2022 Prophets Commentary (With Psalms)

Ezra 1, Ezra 2, Ezra 3, Psalm 112

Jumping ahead to when Media-Persia conquered Babylon, we see that just because God uses an evil nation to bring judgment on His people does not mean that God supports that evil nation. Cyrus was the king of Persia when he conquered Babylon. This was after Nebuchadnezzar’s time; the evil Babylonian king had repented, and turned toward God Most High, but then his sons turned back toward demons. Like Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus and his successors would also worship God Most High. In the meantime, Cyrus brought God’s judgement on Babylon on account of Nebuchadnezzar’s evil successors. He turned his face toward Yahweh, and even desired to rebuild the temple for the name of Yahweh in Jerusalem.

Should China or Russia or Persia conquer America, will their kings have turned their hearts toward God or will they have to be led to God by the blood of dutiful men and women who follow Yeshua? Or will Yeshua Himself come down and establish His Kingdom. Only God knows.

By reading Chronological plans the last few years, it is now very edifying to now read Scripture in a different order and see how the different stories all fit together. Perhaps it will be easier to understand the spirit and truth of the Word by doing things this way? It is important to know where we are in the story for context, though. The Babylonian captivity is thought to have taken place in 598 BC (2 Kings 25), and Cyrus is thought to have conquered Babylon in 539 BC, just 59 years later. The entire captivity of Judah was 70 years, per the prophesy in Jeremiah 29:19. Ezra’s prophesy came during the time of Cyrus, the beginning of Median-Persian control. So Ezra is writing about 539 BC here, or thereabouts.

As we dig into Ezra, one consideration is that he recorded the books of Chronicles, while Jeremiah recorded the books of Kings. I would suppose that both were using a source book or books that were kept in the house of the kings. We read in Esther, for instance, that King Ahasuerus (Artaxerxes I?) consulted the book of chronicles in the night when he couldn’t sleep, and thus he rewarded Mordacai because of what he read about him. The kings of Israel and Judah almost definitely had similar recordings, and Ezra and Jeremiah would have used them to compile the books we know in Scripture by the power of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps these ideas also ought to give the prophetic book by the name Ezra and Jeremiah some keen interest for us as we explore the impact of these two men of God.

And so in Ezra, we see that Cyrus had the same heart as David to build a house to Yahweh in Jerusalem, but he did not live to see the completed work. In Ezra, we see that the 42,360 men returned to Jerusalem from Babylon, and they brought 7,337 servants and 200 worship leaders. These men began the restoration of the Temple, which would not be complete until Darius took the throne and 70 years of exile were fulfilled. They built the foundation of the Temple and the altar and immediately began the temple sacrifices and they kept the Feast of Tabernacles, a Feast that Scripture makes clear in prophesy that Jews and Gentiles will all keep for all eternity when the Messiah reigns. This was a joyous occasion indeed.

It strikes me that the Jews would order the Tanakh in such a way (by the power of the Holy Spirit) so that they would not have to read all about the destruction of Jerusalem all at once, but could go back and forth between their blessings and their curses, to get a taste of God’s judgment and God’s redemption. This is the whole counsel of God, after all, that those who repent and turn toward Him and keep His commandments and trust in Him will be redeemed by the blood of the Lamb (Yeshua), but those who rebel will be destroyed. It is imperative to see this pattern, for it is Truth.

Ezra records Cyrus making his critical decree, which began the countdown of Daniel’s prophesy to the days of the Messiah recorded in Daniel 9:25. Yeshua fulfills this prophesy directly and unquestionably, and this is certainly one of the best ways to convince a Jew that Yeshua is the Messiah they expected. The Messiah could come in no other time than when He did, or the whole Bible needs to be tossed out. Perhaps this is why Jews emphasize their Talmud so much, which incorporates the commandments of Man. Like Yeshua did, we are to follow our Messiah and teach and keep the commandments of God. Consider how Cyrus King of Persia contributes this monumental mark in history:

“Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying: “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all His people, may his God be with him! Let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel; He is the God who is in Jerusalem. Every survivor, at whatever place he may live, let the men of that place support him with silver and gold, with goods and cattle, together with a freewill offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.’ ”

As the Jews completed the foundation for the Second Temple, they turn to worshipping the Lord: “For He is good, for His lovingkindness is upon Israel forever.” This is the truth. Remember what Paul says in Romans 2:28-29: “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.” And so as Paul writes in Romans 11, we as Gentiles are grafted-in to Israel and share in this promise, so long as we “continue in His kindness” by keeping the commandments of God and faith in Yeshua. Salvation is from the Jews and to the Jews first, and it is a Grace of God that He has allowed us Gentiles to be grafted-in to Israel.

“And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.” This verse in Ezra 3 reminds me of this verse in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” It also reminds me of this verse from Revelation 21:14: “Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” These 12 apostles, with Mathias replacing Judah, are the foundation of the Third Temple. Their teaching about the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World, our redemption through Him and our calling to follow Him, trust in Him and keep the commandments of God until He returns to assemble the Temple in the Kingdom forever, is the foundation with Yeshua Himself as the cornerstone. Yeshua adds each stone to the Temple as each Saint gives their heart fully to the Lord, and this Temple will be everlasting.

Recall also that Yeshua will “wipe every tear from our eyes.” There will be tears of joy from being with Yeshua in the Kingdom and tears of sorrow from those who have been condemned by their rebellion against God, who didn’t make it. Doesn’t this sound similar: “Yet many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ households, the old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, while many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the shout of joy from the sound of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard far away.” (Ezra 3:10-13) “Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4) It’s no wonder we will celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles forever, for this is the Feast that celebrates God dwelling with Man. Prepare your hearts, and decide this day to serve the Lord by keeping the commandments of God while never waning in your trust and faith in Yeshua. This is the patience of the Saints.

Here’s the whole story again, explained by our Psalm reading today in Psalm 112: “Praise the Lord! How blessed is the man who fears the Lord, Who greatly delights in His commandments. His descendants will be mighty on earth; The generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in his house, And his righteousness endures forever. Light arises in the darkness for the upright; He is gracious and compassionate and righteous. It is well with the man who is gracious and lends; He will maintain his cause in judgment. For he will never be shaken; The righteous will be remembered forever. He will not fear evil tidings; His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. His heart is upheld, he will not fear, Until he looks with satisfaction on his adversaries. He has given freely to the poor, His righteousness endures forever; His horn will be exalted in honor. The wicked will see it and be vexed, He will gnash his teeth and melt away; The desire of the wicked will perish.”

Ezra 4, Ezra 5, Ezra 6, Ezra 7, Psalm 113

It’s key to note how the enemies of Judah and Benjamin first tried to join them in rebuilding the House of the Lord, for likely sabotage. The enemies first and best attack against the people of God is infiltration. If they can get inside as wolves in sheep’s clothing, they can do the most damage. Secondly, the enemy tries discouragement. Then they try all-out political warfare. God is with Judah, however, and Cyrus’s decree is brought to the forefront. Darius immediately supports Judah’s project upon reading the words of Cyrus. Artaxerxes follows suit, and encourages the Jews return to their land, if they so desire. Upon the Temple’s completion, the Jews celebrate Passover with full financial support from Persia. It’s a story that took many years to complete, but God was faithful to His promise to restore Jerusalem after 70 years of exile. Praise be to God!

Ezra 8, Ezra 9, Ezra 10, Psalm 114

Ezra does two critical things that we ought to emulate in our faith today. 1) He proclaimed a fast that the people might humble themselves before God, with prayer. 2) He separated the believers from the unbelievers to build up the strength of the Body.

We learn from the fast that it is without food or water, just like Moses and Jesus in the wilderness; like Esther as she prepared to go into the king. This type of fast allows us to deny the flesh and focus solely on our communion with God. In this type of fast, God reveals the dross that must be refined off of us so we can be pure like gold. Fasting is a type of purification and when it is done regularly and with sincerity and faithfulness, it can certainly bring us clarity in our walk with God. And that’s what happened with Ezra. He came to full understanding that the demon-worshipping wives and children had to be removed from the community, or they would infect the whole body.

The problem with the foreign wives is not that they were foreign; such racism does not find its place in God’s Word, unless we put it there ourselves. No! God does not advocate for this. The Lord’s commandment was not to intermarry with the people who practice idolatry; who go after other gods. The question Ezra asks illustrates this: “shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who commit these abominations?” It’s that they are demon worshippers, not that they are foreigners, that is the problem here. Consider Rahab, consider Ruth, consider Esther, consider the many God-fearing foreigners who were grafted-in to Israel. As Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 6: Do not yoke yourselves with unbelievers. “For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?” This is what’s going on here in Ezra, and it is a commandment to this day.

Nehemiah 1, Nehemiah 2, Nehemiah 3, Psalm 115

From Cyrus’s decree in 539 BC to Nehemiah finishing the wall in 445 BC, it took 93 years to restore Jerusalem, and 538 BC is thought to be the end of the 70-year captivity of Judah in Babylon. This helps to put in perspective how long the people had to suffer for their idolatry. It was a full generation, just like in the wilderness of Sin, and then the next generation had to rebuild, just like the generation that fought to possess the promised land.

Nehemiah, who was King Artaxerxes’s cup bearer, potentially a man who stood in the court with Queen Esther, was a Godly man. Consider that he mourned for days when he hears about his brethren who had survived in Jerusalem, a city with its walls broken down and its gates burned with fire. He “sat down and wept and mourned for days, and was fasting and praying before the God of Heaven.”

His prayer is what fascinates me, because it is another model of how we ought to pray. First He praises God as “the great and awesome God, who preserves the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments.” Next he asks for God’s attention, noting that he isn’t praying for himself, but “on behalf of the sons of Israel, Your servants, confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have sinned against you; I and my father’s house have sinned.” It’s remarkable that he includes himself in the group that has sinned, particularly since he had no role in the idolatry of his fathers. Nevertheless, he prays repentance for the nation and his own role in the heritage of sin. We ought to have the same mind to do this today, for the heritage of sin is all around us and we are a part of it whether we partake or not. Our hearts ought to be humble and contrite before the Lord. The next part is key: “Remember the word which You commanded Your servant Moses.” He reminds God about His promise to curse the disobedient, but to restore the obedient and faithful to their rightful place. God has given us many promises; most importantly, that He would come again to judge the living and the dead, to separate the wheat from the chaff, the sheep from the goats, and to reward those who keep His commandments and faith in Jesus with eternal life. We ought to remind God of this in our prayers as we continue to rely on His Holy Spirit to help us walk in the righteousness of Christ. This is the hope that we all rely on today to sustain us in our faith. Nehemiah, like we ought to, finishes his prayer with praise again: “May Your ear be attentive … to the prayer of Your servants who delight to revere Your name.”

And in the first month of the year, Nisan (also known as Abib), in the 20th year of King Artaxerxes, the king and the queen together granted Nehemiah’s petition to repair the walls of Jerusalem and provided him with the provisions to do this. It’s worthy of noting also that Nehemiah in the midst of His request to the king paused for a brief second to pray to the Lord. While standing in the king’s presence, the king said to Nehemiah “What would you request?” The very next verse says: “So I prayed to the God of heaven. I said to the king…” This wasn’t something he walked away to do, but rather he did it in the moment. Was this a “God, help!” type of prayer in the moment. In any case, it is an example to us that we ought to “pray without ceasing,” as Paul wrote. Every moment of every day that we have an opportunity to pray, the Lord and His glory ought to be on our minds. God answered the prayers of righteous Nehemiah and fulfilled His promises to the Jews. In less than a year, the walls and gates of Jerusalem were rebuilt and Nehemiah led the project.

Nehemiah 4, Nehemiah, 5, Nehemiah 6, Psalm 116

The enemies of Judah continue to bring their attacks for discouragement to prevent God’s people from refortifying their city. First they try ridicule: “What are these feeble Jews doing?” and “if a fox should jump on it, he would break their stone wall down.” The Jews are indeed a despised people, but it is because the know the Lord and the World hates the Lord. As followers of Yeshua, we too become grafted into Israel and take on this reproach. We are to take joy in it. Nehemiah, in his wisdom, arms himself and his men so while they work they also carry weapons with them to prevent sabotage or attack, but even more so, he turns to the Lord: “Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses.” Half of the servants carried stood guard while the builders each wore his sword girded at his side as he built. We too much put on the whole armor of God and while we do the Lord’s work be prepared to block the fiery arrows shot by the enemy. On a physical level, the deterrent of self defense weapons is both Biblical and desirable, with prayer, to protect our property.

We see that Jews returning to the land had taken on the ways of the world and were exacting usury (interest) on their Jewish brothers. This is prohibited by God’s commandments, and for us, we may not take interest when we lend to any fellow believer. Nehemiah sets them straight on this.

Next, the enemies of Judah attempt to shower Nehemiah with rumor, innuendo and false accusations to play on his human fleshly pull toward pride in Nehemiah 6. They say, “you and the Jews are planning to rebel; therefore you are rebuilding the wall. And you are to be their king.” We must rebuke lies of the enemy, for such deception can destroy all the good work for the Lord. Nehemiah makes a simple statement: “such things as you are saying have not been done, but you are inventing them in your own mind.” The people witnessing this flurry of banter would need to judge for themselves what to believe, but Nehemiah did not allow the lies to stand without a response. This too is how we ought to respond to deception.

Nehemiah 7, Nehemiah 8, Nehemiah 9, Psalm 117

While more than one million Israelites came out of Egypt, upon returning to Jerusalem of Judah, only 42,360 were there as they celebrated the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles. We see Ezra read from the Torah during the Feast of Trumpets and then again for the other Appointed Times, and the people were weeping as they heard the law of God; they were convicted of their sins and were repenting in their hearts. Nevertheless, Ezra instructed them to celebrate, for the Lord’s Appointed Time was meant to be a feast. You’ll also notice that the priests below Ezra helped interpret the law for the people who had assembled for the feast. They went and they met with the people and answered all of their questions.

They then also recollected their story from their departure from Egypt until that day, which remains the story of Israel and those grafted-in to her today; namely, that the people find a way to rebel against God’s commandments, but God is long-suffering toward them and provide for them, hoping for them to repent, but then when they continue in their disobedience, the Lord brings judgment on them, again, hoping for repentance. A remnant of the people do repent, and God returns His provision and glory to those who return to Him and obey His commandments. Through Yeshua (Jesus), we have the opportunity to do just this, whether we are Jew or Gentile. Our Lord calls us to repent and be baptized in His name, being washed clean of our sin through His blood on the cross, and then we are called to follow Him, to keep His commandments and to endure in our relationship with Him until He returns in His glory. Let us do just that, I pray.

Nehemiah 10, Nehemiah 11, Psalm 118

The tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Levi are in tact, back in the land. Yeshua descended from Judah, from David, through Mary and His adopted father Joseph, and Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, descended from Benjamin. Nehemiah 11 says “The rest of Israel, of the priests and of the Levites, were in all the cities of Judah, each on his own inheritance.” Does this mean that each tribe had a representation within the Land? I think it does.

What I love about Nehemiah 10-11 is how Daniel and Jeremiah, the two prophets who had remained true to the Lord in the midst of Babylon, were signers of the covenant with the Lord. The people who returned to Jerusalem, 1 out of 10 of anyone who wasn’t a priest or Levite, and the people of Israel at large agreed to take on themselves “a curse and an oath” (from Deuteronomy 28) “to walk in God’s law, which was given through Moses, God’s servant, and to keep and observe all the commandments of God our Lord, and His ordinances and statutes; and that we will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons.” We know Daniel and Jeremiah at least had been doing this anyway, and in fact, that is why the Lord preserved them as a remnant. It is still good to renew our intent to follow God’s commandments on a regular basis, for it is evidence of our faith when we do this. We also see how the people kept the Sabbath, as commanded, but they also kept it Holy and consecrated to the Lord by not buying or selling on the Sabbath or any other Holy Day, and they honored the Shemitah year and forgave debts and did not harvest the whole land every seventh year. They also brought their first fruits to the Lord, once per year, symbolically looking forward to Yeshua, the firstfruits of our salvation. They obeyed God’s law, as we are also called to do by Yeshua ourselves.

In Psalm 118, we note how the Psalmist understands how “the Lord has disciplined me severely, but He has not given me over to death.” We see from Hebrews 12 that the Lord “chastens the ones He loves,” and in fact if you are not receiving such chastening from the Lord, you ought to question whether you are truly walking with the Lord. The Psalmist prays for the Lord to “open to me the gates of righteousness; I shall enter through them, I shall give thanks to the Lord.” We ought to walk according to the Law of God given to Moses and be grateful that God has given us such clear instructions on how He expects those who love Him to live. When we do this—namely, repent, and hear the Gospel, the good news of Yeshua and the Word that He gave from Genesis to Revelation, and then obey it, then Jesus has “become my salvation. The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief corner stone. This is the Lord’s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes.” In fact, Jesus has become the very cornerstone of the third temple, being built by everyone who believes and follows him, with the apostles as the rest of its foundation and the 12 tribes of Israel, which we must be grafted-in to, as its gates (See Revelation). The salvation of Christ is available to those who love God through faith in Jesus and keep His commandments. The Day that the Lord has made is yet to come; “Let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Let us have hope that if we endure in our faith, we too will see it. “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”

Nehemiah 12, Nehemiah 13, Psalm 119

I love Nehemiah, for he gives us an elementary example of how we should act ourselves. He says, “On that day they read aloud from the book of Moses in the hearing of the people, and there was found written in it… So I reprimanded the officials.” They hear the Word of God and then they do it. This ought to be our heart and this ought to reflect our life. They excluded foreigners, though in the New Covenant of Yeshua, we exclude unbelievers from our church worship ceremonies and from our marriages, for we shall not mix the Holy with the profane.

In Nehemiah 13, we read about the how the traders were treading wine presses, bringing in sacks of grain, wine, grapes, figs and all kinds of foods and brought them into to Jerusalem to sell them on the Sabbath Day, and Nehemiah recognized that buying and selling on the Sabbath profaned the holiness and sanctity of the day. We too ought not buy or sell or do any work on the Sabbath Day, which takes place from sundown on Friday night to sundown on Saturday, as reflected here in the text. The traders who tried to defy the Sabbath law are still around today, especially within the church, and I don’t understand why it’s such a hard thing to take a day to offer up to the Lord. Why is it so difficult for people to rest like the Lord asked us to in the Fourth Commandment? I love how Nehemiah took this commandment so seriously that he threatened arrest and even war to those who continued to violate it. Today, I can certainly enforce this in my house and on my property, and in the church I can repeat the commandment over and over again, but the rest I leave to God and His Holy Spirit to bring Christian friends and relatives to repentance and obedience to this Word of God, for it is life and it is a blessing alongside our salvation in the name of Yeshua.

Psalm 119 uses the Hebrew Aleph Bet to explain in no uncertain terms that the law of God given to Moses is eternal, it applies in the Christian life, and we ought to follow it with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, and Yeshua (Jesus) Himself confirms this over and over again, and so does His Apostle Paul. Within Psalm 119, we read, “Your law is truth,” “The sum of Your word is truth,” “Your word is truth,” “all Your commandments are truth,” “all Your commandments are righteousness,” “Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,” “every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting.” We learn that when we follow the law of God, we “will walk at liberty.” It is the law of God, in fact, that frees us. When we are obeying the law of God, we are not under the law, but we are living according to it, and that is a liberty like no other liberty that we can possibly know. It is better than sweet honey, better than fine gold, and it is a light to our path and a lamp to our feet.

In fact we receive our salvation, yes our “salvation according to Your word.” Our transgressions of the law are forgiven In the death of Yeshua on the cross, but we must then “follow Him,” our Lord Jesus, who fulfilled the law in everything He did. We likewise MUST fulfill the law every day and every night. For the Saints who endure and make it through the narrow gate into the Kingdom of God “keep the commandments of God and the faith of Yeshua” (Revelation 14:12). And not one jot or tittle of the law has been done away with and won’t be until the heavens and the earth pass away, Jesus tells us Himself. The lawless will be cast out into Hell, and we see here that “the wicked,” “the arrogant,” the “cursed,” the “double-minded,” the “evildoers,” these are the ones who reject the law of God, and “salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not seek your statutes;” they “wander from Your commandments.” Those who love the law have the peace of Christ.

We also learn that the law instructs us in the understanding of God, which is a delight to us. The more we come to know the commandments, the more we know the heart of God. “It is my meditation all the day.” The commandments of God, the law of God, makes us “wiser than our enemies,” it gives us “more insight than our teachers,” and “more understanding than the aged.” And in fact, when we study, meditate on, love, keep and delight in God’s law, God Himself teaches us who He is. “How blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord. How blessed are those who observe His testimonies, who seek Him with all their heart. They also do no unrighteousness; They walk in His ways.” And like the Psalmist, I too plead with God in the name of Yeshua, “do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, For I wait for Your ordinances. So I will keep Your law continually, Forever and ever. I will also speak of Your testimonies before kings And shall not be ashamed. I shall delight in Your commandments, which I love. This is my comfort in my affliction, that Your word has revived me.”

The Book of Esther, Psalm 120, Psalm 121

The word “אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹשׁ” in Esther 1:1, transliterated “Achashverosh,” is Persian in origin and is the title rather than the name of a Persian king. It is the same thing as saying “king” or “president” in English, and can refer to any man who holds the title. We see in Ezra 4 the term is used also. Historically speaking, we know that this king is the king over 127 provinces and that he sat in the citadel in Susa during the time of trouble for the Jews. These are facts that could line up with Darius 1, who may have spent colder months in Susa. There is debate as to whether Esther’s Achashverosh is Darius 1 or Xerxes his son; I personally believe it is Darius 1. Why the controversy? The more you can disconnect the Hebrew Bible from known history, the better chance you have of discrediting it. It makes sense to me that Darius 1, under Haman’s influence, would first oppose the construction of the Temple in Jerusalem, as ordered by Cyrus his predecessor, and later (upon finding the archive of Cyrus’s decree), he would reverse course and completely provision the Jews to complete the job. This sounds like Esther’s Achashverosh, and it is possible the change came at the hand of Mordecai.

Additionally, it’s important to note that Haman, who was promoted by Achashverosh, was the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite. The Agagites were traditional enemies of Israel from the House of the Amalekites. The story of Israel’s early defeat of the Amalekites, when Moses raised his hands in praise to the Lord in the wilderness, is in Exodus 17:8-16. That story finishes with: “The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation,” but also, “I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under Heaven.” It should be no surprise then that when we find out that Haman is an Agagite that he will be destroyed.

Esther, though a historical story about the time when the Jews lived in Exile as the second temple was being built, is also a significant Messianic prophesy that ought to be studied with great thought and care. I don’t have time to get into everything now, but if you’d like to do a deep dive and see the beautiful references to Jesus throughout this book and the prophetic inferences about the end times that we now live in, please consider watching Pastor Daniel Joseph’s 11 Part series on the book: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmI6y1h4ekf7R73vxou_0hFYR1b26YSGG I promise you the time will be edifying and uplifting and will teach you more about Jesus than you currently know.

We should point out prophetically, that Ahasuerus represents God the Father in this story, Mordecai represents the Messiah Yeshua in this story, Esther represents Israel, the bride of God, in this story, and Vashti represents the world. Haman, of course, represents Satan. With this knowledge in place, re-read the story and you may see the prophetic references yourself.

Here’s some key points:
Vashti does not obey the King when He commands her to come to him, and so she is cast out of the kingdom.
Esther is so obedient that she goes above and beyond to do what the king commands, giving her whole heart to the life she finds herself in.
Haman was elevated to the second highest position in the land, and he was more glorious than any other man besides the king, but it wasn’t enough for him. Forget the king, though; he wanted to destroy anyone who didn’t worship him, and in fact, that desire extended to the whole people represented by Mordecai, the people who obeyed God and put Him first.
Mordecai is oppressed, even condemned to die, but when he convinces Esther to fast and pray and call upon the name of the Lord, He miraculously saves the people from the destruction.
Through the actions of Esther, her prayers, her fasting, her courage to go to the king upon risk of her own life, she brings light to the evil intents of Haman.
The King, in his goodness, throws out the evil Haman and replaces him with Mordecai, who then takes the second highest position in humility.
Mordecai, rather than seek his own interest with his new power, seeks the interest of the people who obey God and keep His commandments. He destroys those who had rebelled against God and His people.
Because of the justice and righteousness that Mordecai brought to the kingdom, many who were not Jews become Jews and choose to follow after God.

There is a longer version of the Book of Esther in the Septuagint, which includes the Apocrypha, and this version incorporates two prophetic dreams that Mordecai had, the prayer of Esther and the letter of Mordecai that he wrote in the king’s name. I personally believe these sections were removed because they so strongly point to Jesus as the Messiah, and the Pharisees who rebelled against their Messiah fought to remove these sections of the book. In any case, they are available to read and I personally cherish them and believe they should be canonical. Here’s a link to the version: https://www.biblestudytools.com/lxx/esther/1.html

Psalm 120 reminds me of the political battle I’ve faced. Too many on both sides of this civil cold war want the war to go hot, but I want peace. Not peace in complacency, but peace in strength and obedience to God, not man. It takes more strength and courage to wait on the Lord and His victory than to take matters in your own hand and turn toward violence and bitterness. One leads to life, the other death. Psalm 121 brings peace to my heart, for I know that our help comes from the Lord, who made Heaven and Earth. Critically, the “Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever.” If we trust in the Lord Yeshua, have faith in His atoning sacrifice, and keep His commandments, we will have eternal life.

Job 1, Job 2, Job 3, Job 4, Job 5, Psalm 122

Job is one of the Bible’s best examples of righteousness, particularly during the End Times when there is a real possibility that some of us will lose everything, like Job did. Ezekiel 14 goes into detail about what happens when the people of a land persistently sin; judgment comes on the land and only the righteous survive: “The word of the Lord came again to me, saying: ‘Son of man, when A LAND sins against Me by persistent unfaithfulness, I will stretch out My hand against it; I will cut off its supply of bread, send famine on it, and cut off man and beast from it. Even if these three men, NOAH, DANIEL, and JOB, were in it, THEY WOULD DELIVER ONLY THEMSELVES BY THEIR RIGHTEOUSNESS,’ says the Lord God.”

Job was righteous, and it is possible that he alone was righteous among those in his generation, but the judgment of the Lord came upon him also, and as presented, it appears to be a test of his faith. Despite losing absolutely everything, even his own health, Job perseveres in His love and praise of the Lord and did not stop obeying the Lord’s commandments. Job never lost His trust that the Lord had a better future for him, and that this life was not the life that God has promised to those who love Him and keep His commandments. No! That life is yet to come.

It’s critical to point out that there is none like Job on the Earth. Not even Job’s children are righteous like he is. Job is constantly praying for them. Is this the reason that judgment has come? Was the rest of the world persistently unfaithful? It usually is. Despite losing everything, Job praises God, as we too must do: Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. And he said: ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.’ In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.” (Joh 1:20-22)

Losing everything he has does not take Job’s attention away from his faith and obedience to God. Consider the wealthy man who comes to Yeshua (Jesus) in Matthew 19:16-21: “And someone came to Him and said, ‘Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?’ And He said to him, ‘Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.’” ... In the same way that Job could report, “The young man said to Him, ‘All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.’” Job obeyed this latter command, while the man in Matthew did not. Now we know why God says Job is “blameless.” We ought to be like Job to ensure we inherit eternal life.

Job, in his chastening, is following in the example of Christ: “For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: ‘My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.’ If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

If the attacks of Satan weren’t bad enough, the devil’s evil spirits get into Job’s wife and further incite him in Job 2:9: “Then his wife said to him, ‘Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!’” Who needs enemies when your spouse brings such devilish discouragement into your life? Yet Job, who was indeed “blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil,” replied to his wife in Job 2:10 as Yeshua would instruct us to respond: “But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”

Yeshua (Jesus) said, “He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” (John 12:25) | “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:25)

“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7)

Throughout the rest of the book, Job’s three friends misappropriate Scripture in an attempt first to comfort Job and second to find a cause in him for the hardship he is experiencing, but in the end, they sin and Job’s faith remains constant. “And so it was, after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, ‘My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has. Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and My servant Job shall pray for you. For I will accept him, lest I deal with you according to your folly; because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.” (Job 42)

With both his wife and his friends, Job responds in the way Yeshua (Jesus) expects us to respond:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:43-48)

Job 5, Job 6, Job 7, Psalm 123

Eliphaz the Temanite is actually correct when he says the following: “Behold, how happy is the man whom God reproves, So do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. For He inflicts pain, and gives relief; He wounds, and His hands also heal. From six troubles He will deliver you,” (Job 5:17-22) In the rest of the verse that I’ve cited but not quoted here, though, he speaks incorrectly and says that the Lord will keep the faithful from the pain of famine, the sword, pestilence or wild beasts, and this is not so. Even the faithful must endure through these judgments when they come upon a land, and it is the faithful’s endurance in faith that delivers them unto life. Job knows this, and has shown he knows this, and his friend does not comfort him.

I see Job crying out like the Psalmist in Psalm 123: “Be gracious to us, O Lord, be gracious to us, for we are greatly filled with contempt. Our soul is greatly filled with the scoffing of those who are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud.” In Job 6:10-17, Job says “it is still my consolation, and I rejoice in unsparing pain, that I have not denied the Words of the Holy one.” Even in the worst suffering, we are to rejoice in our ability to keep focus on Yeshua, who chastens us and prepares us for everlasting life in His Kingdom. This ought to be our focus, and Job knows it, while his friends do not.

Job also turns his attention to rebuke his friend, who has spoken out of arrogance: “For the despairing man there should be kindness from his friend, so that he does not forsake the fear of the Almighty. My brothers have acted deceitfully like a wadi,” or in other words, like a torrent of water that forms temporarily and then vanishes as quickly as it came. What do they attempt to prove? Why do they look for fault when there is none. A man is right to dislike suffering, but His attention ought to be on the Lord and praising Him even in the midst of it, and Job does this.

Job replies to his friends with bald truth in Job 6:25-26: “You see a terror and are afraid. How painful are honest words!” His friends saw Job’s blameless, righteous life, and now he is in extreme suffering. Their point was to point out how his righteousness has got him nowhere; in fact, they claim that he was not righteous because otherwise he wouldn’t be suffering. They’re wrong. God says twice in the early chapters that there was no one righteous like Job on the whole Earth. His judgment is not on account of sin, but to test him to see if he would sin. Job is not sinning in any of this. Even in his righteous suffering, he acknowledges his righteous words are going into the wind, because his friends are totally missing the point of what has happened to him. He tries to redirect their attention to the Lord.

Job asks in his righteous humility: “What is man that You magnify him, And that You are concerned about him, That You examine him every morning And try him every moment? Have I sinned? What have I done to You, O watcher of men? Why have You set me as Your target, So that I am a burden to myself? Why then do You not pardon my transgression And take away my iniquity? For now I will lie down in the dust; And You will seek me, but I will not be.” (Job 7:17-18, 20-21) In the midst of suffering, it is right to self examine your words, actions, and thoughts and attempt to discern whether there is anything needing of repentance. But the Lord chastens those He loves. Sometimes, our hardships are simply to create this time of reflection and humility in us so that the righteous will turn to God and magnify Him even further. These times are meant to build trust in God.

