Tuesday, May 27, 2014

PT-V of God Discloses the fate of the Kings from Jer. 23:1-8


SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/27/2014 9:49 AM

My Worship Time                                             Focus:  God Discloses the Fate of the Kings PT-5

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Jeremiah 23:1-8

            Message of the verses:  I mentioned in our last SD that it was the last of the sub-points in this main point about the kings, but then found out that it was not the last one we will look at.  In Today’s SD we will be looking at the best of the best, as we will be looking at our Lord Jesus Christ as King of Kings who will rule from planet earth in the Millennial Kingdom which is promised in the OT, but in the NT it is given the length of time that it will last, and this is found in the book of Revelations.

            Now we mentioned that we have seen the end of the kings in the Davidic Dynasty as far as kings ruling the Southern Kingdom of Judah.  This happened after Zedekiah went into captivity in Babylon, but was out lived by Jehoiachin who then would be the last king that ruled over Judah.  As one looks at this one would think that this was bad news for the Jews, and one may also look at it that God had not kept His promise to David, but then when we move into chapter 23 we find out that there is good news, and that God will keep His covenant with David through the coming Messiah, a righteous branch of David.  Now I want to look at verse five of chapter 23 from Jeremiah and then look at some of the other verses that speak of this “Branch”

5  "Behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land.

Isa 11:1  Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.

Isa 4:2  In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the adornment of the survivors of Israel.

Jer 33:15  ’In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth.

Zec 3:8  ’Now listen, Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who are sitting in front of you-indeed they are men who are a symbol, for behold, I am going to bring in My servant the Branch

Zec 6:12  "Then say to him, ’Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Behold, a man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of the LORD.

            We can see from all of these verses that the word “Branch” refers to the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.

            Messiah The King-Righteousness (Jeremiah 23:1-8):  “1 "Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!" declares the LORD. 2 Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning the shepherds who are tending My people: "You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them; behold, I am about to attend to you for the evil of your deeds," declares the LORD. 3  "Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply. 4 “I will also raise up shepherds over them and they will tend them; and they will not be afraid any longer, nor be terrified, nor will any be missing," declares the LORD. 5  "Behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land. 6 “In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, ’The LORD our righteousness.’ 7 “Therefore behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "when they will no longer say, ’As the LORD lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ 8 but, ’As the LORD lives, who brought up and led back the descendants of the household of Israel from the north land and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ Then they will live on their own soil."”

            As we look at the first four verses in this 23rd chapter we can see that the shepherds that Judah had did not care much for the sheep.  Now let me contrast their care of Judah with the care that our Lord gives to His sheep:  “14  "I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, 15  even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. 17 “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. 18 “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father." (John 10:14-18)   This section of John’s Gospel tells us that Jesus Christ will give His life for His sheep, and that He has other sheep than those in Israel who were also given to Him by His Father.  This is how God’s Shepherd will care for His Sheep, unlike those shepherds that Judah had who cared not for their sheep.

            Verse three speaks of a remnant, a word used nineteen times in the book of Jeremiah.  In this case I believe that it is used perhaps in two ways.  First there was a remnant that came back to Jerusalem and built the temple of God again.  Next I believe that it can be used of those whom God calls back to the nation of Israel of which He will call some of them to be a part of the Millennial Kingdom.  We also see that the Lord says that He will not be known as the One who brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, but as the One who brought the children of Israel back to their land.  Those who have a hard time believing the Bible need to look at the nation of Israel.  God called Abram to begin the nation of Israel, and then He called them out of Egypt into their land.  Next He took them out of their land and after 70 years brought them back into their land, but the land at that time did not belong to them.  After they crucified the Lord Jesus Christ God sent them out of their land in 70 AD where they were dispersed all around the world.  In May of 1948 God brought them back into their land and this time they will not leave it even though there will be great times of trouble while they are now in their land, trouble we can see if we listen to the news or look at a newspaper.  Yes one who looks at the history of the nation of Israel has to believe the Bible for in a large part the Bible is about the history of the Jews.

            We looked at verse five and when we look at verse six one can see why I believe that God is not only talking about when the Jews come back from Babylon, but also in that day when as Paul writes that “all Israel will be saved.”  Verse six speaks of in the day of Messiah Judah will be saved.

            Dr. Wiersbe concludes this section of his second main point with the following “No matter how dard the day may be, God sends the light of hope through His promises.  The godly remnant in Judah must have bee encouraged when they heard Jeremiah’s words, and the promise must have sustained them during the difficult days of the Captivity.  The return of the Jews to their land after the Captivity was but a foreshadowing of the great worldwide regathering that will occur in the last days when ‘He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.’ (Matthew 24:31).”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It was back in January of 1974 when I believed the truth of what I am reading about today, from what Jeremiah writes to what Matthew writes to what John writes.  I was not looking to God for salvation, but God was calling me to salvation and He used the end times to draw me to Himself, and it has been a very important part of my study of God’s Word ever since.  Not only that but the Lord has used the end times teachings for me to led a number of people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.  I love reading and studying about it and telling others about it for in understanding what is going on in our world today we can see that we are getting closer to the time when the Lord will call His Church home to be with Him.  We are truly living in exciting times.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to bring people into my life who are ready to hear the good news of Jesus Christ.

Memory verses for the week:  Philippians 2:5-7

5 Have this attitude in yourself which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking on the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “By the ravens” (1 Kings 17:5-6).”

Today’s Bible question:  “Who rebuked the people that brought infants to Jesus?”

Answer in our next SD.

5/27/2014 10:44 AM

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