SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/3/2023 11:05 AM
My Worship Time Focus: “Intro to Matthew 23:34-36”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
23:34-36
Message of the verses: “34 "Therefore,
behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you
will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues,
and persecute from city to city, 35 that upon you may fall the guilt of
all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the
blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple
and the altar. 36 “Truly I say to you, all these things shall come upon this
generation.”
I have to say that it was September 22nd
that I began to look at this 23rd chapter of Matthew, and it is
something that I have learned a great deal as I studied it. I suppose that I have read this chapter many
times as I read or listen to the Bible with my wife each day in order to get through
it in a year, but have never understood it like I am understanding it like now
in this study. One of the reasons is
that because of what is going on in the nation of Israel at this time as I have
heard preachers refer to what Jesus is saying in this chapter that is what would
happen to Israel after He was crucified, as God would turn His back on that
nation. Yes there has always been a
remnant of those Jewish people being saved, but as far as the nation God has
turned His back on them because they did not recognize their Messiah. God is certainly not done with Israel as
after the tribulation period they will receive their promised kingdom which
will last for 1000 years. So with that
said I want to now take a look at the first part of the introduction to these
verses.
John
MacArthur writes “For centuries the Jews had awaited the arrival of their
Messiah. The abiding hope in the heart
of the Jew was that the day would soon come when the Messiah’s arrival and
establishment of His kingdom would usher in the enduring age of promised
blessing for God’s people. Every Jewish
woman longed to be mother of that Messiah, and every Jewish man thought of
rising to that place of prominence, honor, and service.”
Now
as mentioned earlier the Messiah did come and yet there was very few who
recognized Him when He did come, and one of the reasons was because of the
false spiritual leaders that were over Israel at the time when the Messiah did
come. This chapter from John MacArthur’s
commentary is entitled “The Condemnation of False Leaders—part 2 Proclaiming
the Judgment.”
Here
are some of the things that the children of Israel went through in the times
after the Lord through the miracle of the birth of Isaac by Abraham and Sarah,
and I have to say that they were not good.
The reason that they are not good is because every person who has been
born since the creation of Adam, and then Eve were born sinners because of the
sin that they both committed while in the Garden of Eden. Now I want to briefly look at the past of
Israel, reminding again that they are God’s uniquely chosen and blessed people
confirmed that they preferred falsehood above truth, darkness above God’s
divine grace, damnation above salvation, Satan’s way above God’s. They were called out by God’s grace and given
His promises and covenants and laws. Yet when those blessings came to perfect
consummation in the coming of their long-promised Messiah, the Lord and Savior,
they rebelled against Him and put Him to death.
Lord
willing I will continue looking at the introduction to these verses in Matthew
23 in my next SD.
11/3/2023 11:38 AM
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