Saturday, November 4, 2023

PT-2 "Intro to Matt. 23:34-36

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/4/2023 9:52 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                           Focus:  PT-2 “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 mentioned in earlier SD’s that the biggest problems of false spiritual leaders in Israel at the time of Christ was the scribes and the Pharisees.  There were other factions including the Sadducees, and there was one more group which was the Essenes who kind of stayed alone in the hills surrounding Jerusalem, kind of like nomads.  The biggest problem group was the scribes and the Pharisees, as these were the ones who were plotting the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

            I want to quote an important paragraph from MacArthur’s commentary at this point in this SD.  “The phrase “fill up” is often used in Scripture in relation to sin, wrath, and judgment when those have reached their full limit.  It depicts a cup filled to the brim with sin, which becomes a cup of condemnation.  The cup that is full of sin is full of punishment to the same level.  When sin is full it brings wrath, which when full brings judgment, which when full brings eternal destruction.  Isaiah exclaimed, ‘Arise, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the Lord’s hand the cup of His anger; the chalice of reeling you have drained to the dregs’ (Isa. 51:17).  Jeremiah declared, ‘For thus the Lord, the God of Israel, says to me, Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it’ (Jer. 25:15).  Habakkuk warned Judah that ‘the cup in the Lord’s right hand will come around to you, and utter disgrace will come upon your glory’ (Hab. 2:16).  In the seventh bowl judgment in the final days, God will give Babylon, the paradigm of false religion, ‘the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath’ (Rev. 16:19).”

 

            This is what was happening to Israel at this time, as they have done the greatest wrong as they did not recognize their Redeemer, their Messiah when it was clear from Scripture what time He was to come, and where He would be born, also that He would have a forerunner come before Him, and many, many, other prophecies that He fulfilled showing that He was indeed their Messiah.  Now the question for all who read this is “Have you recognized who Jesus Christ is?  Have you come to an understanding that as Paul says to the Romans “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God?  There is no person with the exception of Jesus Christ who have been born sinners, and therefore there is no person born of man who does not need to be cleansed by the blood of the Lamb as He took your sin in His own body on the cross and died for you.  This is the truth and all you have to do is to realize that you are a sinner, except His forgiveness that He offers you by grace and then invite Him into our life to save you and then He will send His Holy Spirit into your life to cause you to walk with the Lord, to help you understand Scripture and who will make sure that one day you will enter heaven whether through the Rapture of the church of through death as absent from the body is present with the Lord.

 

            Well it looks like that I will have to complete this introduction in our next SD.  I just want to say that chapters 23-25 are some of the most important chapters we will go over in this study of Matthew, and I am truly looking forward to take my time as we go through, what my friend use to say “golden nuggets found in the Word of God.”

 

11/4/2023 10:27 AM  

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