Job 8, Job 9, Job 10, Psalm 124

Bildad the Shuhite speaks rightly in Job 8 when he says “Can the rushes grow without water? While it is still green and not cut down, yet it withers before any other plant. So are the paths of all who forget God, and the hope of the godless will perish, whose confidence is fragile.” He’s right when he says, “God will not reject a man of integrity nor will he support the evildoers.” But how does this apply to Job and how is this comfort? Is he implying that Job is wicked? He certainly accused Job’s sons of this. We know that Job is not wicked, and we know that Bildad is no comfort, either.

Job responds in humility again, saying, “If I called and He answered me, I could not believe that He was listening to my voice.” Who am I, Job says, that God would speak with me? “Though I am righteous, my mouth will condemn me; though I am guiltless, He will declare me guilty.” We know there is not a single man or woman who is without sin; not a single one, and Job knows this, too. He acknowledges that He would never turn away from his fear of the Lord and the commandments God has called him to obey. It is by God’s grace, through Messiah Yeshua alone, that there is any hope of salvation. What a blessing that God so loved us that He would die on the cross for us!

Job certainly does complain and vent in all bitterness concerning the suffering he is enduring, even loathing his own life, but he doesn’t take his own life. He endures, pleading in prayer to God, “Do not condemn me, let me know why You contend with me.” In other words, Job is saying he would repent of his sin if he knew what sin he had committed; he repents of the unknowing sin. This ought to be our heart, always. In praise, Job worships God in his suffering: “You have granted me life and lovingkindness, and your care has preserved my spirit.” And then notice the wonder of his humility: “If I am wicked, woe to me! And if I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head.” We are saved by grace through faith in Yeshua, not by works of righteousness, so that we cannot boast. Job knows this. And yet, he also knows that he must obey God’s commandments, for if he did lift his head up, God “would hunt [him] like a lion” and “show [His] power against [him].”

Job 11, Job 12, Job 13, Psalm 125

Zophar the Naamathite speaks like Satan in Job 11, with the forked tongue of truth mixed in with the lie. He says rhetorically, “Can you discover the depths of God? Can you discover the limits of the Almighty? They are high as the heavens, what can you do? Deeper than Sheol, what can you know?” The answer to the rhetoric is dynamic. In a day, “no,” you can’t discover the whole of God, but for those who know Him and seek Him with all of their heart, there is an eternity to get to know Him more and more, and this is exactly what God wants us to do. Zophar, like many false teachers today, is seeking to discourage Job from seeking the knowledge of God, and this is the fastest way to eternal death. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…” (Hosea 4:6a). If you do not seek the Lord, there is nothing but Hell that awaits you. The Lord throughout Scripture makes it clear that He wants us to seek Him and know Him; He wants a deep, loving relationship with us, like a vine intertwined around its supportive tree, reaching together toward the light. …

… There was no other reason for God to come in the flesh as Jesus to dwell among us, die for us, rise from the dead and promise to come again to bring us to where He is. We have eternity to know God, and this is what God desires from us the most, as these verses make clear:
“And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13)
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7)
“But if from there you will seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Deuteronomy 4:29)
“And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.” (Jeremiah 24:7)

Zophar speaks truth when he directs us to put “iniquity” far away, and “do not let wickedness dwell in your tents.” However, he lies when he says, “then, indeed, you could lift up your face without moral defect, and you would be steadfast and not fear.” No! You cannot ever walk without the fear of the Lord. Not even when the blood of Christ clothes us with righteousness—NO! Not even then. What does Paul say in Romans 11:19-22: “You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. DO NOT BE HAUGHTY, BUT FEAR. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.” We must always walk humbly before the Lord, always seeking His forgiveness, always depending on His Holy Spirit to keep us aligned with God’s law, written in our hearts, so that we can continue in righteousness through faith in our Messiah Yeshua.

Job in chapters 12 and 13 speaks rightly, saying, “Truly then you are the people, and with you wisdom will die!” Yes, if we depend on our own righteousness, if we think we can make it on our own without Jesus and without following God’s law, then we are dead men and women. Even with Christ, we can’t expect to inherit the Kingdom if we live in lawlessness; God will not tolerate lawlessness. To think Christ is the minister of sin is utter foolishness, and with men and woman who dwell in this lie, there is only death. Job says it here: “The just and blameless man is a joke.” There is not one who is without sin, no, not one. Job knows this, and He acknowledges that the hand of the Lord has allowed his calamity: “the hand of the Lord has done this, in whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.” Jesus says the same: do not fear the one who can kill the body, but fear the one who can cast the body and soul into Hell. (Matthew 10:28) “With [God] alone are wisdom and might, to Him belong the counsel and understanding.” It is Him we must seek.

Job then details how God unravels every one of man’s preconceived notions about what it means to be successful in this world. God makes counselors walk barefoot and makes fools of judges, He takes away the discernment of the elders, He pours contempt on the nobles, He loosens the belt of the strong—the belt of truth? He deprives trusted ones of speech and raises up fools to teach His wisdom. Yeshua said in Matthew 11:25, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes.” God makes nations great, and then destroys them; He takes the chiefs of the earth and makes them wander in pathless waste. Remember: the Lord says, “Justice is mine, I shall repay.” Those “kings of the earth” who pour out their wrath on the people, scoffing at God and believing they will make their own eternity, perhaps even through biogenetic engineering, will one day wander in their eternity, alone, staggering around like a drunken man.” Only God’s wisdom and our full, trusting relationship with Him can bring us to the promised inheritance.

Job then rebukes his friends, a lesson for us all who must do the same from time to time: “You are all worthless physicians. O that you would be completely silent, and that it would become your wisdom!” Job’s friends have created their own “Jesus,” or as Paul writes, “another Jesus,” and they teach that this life is where God punishes evil and rewards good. That just isn’t so, and God’s Word reveals this. It is eternity that we are preparing for here, whether to eternal glorification with God or eternal judgment, the second death. “Will it be well when He examines you? Or will you deceive Him as one deceives a man?” Will you be found righteous, obeying God’s commandments, relying on Jesus alone for where you fall short, or will you tell God that Jesus allowed you to walk in lawlessness, despite clear Scripture to the contrary, and try to convince Him He should let you into Heaven because you “believed” in Him. You don’t believe unless you do what He commanded.

Job knows Jesus, and this shows it: “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. Nevertheless, I will argue my ways before Him. This also will be my salvation, for a godless man may not come before His presence.” Here Job teaches the structure of the faith identified in Revelation 14:12: Saints who endure “keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” We hope in Jesus and His blood for our redemption, but because of His grace out of love for Him, to seek Him in full knowledge, we obey His commandments with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, not turning aside a single day, so help us God. “Make known to me my rebellion and my sin,” Job says. He wants to repent! He wants to be made right. He wants all of his sin forgiven. He knows Jesus. He knows God will redeem Him; He knows when He seeks God no matter what he faces in the world, God will answer Him.

Job 14, Job 15, Job 16, Psalm 126

Psalm 126:6 speaks to the story of Job; namely, “He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed, Shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.” Job never loses hope in His redeemer, not ever! And he testifies of the Most High in every Word, which is the seed he carries planting, hoping it will fall in fertile soil. In Chapter 16, he says, “Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, And my advocate is on high. My friends are my scoffers; My eye weeps to God. O that a man might plead with God as a man with his neighbor!” Do we not pray, “Our Father, who art in Heaven.” In Christ, we are called to build an intimate relationship with God. In his pain, Job receives no comfort from man whatsoever. His only comfort is from God and the relationship he holds onto dearly; it is the only relationship that matters to him. His friends to him are “sorry comforters” and “windbags,” and he’s right. They don’t know what they’re talking about. Eliphaz asks in Job 15, “what do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that we do not?” The answer is “Everything!” God reveals Himself to those like Job who seek God with all their hearts, and He hides His face from those who sin. This is fairly straightforward, and this has not changed since creation. In Christ, this truth continues.

Many may interpret Job as hopeless, looking for the grave and no more, but this is not so. Remember, Job is “blameless,” according to God Most High. He knows God. He knows Jesus. You might read Job 14, “As water evaporates from the sea and a river become parched and dried up, so man lies down and does not rise” and think that Job is stuck in an Old Covenant death cycle, but this is not so. The New Covenant promise was known to all who knew God (it was prophesied by Old Covenant prophets), and Job looked forward to it here in the very next verse: “…Until the heavens are no longer, He will not awake nor be aroused out of his sleep. Oh that you would hide me in Sheol (the grave), that you would conceal me until Your wrath returns to You, that you would set a limit for me and remember me!” To be remembered is to be in the Lamb’s book of life, to rest in the grave until the heavens are no longer is exactly what Jesus said would happen. The dead would be raised on the Last Day, some to everlasting life, others to everlasting judgment. Job is party to the former, and he knows it: “All the days of my struggle I will wait until my change comes.” That change is to a Heavenly body that lives forever in Christ.

Job 17, Job 18, Job 19, Job 20, Psalm 127
Job 21, Job 22, Job 23, Psalm 128

When Job says in Job 17, “My spirit is broken, my days are extinguished, the grave is ready for me,” I think of Paul, who wrote in Philippians 1:21, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” For Job notes, “the righteous will hold to his way, and he who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.” Job in Job 19 makes it clear that he is aware that God has afflicted him, but he does not blame God for this, he just wants to know why so that he can repent. He remains humble throughout. In all of this suffering, Job looks forward not to deliverance on Earth, but rather to deliverance by the Messiah on the Last Day, when Yeshua will come again: “I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God; Whom I myself shall behold, And whom my eyes will see and not another.“

In all of his suffering, Job had hope for the true “Promised Land” of the Kingdom of God, and he had no concern about his mortal life on this Earth. He knew He would meet Yeshua (Jesus), the Messiah, and His heart yearned for Heaven alone. This is the heart that God desires us to have.

Job epitomized Yeshua’s moral in Matthew 6:31-34: “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the pagans seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

Just as James exhorts us, so does the story of Job inform us of this same truth: “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.” (James 5:7-11)

Bildad in Job 18, Zophar in Job 20, and Eliphaz in Job 22, all accuse Job of being a sinful man, saying that he is suffering on account of his wickedness. We know from God’s own mouth in Job 1-2, that this is simply not true—Job is “blameless” in God’s eyes. Job, while rightly rebuking his friends, also endures through their persecution of him. Bildad notes that “the light of the wicked goes out … and his own scheme brings him down.” While this is true in the Kingdom of Heaven, in this life, Solomon notes in Ecclesiastes 8:14, “There is a vanity which occurs on earth, that there are just men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.” Yeshua says, “God makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.”

Job in Job 21 answers, “Why do the wicked still live, Continue on, also become very powerful? Their descendants are established with them in their sight, And their offspring before their eyes, Their houses are safe from fear, And the rod of God is not on them. They say to God, ‘Depart from us! We do not even desire the knowledge of Your ways.” This isn’t an unfair question. It’s actually a true statement. The people who cursed God and insulted my faith all throughout my life appear to be doing better off than me; they’re more popular, they live in bigger homes, they seemingly have endless amounts of money and everyone likes them, while I have mostly lived alone, blessed by God to be sure, but also full of trouble on account of my faith. For this I praise God, as Job does, because it makes me stronger and prepares me as fine gold to withstand the world and wait on God, who is bringing His Kingdom. This is the endurance of the Saints who keep the commandments of God and faith in Yeshua.

Job continues in Job 21, “Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, And what would we gain if we entreat Him?’” These rhetorical questions are answered in two ways. First, Job notes that he personally will walk according to God’s ways regardless of what happens to him and the wicked, and he doesn’t consider their current fate when compared with his to be of any consequence. “The counsel of the wicked is far from me.” Second, like Solomon did in Proverbs 11:21 “Though they join forces, the wicked will not go unpunished; But the posterity of the righteous will be delivered.” (Proverbs 11:21), and Yeshua did in Matthew 7, “depart from me, you who practice lawlessness,” Job also sees the end of the wicked: “For the wicked is reserved for the day of calamity; They will be led forth at the day of fury.” Job is not living according to his present troubles, but rather he is living for the Kingdom to come. Consider Yeshua’s exhortation in Matthew 6:33: “Seek first the Kingdom of God,” and everything else that you need will be added to you.

Job continues to teach according to the same Gospel that Yeshua taught when he says in Job 23: “When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot has held fast to His path; I have kept His way and not turned aside. I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food. But He is unique and who can turn Him? And what His soul desires, that He does.” This is pure faith right here. This is what it means to have faith. It doesn’t matter what comes his way, he both trusts in and fears the Lord. He will do the Lord’s will even when it doesn’t make sense to men who are perishing, because He knows God’s promises will come true. He will dwell in the Kingdom of God because he is faithful to God and keeps God’s word.

Job 24, Job 25, Job 26, Job 27, Job 28, Psalm 129

I usually read the NKJV, but this year I’m reading the NASB to get a different perspective; it is a hyper-literal text. What I find fascinating is that the section headers are often wrong in every version I’ve read, and I wanted to point out that they ought to be flatly ignored. Section headers are not in the original Scripture and are added commentary—usually incorrect commentary. The header from the NASB on Job 24 reads “Job says God seems to ignore wrongs,” and this could not be further from the truth of what the chapter is about. The header on the NKJV for the chapter says “Job complains of violence on the Earth.” This is closer to the truth, but still not quite accurate. Chapter 24 is very simple, and it is a continuation of yesterday’s reading. Job is saying that the wicked do not always receive punishment on the Earth, but come Judgment Day they will be destroyed. He writes, “They are exalted a little while, then they are gone; moreover, they are brought low and like everything gathered up, even like the heads of grain they are cut off.” Yes, Job confirms, sinners will face eternal judgment.  

Bildad in chapter 25 continues the trend of speaking foolishness, saying that a man cannot strive after God. He even calls the Messiah, “the son of man,” a worm. His words are forked-tongue and Satanic. He starts by praising God, “Dominion and awe belong to Him who establishes peace in His heights,” but then he demeans man and speaks evil about Jesus. We know from Paul’s writing in 1 Corinthians 12:3, “Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.” Bildad does not have the Spirit of God, and Job’s follow-up makes this well known in Job 26: “What counsel you have given to one without wisdom. … And whose spirit was expressed through you?” The spirit of antichrist, that’s who. Job then goes on in the chapter to praise God and His mighty works, prophesying about the Messiah Yeshua: “His hand has pierced the fleeing serpent” (the first coming) and “By His breath the heavens are cleared” (the second coming).

Job confirms that he will sustain his faith in Job 27, “for as long as life is in my and the breath of God is in my nostrils, my lips certainly will not speak unjustly, nor will my tongue mutter deceit.” Our heart likewise ought to have this same core value. “Till I die I will not put away my integrity from me. I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go. My heart does not reproach any of my days.” Yes, in Yeshua, with the help of the Holy Spirit, this is possible for us, and it is possible for Job, too, who knows Jesus and prophesies about Him. Rather than look back at His finished work of the cross, Job looks forward to it, and is saved the same way as you and me. “I will instruct you in the power of God, and the inheritance which tyrants receive from the Almighty,” Job continues, noting as we read in Ezekiel 14, that the wicked are destined for the sword, the famine, and the plague. When the wicked one dies, he will expect nothing but the judgment of God through the righteous, who will “hiss him from his place.” Yes, just as the New Testament says, the Saints will sit with Christ and judge the wicked.

Job knows where wisdom is and how it cannot be purchased by gold, silver, pearls or even anything at all of the Earth. No. Wisdom takes total surrender! “The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding.” Do we need any other truth than this fundamental truth communicated in Job 28? Only that “our redeemer lives,” as Job said in chapter 14, and that we trust in Him alone for our salvation. Yes, the Saints endure by keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. This is the very structure of the faith and we see it here in Job, a true prophet of God, and one of the most righteous men to ever live. It is no mystery why God tells us we must be like Job, Noah and Daniel to survive the coming judgment.

Job 29, Job 30, Job 31, Psalm 130

Job 31 reads like the Gospels, and Job 29 and 30 set it up. Job’s righteousness was not enough in Job 29, for it is not by righteousness that we are saved, and we see that Job was tested in his righteousness to see if he would keep it amidst suffering. He has passed the test. Job 30 shows Job mourning for the loss of his prosperity and protection from the Lord, but he never once turns against the Lord in any of this. Job 31 is just a beautiful thing. Job goes through a long list of sins and ways in which he has avoided them providing us with an amazing guide on how to live. Just consider the “covenant with my eyes” that Job has made so that he doesn’t even gaze at a virgin to present even a chance that he would commit adultery in his heart. This is such a good example for us to follow, especially now in the age of pornography, which leads to death. Like this sin, Job runs through a host of potential areas of sin, and pleads with God to reveal to him where he has sinned so that he can repent. His heart is fully humble, repentant and exudes nothing but praise for the Almighty. In all of this, Job does not sin, but rather confirms his righteousness as well as his faith that God will deliver him.  Whatever it takes to please God, this is his greatest desire. What a beautiful example.

Psalm 130 could have been written by Job: “Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive To the voice of my supplications. … But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, And in His word do I hope. … For with the Lord there is lovingkindness, And with Him is abundant redemption.” It is written also for us.

Job 32, Job 33, Job 34, Psalm 131

I know bombastic young men (well, younger than me, anyway) who behave like Elihu and think they know all the answers, and the ones I know don’t wait for the elders to speak first, so at least Elihu has that in his favor. Elihu also spoke out of anger, which we should never, ever do. We say things that we later regret when we do this, as I’m sure we’ll find Elihu regretting his words later. Like Job’s other friends, Elihu puts himself on an equal footing with Job, saying that he’s a created being like Job is and subject to the same ups and downs of life, of sin and righteousness. While he’s right that we are created with equal promise, he’s wrong that we all have equal standing with the Lord. At this point, Elihu is not like Job, though he thinks he is. Job is righteous and loved by the Lord, while Elihu is seeking his own righteousness and will later be rebuked by the Lord.

Elihu says, “for the ear tests words as the palate tastes food. Let us choose for ourselves what is right; let us know among ourselves what is good.” This is literally Satan’s first and only commandment: “Do as thou wilt.” He then criticizes Job, who said, “I am righteous.” However, Job is righteous. He obeyed the commandments of God with all of his heart, even amidst his suffering and pain. Elihu proposes subjective morality, while Job knows the objective truth. There is no comparison between their two understandings. God’s law is truth, it is righteousness, and all who follow it and keep faith in Yeshua will inherit eternal life. Those who follow after their own ideas of what is right and wrong will be condemned among the lawless on the Last Day.

He criticizes Job saying, “for he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing when he is pleased with God.’” This is truth and it is the truth of what love actually is. We don’t obey God because we’re pleased with Him, we obey God because we love Him and want to please Him. Jesus makes this point very clearly in his parable in Luke 17:5-10: The servant coming in from the field doesn’t sit down with his master to eat, but girds himself and serves his master first, and then eats after. Jesus notes, regarding the Master (representing Himself): “Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’” This is the attitude of Job, who obeys God out of love, because he wants to please God, and he expects nothing for it. This ought to be our attitude as well. Elihu is way off base.

Job 35, Job 36, Job 37, Psalms 132

Elihu says in Job 36, “Wait for me a little, and I will show you That there is yet more to be said in God’s behalf. I will fetch my knowledge from afar.” He is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, using the Lord’s name in vain and violating the Third Commandment of Exodus 20. He claims to speak for God, and yet God has not called him to speak. Consider Ezekiel 13, but especially verse 3: “Thus says the Lord God: “Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!” Verses 8-9 are equally powerful: “Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Because you have spoken nonsense and envisioned lies, therefore I am indeed against you,” says the Lord God. My hand will be against the prophets who envision futility and who divine lies; they shall not be in the assembly of My people, nor be written in the record of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter into the land of Israel.” You want to be written in “the Lamb’s book of life.” You can look at all of the “wolves in sheep’s clothing” text of the New Testament and get the same message. Elihu’s sin brings death. We must beware of false prophets, and we must beware that we do not become one! Pray for God’s mercy and wait on Him and His direction alone!

Elihu misquotes Job in Job 35 and accuses him of claiming his righteousness has exceeded God, when in fact Job has made no such claim and rather strives after God’s righteousness, as we are all to do. Elihu rightly says “God will not listen to vanity” and that “He does not answer because of the pride of men,” but he doesn’t regard Job’s testimony as the humble, contrite heart of a repentant man just trying to make sense of his lot, but rather regards Job’s righteous humility as arrogance. I’ve found this is common in the world. In humbly keeping God’s commandments with the help of the Holy Spirit, I can’t count how many times people have accused me of arrogance because of it. This is the way of the world. The accusation is rooted in personal conviction; namely, the person making the accusation feels the Holy Spirit pulling them toward obedience to God, and rather than accept God’s correction, repent and go and sin no more, they lash out in anger and accuse the one going about their own business obeying God of arrogance or the like. My heart aches for people to see and hear that the Lord is good (righteous), He calls us to His righteousness, and His mercy endures forever to those who repent, cleansed by the blood of Yeshua, and sin no more.

In response to Elihu here, I think of Psalm 116:1-2: “I love the Lord, because He has heard my voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.” Yeshua said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” It’s a beautiful circle of love. When you do keep God’s commandments, He hears you, and because He hears you, you keep His commandments. God will hear Job here, also, but by waiting on the Lord and enduring persecution and suffering, God not only hears Him but blesses Him with abundance. Job has the heart of 2 Chronicles 7:14, and it is quite clear that “My people” are those who keep the commandments of God and faith in Jesus: “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” Job understands this fully, Elihu does not.

Continuing his nonsense in Job 37, Elihu says “The Almighty—we cannot find Him; He is exalted in power and He will not do violence to justice and abundant righteousness. Therefore men fear Him; He does not regard any who are wise of heart.” It’s forked tongue half truth, for the Lord certainly does not regard the proud, or the wise in heart, but to say “we cannot find Him” is simply a lie from the pit of Hell. In Jeremiah 29:10a,13, the Lord rebukes Elihu: “For thus says the Lord … And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” Job, a man of faith, according to Hebrews 11, knows that “without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6) In 1 Timothy 2:3-4, we read: “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Elihu is deadly wrong.
 
Job 38, Job 39, Psalm 133

The Lord, speaking out of a whirlwind, in His majesty and glory—consider the fear this must have brought to the four men observing it—asks a series of contemplative rhetorical questions that humble us as we read. Yes, we are to seek the Lord and understanding and wisdom. Yes, we are to get to know Him more and more. And yes, we have eternity to learn more about Him and His ways. Will we ever know it all? We have a literal eternity to know more and more, and so this answers the question. How would life continue to be fascinating if there wasn’t more to know? God, who created it all, knows every bit of it, the answer to all these questions, because He put it all in place. What a glorious and wonderful and fearful honor it is to even begin to understand Him. Praise God Almighty, for He made the Heavens and the Earth and everything in them, and He will dwell among us forever. He has promised this, I believe in God’s promises, and they will come to pass.

Job 40, Job 41, Job 42, Psalm 134

God continues to share the mysteries of His wonderful creations, bringing up what many interpret to be two dinosaurs who lived among man, the mighty behemoth, thought to be a sauropod, while the leviathan is a sea creature larger than any we have seen, perhaps a plesiosaur or some other monstrous sea creature with scales. Others interpret these animals to be the wooly mammoth or an elephant, but then how does its tail wave like a cedar? Perhaps a whale for leviathan, but does a whale have scales? In any case, Job 40 and 41 bring these mysteries to the table and confront us with a real possibility that dinosaurs didn’t live millions of years ago, but rather were created on the sixth day, the same day Man was created, and lived among man for some time until they were hunted down or crowded out into extinction, just like other animals that we are certain have gone extinct during our time, like the dodo bird. Did Noah bring baby dinosaurs onto the ark?

Job testifies at the beginning of Job 42 to the Lord, “I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.” He notes that he has declared things which he did not understand. What did he declare? He did not understand why God had afflicted Him, and he said as much. It was a “thing too wonderful for him, which he did not know.” God had used this opportunity to test Job, and see whether He would keep His faith and trust despite the hardship, and Job passed this test. God says to Job’s friends: “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has.” Yes, Job has spoken of God what was right, and yet Job still repents before God. He says, “Therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes.” Why? Because: “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see You. Therefore I retract…” You cannot see the Lord God’s face and live, as it says in Exodus 33:20, and yet Job has seen God and lived. This brought him trembling in repentance to his knees. God’s glory and holiness was so magnificent that Job could not bear to stand in His presence without repenting for his unworthiness in comparison.

We also see a prophetic unveiling of the Nature of God in this verse. If God says that no one can see His face and live, and yet Job now trembles before God because he has seen Him, how could that be? A study of the whole of Scripture here is key, and we know that Abraham, Jacob, Menoa, Gideon, and others have seen God face-to-face and lived. Even John in His letter says that no one can see God and live, but then He solves the puzzle in John 1:18: “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” God the Father in all His power on His throne cannot be seen in His glory. It would bring instant death. But God the Son shows Himself to many, in both Old and New Testaments, and He brings life to those who believe in Him. Yes, we will tremble as Job did before our Lord Jesus, who is one in being with the Father. If we have seen Him, we have seen the Father, and we can live in Him and through Him. This is who Job also saw.

Ultimately, Job lives out the Gospel throughout this whole book, and what a remarkable and beautiful book it is. He suffered and endured suffering and persecution for the Lord and His righteousness, but never gave up His trust or His hope. He sought the face of God, and beheld it, and He lived. He prayed for those who persecuted him on behalf of his faith, and it was through this prayer for others and display of grace that Job himself was restored. His family, his health and his wealth, were all restored to abundance. God shows mercy to “thousands” of generations to those who love Him and keep His commandments, but he shows wrath on those who hate Him and disobey His Word to the third and fourth generations. Job, due to his righteousness, witnessed four generations of his sons and his grandsons, who all lived in righteousness like Job did. He died full of days and now sleeps in the grave, ready for Christ’s return on the Last Day to raise him up. We are to be like Job if we intend to make it through the tribulations of this World and inherit the Kingdom.

Proverbs 1, Proverbs 2, Proverbs 3, Psalm 135

In 1 Corinthians 1:20-24, we see that Messiah Yeshua IS the “wisdom of God”. Consider: “For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” Yeshua was the Word who became flesh, according to John 1. Don’t let the feminine nature of the concept of wisdom distract you, for the Word is “spirit” and it is “truth.” What we have here in Proverbs is the Messiah Yeshua speaking His Word through Solomon, the world’s wisest man who came before Jesus who sadly lacked discernment in his own life. Yet, it is God’s wisdom, Yeshua, that we learn from in our reading today, and we ought to take note that our savior is reaching out to us in these Scriptures, because He loves us, calling us to follow Him and obey, because we love Him.

We read that “a wise man will hear and increase in learning, and a wise man of understanding will acquire wise counsel.” We are not to read the Word of God and wonder what it means, or think that we won’t ever grasp it, but rather pursue God’s Truth in it with every fiber of our being—with our whole heart—and God will reveal it to us, we will increase in learning and acquire wise counsel from it. The wisest counsel of all is this: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.” And so this takes us back to Paul’s writing in Corinthians, “the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” and “it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.” And so, the salvational message for each human being who has ever lived is the message of the cross, but for those who are perishing, it is foolishness, because “fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

Not only that, but those who “fear the Lord” begin to understand who He is, what He has done for us, and this leads to the very knowledge of God, which Peter tells us leads to everlasting life. Consider 2 Peter 1:5-11: “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Yes, “fear of the Lord” is indeed “the beginning of wisdom,” for to fear God is to believe in what He says and trust in His promises, and then to pursue Him with all of your heart.

Consider that our God has come in the flesh, died for us, and rose from the dead, and He has provided such a long witness of who He is and what He expects of us. We can’t just be hearers of the Word, deceiving ourselves, but we must also be doers of the Word by keeping the commandments of God, and Solomon preaches this Gospel truth in our Proverbs reading today. He starts with two examples, both sins stemming from covetousness, thievery and adultery. They lead to death. It’s amazing that Solomon starts with the sins that lead so many astray, as Christ said, “You cannot serve God and mammon.” Whether that mammon is the wealth of the world or the temporary satisfaction of lust, both lead to death when they are satisfied outside God’s law. We must put God first, Solomon says and Jesus reiterates, and everything we NEED will be added to us.

If we fail to obey, then on the Last Day God Himself, our returning Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, will literally “laugh at your calamity” and “mock when your dread comes.” His wrath will pour out on all flesh who sought the foolishness of lawlessness and the world over trusting in Him. But at this time, right now today, Yeshua our Lord and savior “shouts in the streets.” On the noisy street corner, in the midst of all the glitz, glamor and pleasures of the World and all the World has to offer, He “cries out,” calling to us: “How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded? … Turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you.” Is this not what our Lord told us when He came in the flesh? Has this not been prophesied from the beginning? “The waywardness of the naive will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them, but he who listens to me shall live securely and will be at ease from the dread of evil.” Obey God and live; trust in Him and all His ways. Turn away from lawlessness, repent, believe in the Gospel and do it.

God’s wisdom is prevalent, it is clear and it is repeated over and over again. “For the Lord gives wisdom, from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice, and He preserves the way of His godly ones.” God’s wisdom is more precious than jewels, than gold or fine silver, than pearls. It is the treasure in a field that we sell everything we have to buy. The message of the cross: that we trust in Christ’s blood on it as our flawless Passover lamb and his prayerful burnt offerings as our unleavened bread, as a one-time sacrifice for all of our sin, that He rose from the dead to make a way for us to the Promised Land, if only we’ll follow Him and keep His commandments. This is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those of us godly ones, righteous ones, it is eternal life, if we truly believe in it and do it. It is faith in action—faithfulness. It shows our trust in God and seals us with His Holy Spirit, on our right hand and between the frontlets of our eyes: The Mark of God.

Proverbs 4, Proverbs 5, Proverbs 6, Psalm 136

Reference yesterday’s New Testament verses for Proverbs 4, but add Psalm 119:105—“Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path”—which seems to allude to Solomon’s words, particularly: “Let your eyes look directly ahead and let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you. Watch the path of your feet and all your ways will be established. Do not turn to the right nor to the left; turn your foot from evil.” Solomon recalls the words of his father David, who taught God’s commandments to him: “Take hold of instruction; do not let go. Guard her, for she is your life. Do not enter the path of the wicked and do not proceed in the way of evil men.” Instruction comes from the Word of God—His commandments. They are righteousness. They are life. They are the Truth that guides our path. “The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn that shines brighter and brighter until the full day.”  The full day is the promised Kingdom of God. Yeshua tells us the same in the flesh: “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)

In other wisdom, Solomon instructs us to “rejoice in the wife of your youth,” rather than turn to the bosom of another woman, and “be exhilarated always with her love.” The Lord has designed marriage, childrearing, and life with our helper, whom He binds to us forever. To step outside of this beautiful gift of creation is to walk toward death. The one who sins in this way will find “wounds and disgrace,” and though he may repent and find peace and forgiveness with God, “his reproach will not be blotted out.” “Reproofs for discipline are the way of life,” and any discipline from the Lord in this way is warranted and appreciated, for they lead to true repentance and life.

