First principles. Heb 11:6 6 “But without FAITH it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Do we give much of our money to the poor in the secret hope that this will justify us? Do we do grand works thinking God could not possibly turn us away on that eternal day? Do we attend services twice every Sunday and on Wednesday thinking surely we can rest easily? Do we accumulate knowledge and have the entire alphabet next to our name showing our theological or other degrees helping us believe we are saved? How about a vow of poverty or chastity or maybe living on a mountain alone praying? Mk 16 “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned”. Good news. The answer is that all of these things are good but we must never seek God on our merits – if we have any. It is only grace through faith that will save. Think upon your worst failure and sin (just briefly😁). Let it remind you that you are not able to cleanse this (or Christ would have died in vain) and you have no place in heaven on your merit – AND THEN REJOICE – this gift of eternal life has been freely bestowed upon those who please God. SO – how do we please God? Jn 6: 28 “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye BELIEVE on him whom he hath sent.” AND by the way this is not a change in plan! Rom 4: “3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham BELIEVED God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. 4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” Do you question His power to forgive your greatest sin? You insult Him. FEAR NOT – ONLY KEEP ON BELIEVING. You will please God and all of your efforts shall receive a great reward.
Is God Working in Your Life? Self Assess!
How do we know if God is working in our lives? We have favor with God and man, we have (mostly) blessing upon the work of our hands, we are guided by the Spirit of God at important times resulting in a better outcome, and people (mostly) honor us as opposed to totally ignoring us. Additionally we (usually) desire to go deeper with God, we feel love for other believers and people in general, and we often see love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, humility and self control growing in our lives. If we do not see these things to our satisfaction, there are some things we should do. Primarily make sure we are trusting God for our salvation and not thinking we need to work for redemption. Then spend more time in periods of prayer and praise. Spend more time in the word and obey all you are aware of that God wants you to do. This is no time to be caught slacking. Salvation is free and your specific purpose will occur, but you must Earnestly pursue the deeper walk which will keep you strong to the end. 2 Peter 1 tells us: 5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities and continue to grow in them, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever lacks these traits is nearsighted to the point of blindness, having forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, strive to make your calling and election sure. For if you practice these things you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a lavish reception into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Sanballat, Tobiah, Rabshakeh and Psyops
From Got Questions website – “Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem were three enemies of the Jews who made several attempts to stop Nehemiah from rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Sanballat and Tobiah are first mentioned in Nehemiah 2:10 as upset about Nehemiah’s work: “When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were very much disturbed that someone had come to promote the welfare of the Israelites.” In verse 19, they, along with Geshem the Arab, mock Nehemiah, saying, “What is this you are doing? . . . Are you rebelling against the king?” When the construction was taking place, their anger grew: “When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews” (Nehemiah 4:1; cf. verse 7).”
From Got Questions website – Sennacherib’s Assyrian army had (destroyed the northern kingdom) captured all the fortified cities in Judah. Second Kings 18:12 says that “this happened because they [Judah] had not obeyed the Lord their God, but had violated his covenant—all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded. They neither listened to the commands nor carried them out.” Sennacherib was poised to capture Jerusalem, so he sent the Rabshakeh with a great army to issue a challenge to Hezekiah. Using the Hebrew language, the Rabshakeh said, “Tell Hezekiah that this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What is the basis of this confidence of yours? You claim to have a strategy and strength for war, but these are empty words. In whom are you now trusting, that you have rebelled against me?” (Isaiah 36:4–5). The Rabshakeh used the native language of the Jews in order to be heard by the Jewish guards on the wall. He may have been hoping his words would terrify them into pressuring Hezekiah to surrender.
In war, often one side or the other attempt Psyops or Psychological Operations. This is done via written or spoken statements designed to instill crippling fear in order to discourage and distract and destroy the will of the soldiers and the people in their nation to fight.
In the context of this day and age and the role of the Christian – we see much to discourage and distract the would-be praying warrior. It is all over the news and social media. Now is a time when we must be in fervent prayer for revival for our nation and world. Yet there is so much to discourage us that many Christians have given up the struggle – assuming that there is no hope.
