Hosea (Program #2) – On Hosea (1)—The Introductory Word and The Symbol of a Wife of Harlotries (1)

Do you realize that the subject of the two bookends of the Bible is the same?  It is marriage.   The Bible both begins and ends with the loving union of a husband and a wife.  In Genesis chapter two, the couple is Adam and Eve.  In Revelation 21 and 22, the couple is Christ and the church which becomes the New Jerusalem.  In fact the entire Bible is the story of Romance.  A romance between God and His corporate people.  In Genesis, Adam is really a type of Christ and Eve a type of the church.  In Song of Songs, Solomon typifies Christ while the Shulammite maiden represents the church.   In the books of the prophets, the bride is typified by the nation of Israel.  So now we can see truly the Bible is a romance, the story of a divine person pursuing, wooing and eventually winning the delight of His heart.  By Revelation 21, we are told that the bride has made herself ready and that she is spotless and without blemish.  But she was not always so.  As we see in many places in the Bible, like Hosea, this bride needs much work before she can be ready to be presented to the most lovely and attractive One in the universe, the Lamb of God, our dear Lord Jesus, our bridegroom.

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Hosea (Program #1) – An Introductory Word

The book of Hosea begins the final group of books in the Old Testament.  These twelve books call the Minor Prophets may actually been combined into one book in ancient times called the Book of the Prophets.  It was to these and the four Major Prophets that the Lord Jesus Himself refer to in Luke 24:44, “And He said to them, These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all the things written in the law of Moses and the Prophets and Psalms concerning Me must be fulfilled.”  Hosea, like all of the Minor Prophets is a book that is full of the revelation of Christ.  Particularly, Hosea also reveals that it is God’s deep longing to have a love relationship as a husband to a wife with His people.

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Hosea (Program #7) – On Hosea (8)—Three Implications Concerning Christ

To every genuine believer the Bible becomes a sheer delight. One of the key elements that usher us into a deeper appreciation of the Bible is when we begin to discover clear, unmistakable passages in the Old Testament that reveal our dear Lord Jesus in rich detail. Some Old Testament passages are well known in this regard and unmistakable in how they reveal Christ. Like Psalm 8 and Isaiah 53 but there are so many other portions not so familiar and not quite so obvious, but once the key to seeing Christ has been provided to us, they are nonetheless full of rich and nourishing revelations of the One who is the central focus of every book and every chapter of the Bible. Such a passage is found on the first 4 verses of the Minor Prophets Hosea in Chapter 11.

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Daniel (Program #17) – The Visions of the Overcoming Daniel (7)

The book of Daniel in the Old Testament covers a wide span.  If we have the proper understanding, Daniel shows us the entire Bible actually from Genesis to Revelation.  In fact, it could be said that without Daniel there is no way to understand the Bible as the single unique, divine revelation available to mankind.  We come to our final program today on this life study of Daniel…

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Daniel (Program #16) – The Visions of the Overcoming Daniel (6)

Anyone who has ever studied history realizes that throughout the ages Israel has been a land of wars and destruction.  Yet it survives and even today after so much turmoil but once again it is the center of the world’s attention and occupies so much space in our newspapers and newscasts.

Daniel saw prophetically that Israel will be such a land of distress.  He also saw how God’s purpose and His people will ultimately prevail as Christ Himself will come to that very place to rule and reign on this earth for a thousand years.

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Daniel (Program #15) – The Visions of the Overcoming Daniel (5)

Throughout the ages great kingdoms and great nations have battled and men have fought and died.  This kingdoms would come and go and new kings would appear on the scene.  This kind of earthly activity was specially prevalent during the time of Daniel in the Old Testament.  Much of Daniel’s time was occupied by his concern and prayer for Israel.  In chapter 10, the Lord Himself appeared to Daniel as a man and He gave Daniel a look into the unseen spiritual activity going on behind the scenes while all these things were taking place on earth in the physical realm.  We also get a  glimpse into the unseen, spiritual realm on today’s life-study of the Bible from the book of Daniel.

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Daniel (Program #14) – The Visions of the Overcoming Daniel (4)

The prophet Daniel is often held up as an example of what a godly person should be like.  He was faithful, obedient, diligent and steadfast and he also prayed much. Surely this was one of the giants of the Old Testament.  But not only so, he received visions from God about future events and experienced dramatic miracles.  It is easy to esteem and envy such a one. But of all his attributes, it is his prayer life that serves as the top example.  Because Daniel knew the secret of how to approach the righteous and holy God. He knew never to approach God on the basis of his righteousness and good deeds.  But rather according to God’s compassion and mercy.  Whereas most people take their own need and desires as the focus of their prayer. Daniel prayed always according to God’s Word and God’s need rather than his own. How did God answer such meaningful and effective prayer.  Well, the answer comes from Daniel chapter 9 in the vision of the seventy weeks.

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Daniel (Program #13) – Human Government Fighting Against God and Being Crushed by Christ in His Coming With His Bride

Have you ever wondered why God doesn’t just snuff out His enemy Satan and all of His evil and corrupt followers with just the tip of His finger?  Of course as the all powerful and all mighty One, He could do it this way.  But in His infinite wisdom and eternal plan, God has chosen another way.  A way that involves His redeemed and chosen elect, in other words – us.  We will examine this marvelous mystery in today’s life-study of Daniel.

A mysterious and marvelous romance is revealed throughout the Bible.  To understand this mystery we have to know that the whole Bible is a divine romance.  In the beginning of the Bible,  you have a marriage between Adam and his wife Eve and in the end of the Bible we see the same thing.  Christ marries His Bride and this Bride consummates in the New Jerusalem who is the wife of the Lamb.  And Christ and His wife lives a married life for eternity.  That is the way the Bible ends.  We can see from the beginning to the end the whole Bible is a romance and this romance is developed from Genesis through Revelation…

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Daniel (Program #12) – God’s Economy in the Book of Daniel

Though the book of Daniel in the Old Testament is a short book.  It has many points with  many events and many persons each with their own spiritual lesson and significance. But we should always be mindful that the real focus of this book as it is in every book of the Bible is Christ.  And in Daniel specifically the Christ of God’s economy. To bring us all into this view of Daniel and of Christ is the goal of this ministry. Because it truly is a view that can not only change or deepen our understanding of the Bible, it can affect our whole life as well as a believer.

The very first message in the life-study of Daniel shows us that this book gives us 5 main points concerning Christ.  This is somewhat a review program today of this 5 items in the book of Daniel.

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Daniel (Program #11) – The Visions of the Overcoming Daniel (3)

After a victorious testimony of overcoming in the first six chapters of the book of Daniel. God came in to show Daniel vision after vision concerning the world situation.  Why did God showed Daniel all these visions recorded in chapter 7 through 12?  In our life-study today of chapter 8 of Daniel, we will be addressing this question.

Throughout the ages, Israel has suffered a great deal because of the fighting between the three great empires seen in the vision in Daniel 2.  The Medo-Persians empire, the Grecian empire and the Roman empire.  Of all these, the center of their fighting is Israel.  Israel has been through the ages of battleground and due to this fighting it been difficult at times for Israel God’s elect to be something truly according to His eternal economy.  In our program today, we will see the vision Daniel saw in chapter 8.  A vision concerning a ram and a male goat with its successor.

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