The Lord through Solomon instructs us to watch the ant and its diligence in preparing her food in the summer, when times are good, and to store up for the winter or the rainy day. It is good to plan for times that are difficult so when they come, not if, but when, you will have provision set aside. The ant works always, taking the seventh day only to rest, because the times ahead are evil.

The Lord hates these things: Pride, deceit, “Hands that shed innocent blood,” a “heart that devices wicked plans,” “feet that run rapidly to evil,” “false witness” against your neighbor, and “one who spreads strife among brothers.” How much does America look like this today? Jesus tells us in Matthew 24 that we are not to allow our love to grow cold on account of such lawlessness. Paul tells us in Philippians 4:8, our thoughts ought to meditate on “things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy.” He tells us the fruit of the Spirit, proof that we are in Christ, is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.” (Galatians 5:22). We ought to spend our time praying for our brothers and sisters to endure in their faith so that they are not caught up in the evils of this world.

Proverbs 7, Proverbs 8, Proverbs 9, Psalm 137

Our Messiah Yeshua calls out as wisdom through the pen of Solomon, “O naive ones, understand prudence; and O fools, understand wisdom. Listen, for I will speak noble things; and the opening of my lips will reveal right things. For my mouth will utter truth, and wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the utterances of my mouth are in righteousness, there is nothing crooked or perverted in them. They are all straightforward to him who understands, and right to those who find knowledge.” In these words, we hear Yeshua saying, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” (Revelation 3:20) Solomon writes the Word of Wisdom: “Come, eat of my food and drink of the wine I have mixed. Forsake your folly and live, and proceed in the way of understanding.” As Solomon continues, “the fear of the Lord is to hate evil … I love those who love me, and those who diligently seek me will find me.” Jeremiah 29:13: “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” Yeshua said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7)

We learn that wise men heed the Word of God and love the ones who speak its Truth, but fools feel insulted by it and will hate you for speaking the Truth to them. Sadly, this reality is so true, it proves the existence of God. God’s Word promises persecution and hatred against us on account of the testimony of Yeshua, which we read from Genesis to Revelation. When I speak God’s truth, that we must obey His commandments AND keep the faith of Yeshua, I have never in my life experienced so much persecution—from all sides. There is no doubt that it is the Truth, for God has said it, and His sheep hear His voice and listen to Him. Praise God! I pray for the ears of wise men who will hear, repent and turn so they can live. Oh Lord, I just want to be used by you for your purposes! I pray for your deliverance on the Last Day, for I am not worthy of your grace, but you have offered and I accept in the name of Yeshua. Empower me by your Holy Spirit to walk in your ways.

I love Psalm 137 because it reminds me of a Sublime song that uses these words, and that brings back fond memories of sitting around the fire with my brother and his guitar, belting this out: “By the rivers of Babylon, and we sat down, and there we wept, when we remembered Zion.” Neither of us understood the words we were singing at the time, but I know now. I pray for my brother that he walks away from Babylon and turns toward the Lord. Only God can accomplish this at this point.

“How can we sing the Lord’s song in a strange place?,” we might ask as we all see Babylon closing in on us, the way of the world and man’s system ever growing in its arrogance and deceit, stealing away men’s souls. Ah, but how can we not? “If I forget you, Oh Jerusalem,” the Promised future home of your people who follow Yeshua, “let my right hand forget its skill. If I do not remember you, let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth—if I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy.”

And so, I say, if I do not remember these promises, made through my savior Yeshua HaMashiach, and speak of them when I go about the way each day and every opportunity I get, let my work be for naught and my tongue remain mute: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Yeshua HaMashiach from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:3-5).

I remember Zion, a land promised to me and you, a land promised to the Saints who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Yeshua. Let my testimony be true and “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14)

Proverbs 10, Proverbs 11, Proverbs 12, Psalm 138

It is wise to walk in righteousness, which is defined by God’s law, but it is foolish to turn aside from it, to imagine that you can continue in disobedience to God and somehow be saved by calling on the Lord’s name. To call on the Lord’s name means to turn to Him, and to do what He has commanded us. “Wise men store up knowledge,” the knowledge of God and His law, and yet the foolish “ignore reproof” and go astray. In the end, “the desire of the righteous will be granted. The righteous will never be shaken.” This is not to say there won’t be any trouble. As Psalm 138:7 says, “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will save me.” And yet, “the wicked will not dwell in the land”—the “promised land,” that is, the Kingdom of Heaven. “If the righteous will be rewarded in the earth, how much more the wicked and the sinner.” As Yeshua said, the sheep to everlasting life, the goats to everlasting judgment. Solomon paints the same word picture.

Sadly, “the way of the fool is right in his own eyes,” so many a man goes on listening to false preachers who say that you can keep sinning and still be saved. Why is this? It’s because their heart desires to pursue its own wickedness and still receive the reward, but Solomon in his proverbs and Yeshua in His teachings said it is impossible to be saved and live a life of lawlessness. “A wise man is he who listens to counsel.” Who’s counsel? God’s counsel, of course, in Scripture, but also the counsel of righteous men who are pursuing God with all of their hearts, doing His will in their lives and abiding by His commandments, in all faithfulness, because they love Yeshua. “Those who deal faithfully are God’s delight.” “In the way of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death.” You cannot seek your own righteousness and expect salvation; God’s righteousness, defined by His commandments, is what we must seek, with all faith in Yeshua. This is how the Saints must endure.

Proverbs 13, Proverbs 14, Proverbs 15, Psalm 139

Proverb 13-15 and Psalm 139 share an important theme. We read in the Proverbs: “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, Watching the evil and the good. The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, But He loves one who pursues righteousness. Grievous punishment is for him who forsakes the way; He who hates reproof will die.” In the Psalm, we read, “You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it all.” The righteous are wise, and will inherit the Kingdom of God; they obey God and live, and God hears their prayers, while the fools pursue their own hearts; for “there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death,” and “the Lord is far from the wicked.” So “search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts, and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.”

Proverbs 16, Proverbs 17, Proverbs 18, Psalm 140

We all perceive our own way is best, but the Lord knows what’s in our heart, whether good or evil. Our motives are what the Lord judges. Yeshua said that the what comes out of the heart is the fruit of its disposition, whether good fruit from a good heart, or bad fruit from an evil heart. But when we commit our way to the Lord, or as Jesus said, when we put first the Kingdom of God, the Lord establishes our plans and adds everything to us that we need. We might plan our way, or the general direction we’re headed, but the Lord knows what steps are needed to get us there, so long as it is aligned with His will. We must trust in Him, for blessed is he who trusts in the Lord. But beware of pride, for pride comes before destruction.

I love the verse, “a servant who acts wisely will rule over a son who acts shamefully, and will share in the inheritance among brothers.” This refers to the Gentiles grafted-in to Israel through faith in Jesus as opposed to the Israelites who denied Jesus. Those who follow Messiah will be equal in the Kingdom regardless of their background, while those who deny Him will be judged by the faithful. To be faithful is not just ease, however, for like the lord refines silver in a pot and gold in a furnace, the Lord tests our hearts. Ultimately, as Psalm 140 notes, “the righteous will give thanks to God’s name—Yeshua. The upright will dwell in His presence. I pray for a righteous heart and repent of any sin in me; lead me in your ways, Lord, everlasting!

Dad wrote:
One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin,
but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Proverbs 18:24

We have a friend who sticks closer than a brother.  His name is Jesus.

 “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you”. John 15

Proverbs 19, Proverbs 20, Proverbs 21, Psalm 141

I love how the Lord’s wisdom speaks through Solomon’s proverbs and a few today need highlighting:
Obedience to God’s commandments is essential if we want to make it to the Kingdom of God: “He who keeps the commandment keeps his soul, But he who is careless of conduct will die.” “To do righteousness and justice is desired by the Lord more than sacrifice.” “He who pursues righteousness and loyalty finds life.”
The Lord God calls us away from sin and death to life everlasting through His Son, Yeshua, who alone has power to open the eyes of the blind and ears of the deaf: “The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the Lord has made both of them.”
We cannot take the Lord’s name in vain and say something is from the Lord when it is not: “It is a trap for a man to say rashly, ‘It is holy!’”
The Spirit or breath of man, which returns to God upon death, is what searches all of our innermost parts while we live; it is the “lamp of the Lord” that shines in us and guides our steps. Let our souls find connection with God through Messiah Yeshua, and never let go.
“Who can say, ‘I have cleansed my heart, I am pure from sin?’” No on;, not a single one. But in Messiah, we can all say, Yeshua has cleansed our hearts, and purified us from sin by His blood.
“Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the counsel of the Lord will stand.” Our steps are ordered by the Lord and His way is always best. Let us fully trust in the Lord, and “may my [our] prayer[s] be counted as incense before You,” as we read in Psalm 141:2.

Proverbs 22, Proverbs 23, Psalm 142

I love how the Lord’s wisdom speaks through Solomon’s proverbs and a few today need highlighting:
“A good name is to be more desired than great wealth.” He is not referring to a good name on Earth, but rather that our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. To seek a good name on Earth one must compromise God’s law and faith in Jesus. This is not what the writer is saying for us to do. In fact, this proverb can be likened to Yeshua’s words: “seek you first the Kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you.” Likewise, the proverb: “Do not weary yourself to gain wealth, cease from your consideration of it.” We may do our work, but when we serve God first in it, we will receive everything we need. Trust in the Lord.
“Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.” To align a child with the Law of God and faith in Jesus, one must use discipline, for “foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; the rod of discipline will remove it from him.” Without discipline, the foolishness will persist. With discipline, completed in love, a child will learn to serve God. “Apply your heart to discipline And your ears to words of knowledge. Do not hold back discipline from the child, Although you strike him with the rod, he will not die. You shall strike him with the rod And rescue his soul from Sheol.” It is our duty to save our children from Hell, every chance we get.

Psalm 142:5-7 reminds me of the time we’re living in, and this is my prayer: “I cried out to You, O Lord; I said, “You are my refuge, My portion in the land of the living. Give heed to my cry, For I am brought very low; Deliver me from my persecutors, For they are too strong for me. Bring my soul out of prison, So that I may give thanks to Your name; The righteous will surround me, For You will deal bountifully with me.” On the Last Day, when we are changed in the twinkling of an eye, or raised from Sheol, the grave, wherever we find ourselves at that time, we will be surrounded by “the righteous” likewise raised and gathered by God’s Holy angels. By Messiah Yeshua’s death on the cross and resurrection from the dead, our souls have been pulled from the prison of sin and death. We are indeed delivered when we obey God and trust in Him. And then He will deal bountifully with us, into eternity. There is no greater hope in life than this.

Proverbs 24, Proverbs 25, Proverbs 26, Psalm 143

Proverbs 24-26 and Psalm 143 couldn’t have come at a better time. The Lord instructs me for my current situation:
“For by wise guidance you will wage war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory.”
“Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles, or the Lord will see it and be displeased, and turn His anger away from him.”
“Do not fret because of evildoers Or be envious of the wicked; For there will be no future for the evil man; The lamp of the wicked will be put out.”
“If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; For you will heap burning coals on his head, And the Lord will reward you.”
There is more hope for a fool than a man wise in his own eyes, says Solomon. And yet, there is no man alive who is righteous, and I too live crushed, fully subject to the righteousness of Christ in me. There is no wisdom in me, for I rely fully on God. Lord help me to walk in your will, not my own.
“Hear my prayer, O Lord, … do not enter into judgment with Your servant, For in Your sight no man living is righteous[, including me]. For the enemy has persecuted my soul; He has crushed my life to the ground; He has made me dwell in dark places. Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me… I meditate on all your doings; I muse on the work of your hands … My soul longs for You. … Answer me quickly, O Lord, my spirit fails; Do not hide Your face from me, … Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, for I trust in You; Teach me the way in which I should walk; For to You I lift up my soul. Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies; I take refuge in You. Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground. For the sake of Your name, O Lord, revive me. In Your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble.”

Proverbs 27, Proverbs 28, Proverbs 29, Psalm 144

Readings in Proverbs 27-29 provide specific wisdom regarding the law of God, the rule of kings, and teaching truth to the people. These principles are relevant for today and deserve some contemplation.

First we see that is on account of the sins of a culture, and not individuals, that princes (and their oppressive laws) are multiplied. The “wild beasts,” or oppressive governments, of Ezekiel, Daniel, and Revelation are judgment on a land that “sins persistently.” A righteous land, where people pursue understanding and knowledge of the Lord’s commandments, with obedience, brings endurance to the peace and joy of life. Here are the verses: “By the transgression of a land many are its princes, But by a man of understanding and knowledge, so it endures.” “When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, But when a wicked man rules, people groan.” Wicked rulers, a judgment of God, will bring suffering: “Like a roaring lion and a rushing bear Is a wicked ruler over a poor people. A leader who is a great oppressor lacks understanding, But he who hates unjust gain will prolong his days.” In these times, prudent men, men of righteousness, will hide themselves: “A prudent man sees evil and hides himself, The naive proceed and pay the penalty.” Prayer is the best remedy.

The servant of God tends to Him by reading the Word, understanding the Word, pursuing God in the Word, and obeying the Word, all while trusting the Word, particularly the Word who became flesh, Jesus Christ. He said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” That’s what this is about: “He who tends the fig tree will eat its fruit, And he who cares for his master will be honored.” We will know them by their fruit, the Lord says, and this is related: “As in water face reflects face, So the heart of man reflects man.” (See also Mark 7). We know God desires obedience, and not sacrifice. This is why He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus, to die for us, as Hebrews 9-10 says, to serve as a one-time sacrifice for sin. Analyze this with me: God doesn’t desire sacrifice, for to sacrifice for sin means that we are living in sin and need the sacrifice. That’s why He doesn’t desire sacrifice. Sacrifice is a remedy for sin. Blood is required to account for sin. This is HUGE! That’s why He came, to end this cycle! He desires OBEDIENCE, upon repentance, which means the sin is forgiven and we are to go and sin no more. Then there is no more need for sacrifice, because we live, with His help, in righteousness! His righteousness, which is defined by His law. “Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, But those who keep the law contend with them.” And call out sin, yes, that is something we must do. We are called to do this. “The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, But the righteous are bold as a lion” and “Better is open rebuke Than love that is concealed” and “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.” The righteous speak truth in love to bring their friends to repentance. It is the deceitful who say, “all is well,” or “Peace! Peace!, when there is no peace.” We know that “a man’s counsel is sweet to his friend. Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another.” We are not to let things go or “live and let live.” This is deceit that leads to death. We are to openly rebuke in love and exhort to obedience in God.

This theme continues with “An arrogant man stirs up strife, But he who trusts in the Lord will prosper. He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, But he who walks wisely will be delivered.” To be “arrogant,” to “trust in [your] own heart,” means to follow after your own ways and think God will bless them. There is no greater arrogance to think Jesus washes away all sin for all time so you can continue on in your sin so long as you believe in what He did. Paul openly rebukes this arrogance in Galatians 2:17: “But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not!” No, in Christ, we turn toward God’s righteousness, which is defined by His commandments in His law given to Moses, and because of Christ’s love for us, we love Him back through obedience to His Word. This is faithfulness, which is a “fruit of the Spirit.” To trust in the Lord, to walk wisely, this is to “obey the commandments of God and keep the faith of Jesus.”

You see, “Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand all things. He who keeps the law is a discerning son, but he who is a companion of gluttons humiliates his father. He who turns away his ear from listening to the law, even his prayer is an abomination. He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion. How blessed is the man who fears always, but he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity.” Understanding comes from obedience, which comes from knowledge, which comes from reading the Word of God. Faith comes from fear of the Lord and desire to please Him and belief in His promises, which He made through His Son our Lord Jesus Christ. We must strive after God and His conviction of our sins, so that we can repent and go and sin no more. We must cherish this chastening, for “where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, but happy is he who keeps the law.” Do you see? Our peace and joy depend on obeying God and trusting in Him. Our eternal salvation rests on this endurance.

Proverbs 30, Proverbs 31, Psalm 145

Proverbs 30 asks the pertinent question: “What is His name or His son’s name? … Surely you know.” His name is Yeshua Ha-Mashiach, Jesus Christ, and this is the Name, Ha-Shem, to which every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess: Yeshua Ha-Mashiach is Yahweh, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2). “Who has ascended into heaven and descended?” Yeshua Ha-Mashiach. “Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has wrapped the waters in His garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth?” Yeshua Ha-Mashiach, who is one in the same as Yahweh, to the glory of God the Father! He is “the Word who became flesh.” “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6) “He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.” As we read in Psalm 145, “I will extol You, my God, O King, And I will bless Your name forever and ever. The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.”

God has blessed me greatly according to Proverbs 31:10-31, and I let her know that, and I let Him know that I know that. Praise be to God! Jennifer is worth far more than jewels and I trust in her only after the Lord God Most High. She does me good and not evil all the days of her life. “A woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.” May God give her the inheritance that He promised through the blood of His Son our Lord Jesus Christ and her obedience to His commandments, with rejoicing! An excellent wife, who can find? No man, for only God can give such as gift.

Ecclesiastes 1, Ecclesiastes 2, Ecclesiastes 3, Ecclesiastes 4, Psalm 146

All is vanity and there is nothing new under the sun. Yeshua said, as in the days of Noah so will it be during the days when the Son of Man returns. We learn that the hearts of men would be only evil continually. Are we there yet? “What is crooked cannot be straightened and what is lacking cannot be counted.” There indeed is grief in knowledge and wisdom, and yet God instructs us to seek after it.

“There is an appointed time for everything … He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning to the end.” With an eternity to seek after God and grow in relationship with Him, there must also be an eternity of getting to know Him that He has designed. And so as we do this, “there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime.” We ought to “see good in all [our] labor—it is the gift of God.” Work done according to God’s will lasts forever. Working together with our brothers and sisters in Christ is essential to producing a good work for the Lord.

Psalm 146 is Messianic. Read it and praise the Lord Yeshua indeed!

“Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord while I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. Do not trust in princes, In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation. His spirit departs, he returns to the earth; In that very day his thoughts perish. How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, Whose hope is in the Lord his God, Who made heaven and earth, The sea and all that is in them; Who keeps faith forever; Who executes justice for the oppressed; Who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; The Lord raises up those who are bowed down; The Lord loves the righteous; The Lord protects the strangers; He supports the fatherless and the widow, But He thwarts the way of the wicked. The Lord will reign forever, Your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord!”
Psalms 146:1-10

Ecclesiastes 5, Ecclesiastes 6, Ecclesiastes 7, Ecclesiastes 8, Psalm 147

Psalm 147:5 says, “Great is our Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite.” It is mind-blowing to me to contemplate this thought. God’s understanding, which is the culmination of knowledge and wisdom with discernment into righteousness, is INFINITE! I think of Jeremiah 29:13, when the Lord says, “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” Do we find God’s infinite understanding when we seek Him and find Him. Absolutely not! How dull of an eternity it would be if we discovered the whole of God, and how dull for Him if we weren’t chasing after Him every moment of every day. This is the beauty of relationship with God. Solomon notes: “The end of a matter is better than its beginning; Patience of spirit is better than haughtiness of spirit. ... Wisdom along with an inheritance is good.” When we pursue the Lord, we must recognize that we will NEVER know everything He understands, but in every waking moment, He wants us to try, with humble patience. Our heart ought to be always to know Him more and more, and in our inheritance (the Kingdom of Heaven), the journey just gets better and better.

Solomon offers a “seize the day” mentality in this statement, “Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all one’s labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward.” We certainly ought to live for today and not worry what tomorrow brings, for as Yeshua said in Mt. 6:34, “Sufficient for the day is its own trouble,” but we cannot stop here. Yeshua also adds, “seek first the Kingdom of God, and all these things [everything you need] will be added to you.” Solomon contemplates this also, that “although a sinner does evil a hundred times and may lengthen his life, still I know that it will be well for those who fear God, who fear Him openly. But it will not be well for the evil man and he will not lengthen his days like a shadow, because he does not fear God.” This life is just the testing ground. If we do not fear God, which leads one to obey His commandments, one cannot expect it to “be well.” The inheritance, God’s Promised Land, is only for those who fear Him and strive after Him.

This is not to say this life will be perfect for the righteous or troublesome for the wicked; quite the contrary, Solomon notes, and Job’s story identifies: “There is futility which is done on the earth, that is, there are righteous men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked. On the other hand, there are evil men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous.” This life is not the end of things, but just the beginning. Heb. 4:6 says, “For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.” So Solomon warns us, “What the eye sees is better than what the soul desires.” But, “this too is futility and striving after the wind.” Yeshua said we must deny the flesh; we must pick up our cross and follow Him, He who is perfect as His Heavenly Father is perfect, He who keeps the commandments of God because He is the Word who became flesh.

We see Solomon add: “Do not be excessively righteous and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself? Do not be excessively wicked and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time? It is good that you grasp one thing and also not let go of the other; for the one who fears God comes forth with both of them. Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins.” This is the very reason Yeshua came in the flesh, to live the human experience that Solomon calls “futile,” but to overcome it in righteousness and then be condemned for our sin. His resurrection as the first born of the dead defeated sin and death, for those who follow after Him in righteousness will be likewise resurrected unto eternal life. Yet, we cannot walk around thinking that righteousness is what saves us, for even one sin condemns us to death: “The soul who sins shall die.” (Ezek. 18:20). We are saved by His blood, His free gift of grace through faith.

This is why Solomon writes, “The day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth. It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, because that is the end of every man, and the living takes it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for when a face is sad a heart may be happy. It is better to listen to the rebuke of a wise man than for one to listen to the song of fools.” Yes, to be constantly repentant, with a humble and contrite heart, always knowing that we will never be good enough without God’s mercy and lovingkindness, this is the heart that God wants from us. “In the day of prosperity be happy, but in the day of adversity consider God has made the one as well as the other.” Paul writes: “Pray without ceasing. Rejoice always!” Solomon adds: “evil will not deliver those who practice it,” clearly steering us toward righteousness. “I know that it will be well for those who fear God, who fear Him openly.” Let us therefore keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, for “faithfulness” is fruit of the Holy Spirit.

Ecclesiastes 9, Ecclesiastes 10, Ecclesiastes 11, Ecclesiastes 12, Psalm 148

Solomon concludes his sage advice with the most important lessons of them all, which have been resounding throughout: “I have taken all this to my heart and explain it that righteous men, wise men, and their deeds are in the hand of God. Man does not know whether it will be love or hatred; anything awaits him. It is the same for all.” Yeshua, God in the flesh, interpreted this verse for us and told us how His followers ought to deal with this truth in Matthew 5:43-48: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

Yes, in this life, we all have an equal shot to make it. “As the good man is, so the sinner; as the swearer is, so is the one who is afraid to swear. This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one fate for us all.” The wise man speaks of death, of the grave, Sheol, and he’s right, Whether good or evil, when we die, we end up in Sheol, awaiting the Lord’s return. “Moreover, man does not know his time: like fish caught in a treacherous net and birds trapped in a snare, so the sons of men are ensnared at an evil time when it suddenly falls upon them. And yet Solomon continues to give advice to be wise and not a fool, even though we can never “know the activity of God who makes all things.” As dead flies make a perfumer’s oil stink, so a little foolishness is weightier than wisdom and honor. Wisdom and honor are so important, Solomon writes, that we are to even stand by our position to follow after the Lord “if the ruler’s temper rises against you,” but do not curse him, even in private, for the criticism can still reach his ears.

Paul says, “Pray without ceasing. Rejoice always,” and Solomon writes, “If a man should live many years, let him rejoice in them all, and let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many.”

You might think Solomon instructs the young man to “follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes,” and if you stop there, you might instruct your sons to enjoy wine and women, but you would be mistaken, for Solomon continues “Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things.” It’s a warning, not a permission slip. His point is to “remove grief and anger from your heart and put away pain from your body, because childhood and the prime of life are fleeting.” In other words, enjoy your youth, but do so with righteousness. He continues, “remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you say, “I have no delight in them.”

Solomon then proceeds to list off a number of metaphors for old age and death. To the old man, he writes: “remember God before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl in crushed, the pitcher by the well is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed.” For one day, your living being or soul will be in Sheol, because your body returns to the dust of the Earth and God’s spirit which gave you body life will return to Him. There in the grave, your living being, your soul, rests. Yeshua says in John 5:28-29, “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.” And so Solomon concludes His matter that we ought not to study many books, but rather God’s Word, which contains life: “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.” This is the underlying choice we all face, so love God, do righteousness and preach the Gospel.

Song of Solomon 1, Song of Solomon 2, Song of Solomon 3, Song of Solomon 4, Psalm 149

The Song of Solomon is God’s instructions to men and women how to properly love each other within the bounds of marriage. It is actually quite erotic when properly understood, showing us plainly that God designed marriage as a gift to men and sexual union between a man and his wife as a created, beautiful and wonderful thing to be celebrated and enjoyed. The Song shows men how to create desire in their wives, and it shows women how to properly stand by their husband and encourage him. It also deals with the problems that come up in the marital relationship and how to address them. God also uses marriage as a metaphor to describe the nature of His relationship as the groom in connection with Israel, His bride. Are we grafted in to Israel, and do we await our groom in His second coming with the eagerness of the bride described in Solomon’s Song?  

If any of you have interest in this topic for the health of your own marriage, private message me at 603-703-8857 and I can send you a sermon series that goes into the Song of Solomon in detail. I am still learning these metaphors, which require quite a bit of historical context to fully grasp. We might see, “draw me after you and let us run together.” The woman desires her man to lead and to be decisive. “The king has brought me into his chambers.” This creates great desire in women. “Rightly do they love you.” The woman knows that her man is a stud, that other women also desire him, but he belongs to her. At the same time, she acknowledges that it is right to love him, because he is righteous, he is bold, he is strong and he leads. She builds him up with encouragement, and helps to give him confidence. This is the role of a wife. Much of the other language describes the tension that builds between the man and his wife in the relationship, which leads to desire.

Look at her descriptions of him: “Behold, he is coming, climbing on the mountains, leaping on the hills! My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.” She desires him, see: “Let his left hand be under my head and his right hand embrace me.” There is only one thing that this describes. Likewise, look at his descriptions of her: “Your eyes are like doves behind your veil, your hair is like a flock of goats that have descended from Mt. Gilead. You have made my heart beat faster, my sister, my bride.” This type of language is needed in a relationship, for a man ought to desire his wife, and a wife ought to desire her husband. These sweet nothings are not nothing at all, but rather they are essential to building romance within the marriage relationship. It leads to this: “Make my garden breathe out fragrance, let its spices be wafted abroad. May my beloved come into his garden and eat its choice fruits.” Yes, that means what you think it does.

Here we see the trouble come in to the relationship: “catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that are ruining the vineyards while our vineyards are in blossom.” We don’t want to allow any little foxes into our relationship that nag, or argue or create resentment and steal away the fruit of our relationship with our spouse. There should be no points of our contention, but they need to be handled, with love, and dealt with immediately, and with care. They’re sly, those foxes, and easily get away. But they must be caught. “Turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of Bether.” Yes, we need to turn our attention toward our spouse, repent quickly of any wrongdoing and handle it with humility so that we can return to building each other up in the relationship.

Song of Solomon 5, Song of Solomon 6, Song of Solomon 7, Song of Solomon 8, Psalm 150

Solomon at this point had acquired sixty queens and eighty concubines, way fewer than the 300 and 700 he would finish with, but we see in chapter six that Solomon regards this wife from the Song of Solomon to be “my dove, my perfect one,” who is “unique … the pure child of the one who bore her.”

The desire they build for each other in chapter 5 shows precisely how a man ought to describe his wife, and a wife her husband. She is his sister, not his actual sister, but his sister in the Lord, his sister according to the faith, as our spouses should also be, but also his bride, his lover. In God’s perfect design in Genesis for a man to marry one wife, the term “bride” comes with exclusivity; it is the role of only one, and it is a relationship God designed so that man shall not be alone; he shall have a helpmate. The bride, in turn, has her covering, her protection, her provider. Throughout the Song, we see these roles being described in eloquent poetry.

In chapters 7 and 8 we see the ecstasy reserved for the marriage, the dangers of jealousy that bring feelings of mourning like death, and love that is legitimate, which cannot be quenched because it looks past defect and disagreement to build up the other in complete self sacrifice.

The Lord looks upon Israel as His bride, and He is a jealous God, not willing to share His bride with any other. In as much as The Song of Solomon is a metaphor for God’s relationship with His People, the same dynamic is at work. Christ is our covering, our protection, our provider; while we are his helpmate, who praise Him and honor Him and worship Him, building Him up as the perfect God who loves us and wants us to want Him. Our union is spiritual, and it is ecstatic, but its fullness is yet to come on the Last Day, when we will enjoy the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. There will be no more waiting for our bridegroom on that day, and the marriage will be forever.

I had a thought: If Solomon is intended to represent the Messiah prophetically, then his 300 wives and 700 concubines are a metaphor for the Jews and Gentiles who will take part in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb on the Last Day. How many “gardens” are in Heaven? It makes sense when held up to the Song of Solomon as both good instruction for a healthy marriage, but also a prophetic allegory for the marriage of the Lord with Israel on the Last Day.

Isaiah 1, Isaiah 2, Isaiah 3, Isaiah 4, Psalm 1

Reading the Bible in chronological order the last several years has given me insight when reading it in this liturgical order this year, for now it sticks out in today’s reading that Isaiah wrote his prophesies during the time that Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah ruled over Judah, a very tumultuous time in the land, indeed. His father, Amoz (or Amos) was another prophet, and his book precedes Isaiah chronologically. He was clearly then a descendent of Levi, and he would have spent most of his time in service to God. Was he among the only ones left devoted to God during this trying time? Elijah thought he was alone, but it turns out there were 7,000 left in Israel who hadn’t bowed their knee to Ba’al. Isaiah’s mentions of his fellow prophets are not flattering, as we’ll later see. Were there even 7,000 left in Judah? How many authentic, true men of God are alive today in Messiah Yeshua? That’s for God to sort out, but as for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord.

In Isaiah’s opening words, he compares Israel and Judah to Sodom and Gomorrah, something we could certainly say about America today. Except that the “Lord of Hosts had left us a few survivors,” and thus the land was not utterly destroyed like the older cities were. And so when he says “You rulers of Sodom, give ear to the instructions of our God, you people of Gomorrah,” he is speaking to Judah and Israel, noting that God does not desire bulls, lambs or goats in sacrifice, He doesn’t want incense burned to him or new moons or sabbaths celebrated, and He doesn’t even want them celebrating their appointed feasts. Here’s the reason why: “I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. … they have become a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them.” This is because of sin, it is because of syncretism, where the people honor pagan gods along with God most high, and they take on pagan tradition in connection with their own tradition.

God is so fed up with Israel and Judah’s sin that He says, “I will hide My eyes from you; yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen.” Does God want us to stop praying to Him? Is this the lesson? Clearly: NO! It is on account of Israel’s sin, their “adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like,” to quote Galatians 5:19-21, that God desires to turn His face away from them. God will not hear the prayers of sinners. As it says in James 2:10: “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” And so God will not accept their sacrifices, their sabbaths, their feasts, or even their prayers, for God will not abide with those who practice sin. James 2:14, 24: “What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? … As you can see, a man is justified by his deeds and not by faith alone.”