The solution for Hezekiah was to humbly bow his knee to God almighty and ask for help. The people of Judah and their little ones assembled and prayed that the merciless Assyrians would not be allowed to ravage them in the brutal manner they normally utilized. Their prayer was answered and the angel of the Lord slew 185,000 Assyrians while they slept. Judah was saved for many more years, before finally succumbing to Babylon due to their persistent disobedience.
Nehemiah’s approach was to ignore Sanballat, Tobiah and their friends and to diligently persist in building the wall which would protect Jerusalem. He instructed the workers to keep their swords with them at all times as they worked and to always keep a remnant on guard duty to warn of coming trouble. He knew he was called by God and that he must accomplish his purpose. Nehemiah successfully completed the wall in less than 2 months vowing he would not be intimidated.
The message to us? Are you about to give up because of the constant barrage of bad news, fear, loss and trouble in our world? Are you ready to stop doing the right things and praying for God to move? Do your words indicate you expect coming doom and defeat? Do not quit. It is a tactic of the enemy to discourage you into not participating in the spiritual battle we face. Continue to pray and to do the “next right thing”. If Gods people continue on in faith, we will prevail and He will move on our behalf. God is more than able and he expects us to do our part – praying in the victory.
EZEKIELS TEMPLE
First off let’s deal with an easy one. Do you know what “replacement theology” is? It is the opinion on the part of some Christians, historically and even in the present, that the church of Jesus Christ essentially replaces the Jews in the plan of God. It basically holds that Israel is no longer an important part of Gods end time plan. Replacement theology holds that only ‘the church’ matters – therefore the Old Testament is not important to read, study or follow and all references to God’s people going forward apply only to Christians.
Even many of the church fathers were in effect antisemitic – such as Martin Luther. It is not my intent to debunk replacement theology here – the New Testament certainly does not teach that God is finished with His people Israel, and there are plenty of references to Jewish people in the end times in the writings of Paul and John (to include Revelation). So, you can research all that for yourself. If you want my take – replacement theology is hogwash. The Jews were, are and will be a central part of Gods program – the rest of us are blessed to also be a part of His plan – if we believe in our Messiah Yeshua (Jesus).
The intent of this article is to take a look at exactly how much the Jewish people and Hebrew/Jewish (Old Testament) ideas are and will be in play as we go forward. Even a cursory reading of the prophets such as Zechariah, Isaiah, and Ezekiel cause one to realize how important Israel and Jewish people will be in the end times. There are chapters upon chapters describing a revived Israel and God Himself ruling from the land of Israel. The Bible essentially tells us that Israel will the center of life on earth as we approach eternity. The borders will be expanded, and there will be a requirement for all nations to send delegations to Israel annually at the Feast of Tabernacles. Nations not complying will have their rain stopped (see book of Zechariah)!
What brings all this to mind for me is even more mind blowing. Reading in Ezekiel chapters 40 thru 48 we see the building of a huge and glorious temple in Jerusalem during the 1000-yearreign of Christ on earth (aka The Millennium). Did you know that there will be sacrifices? There will be “sin offerings and burnt offerings” etc. There will be priests and princes and nearly all the activities once outlined in the Torah several thousand years ago under the Mosaic law.
I thought to myself – how can this be? Why do we need sacrifices again since Jesus died for our sins once and for all? Why do we need priests and temples? This seems most unusual to the informed Christian who believes the gospel that Jesus diedfor our sins once for all and that He is the final and only sacrifice for sin. There are many other questions, but that one “takes the cake” in my book. So, lets take a look.
Since I became fascinated with this apparent dilemma, I have studied what many scholars say and have seen many opinions. Before we begin, please know that the detail about the temple and the rituals I described is enormous in Ezekiel chapters 40 thru 48. It is therefore very unlikely that this is all symbolic. These are clearly literal descriptions shown to Ezekiel by a heavenly messenger regarding a new temple with sacrifices and rituals. And this vision all takes place about 573 BC after the destruction of Solomons Temple (in 586 BC by Nebuchadnezzar), while Ezekiel and others are captives in Babylon. Please note also that another temple was in fact built in Israel shortly after this vision, by the returning deportees, that looks nothing like the temple described in Ezekiel. So, what are some of the opinions about this?
