SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/15/2021 10:36 AM
My Worship Time
Focus: PT-3
“The Response of Unbelieving Indifference”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
11:20-24
Message of the verses: “20 Then He began
to reproach the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they
did not repent. 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the
miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have
repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 “Nevertheless I say to you, it shall
be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment, than for
you. 23 “And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You shall
descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in
you, it would have remained to this day. 24 “Nevertheless I say to you that it
shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than
for you.’”
Now we want to begin this SD by referencing Tyre and
Sidon. To the Jews from Galilee these
two cities epitomized pagan, Gentile corruption and worthlessness. The people in those cities were actually descendants
of the ancient Phoenicians, who were the renowned seafaring merchants and
colonizers of the Mediterranean. I
suppose that the seaport cities of this time period were not much different
than the ones in today’s world as sin ran rampant for the most part in immoral
activities as the sailors would come into the cities having been as sea for
long periods of time. Let us look at
what Ezekiel had to say about Tyre and Sidon “11 Again the word of the LORD
came to me saying, 12 "Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of
Tyre and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, "You had the seal of
perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 13 “You were in Eden, the garden
of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The ruby, the topaz and the
diamond; The beryl, the onyx and the jasper; The lapis lazuli, the turquoise
and the emerald; And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets,
Was in you. On the day that you were created They were prepared. 14 “You were
the anointed cherub who covers, And I placed you there. You were on the
holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire. 15 “You
were blameless in your ways From the day you were created Until unrighteousness
was found in you.” Now as you read over
this section you probably realize that Ezekiel is really talking about Satan
and what caused him to fall, but Ezekiel is also speaking about the awfulness of
Tyre as he is talking about a certain king from Tyre. He had to be bad if he is compared to
Satan. Let us move onto verses 16-19 to
show that the Lord destroyed it “16 "By the abundance of your trade You were
internally filled with violence, And you sinned; Therefore I have cast you as
profane From the mountain of God. And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub,
From the midst of the stones of fire. 17 “Your heart was lifted up because of
your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast you
to the ground; I put you before kings, That they may see you. 18 “By the
multitude of your iniquities, In the unrighteousness of your trade You profaned
your sanctuaries. Therefore I have brought fire from the midst of you; It has
consumed you, And I have turned you to ashes on the earth In the eyes of all
who see you. 19 “All who know you among the peoples Are appalled at you; You
have become terrified And you will cease to be forever."’" Again we see references to Satan. Jeremiah also talks about this in 25:22; and
47:4 “22 and all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon and the kings of the
coastlands which are beyond the sea.” “4
On account of the day that is coming To destroy all the Philistines, To cut off
from Tyre and Sidon Every ally that is left; For the LORD is going to destroy
the Philistines, The remnant of the coastland of Caphtor.” One more verse and this one comes from Amos
1:9 as he speaks of how these cities even sold many of God’s own people into
slavery: “Thus says the LORD, "For
three transgressions of Tyre and for four I will not revoke its punishment,
Because they delivered up an entire population to Edom And did not remember the
covenant of brotherhood.”
As we look at the many sins that were done in these
two cities that Jesus mentions here we find a stunning statement from the lips
of our Lord: “For if the miracles had
occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long
ago in sackcloth and ashes.” MacArthur
writes “Jesus said, if they had had the privileges of Chorazin and Bethsaida,
the self-righteous, traditional religion of Galilean Jews blinded them more to
God than the heathen religious did the Gentiles of Tyre and Sidon. Those chosen people had so long rejected God
and His Word that they were totally indifferent to His Messiah when He come to
them.”
It
is true that few things that Jesus might have said could have stunned Jews more
than to be unfavorable compared to Gentiles.
Jesus goes on to say “Nevertheless, I say to you it shall be more
tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the Day of Judgment, than for you.” Jesus is talking about what will happen at
the Great White Throne Judgment spoken of in the book of Revelation when all
unbelievers from all ages will stand before God, and all will be judged, and
then sentenced into hell for all eternity.
MacArthur adds “And at the judgment of unbelieving Gentiles of Tyre and
Sidon will fare better than the unbelieving Jews of Chorazin and Bethsaida.”
We
will conclude with one more quotation from John MacArthur which is very important: “Jesus here makes two truths clear: there
will be degrees of punishment in hell, and among those given the severest
punishment will be those who have received the divine revelation and been the
most religious and outwardly upright.
Those who thought they were eternally safe—because they were Abraham’s
physical descendants and because they kept the religious traditions of their
forefathers—looked with contempt on all Gentiles. Yet in hell many Gentiles will look down on
those Jews.”
Lord
willing in our next SD we will begin talking about more cities in Galilee.
12/15/2021 11:15 AM
No comments:
Post a Comment