God is quite direct with the solution, and it is the most often repeated solution in all of Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation: “Your hands are covered with blood. Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow.” Repent, and hear the Gospel. Repent, accept Yeshua as your sacrifice for sin, and go and sin no more. Look to your Helper, the Holy Spirit, to guide you in obedience to God’s law. “Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord, “Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool. If you consent and obey, you will eat the best of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” This is the double-edged sword that will come out of His Mouth to devour all of the rebellious on the Last Day.

This is Yeshua (Jesus) that does this, for He is one-in-being with the Father: “Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God” (Revelation 19:15). It’s clear, our sins being washed by Christ’s blood so they are as “white as snow” is conditional on our obedience, for He said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” The Saints who endure, who “consent and obey,” will eat the best of the land; or, in other words, they shall inherit the Kingdom of God. “Consent and obey,” the two witnesses needed for salvation are also found here: “Here are they who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” (Revelation 14:12). Those who refuse and rebel will be “devoured by the sword,” that “two-edged sword” that comes out of His mouth. “Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness,” Jesus will say on that Last Day. “Consent and obey” unto life everlasting. “Truly, the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

In those days, “The mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains, and will be raised above the hills, and all the nations will stream to it. And any peoples will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord … that He may teach us concerning His ways and that we may walk in His paths.’ For the law will go forth from Zion and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He will judge between the nations, and will render decisions for many peoples.” Here’s where this prophesy is repeated: “Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” (Revelation 11:15) Yes, the Word who became flesh will rule the world with His law given to Moses from Jerusalem. Read Enoch: The Mountain of the Lord is in the Garden of Eden, and it is in the Kingdom of Heaven after the Heavens and the Earth are refreshed. “The day of reckoning” is coming against the “proud and lofty,” those who think they don’t need to obey God to live. “Stop regarding man,” God says, because man cannot create Heaven on the Earth. “The Lord alone will be exalted in that day.”

The same theme repeats on every page of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation: “Say to the righteous that it will go well with them, For they will eat the fruit of their actions. Woe to the wicked! It will go badly with him, For what he deserves will be done to him.” “Consent and obey!” “Keep the faith of Jesus” and “keep the commandments of God.” “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.” Have we been grafted-in to the olive tree of Israel, as Paul instructs us to do in Romans 11. Shouldn’t we listen to Paul’s advice? “Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off” (vs. 22). If we “continue in His goodness,” we too shall be “survivors of Israel.” For, “It will come about that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy—everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem. When the Lord has washed away the filth … by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning.” Is your name recorded in “the Lamb’s Book of Life?” Upon this day and forevermore, we will be protected by the glory of God like a canopy.

And Psalm 1, going back to the beginning, without accident, gives us the same exact message: “Blessed is the man … whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither, and in whatever he does he prospers.” In Revelation 22:1-2, we read: “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month.” This proceeds from the Mountain of God.

The lawless, the wicked, the sinners will be like “chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.”

“Consent and obey!:” “Keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”

Isaiah 5, Isaiah 6, Isaiah 7, Isaiah 8, Psalm 2

Isaiah truly knew the Lord Yeshua, and his prophesies are among the most profound in all of Scripture. We see the vinyard metaphor that Yeshua often used in chapter 5, and the vinyard bearing bad fruit, leading to its abandonment. We see the Lord sitting upon His throne, with the angles calling out to one another, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts; the whole Earth is full of His glory.” When witnessing such glory, Isaiah’s response is apt. He humbles himself with a contrite spirit, and acknowledges his uncleanliness. The Lord sends His angel and accepts Isaiah’s repentance, and then sends him out to prophesy the land’s total devastation, which would come in future days. Yeshua quotes from Isaiah 6 here, “Hearing they do not hear, seeing, they do not understand.” Repent, the Lord says, and healing will come. “Return and be healed,” the Lord says.

The prophesy of the virgin Mary giving birth to God With Us comes next, but it also foretells a short-term prophesy that would be fulfilled in Isaiah’s age. The woman who gave birth to Immanuel wasn’t a virgin when she conceived, but Mary would be a virgin, and so the prophesy was ultimately fulfilled in the fullness of time. While Yeshua would know as a child to “refuse evil and choose good,” briars and thorns, the false prophets, would come after and pollute the land, Isaiah prophesies. Babylon would be coming soon to ransack the land, but in the End Times, the Kingdoms of the World would rage for a time before the Lord returns. Psalm 2 fits right into the theme of our Isaiah readings; the feeble attempts of man to stand against the Lord would be thwarted. Those who “kiss the son,” which means to worship Him, would be blessed, while those who are not reverant toward him would be destroyed.

Isaiah 9, Isaiah 10, Isaiah 11, Isaiah 12, Psalm 3

The Lord will indeed make Israel glorious for the remnant who is saved among both Jews and Gentiles, and Isaiah prophesied this well before Christ walked the Earth. But He also wrote about Christ, the first and the second coming, and he wrote about the first diaspora of Israel as well as the second one. But just as God used to Assyrians to conquer Israel and the Babylonians to conquer Judah, He will bring His judgment upon those lands for conquering His Holy Land. Only those who keep their faith in Him will make it through.

We see the future name of God Almighty. He is “Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father.” But He is also the “Prince of Peace.” It’s undeniable that He is Father and He is Son, and both are one in each other.

As we move through Isaiah 9, you see the prophesies of Israel’s initial demise, “The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild them with smooth stones; The sycamores have been cut down, but we will replace them with cedars.” This was Judah’s pride in themselves, their inability to see God’s judgment come upon them. America is in the same boat, and on 9/11, our leaders said the exact same thing, bringing judgment on this land. The enemy will devour us like it devoured Israel, and those who guide us lead us astray. “Yet the people do not turn back to Him who struck them, nor do they seek the Lord of Hosts. So the Lord cuts off head and tail.” Confusion follows, “and every mouth is speaking foolishness” and the people turn against one another. This doesn’t appease the Lord’s anger. He maintains it and continues to bring wrath, because there is no repentance.

In fact, the people enact evil statutes, and record unjust decisions and they deprive the needy of justice and rob the poor of their rights. Where will you plea for help, Oh America, when the enemy comes and strikes you from afar. Will you fare better than Israel? When the Lord is done punishing us, leaving only the remnant of the most righteous among us, He will turn his hand toward our enemies who destroyed us, just as He did against Israel’s enemies who destroyed her. All of the mighty will be humbled. Even though Israel grew to a multitude akin to the sand of the sea, only a remnant within them will remain as the Lord turns His attention toward the other nations.

And then, as Jesus came the first time as a branch from the roots of Jesse to bear fruit, so too will the Lord return, and “He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.” Subsequently, the New Jerusalem, the New Heaven and the New Earth, will be ushered in. The “wolf will dwell with the lamb and the leopard will lie down with the young goat.” The root of Jesse will stand as a signal to the people then. His resting place will be glorious. “Then it will happen on that day that the Lord will again recover the second time with His hand the Remnant of His people” from all the nations of the Earth. Those who walk across the sea to join the Lord will say, “I will give thanks to You, O Lord, for although You were angry with me, Your anger has turned away, and you comfort me. Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid, for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation.”

While the Lord’s adversaries may have increased, as Psalm 3 says, and many are rising up against me, God is our shield and the one who gives us hope. He answers us from His Holy Mountain, He is the one who sustains us. Even 10,000 people gathered against us cannot cause fear, because salvation belongs to the Lord and His blessings shall be upon His people.

Isaiah 13, Isaiah 14, Isaiah 15, Isaiah 16, Isaiah 17, Psalm 4

We see more short-term, long-term prophesies about the destruction of Babylon (the governing nation, at the time of Isaiah, it is the land that is now Iraq), Assyria (Turkey), Moab (Jordan) and Damascus (Syria), and like in the end days, you see that the “nations gathered together” against the Lord of Hosts and His army. This is another representation for the battle of Armageddon at the end, when all the whole world will come up against Israel. Prophetically, the kingdoms of the world shall become the kingdoms of the Lord, and of His Messiah, and He shall reign forever and ever. A remnant will come from the lands, even from Moab, where the remnant shall be “small and impotent,” ready to turn toward God for repentance.

We see a Satanic influence in Babylon, he was behind the oppression, the fury, the wickedness, the anger, the unrestrained persecution at the hands of this Satanic nation. Yet, Babylon is laid low, as the Kingdoms of the World shall be also. Satan is made as weak as man, and he will be punished like a man who sinned against God. Thinking he would ascend to Heaven and raise his throne above the stars of God, and sit on God’s throne, he will be utterly destroyed, and men will ponder and say, “Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world like a wilderness and overthrew its cities, who did not allow his prisoners to go home?” Jesus has cast him out “like a rejected branch … gone down to the stones of the pit like a trampled corpse.” Jesus has set the captives free. Satan and his offspring will no longer be mentioned, and all Satan’s followers in oppressive lands from time’s past to today will be forgotten.

Psalm 4 comforts me with these verses: “But know that the Lord has set apart the godly man for Himself; The Lord hears when I call to Him. Tremble, and do not sin; Meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, And trust in the Lord.” Here is the patience of the Saints; here are they who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

Isaiah 18, Isaiah 19, Isaiah 20, Isaiah 21, Isaiah 22, Psalm 5

Isaiah continues to prophesy about the nations; about Ethiopia, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Edom, and Arabia, and then His “daughter” Judah, and all are judged according to their works. We see verses repeated by John in Revelation: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon,” and then addendums, “and all the images of her gods are shattered to the ground.” John was pointing back here with His prophesy, using it as a reference. We know idolatry is the biggest issue with the World today, as it has always been.

The oracle concerning the valley of vision in Isaiah 22, Judah, disturbs me and it also seems to disturb God Himself: “Turn your eyes away from me, let me weep bitterly, do not try to comfort me according to the destruction of the daughter of my people.” I think of Jesus Himself walking into Jerusalem, weeping, and saying, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!”

And so the question, “what is the matter with you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops?,” brings forth prophetic implication, for Yeshua said in Matthew 24: “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.” This time is discussed by Isaiah in the very next chapters.

When there should be confusion in Judah, there is gaiety and gladness and feasting, we read in Isaiah 22. The Lord wants humble repentance, and yet they party. “Surely this iniquity shall not be forgiven you until you die,” God says. The remnant of Messianic Jews who listen to their Messiah will be saved in this time. Yeshua Himself will then take the key of the house of David, “when he opens, no one will shut, when he shuts, no one will open, and he will become a throne of glory to his father’s house.” We read in Revelation 3:7-8: ““And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, ‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”: “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.” Let us be like these Saints who keep God’s Word, and trust in His name.

Psalm 5 is the message today: “But let all who take refuge in You be glad, Let them ever sing for joy; And may You shelter them, That those who love Your name may exult in You. For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O Lord, You surround him with favor as with a shield.”

Isaiah 23, Isaiah 24, Isaiah 25, Isaiah 26, Isaiah 27, Psalm 6

Isaiah, the righteous man of God who was sawn in two by Manasseh, the demon king of Judah, prophesied of the End of Days, much like John did in Revelation, and Enoch did in the book by his name, still found in the Ethiopian canon today. Continuing from earlier chapters, Isaiah 23 prophesies the end of known kingdoms, which are demolished from their glory completely. Isaiah 24 switches gears, focusing on the whole earth: “The earth mourns and withers, the world fades and withers, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away. … Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left.” This prophesies the very end. The few men who are left are the remnant of those alive during this time who are sealed by the Holy Spirit, preserved to be changed in the blink of an eye.

We see later in the chapter that the Lord will punish the host of heaven on high, those who went with Satan in the rebellion, as well as the kings of the earth who were deceived by this evil host. Like prisoners, they’re gathered in the dungeon and then will be destroyed in the end. Then the Lord will peel back the heavens, as John and Ezekiel both write. “The moon will be abashed and the sun will be ashamed.” The Lord’s throne on Mount Zion and Jerusalem will be revealed, and his glory will be displayed before the elders of the faith. These plans were formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness, we read in Isaiah 25, and “a strong people will glorify God,” those who kept the commandments of God and faith in Jesus, even from among the cities of ruthless nations. The “lavish banquet for all peoples” will be then held on God’s holy mountain, with “aged wine” and “choice pieces with marrow.” The Passover feast, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, ensues, when Yeshua will drink the fourth cup of the Seder with all who were chosen.

“He will swallow up death for all time, and the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces, and He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth.” We’ve read this before: “Death, where is your victory, where is your sting,” and “He will wipe every tear from their eyes.” It will be said during the feast, “Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; let us rejoice and be glad in salvation.” Peter tells us that the Lord is not slack in His promises, but long-suffering, hoping that not a single one will perish. The day will come as promised, for those who trust in the Lord and keep His Word. Everyone else, having been given every chance of repentance, will be “laid low and cast to the ground, even to the dust.”

The Lord will reign from Judah, from Jerusalem, and will open the gates for the “righteous nation,” those who remain faithful to Him. “Trust in the Lord forever, For in God the Lord, we have an everlasting Rock.” The righteous will have peace on level ground. “O Lord, Your Hand is lifted up yet they do not see it. … through You alone we confess Your Name,” Yeshua. He will wipe out remembrance of all who do not trust in Him. The time approaches like a pregnant woman about to give birth. “the dead will live; their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy. … come my people and enter into your rooms and close your doors behind you.” Behold, He said, I go to prepare a place for you, so where I go you may be also. There we will “hide for a little while until indignation runs its course. For behold, the Lord is about to come out from His place To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity.”

And yes, in Isaiah 27, we see Leviathan, that fleeing serpent, that twisted serpent, will be killed. Briars and thorns, the fruit of the evil one, those false prophets, will be trampled under foot. Those who cry out for God’s protection, let them make peace with Him. God saves the truly repentant through Christ. Let them join themselves to Israel, for Israel will fill the world with fruit, and “a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were perishing will come to worship the Lord on His Holy mountain.

And so, we call out like the Psalmist in Psalm 6, “Oh Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger, nor chasten me in Your wrath, but be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am pining away; heal me, Oh Lord, for my bones are dismayed, and my soul is greatly dismayed, but You, Oh Lord—how long? Return Oh Lord, rescue my soul; save me because of Your lovingkindness.”

Isaiah 28, Isaiah 29, Isaiah 30, Psalm 7

Many misinterpret the Lord’s Word to Ephraim, which metaphorically represents Israel, in Isaiah 28, a chapter that begins a new section of prophesy set apart from the last several chapters. Prophetically, Isaiah is talking about Israel in the flesh, the Israel that fell to Assyria, yes, but also the Israel that existed at the time of Christ, and many within the Church today who don’t even understand the elementary principles of faith (found in Hebrews 6:1-3), which Paul chastises them for in 1 Corinthians 3:1-3. Todays Christians are in worse shape, even denying the very Lord who came to save them, in many cases, or explaining away His very Word and Will that He has for us, saying deceitfully that Christ came so that we could become children of Hell who disregard God’s law. God forbid this travesty of sinfulness! May He use us to call all to repentance!

God says, “Woe to the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim, … of those who are overcome with wine … The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, they are confused by wine and stagger from strong drink.” The people and their prophets have fallen into drunkenness and debauchery, and every manner of sin against God, and so they are incapable of prophesy.

“To whom would He teach knowledge, and to whom would He interpret the message? Those just weaned from milk? He’s talking about the spiritually immature, who don’t even or just barely understand the elementary principles of the Faith. This isn’t just Israel. Paul chastises His students a few times for not advancing past the “milk of the Word.” The writer of Hebrews and Peter also use this language.

How could they prophesy when they don’t understand the basic principles of God’s Word and flat out ignore them? How could they possibly speak God’s Word? These are the ones who say “Order on order, order on order, Line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there’,“ in the NASB. In the NKJV, it’s “Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little,” The Lord does not want His people to read His Word or prophesy in His name like this; He wants them to fully understand His message, and His message is simple: Repent, and obey in faith, and live.

God, through the prophet, corrects these blind guides by telling a parable in verses 23-29, likening the preachers who say “line by line, precept by precept” to farmers who repeatedly till the soil expecting to harvest fruit from it. He says not only must we till the soil, but also plant the seed, nourish the plant, and harvest the fruit, and process the fruit so it can be consumed, so that it can be distributed to others. In fact, this lesson is directly tied to the one Paul is teaching in 1 Corinthians 1, 3 and Hebrews 6. We don’t just read the Word little by little over time to remain fools and ignorant, we read the Word and the Holy Spirit helps us understand it, and then we plant the seed in others and bear fruit so that they too can grow in the Lord and repeat the cycle. This is the role of a Christian, as we are called “kings and priests” who are doing the Lord’s work with the help of His Holy Spirit. He wants us to understand His Word and to teach the understanding to others. He wants us to take the entire book, from Genesis to Revelation, and put all the pieces together for a complete understanding of the “full counsel of God,” which does not contradict in any place, because “God does not lie,” and then share our knowledge that He has given us with others.

In Isaiah 29, the prophet turns his attention to Ariel, meaning the "lioness of El," a symbolic name for Jerusalem of Judah, Israel’s whorish sister. These are the ones Yeshua commented on in Mark 7, “Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote, Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous; And the wisdom of their wise men will perish, And the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed.” Reading the Word of God is not something we do to remember the verses and recite them as if we have some great knowledge. Absolutely not! Reading the Word of God in righteousness is to hear God speak into our lives; or even more specifically, to speak life into us. How does the living Word literally change our lives? It had better do that, or we aren’t living in faith.

Do we think we can hide our heart from the Lord? God says “woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the Lord and whose deeds are done in a dark place.” Who sees us, Who knows us? God does, that’s who. He knows the thoughts and intents of the heart and He searches them day and night. How dare the creation question the Creator? Didn’t Job teach this same lesson? We must not question the Lord, but do what He says, because He said to do it because He loves us and knows what we need, and because He said to do it to show we love Him. Thank God in His mercy He had prepared Jacob to prepare the way for the Messiah. For the children of Isaiah’s generation would “sanctify My name; indeed, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob and will stand in awe of the God of Israel. Those who err in mind will know the truth, and those who criticize will accept instruction.” Those who turned toward their Messiah when He came in the flesh fulfilled this prophesy.

False sons, Isaiah writes in Isaiah 30 are “Sons who refuse to listen to the instruction of the Lord.” These are the ones who want to hear “illusions” and “pleasant words” and say, “tell us no more about the Holy One of Israel” and His law. For these false sons: “iniquity will be to you like a breach about to fail, … whose collapse comes suddenly in an instant.” Jesus told us He will come like a thief in the night, and it matters what he finds us doing at that moment. Those who are violating God’s law will be thrown into “outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Those who are “good and faithful servants,” who keep the commandments and faith in Jesus, will be welcomed into His kingdom. It’s all here: “For thus the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said: “In repentance and rest you will be saved, in quietness and trust is your strength.” This is Revelation 14:12 all over again. “The Lord is a God of justice, how blessed are all those who long for Him.”

One day soon, “He, your Teacher, will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher. Your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left.” We will say “be gone” to our idols. When we do this, we will have the bounty of the Lord and share in His abundance. We will make it into His kingdom, which is described beautifully here: “The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, on the day the Lord binds up the fracture of His people and heals the bruise He has inflicted. You will have songs as in the night when you keep the festival, And gladness of heart as when one marches to the sound of the flute, To go to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel.” For those who refuse to obey, “the Lord will cause His voice of authority to be heard, and the descending of His arm [Jesus] to be seen in fierce anger, and in the flame of a consuming fire in cloudburst, downpour and hailstones. … the breath of the Lord, like a torrent of brimstone, sets [the world] afire.”

Let us take refuge alone in the Lord God Yeshua, as the writer of Psalms 7 instructs. Let Him save us from the evil one who pursues us and deliver us from our sin, so that Satan does not tear up our soul like a lion, dragging us away while there is none to deliver. “God is a righteous judge, And a God who has indignation every day. If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword; He has bent His bow and made it ready.” That sword is double-edged, His commandments, which we keep by faith, and comes out of His mouth to destroy all who disobey God willfully. It is our due to “give thanks to the according to His righteousness, and sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.”

Isaiah 31, Isaiah 32, Isaiah 33, Isaiah 34, Isaiah 35, Psalm 8

Isaiah 31 is the prophets advice to avoid alliances with foreign nations but rather to put trust in God instead. This could have been council to Hezekiah, during the invasion of Assyria, but it also could have been any of his predecessors. Our lesson ought to be the same from this passage. Rather than trust in “horses,” which are “flesh and not spirit,” we ought to seek the “Holy One of Israel” to help in our time of need. We know that Isaiah also prophesies here the coming of Babylon to conquer Assyria and force its young men into slavery.  

Isaiah 32 looks ahead to the reign of Messiah Yeshua, when he will provide living water and protection, opening the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf to discern the truth and speak clearly. No longer will any nation be ruled by fools, but instead Yeshua and His princes will rule the whole world forever. Anyone who challenges Him will be put to shame.

Isaiah 33-34 continues the themes we’ve seen from Isaiah throughout his writings so far. The wicked will be destroyed, and the righteous will be saved. I pray along with him, “O Lord, be gracious to us; we have waited for You. Be our strength every morning, our salvation also in the time of distress.” And in this I put my trust: “The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high; He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness. And He will be the stability of your times, A wealth of salvation, wisdom and knowledge; The fear of the Lord is his treasure.”

The fire that is breathed out of the mouth of the Lord, this is the “consuming fire” that will burn up the chaff, which is all things that are corrupted or corruptible. In that day, there will be no sin or death remaining because it will be burned up by God’s wrath. The only thing that will remain is the silver or gold that has been hardened and purified by the Word of God. “Who among us can live with the consuming fire? Who among us can live with continual burning?” Here’s the answer: “He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity, He who rejects unjust gain And shakes his hands so that they hold no bribe; He who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking upon evil; He will dwell on the heights, His refuge will be the impregnable rock; His bread will be given him, His water will be sure. Your eyes will see the King in His beauty; They will behold a far-distant land.”

The nations will be undone, also, they will be “utterly destroyed.” At this time, the Last Day as described here, “And all the host of heaven will wear away, And the sky will be rolled up like a scroll; All their hosts will also wither away As a leaf withers from the vine, Or as one withers from the fig tree. For My sword is satiated in heaven, Behold it shall descend for judgment upon Edom And upon the people whom I have devoted to destruction.” God’s throne will literally be revealed to all who dwell on the Earth; the veil of the heavens in space will be rolled back and God will be seen on high. This is when the world’s “elite” will hide in caves and tell the mountains to “fall on us.” But the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God, will come out from the right hand of God and destroy all who do not keep His commandments and trust in Jesus. “For the Lord has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.”

And then the wilderness will be made glad with rejoicing and profuse blossoms and the righteous will “see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God.” And this is where we need to keep our focus: “Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble. Say to those with anxious heart, ‘Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you.’” We will walk on “the Highway of Holiness” to meet our King, and no unclean one will travel on it, nor will fools who have dismissed the law of God have a place on it. “The redeemed will walk there, and the ransomed of the Lord will return and come with joyful shouting to Zion, with everlasting joy upon their heads. They will find gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.” Those who are redeemed by the blood of the lamb will walk this highway to Zion, to dwell forever with the Lord. He has purchased us with His blood, so let us therefore live worthy of this redemption.

Isaiah 36, Isaiah 37, Isaiah 38, Isaiah 39, Isaiah 40, Isaiah 41, Psalm 9

Psalm 9 instructs us, “And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, For You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.“ We do indeed know His name, and it is Yeshua, which means, Yah-saves. The modern English transliteration of this Hebrew name is Jesus. And so yes, we know the name of Yeshua, and we trust in Him, hear His voice and do what He asks, and He will not forsake those who seek Him.

Isaiah 40 and 41 encourages us: “The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly, Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.” Lord, I pray earnestly as I wait to put Your strength in me, for I trust You, and I am seeking You with all of my heart.

“Who has performed and accomplished it, Calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, am the first, and with the last. I am He.’ Each one helps his neighbor And says to his brother, ‘Be strong!’ Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’” Yeshua is with us, He will strengthen us, and surely He will help us. He has sent us His helper to dwell within our hearts.

Isaiah 36-37 speak of Hezekiah’s triumph in Spiritual warfare against Rabshakeh, who represents the antichrist oppressive force coming upon God’s people. Rabshakeh taunts, blasphemes and challenges the men of Jerusalem and God Most High, but on account of Hezekiah’s faith, God rebukes the Assyrian general and destroys his army. He then brings rebellion to the Assyrian kingdom itself and takes the throne from he king on account of Rabshakeh’s blasphemy—to bring glory to His name. In all of this, Hezekiah shows us the value of faith and prayer. He exhibits both, and God answers and delivers him. Really study these two chapters, for they have so much wisdom in them about spiritual warfare, we can learn a lot about the enemy’s tactics and how to defeat them through this episode.

Sadly, Hezekiah falls into pride following God’s deliverance of Jerusalem from Assyria and the king from a mortal illness. In his giddy state, he becomes a fool and shows the treasures of Jerusalem to the Babylonian envoy that had come to comfort him. Because of this pride, which God hates, Isaiah prophesies that Babylon would come and loot Jerusalem—a prophesy that does not take long to fulfill. Let this be a lesson to all of us concerning pride. Never ought we take our high position that God has given us through his loving-kindness and use that to bring glory to ourselves; God will not let that glory stand, for in the end, only God deserves the glory.

Isaiah 42, Isaiah 43, Isaiah 44, Psalm 10

Isaiah turns to Messianic prophesy, foretelling the coming of Yeshua, “My chosen one in whom My soul delights.” We can see right off the bat that He would come come to bring Gentiles into Israel: “He will bring forth justice to the nations.” That’s Goyim in Hebrew, and means Gentiles, and Yeshua would “tear down the middle wall of separation” between Jew and Gentile on the cross. We also see that “He will not cry out or raise His voice, nor make His voice heard in the street. A bruised reed He will not break and a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice.” The work of Yeshua is ongoing, but we know that when He came He was indeed meek, not seeking notoriety, but seeking to do God’s will, teaching those who would listen, shaking the dust off his feet toward those who would not, dying without complaint for those who would accept Him. He won’t rest until “He has established justice on the earth, and the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.” That time still comes.

Yeshua was called “in righteousness,” He holds us by the hand and watches over us, and He brought us a New Covenant. God says, “I will appoint You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the nations, to open blind eyes, to bring prisoners from the dungeon and those who dwell in darkness from the prison.” He came indeed to call sinners out of their sin and the lost into His pasture. How many who were called will be chosen? The Lord declares “new things; before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.” We know that Yeshua would become the sacrifice, the mediator and the High Priest of the New Covenant, the law would be written on the hearts of believers and our own bodies, independently and together as a Church, would become the third Temple.

Yahweh will not give glory to another, He says, and thus we know that Yeshua is Yahweh, to the glory of God the Father. There is no contradiction here, for God is echad (one), not three. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are the three manifestations or the three powers of ONE God. We know from another section of Isaiah that “His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” He is both Father and Prince, but one God.

We see also End Times prophesy, when Yeshua will “go forth like a warrior, He will arouse His zeal like a man of war. He will utter a shout, yes, He will raise a war cry. He will prevail against His enemies.” All of this prophesy repeats in Revelation, showing us clearly that it is still to come on the Last Day. We see the Lord’s lovingkindness in patience waiting for all who were chosen to have the opportunity to be saved, “I have kept silent and restrained myself,” the Lord says, but that time is growing short. “Now like a woman in labor I will groan,” and yes, these labor pains are upon us. The Earth is about to give birth to her dead, who will be raised incorruptible, and those who are alive and in Christ will be changed in the blink of an eye. But those who have turned their backs on the Lord will “be utterly put to shame.” Turn, and live: “The Lord was pleased for His righteousness’ sake To make the law great and glorious. Who among you will give ear to this? Who will give heed and listen hereafter?”

Thus Jacob will be redeemed, those who are grafted into Israel through Messiah Yeshua, whether the Jew or the Greek. “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you. For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior.” Yes, the Lord will gather His people from the east, west, north and south, “from the ends of the earth,” “everyone who is called by My name, and whom I have created for My glory, whom I have formed, even whom I have made.” Are we called by the name of Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus Christ? We belong to Him. “Let them present their witnesses that they may be justified or let them hear and say, ‘It is true.’” This is how we make it.

“‘You are my witnesses,’ declares the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, so that you amy know and believe me and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, and there will be one after Me. I, even I, am the Lord, and there is no savior beside Me. It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed.’” Yeshua, the Word who was with God and was God, created the Heavens and the Earth and all that was in them. He came in the flesh and died to atone for our sins. He rose the third day and appeared to many in physical form—he could eat, drink and touch. He ascended into Heaven and gave believers His Holy Spirit to help us hear and obey the Word of the Lord, and will come again to raise the living and the dead to everlasting life or everlasting judgment. “The people whom I formed for Myself will declare My praise,” whether Jew or Greek, those who call upon the name of Yeshua will do this. “I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins. Put Me in remembrance…”

Isaiah 45, Isaiah 46, Isaiah 47, Isaiah 48, Psalm 11

Isaiah is a true prophet, and these verses prove it. These are non-Messianic prophesies and they came to pass, more than 100 years after they were written. This is before these people were even born; namely, Cyrus of Media-Persia, Bel (Daniel) and Neb (Nebuchadnezzar). This is important to point out to a Jew that would question the Messianic prophesies of Isaiah, which point to Jesus.

Cyrus, a Gentile, God calls “His anointed,” meaning that God rained down His Holy Spirit on this Gentile, but not until 100+ years later when he was born. He would subdue nations; yes, he conquered Babylon. God will prepare Cyrus to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem and reestablish the people of Israel, according to Isaiah 45. Do you think Daniel pointed this prophesy out to Cyrus? You better believe it. He was chosen before He was even born!

What follows this is not coincidence, for the Lord puts one of His most prominent verses in Scripture supporting life at conception, yes, but even before that as we see in the case of Cyrus. What if Cyrus’s mother had aborted him? God forbid!  “Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker— An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth! Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’ Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’? Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’ Or to a woman, ‘To what are you giving birth?’ ” Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: “Ask Me about the things to come concerning My sons, And you shall commit to Me the work of My hands. It is I who made the earth, and created man upon it. I stretched out the heavens with My hands And I ordained all their host. I have aroused him in righteousness And I will make all his ways smooth; He will build My city and will let My exiles go free, Without any payment or reward,” says the Lord of hosts.” We don’t own our life, and we certainly don’t own the life of the baby growing in the womb. God created and owns us all. Who dare question Him?

“Yahweh is a righteous God and a savior, and there is no other,” we read toward the end of Isaiah 45. Unitarians like to point this verse out to show Jesus was not God, but God forbid this false interpretation, for we see in Paul’s writing in Philippians 2, “…That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Did you catch that? Yeshua HaMashiach IS Yahweh. There aren’t two gods here, but one God, for He is echad. Do you see it: “And there is no other God besides Me, A righteous God and a Savior; There is none except Me. Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other. I have sworn by Myself, The word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness And will not turn back, That to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance. They will say of Me, ‘Only in the Lord are righteousness and strength.’” Yes, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Yahweh, to the glory of God the Father. The Word has gone forth and become flesh. They are one! Read John 1 and 10.

