SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/22/2023 8:53 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-3 “The Parable”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
221:19b
Message of the verse: “and He said to it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” And at once the fig tree withered.”
We have been talking about the fig tree that Jesus
cursed and have stated that it represented the nation of Israel. Jesus is coming to the end of His three years
of ministering to the children of Israel, and the truth is that very few have
believed that He is their Messiah. This
was something that the prophets spoke about, even Moses wrote about this in the
28th chapter of Deuteronomy.
It was through Isaiah, the Lord reminded Israel that He had nurtured and
cared for her like a man who plants a vineyard in the best of soil and gives it
the best of care and protection. The
problem was that this vineyard produced nothing but worthless fruit, and the
man declared that he would remove its protective hedges and walls, let it be
laid waste and become chocked out by briars and thorns. He would not even allow it to receive
rain. The prophet explains “The vineyard
of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah His
delightful plant. Thus He looked for
justice, and behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, a cry of
distress” (Isaiah 5:1-7). After that a
long series of woes, or curses, describing the calamities God’s people would
suffer because of their unfaithfulness and spiritual barrenness
(verse 8-30).
Even thought Israel has been back in their land since May
of 1948 they are still under God’s curse, preserved but unblessed. The nation of Israel is preserved because God
will yet redeem them in the final days and this because of His promise, but
they are unblessed because they continue to reject their Messiah. John 1:1 tells us He came to His own, and
those who were His own did not receive Him.”
The people of Israel would not have Him as Savior to deliver them from
sin or as Lord to rule them in righteousness.
Even though, as stated, Israel became a nation in 1948,
and then in 1967 they fought a war and ended up capturing the city of Jerusalem,
they have not yet been regathered receptively, because that will be the doing of
the Messiah when He comes to them again to set up His kingdom, and His second
coming is found in the 19th chapter of Revelation, and at that time
the “times of the Gentiles” will end.
I think that this is a shame that even though they are
back in the Promised Land that their eyes are still blind to the truth that
Jesus Christ is indeed their promised Messiah.
The seven year tribulation period is mostly about the Jews, but it does affect
all people. In one of the last plagues that
are seen in the book of Revelation we see that after Jerusalem is attacked that
there will be many Jewish people who will believe that Jesus is their Messiah, whereas in the previous plagues they would
curse God.
All I can say is that God is continuing to work a work to
prepare Israel to realize that Jesus Christ is their Messiah, and so after the
seven years of the Tribulation Period, the Lord will return and reshape the
earth and then enter into the Millennial Kingdom and will reign from the
rebuilt city of Jerusalem and this will be the promised kingdom for Israel.
MacArthur concludes this section by writing: “Israel will not be destroyed, because God
protects her. But neither is she being
blessed, because she will not have Him as her God. No one comes to God the Father who does not
come through God the Son (John 14:6), and because Israel will not claim the
Son, she has no claim of the Father.”
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I trust the Lord
because He is in control and all things are working out for good even though at
times I really don’t see that.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
Praying for the believers in Singapore,
and for three lost friends of mine for them to become believers.
6/22/2023 9:30 AM
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