which falls and buries Judah and Israel under its ruins. However, instead of being swallowed up by the Gentile nations Israel would be sifted by the familiar imagery of a harvester shaking a sieve. [2] A purified remnant will be preserved. The dust and the dirt will fall to ground, and the kernel of grain will be left. God’s end-time’s people shall be purified from all chaff and impurity.

At the Jerusalem Council, the Apostle James interpreted Amos’ prediction of a renewed kingdom as fulfilled in the preaching of the Gospel. [3] He appealed to Amos 9:11-12 to show them that all Gentiles are saved who have believed on Jesus as the anointed of God.

At the Jerusalem Council James declares that the Lord has chosen a people for Himself from among the Gentiles! God revealed to the apostle Peter that Gentiles are equal partners in the kingdom. [4] In the end-times, God’s people will consist of a restored Israel from David’s “booth” and Gentiles who profess faith in Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah. The mutual salvation of Jew and Gentile is by grace alone through faith in Christ alone.

God extends His grace to all the nations and then once again He turns to Israel and raises up again the tabernacle of David. “After these things I will return, and I will rebuild the tabernacle of David which has fallen, and I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, so that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by My Name.” [5]

God has not forsaken Israel. “For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, ‘The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.’” [6]

Just as God gathered out from the nations a people of His own Name there is coming a day when He will again work in the stony hearts of His own people Israel. [7] Israel will embrace, profess, and serve Jesus Christ (the only Anointed One - Messiah) of God to save them.

[1] Amos 1:2; Amos 9:11-15
[2] Amos 9:7-10
[3] Acts 15:13-18
[4] Acts 10-11
[5] Acts 15:16-17
[6] Romans 11:25-26
[7] Romans 11:25-29

This blog was excerpted and edited from a longer article. Please click on this link for the full article: http://www.abideinchrist.com/messages/amos9v11.html

The Great Multitude from All Nations

I’ve been blessed throughout my life to worship Jesus as Messiah with people of diverse socio-economic backgrounds and from many different nations.

“Thank You Heavenly Father for these great and encouraging experiences!”

I’m looking forward to greater things.

Even worshipping with people from every nation, tribe, people, and tongue before the throne and before the Lamb!