In Isaiah 46, Isaiah also gives us a key to understand all prophesy: “Remember this, and be assured; Recall it to mind, you transgressors. Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’; Calling a bird of prey from the east, The man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it.” When Yeshua (Yah-saves) says something in the New Testament or Yahweh (He is) says something in the Old Testament, we know that it will happen, through faith; there shouldn’t be a single doubt. And we also know that He has declared the end from the beginning, and so in the beginning, we see prophesy about the end. When we keep reading, learning and obeying, and pray for the Holy Spirit to open our eyes, the majesty of God will be revealed to us.

God knows Israel—His people, whether Jew or Greek—are obstinate; we refuse to turn our heads to look at Him, because our necks are iron, and refuse to understand, because our foreheads are bronze. Yet, He still declares His Truth for that remnant that chooses to hear and obey, and so when His prophesy happens, those with ears to hear and eyes to see will see it coming to pass and KNOW that God is living and powerful and His Word is sharper than any two-edged sword, separating the wheat from the chaff, ready to burn up what is not chastened by His Word. We cannot mistake His work for that of an idol, random chance, or some act of Man; no, everything has purpose in God’s plan and the righteous can see it. God reveals His three manifestations in Isaiah 48, which Christians often refer to as the Trinity, as well as His will for us: “And now the Lord God has sent Me, and His Spirit. Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, ‘I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, Who leads you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to My commandments! Then your well-being would have been like a river, And your righteousness like the waves of the sea. Your descendants would have been like the sand, And your offspring like its grains; Their name would never be cut off or destroyed from My presence.’” Yet there is “no peace for the wicked.”

Isaiah 49, Isaiah 50, Isaiah 51, Isaiah 52, Isaiah 53, Psalm 12

Isaiah 49 shows us repeatedly that not only does God form us, but He knows us when we are in our mother’s womb. Yet He specifies, unlike a woman who may have “no compassion on the son of her womb,” the Lord will not forget those of us who trust in Him and keep His commandments.

In Isaiah 50, the Lord shows us that as disciples of our King, we must sustain the weary ones with words of encouragement. When we read the Word daily, God awakes our ear to listen as disciples. It is our role to remain obedient, for the Lord God helps those who listen to Him. We will not be ashamed if we do this.

Likewise in Isaiah 52, the Lord speaks of the righteous prophets: “How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who announces peace and brings good news of happiness, who announces salvation, and says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns! Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices, they shout together joyfully, for they will see with their own eyes when the Lord restores Zion. On the Last Day, the dead will be raised and will watch and Yeshua brings His Kingdom onto the Earth forever.

In Isaiah 51, the Lord begins talking about how His Messiah, His right arm, will go out and set justice (righteousness) as a light of the peoples, and it will not wane. “Listen to Me,” He says, “you who know righteousness, and people in whose heart is My law, do not fear the reproach of man, nor be dismayed at their reviling; these will be destroyed, while God’s righteousness and His salvation will be forever to all generations.

Finally, in Isaiah 53, the Lord speaks of the Messiah, “the arm of the Lord,” who came without “stately form or majesty.” In fact, He was despised and forsaken, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. His own people did not esteem Him and many of them still reject Him to this day. Yes, Yeshua was pierced for our sins and took on stripes and scourging so we could be healed. Yes, this is the Messiah Yeshua who endured all this for us. It’s right here. Who else might the prophet be describing? He is God and there is no other; our Yeshua who was “cut off from the land of the living,” without any deceit in His mouth, as a guilt offering, a sheep silent before His shearers, “for the transgressions of my people.” Yes, even then “He will prolong His days,” rising from the grave, and His purpose will be prospered in the Lord’s hand. There is no other that Isaiah 53 describes than Yeshua HaMashiach. It is simply undeniable what the Lord has done for us. Praise be to God!

Isaiah 54, Isaiah 55, Isaiah 56, Isaiah 57, Isaiah 58, Psalm 13

Isaiah 54 speaks to “the heritage of the servants of the Lord,” whether Jew or Gentile, because we are united on one body in Christ. Our vindication is from the Lord alone. As a Body, Israel, of which we are “grafted in,” our Maker is our Husband, the Lord of Hosts, the ruler of the divine council, the redeemer. The Lord has called us, as if we were a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, with compassion and lovingkindness. We were barren, producing no fruit, but in Him we will produce numerous fruit. When we are solidly following the Lord, our husband, “no weapon that is formed against you will prosper, and every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn.” Ultimately, any harm that comes to us that we withstand in endurance will strengthen us, and the enemy will be destroyed.

In Isaiah 55, we see the Lord announce His “everlasting covenant,” the covenant He established with Yeshua’s death on the cross. In the same way God showed faithful mercies to David, He will do for us who seek Him. “Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” His thoughts and ways are above our understanding in the flesh, and everything He does has purpose for making us into the creation He intended us to be. His Word never returns void to Him, but accomplishes what He desires. But, as the chapter begins, so must we remember: “seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near.” The Lord will not tolerate wickedness forever and one day will come to burn up all that has not been hardened by Him. Only His Word will remain, and so let His Word dwell within us.

In Isaiah 56, the Lord asks us to “Preserve justice and do righteousness,” which means to keep the commandments of God. In this case, God addresses Gentiles directly and commands them to keep the Sabbath. It’s so clear: “Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, “The Lord will surely separate me from His people.” We are grafted-in to Israel when we come into the faith and follow Messiah Yeshua—we are not separate. Moreover, “the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, To minister to Him, and to love the name of the Lord, To be His servants, every one who keeps from profaning the sabbath And holds fast My covenant; Even those I will bring to My holy mountain And make them joyful in My house of prayer.” He finishes the chapter with a warning not to listen to false teachers who say otherwise, who might say you can keep your own sabbath or that the sabbath doesn’t matter to God in the New Covenant. These watchmen are “blind,” and “all of them know nothing,” God says. God’s commandments apply to all who call upon His name: Yeshua.

In Isaiah 57, God turns to addressing the wicked, and “there is no peace … for the wicked.” When the wicked persecute or kill the righteous, God affirms: the righteous enter into peace. He dwells with the “contrite and lowly of spirit” and revives them from death. But those who follow after sorcery or idolatry or the other sins of the flesh, “against whom do you jest?” A single “breath will take them all away.” That is the Word of God that comes out of His mouth like a two-edged sword. It will literally burn up all the unrighteous on the Last Day. God mocks them: “Was I not silent even for a long time so you do not fear me? I will declare your righteousness and your deeds, but they will not prosper you … let your collection of idols deliver you.” The Lord warns: “I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry.” In other words, one day, there will be no more time to repent. Repent now!

In Isaiah 58, the Lord indicates He does not want men to fast to gain any special favor from God, but rather to humble Himself and seek to bring Himself to repentance. “Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am,’ if you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted. Then, your light will rise in darkness … and the Lord will continually guide you.”

Shifting gears toward the end, the Lord calls us again to obedience to His commandment to keep the Sabbath. The day’s purpose is to “turn your foot from doing your own pleasure,” to “call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord,” to call it “honorable and honor it, desisting from your own ways, from seeking your own pleasure and speaking your own word.” It is a day for delighting in the Lord, and when we obey Him in this way, then He will reward us with abundance and our inheritance in the Kingdom of God. Yes, keeping the Sabbath is essential.

Isaiah 59, Isaiah 60, Isaiah 61, Isaiah 62, Isaiah 63, Psalm 14

Isaiah 59 is written to us today, and particularly to those who do not know the Lord; however, to those of us who slip into sin, we ought to know definitively: “Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden HIs face from you so that He does not hear.” Though Isaiah lists a handful of sins, as Paul, Yeshua and others do in the New Testament, ultimately, it doesn’t matter what sin, “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10). What we don’t want is to be a people whose “feet run to evil” and “their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity.” Of those who practice sin, “devastation and destruction are in their highways.” In other words, they have taken the wide path of Matthew 7:13-14. Yeshua says there: “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

For those who turn to wickedness, “justice is far from them.” These can hope for light all they want, but darkness will surround them. They will “grope along the wall like blind men.” Even if they appear vigorous, even taking prominent positions in society or accumulating wealth and bounty, there will not be hope for them. They are far from salvation because “truth is lacking,” and we know  from Psalm 119, “Your law is truth,” oh God.

This displeases the Lord and He purposed to make a way out of this situation. This is the very reason He came I’m the flesh, and Isaiah 59 says this: “He saw that there was no man, And was astonished that there was no one to intercede; Then His own arm brought salvation to Him, And His righteousness upheld Him.” This “Redeemer” that will come to Zion the second time will bring “wrath to his adversaries,” but to “those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” “His Spirit which is upon you, and [His] words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth.” We must repent, and be joined to Israel through His blood.

Isaiah 60 talks of the New Heavens and the New Earth at the end of the age. The “Redeemer” who returns for Zion will “rise upon you and His glory will appear upon you,” even while “darkness will cover the earth.” This all happens at once. All the Saints will be gathered together to the Lord, and the great abundance of all the Earth will be brought and laid before Him. His gates will be open continuously. There will be no more violence or destruction in the land after this, but only salvation and praise. The Lord will be an everlasting light, and the sun and moon will be no more. This pairs with Revelation entirely. Here’s the key about the Kingdom of God that we all have to look forward to: “All your people will be righteous; They will possess the land forever, The branch of My planting, The work of My hands, That I may be glorified.”

Isaiah 61 contains the verses that Yeshua said were fulfilled in His first coming (Luke 4:21), and they are only verses 1 and 2: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, Because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners; to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” This is what Yeshua came to do in His first coming. Yet, Psalm 61 continues, and it speaks to His second coming: It will be the day of vengeance against the lawless, and the righteous will be planted and will be as sturdy as oaks, for His glory. Those who make it to the Kingdom will rebuild the ancient ruins, raise up the former devastations, repair the ruined cities. Strangers and foreigners (Gentiles) will be among the people of Israel, all who were grafted-in to Israel through Messiah Yeshua and the native born who believe will be there. The Lord has “clothed me with garments of salvation” and “wrapped me with a robe of righteousness,” “as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland” and “a bride adorns herself with jewels.” Parables and metaphors have always been the Lord’s language.

Isaiah 62 reminds me of our great commission that the Lord left us with before He ascended into Heaven. He said in Matthew 28:19-20: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Isaiah says, “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep quiet, Until her righteousness goes forth like brightness, And her salvation like a torch that is burning.” The balance of the chapter refers to the Kingdom of God again. Our name will be called, “The holy people, the redeemed of the Lord,” “sought out, a city not forsaken.” As Christians, the joy of our salvation and the promise of our inheritance in the Kingdom of Heaven are what ought to drive everything we do and say, and it ought to be our deepest desire to feed the fire of passion in the hearts of those in the world whom we interact with. If you were the only one who knew about a proven cure to a deadly disease, it would be sin to keep it from those who are ill. Likewise, it is sin to stay silent in the midst of men and women who are perishing. It is our duty, given by the Lord, to speak out.

As I read Isaiah 63, I think of Isaiah as a Godly man, sitting down at his writing table, penning an extraordinary meditation from the Lord, given by the Holy Spirit. Day by day, He writes down different metaphors for the same reality, and records them all. It is God’s doing alone that we read them today, because God gave them to Isaiah to begin with. How many times must the Lord tell us: He is coming again to destroy the wicked, and He will give everlasting life to the righteous. We have salvation through “His right arm,” His Messiah Yeshua, but only if we repent and turn away from our sin and follow Him. In today’s Church, this cannot be said enough. “For Zion’s sake, I will not keep silent” comes to mind again. “For He said, ‘Surely, they are My people, Sons who will not deal falsely.’” He becomes the savior for these, and only these. He will not save the wicked. He will not save the disobedient. He will not save the rebellious. As Isaiah asks, “Why do you cause us to stray from your ways and harden our hearts from fearing you,” I pray to the Lord Yeshua: Come, “return for the sake of your servants,” help us with your Holy Spirit to walk your narrow path and fear you every day. Make yourself a glorious name by using us to do your will.

Psalm 14 continues the same theme from Isaiah, for Scripture interprets Scripture and all of it is consistent: “The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds.” Ah, thank God He has written faith into our hearts. Thank God He has made Himself known to me. Yet, “there is no one who does good. The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there are any who understand who seek after God. They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt. There is no one who does good, not even one.” We need the Salvation of Yeshua and we need His Holy Spirit to help us. And we must strive after Him, for the Lord has restored “His captive people,” He has delivered us from the captivity of sin and death. He has given us hope in His name, and help to obey Him. Our whole hearts must seek Him and plead with Him to help us stay true. “Return for the sake of your servants,” as Isaiah wrote. Help us to do your will, Oh God.

Isaiah 64, Isaiah 65, Isaiah 66, Psalm 15

Isaiah 64 is end-times prophesy. Yeshua will “rend the heavens and come down.” Revelation 6:14 says, “Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.” The wicked “kings of the earth” and others will run into the caves, asking them to fall upon them, because God on His throne in Heaven will be revealed and there will be no more veil separating Heaven and Earth, and then He will come down to judge, “as fire kindles the brushwood, as fire causes water to boil.” Everyone who does not know Him will tremble at His presence and know He is God. He will act “on behalf of the one who waits for Him.” He will “meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness, who remembers You in Your ways.” These are those saints who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. There is an obedience and trust dynamic that is captured throughout Scripture. We must cling to Christ, and obey Him, and He will uphold us on this day. Our righteousness is “filthy rags” before Him if we do not cling to His righteousness, the grace of His salvation, and depend on His Holy Spirit to guide us.

In Isaiah 65, God identifies the extension of His grace to Gentiles; namely, “those who did not seek Me.” He “permitted [Himself] to be sought by those who did not ask” for Him. For He had spread out His hands all day to a rebellious people, and ultimately rejected them “who continually provoke [Him] to [His] face.” Romans 11 explains that He cut off the natural branches and grafted-in wild branches, but also that He desires to graft back in the natural branches and that the wild branches also can be cut off if they do not “continue in His kindness,” by striving after God’s righteousness. Importantly, God is clear that His people, whether Jew or Gentile, who follow after Him cannot commit idolatry and expect salvation. They cannot forget God and His commandments, they cannot  put other pursuits before Him for their destiny, or God says their destiny shall be the sword. Only God’s servants, those who do His will, will drink, rejoice, be filled with gladness on God’s “holy mountain,” the Kingdom of Heaven. His chosen ones will be called by another name; they are a part of His Body, His Assembly, through the Messiah Yeshua.

The second part of Isaiah 65, vs. 17-25, requires some digging in, for it has often been confused due to some of its metaphors. In the new Heaven and the new Earth, life will be unlike it is today; namely, eternal. While in earlier passages Isaiah says that death will be swallowed up in victory (Isaiah 25:8), and Revelation 21:4 says that "death will be no more," here the prophet uses different—more poetic—language to indicate that death is not something that will be expected—or in other words, it won't happen. Only the sinners will die and be destroyed, but Revelation clarifies that this will happen prior to the New Heaven and the New Earth, and so here in Isaiah, the prophet is painting a picture of impossibility, with intention. I like this translation of Isaiah 65:20:

"No more shall there be an infant or graybeard
Who does not live out his days.
He who dies at a hundred years
Shall be reckoned a youth,
And he who fails to reach a hundred
Shall be reckoned accursed."

If you are a youth at 100 years old, the idea is that you are living forever. He's using language to point out something that could be too difficult to grasp for our worldly brains; namely, the idea of living forever. If we are but a youth at 100, then how old would we live? An inconceivably long time—forever. He doesn't seem to be saying that there will be literal death of children at 100 years old, but that it isn't something that we can expect to come to fruition. In fact, if you die at 100, you would be judged to have become accursed.

Will it still be possible to sin against God? With God sitting on the eternal throne in our midst, I can't imagine a person who would sin, particularly with the “new spirit and new heart” that God will put into us. Plus, we will have a new body, the one that is “incorruptible,” and it will not be of “the flesh” as our body is today. The same temptations and weaknesses we experience in mortality will not exist when we “put on immortality.” I would imagine all who dwell with God in His perfect Kingdom, would not sin by choice, and the very idea of sin would be utterly repugnant, rather than alluring. All will serve God into eternity. This is why “death would be swallowed up in victory.” For with life in perfection in Heaven, why would anyone rebel? And so it seems to be a hypothetical presentation, that if someone were to sin, they would die at 100 as if they were a youth, and they would be reckoned to be accursed, because there is no death at all in God's kingdom. How could someone die when there is no death?

The Geneva Study Bible has this commentary, which I agree with:
“There shall be no more from there an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.” Meaning, in this wonderful restoration of the Church there would be no weakness of youth, nor infirmities of age, but all would be fresh and flourishing: and this is accomplished in the heavenly Jerusalem, when all sins will cease, and the tears will be wiped away. By which he shows that the infidels and unrepentant sinners have no part of this benediction.

And thus we see, our labor will not be vanity, the wolf and the lamb will both eat vegetables, and no one will do evil or harm at all in the Kingdom of God. The New Jerusalem will be for rejoicing before the Lord God, who will be present there providing light.

In Isaiah 66, God provides warning to those who turn to Messiah Yeshua for their salvation. Don’t focus on building God a house, for “Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool,” He says. He will not dwell in a temple made of stone or wood, but will dwell within the Body of believers, the New Covenant Temple of God, made up of a people “who [are] humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at [His] Word.” Messiah Yeshua has replaced temple sacrifices as a one-time sacrifice for all time, we read in Hebrews 9-10, thus “He who offers a grain offering is like one who offers swine’s blood.” But it’s more specific than this. God rejects people who “have chosen their own ways,” for He wants a people who follow after His ways. We cannot worship God in the way that man has devised or according to the dictates of our own hearts, but we must worship God as He has prescribed in His word.

Continuing, the Lord explains that a nation will be brought forth all at once, and a land will be born in one day. Israel became a nation in one day on May 14, 1948. This began the final moments of the End Times, but it will happen again. God will bring forth His New Heaven and New Earth in a single day; raising the living and the dead, judging the wicked, rewarding the righteous, and setting up the New Jerusalem. This is the Last Day. Those who make it will enjoy peace like a river, nourishment, comfort, and abundance. Those who don’t make it will face fire, fury, and the sword, which is the Word of God that comes out of Yeshua’s mouth. Returning to the sinful, God speaks of those “who sanctify and purify themselves to go to the gardens,” or those who practice idolatry, “following one in the center,” the antichrist or Beast System, which exists in every generation, “who eat swine’s flesh, detestable things and mice,” who make their bodies impure with abominable things the Lord commands us not to eat; these “will come to an end altogether.” On the Last Day, God will destroy those “who practice lawlessness,” even if they cry out “Lord, Lord.” (Matthew 7)

He knows “their works and their thoughts,” and thus He does not rely only on our actions, but also what is in our heart. Yeshua makes this very clear in Matthew 5 and Mark 7. It’s what’s in the heart that defiles you. Do you strive after God with all your heart, seeking to please Him in everything you believe, think and do, or do you reject His commandments and seek to live your own way? “The time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory,” says the Lord. But for those whose heart is far from Him, that day will be their end. “They will be an abhorrence to all mankind.” Whether Jew or Gentile, we who trust and obey the Lord will all go before the Lord in Jerusalem, and we will be a grain offering to the Lord. 1 Corinthians 15 explains this very well. Christ is the firstfruits, and then those of us who belong to Him shall be harvested at His coming, and will dwell in the New Heaven and New Earth, which “‘will endure before Me,’ declares the Lord.” Each New Moon and Sabbath that the Lord has appointed shall be kept forever as days of worship, which is why the Lord commands us to rehearse for these great feasts every single Saturday.

Jeremiah 1, Jeremiah 2, Jeremiah 3, Psalm 16

I love Isaiah, as He establishes proper eschatology and identifies the two comings of the Messiah for those with eyes to see, and He also establishes what defines the wheat and the chaff, the sheep and the goats; namely, those who obey and trust in God’s Messiah vs. those who don’t. Jeremiah’s ministry calling sinners to repentance and declaring God’s judgment on those who do not repent, is the type of prophesy that we need the most today. Note that He hears from “the Word of the Lord,” which is the pre-incarnate Yeshua. I sympathize with Jeremiah, who was so hated by his generation, because he had a teaching ministry, similar to what God has now called me into, and sadly, I expect the same result. I therefore also love Jeremiah, because I know the life he’s been called to is lonelier than any other, but I am never alone in Christ, and he carried on with his duty to God no matter what the consequences happened to be. So help me God, I will do the same.

Jeremiah served in the days of Josiah, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah, and experienced the exile of Judah into Babylon. The Lord appointed Jeremiah to His role before He was even conceived, which speaks volumes about how God views life. We must trust in the Lord’s purposes and do them without hesitation, and He will fill in the gaps. It doesn’t matter how weak we are, for as God told Paul, “My strength is perfected in your weaknesses.” God tells Jeremiah, “Everywhere I send you, you shall go, and all that I command you, you shall speak. … Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you.” His Words would prophesy the destruction of Judah, but God would use this destruction to rebuild something better. Soon, God will destroy the “kingdoms of this world” to replace them with “the kingdoms of the Lord and of His Christ.” America will need to go first, and that is happening now. Be patient; it is going to take longer than we expect or desire, but there is no saving this land.

God starts off Jeremiah’s message to Judah by decrying how the people, so blessed, turned away from the God who blessed them toward idolatry. How can we worship the work of our own hands, when we have a God who is living and powerful, who shows up in our lives and blesses us and makes Himself known to us? God asks Israel and Judah, “What injustice did your fathers find in Me that they went far from Me after emptiness and became empty?” He took Israel from bondage and desolation and gave her fruitful abundance, but she squandered it, just like we have squandered the free gift of salvation through Christ Jesus. Do we obey Him and seek after Him with all of our heart, or do we also depart from what He taught us seeking our own heart, leading us to emptiness? No, not even most of the priests know the Lord and His law, the rulers, professing to be Christians, transgress against the Lord at every opportunity, and even the “righteous ones” say they have nothing for which to repent.

Rather than worship God as He has appointed to be worshipped, Israel sought after Ba’al and walked after other things that did not profit. How many churches today seek after other gods in the midst while calling it Christianity? Where do you find egg hunts and decorated trees in Scripture? Only where God identifies the idolatry that He hates. Where do you see the Queen of Heaven? Only where Solomon turns His back on God and leads the Kingdom into civil war. “My people have changed their glory for that which does not profit,” God says. Why do they still do this today? “My people have committed two evils,” He adds. “They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters.” and they have hewn “for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” They seek after their own gods, their own ways, and their own heart, forsaking the Lord who made them.

“For long ago I broke your yoke and tore off your bonds, but you said, ‘I will not serve.’” Yes, the Lord broke the bondage of slavery of Egypt and brought Israel into the Promised Land, only for them to forsake Him and worship demons instead. Since then, the Lord has broken the bondage of sin and death through His own death on the cross, but so many Christians turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to the very Word of God that instructs them in righteousness. They worship demons, also, and the father of demons who convinced Eve she could violate the commandments of God and become more like God as a result. What deception! It’s the same deception the false church teaches to “many” who say “Lord, Lord,” today, but “do not do what [Yeshua] say[s].” (Luke 6:46) To serve the Lord means to do what He has commanded us, to “follow Him,” to “come to [Him],” to hear and obey. “You are a swift young camel entangling her ways,” the Lord says to those who sow confusion into His Word and make up false dogma to replace the clear and unambiguous doctrine of Scripture.  

I love how God speaks to those who believe in the religion of evolution in this day, just as he spoke to the idolators of old: “As the thief is shamed when he is discovered, So the house of Israel is shamed; They, their kings, their princes And their priests and their prophets, Who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ And to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ For they have turned their back to Me.” In six days God created, through His Word Yeshua, the Heavens and the Earth and everything in them, and He rested on the Seventh Day, and therefore hallowed it. “The Lord of the Sabbath” came in the flesh and told us to dedicate the day of rest to Him. “His yoke is easy and His burden is light.” Yet, the people then and now turn after other gods, so the Messiah says to them, “where are your gods which you made for yourself? Let them arise if they can save you in the time of your trouble.” In the time of our trouble, we cannot say to Yeshua, “arise and save us,” if we do not worship Him in the days of our abundance and joy the way He asked us to.

So many sins of Israel and Judah are committed by so-called Christians today. “Why do My people say, ‘we are free to roam,’” The lifeblood of the innocent poor fills the streets. “Yet you say, ‘I am innocent, surely His anger is turned away from Me.” Has it? Do you repent of your sin? Do you turn from them and sin no more. Do you obey His commandments? “Behold, I will enter into judgment with you because you say, ‘I have not sinned,’” says the Lord God. The Lord has rejected those in whom you trust, your priests and your commentators and your heroes like Calvin and Luther, because they speak falsely, and you will not prosper with them.

In Jeremiah 3, the Lord uses a often repeated metaphor that we also see in books like Hosea and many others. Israel, Judah, the Christian church today, have all committed adultery against the Lord God of Heaven, Yeshua HaMashiach, our Husband. In fact, the Lord says, “you refuse to be ashamed.” Such wantonness describes every bit of the church today, and worse so society at large. Will God ignore the sins going on and accept our silence in the face of them? We have such a cloud of witnesses, we read in Hebrews 12, so why then do we get entangled in sin that so easily ensnares us? We need to keep our eyes on Yeshua, despising the shame of sin like He did. This is why God is so angry with Judah, because she had the example of Israel and watched her fall. Did she not learn from these consequences? No, she repeated them herself, which God looks at even more severely. This is why we can read in Hebrews 6:4-6, “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.” We have such examples of God’s judgment on the lawless and mercy and lovingkindness on the repentant and righteous, how do we justify falling into sinfulness? We can’t.

And yet the Lord still calls to us to repent: “‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord; ‘I will not look upon you in anger. for I am gracious,’ declares the Lord; ‘I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against the Lord your God and have scattered your favors to the strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed My voice,’ declares the Lord. ‘Return, O faithless sons,’ declares the Lord; ‘For I am a master to you, and I will take you one from a city and two from a family and I will bring you to Zion. Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart who will feed you on knowledge and understanding.’” Before the Lord will bless us, He demands we confess and repent. His grace is a free gift, but we have to accept it and then we have to live with gratitude for it, showing our love of the Lord through our obedience.  

 Jeremiah 4, Jeremiah 5, Jeremiah 6, Psalm 17

You see the end of Jeremiah 3 continue into Jeremiah 4 as the Lord says, “If you will return, O Israel … And if you will put away your detested things from My presence, and will not waver, and you will swear, ‘As the Lord lives,’ in truth, in justice and in righteousness, then the nations will bless themselves in Him and in Him they will glory.” Israel’s repentance would literally set an example for the World, for all of the nations, so that they would be led to God through the blessings God would give a repentant Israel. He calls them holistically, but also as individuals, to repentance. In Jeremiah 5, the Lord says, “If there is one who does justice, who seeks truth, Then I will pardon her.” This brings us back to Sodom and Gomorrah, when Abraham questions the Lord regarding His judgment on those cities. What if 10 righteous are in the city, will you save it on account of them? Yes, the Lord told Abraham. He took Lot and his daughters out and destroyed the rest, and He will do the same with a remnant in Judah, as well as a remnant at the end of the age.

“Wash your heart from evil, O Jerusalem, That you may be saved. How long will your wicked thoughts lodge within you?” The Lord desperately wants us to repent. Yeshua started His whole ministry saying, “repent and hear the good news.” He is no different, yesterday, today and forever. He was, He is, and He is to come. He brings destruction on those who practice sin, and says, “Your ways and your deeds have brought these things to you. This is your evil. … for My people are foolish, they know Me not; they are stupid children and have no understanding. They are shrewd to do evil.” This cannot be. We must be like David in Psalm 17: “I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress. … by the word of Your lips I have kept from the paths of the violent. My steps have held fast to Your paths. My feet have not slipped. I have called upon You, for You will answer me, O God; incline Your ear to me, hear my speech. Wondrously show Your lovingkindness, O Savior of those who take refuge at Your right hand from those who rise up against them. Keep me as the apple of the eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings from the wicked who despoil me, my deadly enemies who surround me.”

We see the Lord bring significant prophesy into the Word that has monumental meaning to us New Covenant believers, and it is one of several examples that justifies the interpretation Paul brings in Galatians as well as James’s ultimate decision in Acts 15. The Lord says in Jeremiah 4: “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord and remove the foreskins of your heart, Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, or else My wrath will go forth like fire And burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.” Circumcision of the flesh, a sign of the Old Covenant, is replaced by circumcision of the heart by the Holy Spirit, a sign of the New Covenant. Circumcision is still required in both covenants, it just has a new form; now everyone in Messiah is circumcised. This means that we must remove the sin out of our heart, as Yeshua instructs in Matthew 5 and Mark 7. Paul writes in Romans 2:29: “He is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from people, but from God.” The letter says foreskin, but the Spirit calls for the heart to shed its sin by the power of the Holy Spirit.

As we continue in Jeremiah 4, note that the Lord effectively laughs at Judah’s attempts to save the land by their own strength, while they continue in sin. “A lion has gone up from the thicket.” The Beasts of the Field are governments or peoples that God uses to judge the sinful land, and the lion here represents Babylon, which will come to lay waste to Jerusalem. The metaphor is repeated in Chapter 5: “Therefore a lion from the forest will slay them, A wolf of the deserts will destroy them, A leopard is watching their cities.” The lion again is Babylon, the wolves of the deserts are those false prophets spoken about in chapter 1 who “went far from Me after emptiness and became empty.” These false teachers bring destruction to the flock, as Yeshua, Paul, Peter write in the New Testament. The leopard watching their cities is Media-Persia, which will eventually conquer Babylon, judging her for cursing Israel. Yes, even though God uses Babylon to bring judgment on Israel, He also brings judgment on Babylon via Media-Persia, because “cursed are they who curse you.”

So about those false teachers. In Jeremiah 5, “O Lord, do not Your eyes look for truth? You have smitten them, But they did not weaken; You have consumed them, But they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; They have refused to repent.” Many believe today that they do not have to repent, because Jesus will wash away all sin if we just confess His name. Yeshua and the whole of scripture says otherwise. We must repent! “They are foolish; For they do not know the way of the Lord Or the ordinance of their God.” In fact, they even preach from the pulpits today that God’s commandments are “done away with.” There is no greater lie from the pit of Hell than this. Satan told it first to Eve, and now he preaches it from Christian altars. “They have lied about the Lord And said, ‘Not He; Misfortune will not come on us, And we will not see sword or famine.” God says this: “The prophets are as wind, And the word is not in them. …

… Because you have spoken this word, behold, I am making My words in your mouth fire and this people wood, and it will consume them.” “Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness,” Yeshua will say. (Mat. 7) Yes, herein lies the truth of the matter: “An appalling and horrible thing Has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule on their own authority; and My people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it?” Yes, rather than use the clear Word of God to teach the people, modern Christian priests preach from their own heart about grace and Heaven open to all. It is not so, and Yeshua Himself has clarified this. Only those who obey His commandments AND trust in Him will make it, the “simple prayer” does nothing if there is no action that follows it. It must bring change; repentance and obedience, or else it is not sincere.

