Tag-Archive for ◊ prophets ◊

26 Feb 2023 Zechariah (Program #1)

Zechariah (Program #1) – An Introductory Word

During the days of the degradation of the house of Israel, God’s word was primarily limited to his overcomers, the prophets, such as Isaiah and Jeremiah. But as the people’s hearts began to turn back to the Lord, other prophets were still needed to bear Jehovah’s testimony and to release His speaking for His people in that age to accomplish His purpose and plan. Among these prophets were Haggai and Zechariah who shared in the captivity of Israel in Babylon but who were raised up by the Lord to accompany His people back to Judah and to encourage and exhort them to go back and rebuild the temple of Jehovah within Jerusalem.

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20 Feb 2023 Micah (Program #3)

Micah (Program #3) – The Greatness of the Prophets in Their Speaking Concerning Christ

Genuine lovers of God’s word have learned that the Old Testament reveals Christ in types and figures and in many places. In fact the Prophets of the Old Testament are particularly rich in the detailed aspects of Christ’s earthly and heavenly ministry revealed in their pages.

Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, often what they wrote prophetically had both application to their own situations in their time, as well as a clear reference to the coming One, our dear Lord Jesus. Other passages seen uniquely focus on Christ.  Micah 5:2 is such a passage, “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, So little to be among the thousands of Judah, From you there will come forth to Me, He who is to be Ruler in Israel; And His goings forth are from ancient times, From the days of eternity.”

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19 Feb 2023 Micah (Program #2)

Micah (Program #2) – Jehovah’s Comfort to Israel

The Prophet Micah in the Old Testament speaks of God’s reprove and chastisement of Israel in a very poetic language.

Chapter 1:3-4 “For Jehovah is about to come forth from His place, And He will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth. And the mountains will be melted under Him, And the valleys will be cleft, Like wax before fire, Like water poured down a slope.”

These sobering words caused Micah to weep but as with other prophets Micah also speaks of God’s comforting of His people.  Which ultimately comes at the end of this age in what the prophets of all spoke as the restoration. A coming age when there will be no need of weapons for all the enemies will be gone and Christ will rule, shepherd and protect His people while His people feast and rejoice in loving worship of Him for a thousand years.

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18 Feb 2023 Micah (Program #1)

Micah (Program #1) – The Introductory Word and Jehovah’s Reproof on Israel

The prophets of the Old Testament all spoke of the same basic things. First, that Israel had departed from Jehovah which resulted in Jehovah use of the Gentile nations around Israel to chastise her with the hope that she would return to Him.

But the nations were excessive in their treatment of Israel which offended the Lord, causing Him to punish the nations. Both of these things work to bring about the manifestation of Christ, which will eventually result in the restoration of all things including the full promise of Israel with the ushering in of the kingdom consummating ultimately in the New heaven and New earth. Though their expression and the angles from which they speak of these different things vary, the basic thought is the same with all of the Old Testament prophets. And with this is the key, all of these books, the prophets, both Major and Minor open up to us.

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15 Feb 2023 Amos (Program #1)

Amos (Program #1) – The Introductory Word, Jehovah’s Judgments on the Surrounding Nations, and His Judgments on Judah and Israel, and Jehovah’s Contending with the House of Jacob

There are many ways to look at and interpret human history. But if we study the divine record in the Bible, we can see a clear and on going pattern. And that is that for more than 20 centuries God’s people Israel had been under a kind of suffering, a chastisement at the hands of the surrounding nations.  At the same time God has been judging and punishing those nations for their excessive brutality toward Israel. And during these entire period beginning from the incarnation of the Savior, Christ had been increasingly manifested on the earth. This clear, concise summary of the past centuries is the topic and focus of most of the Old Testament books of the prophets. Amos is one of the Minor Prophets that continues this revelation.

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22 Jan 2023 Mark (Program #22)

Mark (Program #22) – The Move of the Slave-Savior’s Gospel Service (10)

Mark chapter 8 verses 27 through 29 tell us, “And Jesus and His disciples went out into the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them, Who do men say that I am?  And they told Him, saying, John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but others, one of the prophets.  And He questioned them, But you, who do you say that I am?  Peter answered and said to Him, You are the Christ!”

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16 Jan 2023 Ezekiel (Program #24)

Ezekiel (Program #24) – The River Flowing from the House

An outstanding feature that appears again and again throughout the pages of the Bible both in the Old Testament and the New is a river. The river was prominent in Genesis and the river appears in the books of history and the books of the prophets in the Old Testament. This river is still flowing in the gospels especially in the Gospel of John where the river flows out of the pierced side of the Lord Jesus. And it continues to flow right through the final chapters of Revelation where it is seen proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the New Jerusalem. In all of these mentions the river is a very positive factor, very much related to the matter of the divine eternal life. One of the more striking appearances that this river makes is in Ezekiel 47 where it’s seen flowing out of the house of God. In this chapter it becomes a deep river – too deep and too wide to be passed over. The one that we have no choice but to abandon ourselves to and swim in.

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11 Dec 2022 Jeremiah (Program #18)

Jeremiah (Program #18) – Jehovah’s Condemnation of and Punishment upon the Kings and Prophets of Judah

In the middle chapters of Jeremiah, the Lord is condemning and chastising the kings and prophets of Israel for how they had so fully turned their backs on Him. Listen to this verse from chapter 22, “I spoke to you in your prosperity; But you said, I will not listen. This has been your way from your youth, That you have not listened to My voice.” But despite how this must have deeply offended the very God that had brought them through so much and had proven Himself to them again and again, it’s in the midst of His exposing how utterly unrighteous His people had become that He offers the most hopeful and encouraging promise through the prophet Jeremiah. Just a few verses later, we hear “Indeed, days are coming, Declares Jehovah, When I will raise up to David a righteous Shoot; And He will reign as King and act prudently And will execute justice and righteousness in the land.”

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28 Jun 2022 1 & 2 Kings (Program #17)

1 & 2 Kings (Program #17) – The Reign of Hezekiah over Judah

During the long history of the kings of Israel and Judah recorded in the Old Testament spanning a period of several hundred years, there are very few positive accounts.  Of course, we remember David, who was according to God’s heart though he himself was not without his own serious failure.  But not until we come to Hezekiah near the end of the account in 2 Kings do we find another who was nearly as positive as David.  Yet despite this dark negative period in the history of God’s people, God maintained His thin line of overcomers, mainly among the prophets such as Isaiah.  In fact the book of Isaiah gives us a direct linkage to God’s New Testament economy and even to Christ Himself.  As Isaiah focuses our attention on Christ, we want to focus on Him in His New Testament economy today.

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26 Jun 2022 1 & 2 Kings (Program #15)

1 & 2 Kings (Program #15) – The Reign of Azariah, Jotham, and Ahuz over Judah

The history of Israel and the various kings over Israel is recorded in the book of Kings and 1 Chronicles and other history books reveals again and again how Israel and its kings failed God and His expressed intention for them as His people.  Yet even when their failure reached extraordinary levels forcing God to temporarily abandon the nation of Israel, there always remain a line of faithful ones.  Ones that would stand with God for His purpose and for His testimony.  The prophets were such ones, prophets like Nathan and Elijah, Elisha and even Isaiah.  The New Testament has a name for such ones; it is overcomers.  In the book of Revelation, this title appears seven times, most of which sounding like this reference in Revelation 2:7, “he who has an ear, let  him hear what the Spirit says to the churches, to him who overcomes, to him I will give to eat the tree of life which is in the paradise of God.”

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