Some say that this vision was a general symbolic vision of a glorious temple “representing” good days ahead for Israel, who would return to the land from Babylon. Based upon the great detail which is described, most commentators find this very unlikely. This is especially true in light of other Biblical passages, in the prophetic books mentioned before, that lend support to a grand scenario of Israel’s eventual condition.
Others hold that the vision was of a glorious temple that was to be rebuilt upon the return from Babylon but was never quiterebuilt to the grand standards of the Ezekiel passages. So, the builders “fell short of the mark” so to speak. The temple that was rebuilt was not nearly as glorious even as Solomons temple, and when the older people saw it many of them cried, presumably due to the comparison with that first temple. Again, if this vision was given by God to Ezekiel, I find it very unlikely that it would not come to pass as described. If God ordains something – it will occur.
Although it may pose some challenges to standard Christian theology, many (like me) hold that Ezekiel’s Temple will be built, most likely in the millennium after the tribulation and Christs return. It will be huge and glorious with streams of living water coming out from it. There will be priests, sacrifices, and princes. Say what? Why sin sacrifices?
Here is what I think – the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross was “once for all” – it is in fact the only thing that provides forgiveness and therefore salvation to us all. Let there be no mistake and no equivocation about that. There is no other sacrifice that forgives sin. In fact, in the Old Testament no one ever said the blood of bulls and goats would save you. As the author of Hebrews says – these sacrifices never did, never can and will never save – they were only pictures of the propitiating sacrifice of Jesus which truly washed away sins for those who would believe. The rest was merely atonement or covering – a ritual that represented what was really going on in heavenly places by our eternal High Priest – Jesus. Therefore, some thensay that the millennial future sacrifices will be “memorials looking back” at what Christ did. This is possible, but I think there is more to the story. We may be learning about how God really operates.
Until the eternal kingdom when there is a new heaven and a new earth with no temple, when God the father will dwell therein, it very simply appears there is a necessity for God to have a temple where His presence will dwell. The Bible does tell us that for believers our bodies are also His temple. But from the beginning after sin entered the world, if God was to dwell with us – He required a temple. And to minister to Him, the priests needed to ceremonially cleanse themselves and ceremonially offer sacrifices for their sin. That’s the way it was – and that is the way it looks like it will be again. A new wrinkle in my brain.
The next post will deal with “the law” and progressive revelation.
Let me know what you think!
Polycarp
Polycarp was a disciple of the apostle John, who was to be burned?? at the stake around A.D. 150 at the age of 86. He was threatened by the mob of the day, & they told him “we are going to burn you at the stake, but if you will denounce Jesus Christ & bow to the Roman Emperor we will set you free”. He replied, “Eighty-six years I have been His servant, and He has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my king who saved me?” Once more they urged Polycarp to swear by Caesar. This time Polycarp replied, “Since you pretend not to know who and what I am, hear me declare with boldness: I am a Christian. And if you wish to learn more about Christianity, I will be happy to make an appointment.” Furious, they said, “Don’t you know We have wild beasts waiting? We’ll throw you to them unless you repent.” Polycarp answered, “Bring them on, then, for we are not accustomed to repent of what is good in order to adopt that which is evil.” Next they threatened to burn him alive. To this Polycarp replied, “You threaten me with fire which burns for a little while and is soon extinguished. You do not know the coming fire of judgment and eternal punishment reserved for the ungodly. What are you waiting for? Do what you wish.” He died a martyr, bound and burned at the stake, however they were forced to stab him to death when the FIRE FAILED to consume his body.
Our life must be characterized by a humble acceptance of God’s will; and our willingness to praise of God in the most extreme trial; and a joyful, unwavering commitment to Christ even when faced with death. Let this too be our story! STAND! Love Mel