In Jeremiah 6, the Lord continues to identify the problem with false teachers, “wolves in sheep’s clothing”: “‘Everyone is greedy for gain, And from the prophet even to the priest everyone deals falsely. They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ but there is no peace. Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not even ashamed at all; they did not even know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I punish them, they shall be cast down,’ says the Lord.” There is no greater danger to your eternal salvation that priests who preach from the pulpit that the grace of God will save you, and you have to do nothing to keep your salvation. It’s true, God’s grace is a free gift from God, and when you accept it you’re saved. But if you don’t repent and walk away from your sins, committing your love to Yeshua by keeping all of His commandments, then you will be living in the false security described in these verses. Those who cry out “Lord, Lord,” but are abandoned into “outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

God says in Jeremiah 5, “Shall I not punish these people?” For Him to do so would be injustice. God is Holy, and He must punish those who continue in lawlessness. Disobedience is not something He rewards. He declares, “strip away her branches.” Do you see Romans 11 here? These branches were cut off from the root, because they denied the Messiah who had come to save them from sin, and because they denied the Word of the Lord. And wild branches, Gentiles, are grafted on to the tree when they trust in Messiah Yeshua and keep His commandments. But fear, Paul writes, lest you not continue in God’s kindness through obedience and find yourself also cut off.

As chapter 5 continues, I can’t help but see the judgment against Israel analogous to the coming judgment on America: “Behold, I am bringing a nation against you from afar, … It is an enduring nation, It is an ancient nation, A nation whose language you do not know, Nor can you understand what they say. Their quiver is like an open grave, All of them are mighty men. They will devour your harvest and your food; They will devour your sons and your daughters; They will devour your flocks and your herds; They will devour your vines and your fig trees; They will demolish with the sword your fortified cities in which you trust.” The sword is a judgment that comes on the land of a people who are living in “persistent unfaithfulness.” … “Be warned, O Jerusalem, Or I shall be alienated from you, And make you a desolation, A land not inhabited.” …

From Chapter 5, “To whom shall I speak and give warning That they may hear? Behold, their ears are closed And they cannot listen. Behold, the word of the Lord has become a reproach to them; They have no delight in it. But I am full of the wrath of the Lord; I am weary with holding it in.” Continuing in Chapter 6, “But they said, ‘We will not listen.’ Therefore hear, O nations, And know, O congregation, what is among them. Hear, O earth: behold, I am bringing disaster on this people, The fruit of their plans, Because they have not listened to My words, And as for My law, they have rejected it also.” Their sacrifices are rejected because their heart is far from the Lord. Remember, He desires “obedience, not sacrifice.” Note that this applies to the New Testament Saints, who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Yeshua.

Fear not, you who obey God and trust in Messiah Yeshua, for “even in those days … I will not make you a complete destruction,” the Lord says. … Continuing in Chapter 6, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, Where the good way is, and walk in it; And you will find rest for your souls.’” In the midst of trouble, “O daughter of my people, put on sackcloth And roll in ashes; Mourn as for an only son, A lamentation most bitter.” Yes, our hearts must be mournful for the sin we see around us. As judgment gets worse and worse, because the people do not turn, we must continue to pray for them to turn and repent that we did not act sooner to correct their ways. If only we had spoken up louder, with more courage. If only we had not abandoned the commandments of God by tearing them down from our courthouses and stripping them out of our schools, and now, from the very pulpits in our churches. Repent! We ought to be like David in Psalm 17: “As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness; I will be satisfied with Your likeness when I awake.” Yes, as we awake from our sleep in the grave on the Last Day, we who trust in the Lord Yeshua and keep HIs commandments can say this same thing.

Jeremiah 7, Jeremiah 8, Jeremiah 9, Psalm 18

The Lord calls out to all of us, believer or not, “Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place.” We must repent, and practice justice, take care of the alien, the orphan and the widow, and stop the shedding of innocent blood (end abortion), and destroy all of the idols in our lives, then the Lord will let us dwell in our inheritance. “Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery and swear falsely, and offer sacrifices to Baal and walk after other gods that you have not known, then come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—that you may do all these abominations?” We cannot “practice lawlessness,” for “Christ is not a minister of sin.” If we continue to go week-after-week into church asking for forgiveness for the same sins, how do we expect forgiveness? By doing this, we make church into “a den of robbers.” Is our heart to stop sinning, or is it to sin and seek forgiveness? Which is it going to be? We can’t have it both ways. Paul says we are either a “slave to sin” or a “slave to righteousness.” Jesus only saves the righteous who repent and sin no more.

The Lord says in Jeremiah 9: “Do men fall and not get up again? Does one turn away and repent?” Of course they do. But what is the heart? Is the heart to keep sinning and get away with it, expecting Christ to cover this lawlessness, or is our heart to seek God to help us go and sin no more? Christ is a mediator for those who seek Him in repentance with a humble and contrite heart, but He is not there for those who try to pull a fast one on Him. Those who “hold fast to deceit,” lying to themselves, thinking they are saved when they keep sinning. “They refuse to return. … They have spoken what is not right; no man has repented of his wickedness, saying, ‘what have I done?’” Do we keep the commandments of God? If not, who do you think you are deceiving? We’re not deceiving God. “My people do not know the ordinance of the Lord. How can you say, ‘we are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us?’ But behold the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie.” We must keep the commandments of God, for this is righteousness. And only the righteous who seek after God’s righteousness and keep faith in Jesus will make it to Heaven.

The Lord mourns deeply over His people who refuse to obey Him in Jeremiah 8 and 9. The Lord does not want to destroy us in the final judgment. He wants us to “turn and live.” He even came in the flesh to ask us to do this. He died to cover our sins and show us how to live the way He expects of us. He said, “follow me,” He said, “Love one another as I have loved you.” Did He tell the adulterous woman she could continue her seedy business and all would be well? No, He said repent, your sins are forgiven, now “go and sin no more.” But so many who call themselves Christians “bend their tongue like their bow,” coming up with all kinds of lies about why they don’t have to obey God’s commandments, even though He tells us repeatedly that this is what He expects. “Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it, but have walked after the stubbornness of their heart, … I will send the sword after them until I have annihilated them.” Whether Jew or Gentile, if we do not obey God and keep faith in Jesus, we will be utterly destroyed. He wants us to “turn, and live.”

This section from Psalms 18 describes those who obey the commandments of God and trust in the Messiah Yeshua: “I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies. The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me. For I have kept the ways of the Lord, And have not wickedly departed from my God. For all His ordinances were before me, And I did not put away His statutes from me. I was also blameless with Him, And I kept myself from my iniquity. Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes. He gives great deliverance to His king, And shows lovingkindness to His anointed, To David and his descendants forever.” Are we anointed by the Holy Spirit. Read John 14. Only if we trust in Jesus and obey God’s commandments will the Holy Spirit dwell with us.

Jeremiah 10, Jeremiah 11, Jeremiah 12, Jeremiah 13, Psalm 19

Jeremiah 10 starts out with the pagan practice of bringing trees from the forest into the home and decorating them; a practice we might be accustomed to ourselves, perhaps? The Lord is clear that these decorated trees ought not to be feared, because they cannot harm, but nor can they do any good—and that is key. Paul in 1 Corinthians 10 says something similar, “What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.”

Thus, “do not learn the way of the nations,” as God tells Jeremiah. In our case, because we are among the nations, we ought to walk away from the way of the nations, and be united in Christ with the commandments of God to follow after His righteousness. “The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under the heavens,” the Lord warns. Let us not get caught up with it, but rather worship God Most High, “who made the earth by His power, who established the world by His wisdom; and by His understanding He has stretched out the heavens.”

Jeremiah writes, “I know, O Lord, that a man’s way is not in himself, nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps. Correct me, O Lord, but with justice; Not with Your anger, or You will bring me to nothing. Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not know You and on the families that do not call Your name.” We know from Proverbs 16:9, “A man's heart plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps,” and Proverbs 20:24, “A man's steps are from the LORD, so how can anyone understand his own way?” These verses all say the same thing. Without the Lord, there is no hope for a man to walk upright with righteousness and justice. In fact, without Yeshua, no man can, and His way will end in death. Thus we ought to walk with the Lord alone and not concern ourselves with the ways of other men.

I’m floored by the bold prayer that follows. Jeremiah’s humility is a path we ought to contemplate for ourselves: “Correct me, O Lord, but with justice; not with your anger, or you will bring me to nothing.” Could a heart be more humble or contrite? Jeremiah is literally asking the Lord to humble and correct Him. In His wrath, the Lord certainly could bring us to nothing, but we ought to seek His face, seek his correction, and seek His way, for we know from Hebrews 12:5-7 that the Lord does bring just correction to those He loves: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?” If we are sons, we ought to pray like Jeremiah.

In Jeremiah 11, the Lord tells Jeremiah to “proclaim” the commandments, how the Lord has warned Israel persistently saying, “Listen to My voice,” yet they didn’t listen, but each one walked “in the stubbornness of his evil heart.” Because of their persistent unfaithfulness, the Lord promises to bring disaster on them, but here’s the terrifying part: “though they will cry to Me, yet I will not listen to them.” This is not to say the Lord would not accept their repentance, but rather that He acknowledges that their heart is to do evil persistently, and that they are past repentance being a possibility. Shockingly, the Lord says: “Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry of prayer for them, for I will not listen when they call to Me because of their disaster.” Once a people has fallen into total rebellion, judgement is coming and can’t be stopped. If there is a remnant to be left in their faith, the seal of the Holy Spirit will keep them from God’s harshest judgment.

In John 17:6, 9, during Yeshua’s prayer to the Father, He says this: “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. … I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.” He prays for those who were given to Him out of the world, but He does not pray for the world, for those who are living according to the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. For those caught up in persistent unfaithfulness, the Lord’s wrath will consume them. There comes a time when God’s lovingkindness and long-suffering will end, when His wrath will rain down and destroy all who have not given Him their hearts. Once that day comes, no prayer will satisfy God’s wrath. Now is the time to repent and pull those who have not yet repented out of the fire. The time is short.

In Jeremiah 12, the prophet pleads with God, “You know me, O Lord; You see me; and you examine my heart’s attitude toward You.” He asks for justice against evildoers and salvation for the faithful. The pestilence, the sword, the famine, the oppressive beasts will come for judgment because the prophets taught lies; “there is no peace for anyone. They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns.” On the plus side: the Lord intends to bring back a remnant of the people of Judah, and if they listen, He will prosper them, but if not, He will destroy them.

In Isaiah 13, God uses a parable to indicate that although Judah had been clinging to God, they are now like a filthy waistband, ready for destruction. Thus, “If you say in your heart, ‘Why have these things happened to me?,” we need not wonder. “Because of the magnitude of your iniquity,” the Lord says. We have a just and righteous God.

Psalm 19 is the perfect anecdote to sin; a humble and contrite heart, forever turning toward God for this glorious forgiveness. Let us all have a heart like David’s.

Jeremiah 14, Jeremiah 15, Jeremiah 16, Jeremiah 17, Psalm 20

Jeremiah 14-16 contains a hard truth; when a land sins against the Lord with persistent unfaithfulness, even the very land that He Promised to the people He set apart, He will bring judgment by the pestilence, the sword, famine, and the wild beasts of the Earth; namely, oppressive government occupation. Once a land has sinned to a certain threshold, there is no turning back this judgment with prayer. Nothing will prevent the judgment from coming. And there is no escape, for when the people ask, “where shall we go,” “Thus says the Lord: ‘Those destined for death, to death; And those destined for the sword, to the sword; And those destined for famine, to famine; And those destined for captivity, to captivity.” ’ I will appoint over them four kinds of doom,’ declares the Lord.” Scarier still, the Lord asks, “who will have pity on you … who will mourn for you?” If the Lord is against you, no one is for you. You are doomed, because “you keep going backwards.” The Last Day will be a time like this, and time is growing short.

Once it gets to this point, we read in Jeremiah 16 that the Lord will save out of this disaster a faithful remnant, but there must be one like Jeremiah to lead them who says this: “Remember me, take notice of me, and take vengeance for me on my persecutors … Know that for your sake I endure reproach. Your words were found and I ate them, and Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; for I have been called by your name, O Lord God of Hosts.” The Lord says to the one faithful man, “If you return, then I will restore you—before Me you will stand; and if you extract the precious from the worthless, you will become my spokesman. They for their part may turn to you, but as for you, you must not turn to them. Then I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze, and though they fight against you, they will not prevail over you; for I am with you to save you and deliver you,” declares the Lord. Lord, help me to gather a remnant from among these people; help me to serve you day and night in the midst of my enemies.

Jeremiah 17 sums up the heart of the Lord as He seeks to destroy the evildoers and save the remnant out of the land that persistently sins: “Thus says the Lord, “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind And makes flesh his strength, And whose heart turns away from the Lord. For he will be like a bush in the desert And will not see when prosperity comes, But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, A land of salt without inhabitant. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord And whose trust is the Lord. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, That extends its roots by a stream And will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, And it will not be anxious in a year of drought Nor cease to yield fruit. “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.” We must be willing to give up our lives to Christ in order to keep them into eternity. There is no other way to make it.

The Lord today is now known as the Lord who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt, as well as the Lord who came in the flesh and died for our sins so that we would be forgiven if we believe in Him and then follow after Him, with endurance, into everlasting life. Now, He is known as the Lord “who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of the north and from all the countries where He had banished them.” He is the Lord who keeps His promises to the faithful who obey His commandments and keep their trust in Him. Now, today, He sends us as “many fisherman,” as the Lord said, He would make us fishers of men. And so we must “fish for them.” Today, He also sends us as hunters, “and they will hunt for them from every mountain and hill and from the clefts of the rocks.” He will repay sinners with death, but for those who turn and repent and follow Yeshua, they have the promise of eternal life. He told us to go into all the people groups of the world and make disciples for Him, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This was a commandment that we must all take part in, so we too can be among the remnant.

Psalm 20 is a great little prayer that speaks to our readings in Jeremiah. “May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble!” How, though: “Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy Heaven with the saving strength of His right hand,” Yeshua. Others “boast in chariots and some in horses,” some in their cars and others in their guns or their jobs. “But we boast in the name of the Lord, our God,” Yeshua. Those who trust in the things of this world “have bowed down and fallen.” Those who trust and boast in the Lord “have risen and stood upright.” We who trust in Yeshua can shout; “Save, O Lord; may the King answer us in the day we call.”

Jeremiah 18, Jeremiah 19, Jeremiah 20, Jeremiah 21, Jeremiah 22, Psalm 21

Jeremiah was thrown into the stocks for his prophesies against Jerusalem. The blind saw him as a traitor to the Nation that God had given by promise, but who was the real traitor? God warned Israel about all of these things that would come their way if they forsook His commandments. He warned us when He came in the flesh of these same consequences, but even today the blind don’t see it.

God uses metaphor after metaphor, parable after parable to show His simple message: He will destroy the clay pot that is filled with sin, and He will place the pot filled with righteousness on high. Upon repentance, He will rework the clay into a pot even better than it was.

Jeremiah struggles greatly as the messenger, like Job, ruing the day he was born. It is not easy to speak Truth to a people who won’t hear it, but Truth must be spoken, nonetheless.

When King Zedekiah inquired of Jeremiah, he must not have paid attention to the previous messages from the prophet. Did he expect some reassurance? Not for a sinful nation that has lost its bearings and has not intent to find them again. There is nothing but an expectation of annihilation for the nation that will not turn away from sin. The Lord will even work with another sinful nation to destroy the one that has fallen from grace. Woe to the nation that does not repent.

Jeremiah 23, Jeremiah 24, Jeremiah 25, Psalm 22

The Lord’s Word has made Jeremiah “drunk,” as if with new wine, for He sees the depravity of the pastors who are preaching in his day, with a feeling of inadequacy—an inability to convince them to change their ways—and the situations he explores are identical problems that are facing the church today. The Lord’s Word has made Jeremiah “drunk,” as if with new wine, for He sees the depravity of the pastors who are preaching in his day, with a feeling of inadequacy—an inability to convince them to change their ways—and they are identical problems that are facing the church today. Do not take the Word of the Lord in vain, a component of the Third Commandment that God gave to humanity through Moses, is played out against the prophets who prophesy falsely in Jeremiah 23. I want to focus on what these prophets and shepherds are doing that the Lord rebukes them for:

1) They are scattering the sheep, rather than gathering them. (The Lord Yeshua, the “righteous branch,” will regather His sheep on the Last Day. The goats He will destroy.)
2) The land is full of adulterers, that is those who are sexually immoral as well as those who worship idols, because the prophet and priest (pastors) are polluted, in other words, they too commit these sins.
3) Here is the most important point: “They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so no one has turned back from his wickedness. All of them have become to me like Sodom.” These are preachers who preach a grace-only message, without any obligation from the believer whatsoever to walk in righteousness. We wonder why the church looks like the world? Wonder no more. The pastors have departed from teaching the commandments of God and fear of the Lord. Yeshua said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” How many pastors truly love Yeshua today? How many trust Him? Their number is very few, perhaps even fewer than in Jeremiah’s day.
4) “They speak a vision of their own imagination, not from the mouth of the Lord.” This is simply blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, no more and no less.
5) “They keep saying to those who despise me, ‘The Lord has said, ‘You will have peace,’ and as for everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart, they say, ‘Calamity will not come upon you.’” Those who despise the Lord are those who do not keep His commandments, including the Sabbath, which He commanded. Preachers who have deceived the flock by saying the commandments don’t matter, and you will all have peace in Christ. This is the same Messiah who told them that looking at a woman with lust is akin to adultery, and that He is “the Lord of the Sabbath,” calling all to Him for worship and praise and rest every Saturday, for it is He who Created the Heavens and the Earth and everything in them, and rested on the seventh day. You cannot willingly, rebelliously or even unknowingly violate God’s commandments and expect peace. He came to call sinners to righteousness; He did not come to permit sin.
6) They say, “I had a dream!” and “intend to make My people forget My name by their dreams.” For some pastors, it’s all about their own experience. It’s fine to testify, but preachers ought to preach the whole counsel of God, from Genesis to Revelation, and not their own personal experiences.
7) They say, “thus says the Lord” or “the oracle of the Lord,” yet they do not speak for the Lord. Again, this is blasphemy.

“But who has stood in the council of the Lord, That he should see and hear His word? Who has given heed to His word and listened?” His Word is like fire, He says, and on the Last Day it will burn up all the straw (unrighteous), leaving the grain (righteous) to be baked into unleavened bread. It is like a hammer that destroys the unrighteous rocks, but molds the unblemished gold into shape. All these false pastors, who say “Lord, Lord,” will be cast into outer darkness because they are wolves with sheep’s clothing, the blind leading the blind, and they practice and teach lawlessness. Repent!

In Jeremiah 24, the Lord declares that He will save a remnant out of captivity, those whom have a heart to know the Lord, and who return to the Lord (repent) with their whole heart. Note, these individual have suffered judgment, but it worked to turn their hearts back to the Lord. Those who seek their own ways or refuse to repent will be abandoned and destroyed with the sword, the famine, the and the pestilence, whether they are in captivity, if they remain in Judah or if they go to Egypt. In Jeremiah 25, the Lord declares that the time is up. Prophet after prophet called to Israel and Judah to repent, but they did not do so. Therefore, they will drink the cup of the Lord’s wrath. Note, however, that this cup is poured out on “all the nations.” Babylon, which judges Israel, is itself judged and destroyed by God through Media-Persia. This is a prophesy for the time of captivity, yes, but also concerning the Last Days. At some point, the grapes of wrath will come upon all the inhabitants of the Earth, and unless we have the Seal of the Holy Spirit, we too will be destroyed. Repent, and be among the remnant. Be chastened by the Lord’s chastening and join Him.

Jeremiah 26, Jeremiah 27, Jeremiah 28, Jeremiah 29, Psalm 23

It is helpful to encourage other believers to endure through persecution and oppression, which comes at the hands of the “wild beasts” that God sends to judge the land that sins persistently, but it is more helpful to call them to repentance, because unless we are righteous like Job, Noah and Daniel, we aren’t going to make it through. We must both trust the Lord Yeshua and obey all of God’s commandments out of a fervent desire to please Him, because we love Him, in the deepest depths of our hearts. Yes, the one who is both trusting and obedient, but humble and contrite in heart, can say like David in Psalm 23, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me. … surely your goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” As Paul says, “Rejoice always. Again I say rejoice!” Yeshua says to give up everything this life offers to put Him first, rejoicing not that we are protected from demons or can cast them out, but that our names are written in the book of life.

Here’s the risk: We do not want to become like Hananiah, and this is what so many people are doing right now, including some of you. Hananiah falsely prophesied that the yoke of the enemy would be destroyed and that God would rescue His people. I share Jeremiah’s heart in the matter: ““Amen! May the Lord do so; may the Lord confirm your words which you have prophesied…” This is my prayer for those who prophesy “peace, peace,” and deliverance, also. However, what happened to Hananiah ought to serve as an example to all of us who prophesy “peace, when there is no peace:” “the Lord has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie. Therefore thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I am about to remove you from the face of the earth.’” We do not want the Lord to say this about us, so here’s what I believe we all need to do: We need to call the people to repent, because the land is in judgement, and the Lord is just to bring judgement here, and NO, there will not be peace. In fact, because the land is not repenting of its sins and seeking after the Lord, but is rather digging in to sin, then the Lord will destroy it with famine, pestilence, the sword and the beasts of the earth, which means oppressive foreign governments, as He has said in His Word.

Jeremiah in chapters 26 and 27 makes it clear what the Lord says to the people, and YES, this applies to you and me today: “Thus says the Lord … If you will not listen to Me, to walk in My law, which I have set before you, to listen to the words of My servants the prophets, whom I have been sending to you again and again, but you have not listened, … then this city I will make a curse to all the nations of the earth.” We read in Revelation 18 about these days: “Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.” Babylon is representative of the World, the system that opposes God and His law. It could be America. It could be the UN, it could be whatever system overtakes the Earth and punishes the nations that formerly obeyed God, but have now turned away. America, a nation that is full of persistent unfaithfulness and wearing out the patience of the Lord, is in judgment now and without full repentance it will be utterly destroyed.

Jeremiah instructs the priests, the prophets, and the people of the land to submit to the invading, godless nation, to allow this “beast of the earth” to conquer the Holy City. Those who do not submit to the invading army will die: “It will be, that the nation or the kingdom which will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine and with pestilence,” declares the Lord, “until I have destroyed it by his hand. But as for you, do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your soothsayers or your sorcerers who speak to you, saying, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’ For they prophesy a lie to you in order to remove you far from your land; and I will drive you out and you will perish. But the nation which will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will let remain on its land,” declares the Lord, “and they will till it and dwell in it.”

Jeremiah 30, Jeremiah 31, Jeremiah 32, Psalm 24

“Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.” (Hebrews 6:1-6)

It’s might feel good to write, “works without faith is dead,” but that is not Scriptural. In fact, the Truth is that “faith without works is dead.” We are not saved by works, there is no doubt, but if we don’t turn away from our sins and do good works, we demonstrate that we do not have faith.

MANY make it seem like we can go on sinning and expect God to save us through Jesus by our faith. This is not Scriptural. If we go on sinning, we don’t have faith at all and are not saved, and in fact, we can expect the judgment of God and the second death (Hebrews 10:26-29: “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much WORSE punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?”

If we had previously been saved and then fell into the practice of sin to satisfy the flesh, then that one has lost his or her salvation. And yes, these who lost their salvation did have it at one point, just as Saul who prophesied by God’s Holy Spirit and then lost it and was filled with a troubling spirit, Ananias and Sapphira who joined the early Church but then lied to the Holy Spirit, and Demus, who, Paul writes, “hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica.” (2 Timothy 4:10) No one can snatch you out of the hand of the Savior Jesus—NO ONE—except YOU. You can fall away by giving in to the FLESH or the WORLD. If you slip, and get back up (with the second clause of this being key), the savior is there to welcome your humble and contrite heart when you walk away from that sin. If you slip, and don’t get back up, but continue to practice sin, then you have nothing to expect but death.  

Jesus Himself says that MANY who call Him “Lord, Lord,” who even cast out demons in the name of Jesus and do all manner of Holy Spirit filled activities, like Saul did, and Saul was selected by the Lord Himself, will end up in Hell because they “practice lawlessness.” You can’t violate God’s commandments as a practice and expect salvation. It’s not going to happen. And yes, I believe that applies to all of them.

It’s not that keeping the commandments saves you. It doesn’t. The commandments were given because of sin, which means that they help identify what is and is not sin. If you are following them, then you are not “under the law,” as Paul writes in Galatians. It’s like driving 65 mph in a 65 mph zone. You are not “under the law” when you abide by the speed limit and are free to drive around the country. However, if you go 95 mph in a 65 mph zone, you certainly are “under the law” and can expect the judgment in Traffic Court, if not Criminal Court. The same applies to us.

And so, we are saved by grace through faith, so that no one can boast. There is not anyone who keeps the law better than another and receives a better reward, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We all deserve death. Every single one of us. It’s not how we keep the law that saves us. It is Christ alone who saved us on the cross, once, and we know that God desires obedience and not sacrifice. He took care of the sacrifice for us so we don’t have to offer bulls and goats or anything else for our salvation. He only wants our heart. And having given Him our heart, that means we ought to do what He says. Jesus says Himself, “how can you say that you love me and not do what I say?” And what did He say? “If you love me, you will keep My commandments.” He wants a bride who goes out of her way to please her husband, who desires to please Him with her whole being.

In Luke 18, “a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? [Why do you ask me about what is good?] No one is good but One, that is, God. You know THE COMMANDMENTS: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’”

I’ve heard foolishness from some Christians that we only keep the commandments that Jesus Himself has mentioned. If I were to refer you to the Bill of Rights, I might say, “you know the bill of rights, the freedom of speech, the freedom of religion, the freedom of assembly, the freedom of press…” Is that all of them? Of course not. In speech and teaching, I’d refer someone to some of the list, intending to point to the whole list. And so worshipping God alone, not having idols, not keeping the Lord’s name in vain, honoring the seventh-day Saturday Sabbath, not coveting, we keep ALL of them to inherit life.

It goes further than this. We must also give Jesus our “whole heart.” It’s not enough to follow the letter of the law, for the letter kills. The Pharisees developed fence laws—you can’t even turn on a light switch on the Sabbath—which are not scriptural. Nowhere in the Scripture does it say you can’t forage the heads of wheat while walking in a field on the Sabbath. The Sabbath is about resting in the Lord and worshipping Him, and He wants us to joyfully keep that day for our benefit, not for His. His benefit is the time that we spend with Him once a week for a 24-hour period (not just one hour). It’s a rehearsal for the eternal life to come, and we worship the LORD of the Sabbath, who created the Heavens and the Earth and everything in them, the Word who became flesh, certainly wants us to devote His commanded day to Him, to spend time with Him, to come to Him, when we are weary and heavy laden, and He will give us rest. This is what the day is about. And yes, He expects us to obey.

Giving Jesus our whole heart means that His law has been written on our hearts by the Holy Spirit, so that we now know that the law is spiritual, and is not of the flesh. When we read the letter, the Holy Spirit interprets for us, and it is through fellowship with other Spirit-filled, law-abiding Christians that we know the Lord more and more. The Lord wants obedience, not sacrifice. He came in the flesh and died for us as the one-time sacrifice so that there would be no more sacrifice. He wants our heart. It is not enough to obey the commandment, “Do not commit adultery.” We must not even look at a woman with lust in our heart. He expects more from us, not less, now that He has put His Holy Spirit in those of us who love Him and keep His commandments. It is our duty to endure in this until He comes.

Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy, and when he encountered Eve in the Garden, He told her that she could violate God’s commandments and not die. In fact, He told her that she could be like God if she violated His commandment. Satan has stolen the commandments from the Church, and he does this because he comes to steal, kill and destroy, and he wants you dead. His lie is not clear, as in the difference between right and wrong, but it is subtle, as in the difference between right and almost right. Wolves in sheep’s clothing have come into the church and have taught that you can violate God’s commandments, or completely disregard them, and not die. Not only that, you can become “like God.” All you have to do is believe in Jesus. James writes, “even the demons believe, and they tremble.” Yes, faith without works is dead. Do not be deceived by Satan and his work, but turn to God with all of your heart and endure in the faith, which means doing what He has commanded us to do.

Dad: Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. 32If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately. 33Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come,’ so now I say to you. 34A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”  John 13

Yes, and it is a new (read 11th) commandment because before Jesus came in the flesh He had not shown us in the flesh how to perfectly keep the commandments of God. But now, He has come in the flesh, and by His example that He gave us, He showed us directly what it means to love as He loved by completely and perfectly obeying the commandments of God, and He asked us to do the same thing. The command “to love one another” is in keeping with the commandments of God, but it IS NOT sufficient in understanding the full commandments of God. One example: the Episcopalian church’s homosexual ministers call their sin love & say that if we do not honor this lifestyle choice we are not obeying Christ. What blasphemy! You would not know this if you did not read the law of God and see that homosexuality is among a host of abominations that lead to the second death. And so it is in fact NOT love to accept the homosexual, but rather it is love to call them to repentance and tell them to sin no more.

In this day and age, you fail miserably in preaching the Gospel by reducing the message down to “love,” because love without definition is open to complete and total abuse by Satan, and you can see outside your door or on your computer screen when you read the news that the failure in society is due to a failure to define what love actually is. Everyone thinks they love one another. Everyone thinks they are a good person, but just going after those “hateful people” who won’t accept their sin that they rebelliously refuse to give up. Without the commandments of GOD, you cannot and do not know what “love” is. The Holy Spirit comes in to teach you about the commandments of God, which He writes on your heart, and shows you how they are commandments of love, in Spirit and in Truth, but the commandments ARE God’s love language, and if you do not keep them (all of them), you are showing that YOU do not love Jesus and you do not love one another, as He loved us. It is that simple.

Understand what Yeshua said when He says, “love one another as I have loved you” by reading it contextually. He also said in Luke 5:32, “I have not come to call righteous people, but sinners, to repentance.” If you are righteous, which means law-abiding or “one who obeys God’s commandments,” you don’t need to be called, because you are already one with Christ. But if you are sinning, and we know from John that “sin is lawlessness,” or violating the commandments of God, then it is indeed love to call people to repent from this sin and to turn and follow God’s law, like Jesus did. We read in Acts 17:30 that “God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now He commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to Him.” Do not be counted among the lawless ones who rebel against God’s commandments and cling to their sin by remaining in ignorance, but repent, and keep the commandments of God, and live. There is no greater love than this.

Dad: Jesus Himself reduced the message to love knowing His followers understood and abided by  the Laws of the Father.
Knowing and living in accordance with God’s Commands is assumed.  Only then can we love one another as Lord Jesus has loved us.

Yes, that is my point. But most Christians today either do not know or reject the laws of the Son, which He gave on Mt. Sinai (He is one with the Father). And most people aren’t Christians today. In Christ’s day, the people He spoke with knew God and His law. And this is why when Yeshua spoke about love, it was understood. He wasn’t the first to reduce the commandments to this, however. Many prophets throughout Scripture provided summary statements for the commandments. My point is not that the commandment is insufficient in its meaning for the one who knows and obeys God and studies the Word day and night, but it is insufficient for teaching the Gospel today, especially within the apostate church, which is 90 percent of them. I don’t know many Christians who are actually loving God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength, nor are they loving their neighbors as themselves, for that means keeping the commandments, which most reject, and teaching repentance, which is taboo. Repent!
Addendum end:

Our reading of Jeremiah 30-32 was written prior to the Babylonian captivity about the time when God would come and gather Israel and Judah from captivity and return them to their land, and in that sense today’s prophesy was fulfilled. However, now that we are grafted-in to Israel through faith in the Messiah Yeshua, today’s reading also applies to the End of Days, and some parts of this prophesy allude to this, as David, the seed of David, anyway, will sit on the throne in Jerusalem forever. And the dead who were buried shall be restored and will live in the land, for instance. These parts of the prophesy refer to the future, when Messiah comes again and gathers all of His children, all those who trust Him and keep His commandments, into the Land to live forever with Him in peace.

We’ve just read through 29 chapters of God explaining in detail how He intends to destroy Israel by famine, pestilence, the sword and wild beasts of the earth, the judgments of God on a land that sins persistently. We have now read that Jeremiah was imprisoned for telling the King of Judah to submit to the conquering sword of Nebuchadnedzer, and to go with him into captivity. Daniel shows us in his writing what it means to submit—we honor the king and his laws, but we never compromise on the law of God, disobeying the king even unto death in the den of lions or in the fiery furnace. Now we read that the faithful and obedient remnant, like Daniel and his friends, will be restored to their Inheritance. Jeremiah himself buys a piece of this inheritance as a symbol of this promise, but to captivity all of the court of Judah will go and this land deed is null in Jeremiah’s time once Babylon takes over. This again, shows how these prophesies apply to the End of Days. Jeremiah’s inheritance, for his trust in the Lord and His obedience to His commandments, is assured in Christ, and He will dwell in His land forever.

The Lord will restore the fortunes of His people Israel and Judah—again, this applies to Israel and Judah of 70+ years time, as well as all of faithful Israel, who shout out “blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord,” as well as the Gentiles who have been grafted-in to the nation through Messiah Yeshua. We will all be given a piece of our inheritance. Yeshua went away to prepare a place for us, so that where He is we can be also. That place will be on Earth in His Kingdom when He comes to refresh the Earth, destroying the wicked forever. “For I am with you,’ declares the Lord, ‘to save you; For I will destroy completely all the nations where I have scattered you, Only I will not destroy you completely. But I will chasten you justly And will by no means leave you unpunished.’” All the kingdoms of the World shall become the kingdoms of Yahweh and of His Messiah, and He shall reign forever and ever. We read in Hebrews: Do not despise the chastening of the Lord, but rejoice because He treats us as sons.

“Thus says the Lord, …Their leader shall be one of them, And their ruler shall come forth from their midst; And I will bring him near and he shall approach Me; For who would dare to risk his life to approach Me?’ declares the Lord. ‘You shall be My people, And I will be your God.’ ” Behold, the tempest of the Lord! Wrath has gone forth, A sweeping tempest; It will burst on the head of the wicked. The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back Until He has performed and until He has accomplished The intent of His heart; In the latter days you will understand this.” Yes, Yeshua, Messiah for all Jews and Gentiles who put their faith in Him, sat at the right hand of the Father, and He will come again to bring His wrath to destroy the wicked, the lawless, those who disobey God, and He will rule in peace forever those who trust and obey Him. “At that time,” declares the Lord, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.” We must be grafted-in.

The Lord says clearly that those who endure in their faith will inherit the Kingdom, but those who do not endure will not: “Thus says the Lord, ‘The people who survived the sword Found grace in the wilderness— Israel, when it went to find its rest.’ The Lord appeared to him from afar, saying, ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness. Again I will build you and you will be rebuilt, O virgin of Israel!’ We must be grafted-in. “Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, And shout among the chief of the nations; Proclaim, give praise and say, ‘O Lord, save Your people, The remnant of Israel.’” This does not mean that everyone will be saved, but it means that those who are grafted-in through faith in the Messiah, the remnant who trust and obey, these are the ones who will “sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations.” The elect from the nations will be joined with Israel in that Day, worshipping the King. He will gather us all, alive or dead, from afar.

“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” The New Covenant is for Israel, and for those Gentiles grafted-in to Israel through faith in Messiah Yeshua; those who obey the Lord because the law is written on their heart, and their heart is to please the Lord, and those who trust in the Lord, Yeshua, who died to cover our sins and rose to make a way for us. We will live in the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, and we will be that city, and it will last forever.

Here is what will happen to all of us who make it, who endure until the end, who are brought into the Kingdom of the Lord, who will say to us, “well done good and faithful servant”: “Behold, I will gather them out of all the lands to which I have driven them in My anger, in My wrath and in great indignation; and I will bring them back to this place and make them dwell in safety. They shall be My people, and I will be their God; and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good and for the good of their children after them. I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me.” We who trust (have faith in) and obey the Lord Yeshua will inherit this good land. Psalm 24 echoes these same sentiments: “He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood and has not sworn deceitfully. He shall receive a blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.”

Jeremiah 33, Jeremiah 34, Jeremiah 35, Jeremiah 36, Psalm 25

The Lord speaks again through Jeremiah about the restoration that He will bring to Judah and Israel, but not just 70 years hence, but also in the Age to Come. This is an inheritance that we as Gentiles who are grafted-in to Israel through faith in the Messiah Yeshua will share, if we also keep the commandments of God all of our days with all of our hearts.

All prophesy in Scripture has an immediate realization as well as a distant one. Consider the prophesy of Isaiah about Immanuel, “God with us.” A son named Immanuel was immediately born as prophesied to King Ahaz and a woman who had been a virgin at the time of the prophesy, but wasn’t one subsequently. The Jews point to this today as proof that Yeshua was not the subject of the prophesy. They’re wrong, and this unveils the Truth: All prophesy has an immediate realization as well as a distant one. Yeshua was born “God with us” to the virgin Miriam, and the prophesy was fully fulfilled because she truly was a virgin when she gave birth.

And so as we read Jeremiah, note that this prophesy was fulfilled by the Babylonian captivity and the return to the land 70 years later, but its full fulfillment has not yet come. This is end-times prophesy and it is talking about right now. The people of the World have turned away from the commandments of God, where now even Christians reject the commandments our Lord Yeshua commanded us to keep with His own voice when He came in the flesh. Judgment is coming, and Babylon is rising; a global system that will completely subjugate the entire world population, Christians included. The remnant that is sealed with the Holy Spirit will live during this time, but will be immune from its permanent effects. We will stand with the commandments of God even in the face of death, and many of us will be martyred. We will rise to eternal life on the last day and inherit our portion in Israel. Those of us who make it will be like Daniel, Shadrach, Misach and Abed-Nego.

Jeremiah prophesies deliverance to Zedekiah, who was captured and brought into captivity and served Nebuchadnezer per the word of the Lord through Jeremiah, but for Jehoiakim who closed his eyes and ears and refused to hear the words of the Lord given through Jeremiah, he and his family was utterly destroyed. Jehoiakim literally burned up this book that we’re reading so that Jeremiah had to write it down a second time. This prophesy is for us. Do we reject the words of Jeremiah and close our eyes and ears to its Truth and its implication for us in our lives today? Do we gloss over it, skim it, and avoid thinking about it to get through it, or do we embrace it and love it and fully make it a part of our understanding of who God is? It is who God is. God, who made us in His image, gets angry, and persistent unfaithfulness angers Him greatly. He brings His wrath as a result of it. He will not tolerate it. Yeshua, our Messiah, our Savior, is this very same God. When He comes again, He will execute judgment on the World and burn up EVERYONE and EVERYTHING that is not faithful to Him AND obedient to God’s commandments. Are you ready? Repent!

The story of Jeremiah 35 is a living parable, and I see Yeshua all over it. It’s just the type of story that our Lord would tell. He is creative and awesome in His ability to communicate with us, and tell us the same thing over and over again. Here the Lord asks Jeremiah to gather the children of Rechab, because they had all taken a Nazerite vow from their birth. They didn’t drink wine or have anything at all from the vine, among other restrictions that consecrate them to the Lord. The Apostle Paul also took this same type of vow. In any case, the Lord asked Jeremiah to offer them wine to drink, and they refused. Why did they refuse? They loved their father, who had commanded them not to drink wine as part of their vow to the Lord God Most High, and thus they obeyed him. Explaining this parable, the Lord says through Jeremiah to all of us: “I have spoken to you again and again; yet you have not listened to Me. … ‘Turn now every man from his evil way and amend your deeds.” The Lord promises Rechab eternal life for his faithfulness, and the same promise is available to those of us who trust and obey the Lord like Rechab and his children.

Psalm 25 lifts my spirits, for it is my prayer of praise and my supplication for deliverance that I offer up to the Lord this day: “To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, in You I trust. Do not let me be ashamed. Do not let my enemies exult over me. … Make me know Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for You I wait all the day. Remember, O Lord, Your compassion and Your lovingkindness. … Good and upright is the Lord; therefore He instructs sinners in the way. Look upon my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins. Guard my soul and deliver me, do not let me be ashamed, for I take refuge in You. Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for You.” Lord, help me to keep your commandments with the power of Your Holy Sprit, for Your commandments are Truth. Thank you for dying for my sins. Thank you for rising to pave a narrow path for me to follow. Help me to follow in righteousness. Remember me when you come into your Kingdom.

Jeremiah 37, Jeremiah 38, Jeremiah 39, Psalm 26

The Lord had prophesied to Jeremiah and all of his prophesies came to pass. Why then did Zedekiah flee when Jeremiah told him to surrender? What happened to the king was due to his own disobedience to the Word of the Lord, and he had no one to blame but himself when he tried to escape besides Jeremiah’s warning that this would not end well. Sometimes, freedom is surrendered to unjust slavery, and God uses this time to glorify His name. If we are obedient to Him and love our enemies in the face of captivity and persecution, we may bring unsaved souls to Christ and glorify God’s name. The Lord greatly exalts those who humble themselves in situations that seem unjust. Do we fight to save our own life and lose it, or do we give our own life to God and save it for eternal life?

Jeremiah 40, Jeremiah 41, Jeremiah 42, Jeremiah 43, Jeremiah 44, Psalm 27

A host of Jews, led by Ishmael are rebellious in Judah against Babylon, and plot to assassinate Gedaliah, the Jew whom Nebuchadnezzar had set up as governor of Judah. Gedaliah doesn’t heed the warning given to him that this was going to happen, and so he meets his end. Another group of Jews who were about to be overtaken by the rebellion shrewdly appeal to their food stores as a way to preserve their lives, a Biblical tip that should not be lost on us. Here in this time of upheaval and transition, a group of Jews remain in Judah and inquire of Jeremiah, who had been allowed to return there by the Babylonian general. Think for a moment why Jeremiah was given his freedom? From the fleshly perspective, perhaps his message supporting Babylonian captivity was seen positively by the Babylonian general, but from a Spiritual perspective, Jeremiah was both preaching and practicing the Word of God, to love His enemies, and to pray for those who spitefully abuse you. He almost definitely had earned the respect of his captors, just like Daniel later does also, to the glory of God.

Subsequently, all the commanders of the forces, Johanan, Jezaniah, and all the people approached Jeremiah and asked for a Word from God on what they ought to do next. They say, “Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will listen to the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well with us when we listen to the voice of the Lord our God.” It’s important to acknowledge that by these words the people had fully embraced the righteousness of God, and what they said ought to be our hearts also—and always. Also important to note: It took 10 days of prayers and likely fasting before the Lord said anything to Jeremiah the prophet. As noted in Psalm 27, we must be willing as God’s people to “Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord.” He may not answer us right away. He may not answer us in a timely manner at all. Sometimes, it might take years. David wandered in the wilderness 15 years between his anointing as king and the day he took the throan. In our prayers to God, we must be patient for His answer and His timing, because His appointed times are exactly right.

When the Lord finally spoke to Jeremiah, He told the Jews to remain in Judah as a remnant, and the Lord promises to deliver them from the king of Babylon; “do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you are now fearing; do not be afraid of him,” the Lord said. “I am with you to save you and deliver you from his hand,” the Lord said. However, He warns them if they disobey His word to remain in Judah, he will send the sword, the famine, and pestilence that they fear in Judah to follow them to Egypt and overtake them there. Sadly, this is where things go wrong. Despite having purposed in their minds to obey God and listen to His Word, their hearts reject it and therefore they act against the Word of God and go to Egypt. They do not believe His Word to them, spoken through the prophet Jeremiah, who had not told a lie once in all of his prophesies. Not only this, their wives convinced them to turn their backs on God and worship the Queen of Heaven (Asheroth) and other gods instead.

It’s important to drill down into this for a moment, because our spouse can have a lot of influence over our decision making. What did Yeshua say? Unless you love your spouse less than Him, you cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. We must obey God and not our spouse, when they are in conflict. But the wives in this account believed that the false gods and pagan practices had brought them prosperity in Judah, and it was the one true God who they believe brought calamity on them. Read and understand their attitude and make sure you NEVER have this attitude yourself: “As for the message that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we are not going to listen to you! But rather we will certainly carry out every word that has proceeded from our mouths, by burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, just as we ourselves, our forefathers, our kings and our princes did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then we had plenty of food and were well off and saw no misfortune. But since we stopped burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have met our end by the sword and by famine.”

These men, inspired by their wives, sought after their own hearts and rejected the Word of God. The women, however, make it clear that the husbands were responsible for the idolatry: “And,” said the women, “when we were burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and were pouring out drink offerings to her, was it without our husbands that we made for her sacrificial cakes in her image and poured out drink offerings to her?” Their disobedience to God’s Word shows that they love their idols and their traditions far more than they love the Lord, and it is in those traditions and idols that they trust. They fully rejected the Lord and His Word, which are the commandments that He gave to us to build a relationship with Him.

God, to show Himself to be God, who created the Heavens and the Earth and everything in them, and to show us even today, but especially the Jews at this time that only He has power to bring life or death, a blessing or a curse, and these idols are nothing but wood and stone and the traditions are useless to them, decides to leave a remnant of this group (including Jeremiah) alive as refugees to tell the story, but He destroys the rest in Egypt by famine, pestilence and the sword. In fact, Babylon conquers Egypt at this time and destroys Pharaoh Hophra in the same way He destroyed the rule of Zedekiah king of Judah.

The Lord expresses His disappointment: “As for you and your wives, you have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled it with your hands, saying, ‘we will certainly perform our vows’ … Go ahead and confirm your vows.” They have taken the mark of the beast on their forehead (what they thought in their minds) and on their right hand (with their action), and now they will face the consequences. “Behold I have sworn by my great Name,” the Lord says, “This will be the sign to you … that I am going to punish you in this place, so that you may know that My words will surely stand against you for harm.” He allows a remnant of this group “few in number” to return to Judah, so that “all the remnant of Judah who have gone to the land of Egypt to reside there will know whose word will stand, Mine or theirs.” The Lord will be obeyed, and He will not forever tolerate those who disregard His commandments and fail to trust in His name. Judgment comes to all who are persistently unfaithful.

Jeremiah 45, Jeremiah 46, Jeremiah 47, Jeremiah 48, Psalm 28

Today’s message, especially in Jeremiah 45,  is short, but pungent: Do not seek great things for yourself, because the Lord is about to destroy the whole world, but if you trust in Yeshua and keep His commandments, in all the places you go, regardless of hardship, your eternal life will be preserved as your prize. We must be careful to show our love to Jesus by keeping the commandments of God, for He says Himself, “Why do you call me Lord and not do what I say?,” and “If you love me, keep my commandments.” When we both trust and obey the Lord Jesus, we can say as David does in Psalm 28: “The Lord is my strength and my shield, my heart trust in Him, and I am helped, therefore my heart exults, and with my song I shall think Him.” We can pray “save your people and bless your inheritance, be their shepherd also, and carry them forever.”

He says to Jacob (Israel) to not be afraid. The Lord says, “For I am with you. For I will make an end of all the nations where I have driven you, citing Egypt and Moab but representing the whole world, yet I will not make a full end of you; but I will correct you properly and by no means leave you unpunished.” To have our lives preserved forever with God, we must be grafted-in to Israel through the Messiah Yeshua, because ONLY Israel will be preserved. However, among Israel, whether we are Jew or Greek, even some among Israel will be lost to eternal destruction. And among those who are preserved, we will be chastened, hardened and tried, to test us to make sure we will Trust God no matter what happens. He does not want to let us back into the Garden of Eden until He knows we will both trust and obey Him no matter what. We must be grafted-in to Israel and become Jews through Messiah Yeshua, and then we must love Him and keep His commandments.

Jeremiah 49, Jeremiah 50, Psalm 29

The Lord prophesies destruction to the nations, including Ammon, Edom the land of Esau, Damascus, Kedar and Hazor, and Elam, but the Lord promises to restore Ammon and Elam. Even a remnant among the Gentiles will remain after the Lord’s wrath comes. Babylon itself, the nation that took control of the whole world, even God’s elect, will fall, and Israel and Judah will be restored, the Lord says. Our Redeemer is strong, the Lord of Hosts is His name; He will vigorously plead our case so that He may bring rest to the earth, but turmoil to the inhabitants of Babylon as well as the oracle priests and her mighty men. Yes, at the end of days, the Lord will separate the wheat from the chaff, the sheep from the goats, and make an end to all who opposed Him while upholding those who obeyed Him and trusted in Him. In the Kingdom, “The Lord will give strength to His people; The Lord will bless His people with peace.”

Jeremiah 51, Jeremiah 52, Psalm 30

Babylon, for the evil it commits, particularly against Judah and Israel, will meet its demise as Media-Persia comes in and takes over the land. Chapter 51 is a prophetic copy of Revelation 18, and at some point I want to study the two chapters in greater detail. They both talk about a Babylon at the end of the age.

Jeremiah 52, the last chapter in the book, details the fall of Judah to Babylon much earlier on in the prophetic timeline. Zedekiah suffered for disobeying the Word of the Lord, but later Jehoiachin was elevated as Judah’s fortunes begin to change.

The Lord’s anger is but for a moment, but His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may last a night, but joy comes in the morning, and I will give thanks to the Lord My God forever, for He turns my mourning into dancing and His promise is True for those who turn toward Him, trust in Him, and keep His Word.

Lamentations 1, Lamentations 2, Lamentations 3, Psalm 31

Lamentations expresses the horrors of the chosen people’s rejection because they rejected God first. Our relationship with God is a two-way street; He loves us and wants to lavish us with every possible abundance, but He wants us to love Him back and obey Him as our Father and our Husband. When judgment comes on account of insolence and disobedience to God’s law, we must turn back to the Lord and repent with bitterness and weeping regarding our lawless deeds; we must have a humble and contrite heart. Lamentations expresses that heart perfectly, for we too must throw “dust on our heads” and gird ourselves with sackcloth, bowing our head to the ground. We do not want the Lord to become like an enemy or Messiah Yeshua to return like an adversary and destroy us with fire. But the Lord will do what He promised. He will come to judge the living and the dead, and some will be raised to everlasting life, while others to everlasting judgment. Our time to repent is now.

In our repentance, the Lord has open arms like a Mother hen who wants to gather us into her wings as her chicks, like Yeshua said as Jerusalem was rejecting Him. He didn’t reject those who turned to Him. To Him we can say, “In You, O Lord, I have taken refuge; Let me never be ashamed; In Your righteousness deliver me. Incline Your ear to me, rescue me quickly; Be to me a rock of strength, A stronghold to save me. Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have ransomed me, O Lord, God of truth.” Father, in the name of Yeshua, let us encourage each other with these words “Be strong and let your heart take courage, All you who hope in the Lord.” His promises will be fulfilled.

Lamentations 3, Lamentations 4, Lamentations 5, Psalm 32

Here is the message to us from Lamentations today, as Jeremiah writes about what our response ought to be to judgment from the Lord:  “Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass, Unless the Lord has commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High That both good and ill go forth? Why should any living mortal, or any man, Offer complaint in view of his [our] sins? Let us examine and probe our ways, And let us return to the Lord. We lift up our heart and hands Toward God in heaven; We have transgressed and rebelled, You have not pardoned.”

And yet in Yeshua we are pardoned, as we read in Psalms 32: “How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit! When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long. Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found; Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him. I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you. Many are the sorrows of the wicked, But he who trusts in the Lord, lovingkindness shall surround him. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones; And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.”

Ezekiel 1, Ezekiel 2, Ezekiel 3, Ezekiel 4, Psalm 33

Ezekiel saw a magnificent vision of God and His glory, with angels covering His face. He ate the sweet Word of God, as Yeshua commanded us to do, and the Lord opened His mouth to speak it to Israel (and those of us today grafted-in), whether they will listen or not. Nevertheless, Ezekiel, like anyone called by God—we have all been called by Yeshua to preach the Gospel and baptize new disciples—, Ezekiel must preach repentance to those he encounters. If he fails to preach the Word of God, the sin of those he was meant to reach will fall upon him, but if he preaches the Truth to them, whether the listeners hear and obey or not, he will save himself from judgment and perhaps he will also save the one who listens and obeys. Next, the Lord creates a living parable for Ezekiel, and He must eat bread made of wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet and spelt cooked over cow dung for more than a year. This practice seems to have prophetic meaning for the time leading up to Messiah Yeshua’s visitation, when He offered freedom to those who listened to Ezekiel and all the prophets. As Psalm 34 says, “The counsel of the Lord stands forever.”

Ezekiel 5, Ezekiel 6, Ezekiel 7, Ezekiel 8, Psalm 34

In multiple sections of our reading, the Lord says “they will know that I am the Lord” when some form of calamity comes upon Jerusalem. The Torah in Deuteronomy 28 speaks of the blessings for obedience and the curses for lawlessness, and God would reveal Himself to the whole world either way. Sadly for Judah and Israel, they chose lawlessness, and so we know that the Lord exists and is faithful to His promises because of the horrible atrocities that have come upon the Jews. But now that we are grafted-in to Israel through Messiah Yeshua, we too are subject to these same blessings and curses as the adopted children of Abraham. We must be obedient to receive the blessing, and when we are lawless, we will be rejected. In Christ, we have an advocate, but our advocate is not a minister of sin, Paul writes. He is a mediator who helps us repent for forgiveness and go and sin no more for righteousness, to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect.

The Lord promises a remnant will survive of the Jews, and so will a remnant survive from all the nations who both keep the commandments of God and faith in Jesus. The Lord showed Ezekiel all of the sins the Jews were committing in secret; the Lord could see. He knew what was going on in their very hearts, and He knows what goes through our hearts, also. It’s not enough to follow the letter of the law and not sacrifice to idols, but we must also follow the spirit of the law and not have anything that we put before our worship and desire to be with God through Messiah Yeshua. So, join me and walk away from the sin against God’s commandments that our hearts may desire to go and sin no more, and as we read in Psalm 34, “magnify the Lord with me.” “Let us exalt His name together.” “Oh taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. Oh fear the Lord, you His saints, for to those who fear Him there is no want. Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” It’s not the Lord’s ways that are unfair, but our ways, so let us turn to the Lord.

Ezekiel 9, Ezekiel 10, Ezekiel 11, Ezekiel 12, Psalm 35

The glory of the Lord departs from the Temple in Jerusalem according to Ezekiel 9-10, but we know from Haggai 2:9, that the glory of the second Temple would be greater than the first. Why is this? Because the Lord Yeshua, God in the flesh, would walk in it. The third temple is even more glorious, because God’s Holy Spirit dwells within His people in the New Covenant, which is prophesied here in Ezekiel 11: “I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God.” The New Covenant in Yeshua involves the Holy Spirit dwelling within His People, His Body, His People Israel, whether Jew or Greek.

We read confirmation of this in 1 Corinthians 3:9-17: “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.”

Going back to Ezekiel 9, we see God orders “the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the writing case” to go throughout the city and put a mark on the foreheads of “the men who sign and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst.” This is the mark of God. This is the seal of the Holy Spirit. Note, to the others, “go through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have pity and do not spare. Utterly slay old men, young men, maidens, little children and woman, but do not touch any man on whom is the mark, and you shall start with my sanctuary.” This latter and larger group of people had taken the mark of the beast, they both thought and acted on the pull of the world and on the desires of their flesh. The first group had kept the commandments of God and faith in the promises of God, which were to bring his Messiah for salvation. This mark of God and mark of the beast are available at all times throughout human history, and we have to decide which mark we are going to wear.

In Ezekiel 12, as the Lord had done several times before, the Lord makes Ezekiel into a living parable to try and reach those “who have eyes to see but do not see, ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious house.” The Lord uses righteous teaching out of His Word this very day for the same end, but only those who have eyes to see and ears to hear will be saved by it. Today, we either believe in God’s Word, who was made flesh and dwelt among us, and rose from the dead asking us to follow Him and fulfill the law as He did, or we close our eyes and ears and pretend that everything will be OK if we just keep following the dictates of our own heart. There’s no gray area here. When the Lord prophesies about the Babylonian captivity here; however, this is not for a time far off, but for the time that is right in front of the Jews, and the Lord makes that clear. The Jews taken into captivity were the blessed ones, the ones who were doing the Lord’s will, in many cases. These are the ones the Lord will save and bring back to the Promised Land as an example; He keeps His promises.

Ezekiel 13, Ezekiel 14, Ezekiel 15, Psalm 36

The third commandment in Exodus 20 is, “Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain,” and those who prophesy falsely by the Word of the Lord violate this commandment, and the Lord God “will not hold him harmless who uses the name of the Lord in vain.” Jesus said He who blasphemes the Holy Spirit is NOT going to be forgiven. To prophesy falsely by the name of the Lord is what it means to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. God says, “woe to the foolish prophets who are following their own spirit and have seen nothing. … They see falsehood and lying divination who are saying, ‘The Lord declares,’ when the Lord has not sent them” and “when it is not I who have spoken.” The Lord says “My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will have no place in the counsel of My people, nor will they be written down in the register of the house of Israel.” They are literally cut out of the Lamb’s Book of Life. God continues, “It is definitely because they have misled My people by saying, ‘Peace!’ when there is no peace.” This is monumental. Beware! Any priest, prophet or person saying “everything is going to be OK” is due for destruction when there is sin all around and repentance is needed by the people of a land.

I did a whole Bible study based on Ezekiel 14; namely, Spiritual Warfare Part 3: https://odysee.com/@FirstFruitsMinistries:b/spiritualwarfare3:1?r=EoTjSmCETXGYLLqDxMK2agK1AYk4DjXo. As a continuation of Ezekiel 13, which condemns the spiritual leaders who give people false hope, Ezekiel 14 condemns the people as a whole when they engage in “persistent unfaithfulness.” Only men and women like Noah, Job and Daniel—true authentic Christians who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Yeshua—will be saved as a remnant out of a land that engages in “persistent unfaithfulness,” and the rest of the society will be judged by pestilence (already happened, probably to repeat), famine (coming soon), the sword (happening, and more coming soon) and the beasts of the earth (the one-world government will be born out of the chaos that follows the judgment, just like it did in Babylon.) The people of God as a whole must come to repentance as in 2 Chronicles 7:14 in order to prevent the judgment from continuing. The chapter assuredly refers to all of the nations, because at the end of the chapter, Jerusalem is mentioned separately as a land that will be judged even more severely than the nations when it sins in persistent unfaithfulness.

We know from Psalm 36 that “transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart,” which is reminiscent of Mark 7, when Jesus said that “what comes out of a man defiles him,” because we know that sin originates in the heart. We are also told why this happens: “There is no fear of God before his eyes.” The sin literally “flatters him in his own eyes.” Fear of God comes from knowledge of His commandments, and obedience to the same. This is a true fear, in that Yeshua told us, fear not the one who can harm the body, but fear Him who can throw both body and soul into Hell. But in a healthy believer, it is a deep-seated love for the Creator and His law, and I want to emphasize this: It is a LOVE for the LAW of God. This keeps us away from sin and elevates us on the path of righteousness, which is what it means to follow Yeshua. And so, particularly this month, let us learn from Psalm 36 and “let not the foot of pride come upon me and let not the hand of the wicked drive me away. There the doers of iniquity have fallen; they have been thrust down and cannot rise.” It’s important for us to recognize that we cannot be found sinners and expect salvation, for as Paul writes in Galatians, “Christ is not a minister of sin.” Yeshua is available, however, for those who seek Him and Love Him with all of their heart, soul, mind and strength, and those who hear and obey His commandments. His “lovingkindness … extends to the heavens.” His lovingkindness is precious for those of us who “take refuge in the shadow of [His] wings.” With God and His ways, there is “the fountain of life.” We pray, “O continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You, and your righteousness to the upright in heart.” This is faith in the Messiah Yeshua and obedience to God’s will.

Ezekiel 16, Ezekiel 17, Psalms 37

Like Hosea, Ezekiel paints a picture of Jerusalem as a woman who was abandoned, but then grew up into a beautiful woman in covenant with God Almighty, who then committed great adultery to the point that she became a harlot. The story is reminiscent of the Harlot of Babylon from Revelation. In each of these cases, the harlot represents God’s people Israel who instead of obeying God’s commandments and putting trust, faith and hope in Him, they look to idols, pagan religious practices, and pagan holidays instead of to the Word of God and what God has asked of His people. The city, Jerusalem, will be preserved in the end, for this is the city of the King Messiah Yeshua, and He will reign there forever and ever. The woman will be remade from those believers who obey and keep faith in Yeshua, whether Jew or Gentile. There’s so much imagery here to draw from in Ezekiel 16, Revelation becomes much more clear.

In Ezekiel 17, we see analogous imagery, but this time the Lord talks about toppling the sturdy trees and building new trees from their remnant. All of the birds of every kind shall nestle under its branches, meaning that all people who trust and obey the Lord Yeshua will have life everlasting, regardless of their ethnicity. The tree is grown from the original Israel, and Israel is the only nation of all that will last forever. We must bask in her glory and be grafted-in to her branches through faith in the Messiah Yeshua.

Psalm 37 is powerful, showing that those who delight, commit their way, trust, rest, fret not, and wait in the Lord will inherit eternal life. Even during the evil day, the righteous who obey God’s law will have abundance, and will give from it to those in need. The Lord is our deliverer: those of us who keep God’s commandments and trust in Yeshua. The wicked and lawless will not last.

This part gives me hope: “The Lord knows the days of the blameless, And their inheritance will be forever. They will not be ashamed in the time of evil, And in the days of famine they will have abundance. But the wicked will perish; And the enemies of the Lord will be like the glory of the pastures, They vanish—like smoke they vanish away.”

Ezekiel 18, Ezekiel 19, Ezekiel 20, Psalm 38

Oh how I love Ezekiel 18, for it is the Gospel message within the writings of the prophet. I can hear Yeshua say, “‘Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,’ says the Lord God. ‘Therefore turn and live!’” This new spirit comes from Yeshua, who offers it to all who have faith in Him and obey His commands (John 14). All souls belong to Him, the soul of the father and the son, but the soul who sins shall die. We are each accountable for our sins as Christians who follow Jesus, and we are all worthy of death when we sin without repentance. Only with a humble and contrite heart that repents from sin by the blood of Yeshua, turns from it and walks in righteousness by the power of the Holy Spirit do we have any hope of inheriting the kingdom. You can hear the desperate love of our Lord’s heart, so longing for us to choose to be with Him. This is the very purpose of life, and with a commitment to Him, life is what we receive.

The lion and the vines are metaphors for Israel’s fall from grace in Ezekiel 19, and in Ezekiel 20, the Lord speaks parables through Ezekiel, causing the people to ask, ‘Does he not speak parables?” This is reminiscent of Matthew 13, when the apostles ask Yeshua the same question. Those who are willing to see Yeshua as their savior and follow Him into eternity have eyes to see and ears to hear His parables. They will understand when they are gathered as part of Israel on the Last Day and given the grace of God, while many others are destroyed for their disobedience on that same Last Day. The Lord will preserve a remnant for His name’s sake. He created us to love Him by our own free will, and those of us who choose to do that, by trusting in Him and keeping His commandments, will be with Him forever. We will be there for His pleasure, for His “name’s sake,” but He will be our God for our pleasure, also. Israel will be hallowed in the presence of the Gentiles and God will be glorified, as the final sorting takes place.

Ezekiel 21, Ezekiel 22, Psalm 39

Ezekiel 21, 22 and Psalm 39 read a lot like Jeremiah’s writing today, and the end has come for God’s tolerance of sin. Whether righteous or unrighteous, all will suffer through the judgment of God as will we suffer through the tribulation of the Last Day, until Yeshua comes. The image of silver melting down in the fire is one that resonates from Ezekiel 22, for even in the worst tribulation we ought to trust fully in the Lord and rejoice in His name. Tribulation brings out the dross in us and leaves behind the fine silver to be preserved.

I find God’s judgment of the priests’ sin in Ezekiel 22 strongly reminiscent of the mainstream church today, and believe the same judgment is coming upon her: “Her priests have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the profane, and they have not taught the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they hide their eyes from My sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.” Be terrified by this, because God’s law is eternal, and Christ embodies it. While we aren’t saved by it, but only by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we must love and seek it with all of our heart and teach it to everyone, for it is what convicts us unto repentance and salvation in Christ, and it is what the Holy Spirit uses to sanctify us. Christ’s righteousness is none other than every jot and tittle of the law, and how can we say we love Him if we reject His Word? We can’t. The Lord will pour out His indignation on anyone who rejects His law, and consume them with the fire of His wrath. We must repent, and follow Him.

Ezekiel 23, Ezekiel 24, Psalm 40

Ezekiel provides a graphic metaphor for Israel and Judah in chapter 23 regarding the two sisters who become harlots. Their harlotry is in their love for other gods besides the One True God, their propensity to worship idols, to go after the impulses of the flesh and to fall by the pull of the World. They commit adultery against their husband, God Most High, and He judges them severely by sending them out pitiable, poor, blind and naked. And yet He still offers for them to buy from Him gold refined by fire, the Truth of His Torah, and to come back under His protection. These harlots unfortunately represent all of God’s people who allow temptation to turn their attention away from the Lord. We know the imagery of adultery of harlotry throughout Scripture refers to disobedience to God’s commandments and mistrust in His promises, but He always calls us to turn back to Him.

In Ezekiel 24, the Lord uses two other images, that of a rusty pot that is good for nothing and that of an unclean and filthy city to represent His people who turn their backs on Him. God promises Ezekiel that His words will become a sign for the world to know that the Lord is living and powerful and keeps His promises. In this case, the promises of Deuteronomy 28 bring the curse on the nation that violates God’s commandments, and just seeing what happened to Israel and Judah is proof enough that God lives and keeps His promises.

I would rather follow Yeshua and let Him write God’s law on my heart so that I can obey Him all the days of my life, because I know that the promised inheritance is reserved for those who keep God’s commandments and trust in Jesus. When the promises of God come to fruition for me, on account of my faith and my faithfulness, I pray that others will believe on account of this.

Ezekiel 25, Ezekiel 26, Ezekiel 27, Psalm 41

We’ve read a lot of prophesy condemning Israel and Judah to destruction for their sins, but we also see that God always intended to preserve a remnant, because His people Israel will live forever. Not all of them, by no means, but those who are counted among the children of Abraham through the blood of our Messiah Yeshua, both those native born and those grafted-in from among the Gentiles. The “Church” is a modern word, but Israel is what will be preserved, in Christ. Note, that the Church by no means replaces Israel, but rather Israel in Christ is the Church, and many of Israel today who don’t know Yeshua today will come to know Yeshua before He comes, and one day they will call out in the time of Jacob’s trouble, “blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord,” and Yeshua will return. John the Baptist said that God is able to raise up children for himself from these stones, but instead He did it through His own death and resurrection on the cross, and God’s true children are still castigated by the nations today, whether Jew or Gentile.

Importantly, Ezekiel 25-27 gives a prescient and powerful message for the World today, as well as the World at the time of Ezekiel. God may discipline His children, and what Father doesn’t discipline His children? Read the first part of Hebrews 12, and count yourself among Israel and God’s children if you are in Christ. However, God will utterly destroy without a remnant any nation that comes against Israel, and in fact, He will destroy those people who celebrate hardship against the Jews. Yes, even when God is disciplining His children, if anyone looks gleefully upon this discipline, they are due for destruction and eternity in Hell. We ought to have the heart of God, that all discipline by the Father is meant to bring the children to repentance and obedience in His commandments and faith in His promises.

God says, “‘Because you have clapped your hands and stamped your feet and rejoiced with all the scorn of your soul against the land of Israel, therefore, behold, I have stretched out My hand against you and I will give you for spoil to the nations. And I will cut you off from the peoples and make you perish from the lands; I will destroy you. Thus you will know that I am the Lord.’” Do not find yourself EVER speaking out against the Jews or against Israel, or this will be your fate as well. In Christ, you are a Jew, and you are among them, and if you are not in Christ, you will be destroyed. Paul says in Romans 2:28-29: “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.” If you are in Christ, you are a Jew, and this verse applies to those who come against you.

Whether Moab, Seir, Edom, Philistia, or Tyre—it doesn’t matter—whether France, Germany, Russia, China or America, any nation that goes against Israel will be utterly destroyed. And God is angry with Israel and Judah as He writes these words. Keep this in mind. The Lord chastens those He loves, but He destroys those who hate Him and His people. Edom and the Philistines are both due for destruction on account of the vengeance they took against Israel, because they hated Israel in their hearts. They are due for total destruction with no remnant. Tyre, by the sea, is a special case. The description sounds like a coastal city, or maybe even a city on an Island that was extraordinarily wealthy. It almost sounds like Atlantis, due to the manner in which God promises to destroy it. “Who is like Tyre, Like her who is silent in the midst of the sea?” The land sounds eerily reminiscent of the way Babylon is described in Revelation, as well as the way America stands as the Queen of the World today—or at least 20 years ago. The merchants who came down in ships will hiss at the land that is totally destroyed on account of it going up against Israel. Perhaps it was a former friend? Betrayal is punished handily.

Ezekiel 28, Ezekiel 29, Ezekiel 30, Psalm 42

Ezekiel 28, seemingly written to the king of Tyre, which is still a city in Lebanon today, includes language that indicates that God is not talking about the king of Tyre in ancient Lebanon, but someone else. Was the king of Tyre a covering cherub who walked in the Garden of Eden, the most beautiful of all angels who turned toward unrighteousness? No, this king of Tyre is none other than Lucifer that God is addressing, and this chapter refers to Satan’s fall from his position of prominence. Imagine the glory he had as a covering cherub, absorbing the glory of God, but this wasn’t enough for him. He wanted to be “god” himself, who sits in the midst of the people of the Earth. For this, he was thrown down from the mountain of God when Christ ascended to Heaven. On the last day, because He rebelled against God, Satan will be destroyed like men who disobey. In fact, all who know him among the people are appalled by him, they reject his evil and have turned to God. These servants of God will live in the land God gives us for all eternity in security, away from the evils of Satan and his followers, who will also be destroyed with judgment.

Egypt and Ethipopia in Ezekiel 29 represent the proud kingdoms of the world who build up their own systems and reject the ways of God. They believe as men they can accomplish peace and freedom on their own, but God rejects this as pride. God uses a one-world government, Babylon here, to destroy these proud nations, and then He destroys Babylon, too.

Ezekiel 31, Ezekiel 32, Ezekiel 33, Psalm 43

Besides Israel and her sister Judah, what land had a better opportunity to know God than Egypt? Did Egypt not experience God’s plagues and watch the prophesies of Moses come to pass in the name of the Lord, the passing over the Sea of Reeds and into the promised land? Did they not watch Israel become the most prosperous nation on Earth when she obeyed God, and destruction come to her when she didn’t? Did Moses not ask God to spare the people of Israel in the wilderness when they sinned on account of Egypt, so Egypt would know that the Lord meant to prosper the people of Israel, and not destroy them, so that they too would repent and walk in the faith? Egypt is a representation of the World that has every reason and opportunity to trust in God and follow in His ways, but choses not to. Because of this, God brings a one-world tyrant to destroy everything else and bring the whole world into subjugation. This one-world tyrant system is meant also to bring all with eyes to see and ears to hear to repentance, and then the terror subsides.

I find it fascinating then in Ezekiel 31 and 32 how the Lord so laments over Egypt. He had loved her almost as much as He loved Israel, even keeping Israel alive when He otherwise wished to destroy her in her sins on account of Egypt, to honor His name among the Gentiles. And so as God tells Egypt about her coming judgment, the Lord speaks of another proud nation that He had used to judge Israel. Assyria had grown so powerful, and Israel so sinful, that the Lord allowed Assyria to conquer the northern kingdom and bring her subjects into captivity. Yes, Assyria was a cedar tree that towered over the trees of Eden (Israel), these towers in God’s garden. Because God allowed Assyria to conquer Israel, the nation’s “heart is [became] haughty in its loftiness,” and the nation attributed its kingdom to its own strength rather than the will of God. And so, to show Assyria that their prosperity was a blessing of God, rather than their own doing, God would bring judgment on Assyria as He brought it upon the whole world, now including sinful Judah and Egypt.  

Ezekiel 33 is a parallel chapter to Ezekiel 18, and they both have a similar message, which is the Gospel message of Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus Christ). This time, God speaks to the watchmen who know God, trust in Yeshua and keep the commandments of God, and tell them that they must warn others who are living in sin about their sin, or else they too will be guilty of the sin. If they warn others about their sin—their disobedience to the law—then God will pardon them. If they don’t, then they will be caught up in the judgment also. As Christians, we are all called by Jesus Himself to be watchmen: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” We are ALL called to be watchmen, so read Ezekiel 33 carefully, for this is our duty and we will be held to account by it.

When the Lord brings the sword on the land, we know from Ezekiel 14 that this is indeed a judgment of God, but note in Spirit and in Truth that the “sword of the Spirit is the Word of God.” We as Christians are called to blow the trumpet (the shofar) and warn the people using the Word of God. This happens every Sabbath and Holy Day that is consecrated to the Lord, but we ought to do this as we go throughout our weeks, also. The Lord says to YOU and ME: “Now as for you, son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a message from My mouth and give them warning from Me.” And this is OUR responsibility and the consequences of acting or not acting to do as Jesus commanded us: “When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand. But if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your life.” It is our duty to call everyone to repentance.

These following verses are critical for understanding Jesus’s words in Matthew 7 when He said, “depart from me you who practice lawlessness, I never knew you.” Ezekiel 18 and 33 use the same language, indicating that God will not “remember” those who were once saved, but turned away from righteousness. If He doesn’t remember you, that means your name has been blotted out of the Lamb’s Book of Life, and thus, He doesn’t “know you.” However, He will not remember the sins of the one who repents of His wicked ways and walks in faith according to the law of God. Thus, the one who DOES NOT practice lawlessness, but rather practices the law of God, this one will be saved because the Lord will not “remember” their sins any longer. Thus, through Christ, the Lord “never knew” their sins. This is why it is so important to know and understand what the Lord means when He says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” and “Why do you call me Lord, Lord, but not do what I say?” The Lord expects us to abide by His Word in our faith, or we will be lost. Look at the Lord’s heart, it is marvelous in my eyes:

“Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord God, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’ And you, son of man, say to your fellow citizens, ‘The righteousness of a righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will not stumble because of it in the day when he turns from his wickedness; whereas a righteous man will not be able to live by his righteousness on the day when he commits sin.’ When I say to the righteous he will surely live, and he so trusts in his righteousness that he commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but in that same iniquity of his which he has committed he will die. But when I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and he turns from his sin and practices justice and righteousness, if a wicked man restores a pledge, pays back what he has taken by robbery, walks by the statutes which ensure life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has practiced justice and righteousness; he shall surely live.”

Also note here: These verses define what it means for a man to “trust in his righteousness.” When you trust in your own righteousness, that means that you believe God will save you, even if you sin against Him. This is foolishness, and God says so right here. On the day that any Christian man commits sin willfully and rebels against the law of God, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered. His name is blotted out of the book of life. This is why James writes in 2:11: “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” This is true, and it applies to you and me. Thank God for Jesus Christ who calls us out of this life of sin to follow after HIS righteousness. And we read here that the wicked, who “will surely die,” yet he turns from sin and practices “justice and righteousness” and “restores a pledge” and “walks by the statutes which ensure life without committing iniquity,” God makes it clear: “He shall surely live, he shall not die.” His name is restored in the Lamb’s Book of Life. The law of liberty in Christ is that He gives His Holy Spirit to all who believe in Him and trust in Him and obey His commandments. The Holy Spirit then helps us to walk righteously according to God’s law.

This is why it is so important that we all act as watchmen and call our brothers and sisters to repentance, a repentance that leads to righteousness, which is defined by the law of God. Heed this warning that Ezekiel finishes his book with, for it applies to you and me. Be like Ezekiel here, not those who hear but do not listen and obey:

““But as for you, son of man, your fellow citizens who talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak to one another, each to his brother, saying, ‘Come now and hear what the message is which comes forth from the Lord.’ They come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain. Behold, you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them. So when it comes to pass—as surely it will—then they will know that a prophet has been in their midst.”

We cannot just hear the Word of the Lord and ignore it, thinking it quaint language that applied to a different people of a different time. Now, we must abide by it and make it define who we are. It should live through us in every conceivable way, and we should love every bit of it. Jesus said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4) He meant it.

I write, as David did in Psalm 43: “Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case against an ungodly nation; O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man! … Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.”

Ezekiel 34, Ezekiel 35, Ezekiel 36, Psalm 44

Ezekiel 34 is terrifying to one who is called to preach the Gospel. What is our purpose? Is it to enrich ourselves or bring notoriety to our own name? Is it to make ourself feel like we’re doing good? If it is, then woe to us, and that is an eternal woe at that. In James 3:1, Yaakov, the brother of Yeshua writes: “My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.” Any teacher who teaches for self emolument or to enable sin is doomed for destruction. To teach is to be called by God, to serve God, and to serve the sheep of Jesus Christ. We are stewards, and He is the Shepherd. We must be good stewards as Yeshua describes in Matthew 24:45-51, and not the wicked/evil servants.

Yes, the priests, teachers and Levites of Israel had become false, teaching their own commandments instead of the commandments of God, holding them over people’s heads even though God had not commanded what they were teaching. This was the oral law, which eventually made its way into the Talmud. There are false teachers among the Christian churches today who do what Ezekiel wrote about, and they too are the shepherds who are feeding themselves, “the blind leading the blind.” Christian iterations include the Catechism and the Five Solas, and Calvin’s writings that have replaced the truth of Scripture in many Christian circles. Yeshua addresses these false teachers in Mark 7:8 directly: “For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men…” Yes, He spoke to the Jewish leaders, but He speaks eternally to anyone who teaches their own will or their own heart instead of the will of God. Ezekiel does the same.

When called, we ought to seek to be stewards, feeding the sheep for the one true Shepherd, who is the only shepherd who can gather what others scatter. It’s not for me, but for Him, so help me God. Yeshua tells Ezekiel: “I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick; but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with judgment.” He is the Shepherd, and they are His sheep. He brings the same judgment to the sheep who follow after the false shepherds and enrich themselves rather than preach the Word of God as it is, however. Thus, our role is to point them to Christ.

Ezekiel 35 and 36 are one unit, and ought to be read as such. God says He is against Mount Seir, which is the nation of Edom, the descendants of Esau. While his descendants had the opportunity to turn away from their sin and turn back to God, Ezekiel 35 makes it clear that Edom’s children held on to the family feud, and honestly, they do to this day. It was this enmity in their hearts, their blind hatred toward Israel without case, that will ultimately lead to their destruction. When we turn to Ezekiel 36, we see that God says “For good reason [the enemy] has made you desolate and crushed you from every side.” Yes, Israel had sinned. Judah had sinned, so the Lord brought the nations against Israel and Judah to judge her and bring her to repentance. But Edom celebrated the persecution and wanted to claim Israel for itself, and this is why the Lord will bring desolation to Mt. Seir. The Lord may bring judgment on His people, but those who celebrate that judgment rather than mourn in it, will be destroyed.

Ultimately, the Lord will bring a remnant of Israel back to the Land for eternity, and this group will be made up of both Jews and those grafted-in to Israel through faith in the Messiah Yeshua. The Lord brings this forgiveness through Christ’s blood for His name’s sake, because of the promises He made to those who keep His commandments in their heart and keep their trust in His name Yeshua. The insults levied against the faithful will be no more, and they will prove disastrous to the ones making them, but those who bear the brunt of them and remain in the faith will inherit the kingdom, which Ezekiel does a beautiful job explaining. The Lord will put His Spirit within us and cause us to walk in His statutes and we will be careful to observe His ordinances as a result of that. We are living in this time when the New Covenant is in force, and in Christ, we have a new heart and a new spirit, and our heart of stone has been removed; now we have a heart to follow after Him. We ought to mourn our past sins and strive not to repeat them because of the grace that has been afforded to us through Christ.

Ezekiel 37, Ezekiel 38, Ezekiel 39, Psalms 45

There’s much to say about Ezekiel 37-39, but what struck me today was how the Lord has called up His righteous ones from their sleep in the grave, given them a new body from their bones, breathed His Spirit back into them and given them life, and then He gives them Israel as their eternal inheritance. Right after this He brings great death and destruction by His own hand to all of the enemies of Israel, all at once. In fact, He calls upon the birds of the air to feast on their flesh, and then He instructs His people to collect every last bone and properly dispose of them. If this is not a picture of the Last Day, I don’t know what is. It is a separation of the sheep and the goats, the wheat from the chaff, the saved from the unsaved. Read 1 Corinthians 15, for it explains this day in more detail as it relates to Messiah Yeshua.

“Can these bones live?” Yes, the Lord says, “Breathe on these slain, that they com to life.” “These bones are the whole house of Israel,” both Jew and Gentile in Messiah Yeshua. There won’t be two nations, but one Israel, made up of all who trusted in God and kept His commandments; all who called on the name of the Lord, Yeshua. “I will put my Spirit in them,” the Lord says. There will be no longer any sin, and Yeshua, the Son of David, will reign forever; God will be their shepherd.

Many believe Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal concerns Russia, the people from the far recesses of the north, and perhaps this is correct. Gog of Magog is mentioned in ancient Turkish literature from the time of Assyria, when he reigned in Pergamon, Satan’s seat. As such, the prophesy from Ezekiel could refer directly to Antichrist, who reigns at the end of time, and this multitude described here could represent the whole army that comes up against God’s people one last time in an effort to bring a final solution to the people of God, but God will strike them down Himself and end their reign of terror. In fact, God’s people will call out, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord,” and Yeshua will return to annihilate the enemy and save the righteous who trust in Him. Before that time, this enemy will take out the land of “unwalled villages,” which I believe could be America. No matter, those dry bones in Christ will be raised incorruptible, and those who are alive in Him will be changed in the blink of an eye, to dwell forever with the king.

And the king, Psalm 45 addresses. “Grace is poured upon His lips,” for He speaks grace as a free gift to all who will receive it from Him. His is the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness, and His right hand, Messiah Yeshua, will teach awesome things. All God’s enemies will fall under Him, much like Ezekiel explained today. His throne will last forever. But note the psalmists language here: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever … therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of joy.” He speaks of this King as God Himself, because Yeshua is one-in-being with the Father, and the Father has anointed Him with oil, so He will indeed reign forever above all who were made in His image. Yeshua, the subject of this psalm, loves righteousness and hates wickedness. God repeats Himself, because man does not understand what God expects from us, though He tells us again and again. Thank God grace is poured upon His lips.

Ezekiel 40, Ezekiel 41, Ezekiel 42, Ezekiel 43, Ezekiel 44, Psalm 46

In Ezekiel 40-44, the Lord appeared to Ezekiel and showed him the second temple that would be rebuilt in Jerusalem to have more glory than the first, because our Lord Yeshua would enter it. The ceremonial laws would take place within this second temple, and so in reading this section of the prophets, we must understand that the Second Covenant has replaced the First Covenant sacrifices mentioned here with the sacrifice of Yeshua Himself on the cross (Read Hebrews 8-10). There is no longer a need of sacrifice of bulls and goats, for we have a one-time sacrifice of Yeshua for the forgiveness of sins. Thus, the temple that is being rebuilt by the Messiah Himself is the Body of believers in Messiah Yeshua, and not a physical temple. (Read 1 Corinthians 3.) Still, we can study these chapters to discern what the Temple looked like that our Lord and His disciples walked in. When the Gospels and Acts explain things happening at the Temple, these chapters describe what they would have seen in great detail. What a wonderful picture the Lord draws for our imaginations!

What I find extremely powerful in this reading is Ezekiel 43:1-2, 4: “…and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing waters, and the land was radiant with his glory. Then the man brought me to the gate facing east, The glory of the Lord entered the temple through the gate facing east.” And, Ezekiel 44:1-3: “Then the man brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, the one facing east, and it was shut. The Lord said to me, “This gate is to remain shut. It must not be opened; no one may enter through it. It is to remain shut because the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered through it. The prince himself is the only one who may sit inside the gateway to eat in the presence of the Lord. He is to enter by way of the portico of the gateway and go out the same way.” Was this the gate that Yeshua first entered when he went into Jerusalem? That isn’t clear from the Gospels, but highly likely. However, there is more to the story.

Yeshua made two prophesies that are relevant, and tie in with Ezekiel’s. He said, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down” in Matthew 24:2. This prophesy was fulfilled in AD 70, when the Romans destroyed the Temple described by Ezekiel and every stone indeed was thrown down.

Yeshua made another prophesy about His return in Matthew 24:27: “For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” This aligns with Ezekiel’s prophesy, as well as history. The Eastern Gate had never been sealed prior to its destruction in AD 70, but what’s amazing is that the Byzantines rebuilt the Eastern Gate in the sixth or seventh century, and in the year 1541, the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman sealed the Eastern Gate. What’s more, Muslims built a cemetery in front of the gate to “prevent” the Jewish Messiah from entering that way, since the cemetery, they believed, would defile Him. Despite several attempts to open the gate since then, it remains sealed. Will the Lord enter like lightening from the East by way of the Mount of Olives and enter the city through this gate? Will He raise the dead in that very cemetery, among all the others, as 1 Corinthians 15 describes? It seems quite likely.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Gate_(Jerusalem)

While the Lord notes to Ezekiel that His throne will last forever in this place, we must recognize that there is no physical Temple in the everlasting city (Revelation 21:22). These are not contradictions. The Lord will rule from Jerusalem, & He will provide the glory. Whether an actual building described by Ezekiel exists or not remains to be seen. We know that the Lord will rule forever from this place, & God Himself, with His people who make up His Body, will be the Temple. With all prophesy, we only fully understand it once it has been realized, but we see in Psalms 46:10-11 a simple truth that ties in directly: “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” This aligns quite well with Revelation 21:22 once again, but the only thing I know for sure is that it will be magnificent, and I can’t wait to see it. Still, I will obey my Lord’s instructions and wait on His time.

Ezekiel 45, Ezekiel 46, Ezekiel 47, Ezekiel 48, Psalm 47

The prince Messiah Yeshua will have His place in the center of the city, for He is the Temple in the New Jerusalem. From Him flows living waters, and justice and righteousness will reign forever. In beautiful prophesy, we read that the land will be divided by lot for an inheritance among the Jews as well as among the aliens who stay in their midst. Yes, they shall be to the Jews as the native-born among the sons of liberty, and shall be allotted an inheritance with the Jews among the tribes of Israel. Yes, whether Jew or Greek, in Messiah Yeshua, we all have an inheritance in the Kingdom of God through Christ, who is our salvation. The name of the city from that day shall be, “the Lord is there,” for there He will be, providing light and life forever more.

Daniel 1, Daniel 2, Daniel 3, Psalm 48

As we read Daniel, one of my favorite books in all of Scripture, know that it is both historical, pedagogical, and highly prophetic. The days of Daniel foretell the Last Days before the return of Yeshua when the Beast Babylon will once again rule the World. We know that Daniel is one of the three men named in Ezekiel 14, along with Noah and Job, that unless we are like Daniel (and by extension his three friends), we will not make it into the Kingdom of Heaven and we will be destroyed in the judgment on the Last Day. They were obedient to God unto death, fully trusting in His promises and valuing them more than their own lives. They were obedient to government authority so long as it was in alignment with God’s will, but they certainly disobeyed it when it conflicted with God’s law. Daniel is among our models, of which we should emulate to follow Messiah Yeshua.

Thanks be to God, His Holy Spirit led me to produce at least three Bible studies that go into Daniel’s story in great detail:
“What is the Bible’s Case Against the Covid-19 Vaccine?” teaches that, like Daniel, we must reject putting anything into our body that would make it unclean, for we are the Temple of God: https://odysee.com/@FirstFruitsMinistries:b/BiblicalTakeOnCovidVaccine:0
“Spiritual Warfare, Part 3,” discusses that when a land sins persistently, God brings judgment on the whole land, but if we are like Daniel we will live through it, if not in the flesh, then certainly into eternal life: https://odysee.com/@FirstFruitsMinistries:b/spiritualwarfare3:1
“Give to God What is God’s,” teaches the delicate balance between obeying the governing authorities up until the point that they command disobedience to God, when we must instead obey God and not man: https://odysee.com/@FirstFruitsMinistries:b/Give-to-God-What-is-Gods:5

Chapter 2 is not covered by these studies, and so in brief it shows how when we pray to God according to His will, He will answer our prayers and do great works through us to show His glory. Like Daniel, we MUST give God ALL of the glory. We must not act like Moses when he struck the rock of Meribah and took credit for bringing water from it. Moses lost his opportunity to enter the Promised Land because he did not give the glory to God. Remember, God made us and He gave us all of our faculties and He gave us all of our skills and the tools in which to use them. He owns our lives and He owns Heaven and Earth and everything in them, and He has ultimate power over it all. The only thing He gave us that is our own is our free will, so that we can choose to obey Him and praise Him or not. He did this again for His glory, so that those who choose to worship and obey Him will be doing so voluntarily for their own pleasure, yes, but even more so for God’s pleasure. Daniel is following this model in giving complete and total praise and thanksgiving to God for revealing Nebuchadnezzer’s dream and its interpretation. Through the king, God reveals the coming Messiah Yeshua who would ultimately supplant all the kingdoms of the World, and He prophesied when He would first come to start the process.

Standing before the most powerful man in the world, Daniel says the following: “Daniel answered before the king and said, “As for the mystery about which the king has inquired, neither wise men, conjurers, magicians nor diviners are able to declare it to the king. However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days. This was your dream and the visions in your mind while on your bed.” What testimony can we bring before the powerful men and women of the Earth to change their hearts and bring them in alignment with God’s will. We must take every opportunity to do as Daniel did, God willing.

Daniel 4, Daniel 5, Daniel 6, Psalm 49

We see three very different time periods chronicled in quick succession in Daniel 4-6. First, we see the total transformation of Nebuchadnezzar, who only recognized that God exists and has power through what happened to “Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, but he had not yet applied God’s dominion to his own life. This is important, and we can see this same thing discussed in James 2, when Yeshua’s brother writes, “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.” This is where the king was at. He may have believed in God, but did not yet act on that belief by coming to a place of repentance. God, through another dream that warned the king, and the subsequent realization of that prophesy, was about to bring the king to his knees.

Note that the king is telling this story, and Daniel includes the king’s writing in his book. The chapter is literally a testimony by King Nebuchadnezzar of how he came to repent and live a life where he trusted fully in the Lord and followed after him. Despite the warning in his dream that he would be brought low, the king admires the city he rules, saying “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?” At this moment, the Lord took the kingdom from him and sent him out to be like the wild beasts that perish. Only after seven time periods did he come back to his senses and give honor and glory alone to the Lord. We know that pride comes before a fall, but also that this king fell on account of his pride, but then he repented, and then was raised back up when he acknowledged that “the Most High rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whomsoever He will.” This is the formula for us to follow.

Importantly, Nebuchadnezzar then praised the Lord God most high publicly and left an archive for his posterity, saying, “I praised and honored Him that lives forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation, and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing, and He does according to His will in the army of Heaven, and among the inhabitants of the Earth, and none can stay His hand or say unto Him, What are you doing? Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works are Truth, and His ways judgment, and those who walk in pride He is able to abase.” This was the demon king who ruled the world and murdered people who crossed him, the antichrist. He was so humbled that he converted to the faith and openly praised God Most High to all his people. It took several acts of God over a fairly significant time period, but God had brought this pagan king into His kingdom. We might even expect to meet Him there on the Last Day.

It was Nebuchadnezzar’s miraculous conversion into the faith through the example of Daniel and his three friends that should have impressed heavily on his son Belshazzar, but alas it did not. Belshazzar did not only walk away from his father’s faith, but he flaunted his disobedience to it by hosting a drunken orgy using the holy vessels that had been taken from the Temple. It was because he should have known better that he was destroyed and Babylon fell into the hands of the Medes and Persians: “And you his [Nebuchadnezzar’s] son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this; but have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven…” There were no excuses for the son who grew up with a solid example of the truth right before his eyes and rejected it, not just by going the other direction, but by openly rebelling against it. For this he was utterly destroyed, not just in this life but in the next. Had he repented, perhaps things would have been different for him, but he rebelled against God, which brings complete and total wrath upon him.

We move next to Darius, who took over as king after Babylon was conquered, and he also came to love Daniel and worship the One True God. Daniel shows us here how no matter what the letter of the law of any government might say, we cannot ever disobey the laws of God, even if it leads to our own death. The law of God must come first in our lives, for when we obey it fully, we show that we love God and that we love Messiah Yeshua, who saved us from our death sentence on account of sin. God saved Daniel from the mouth of the lions on account of his faith, and this was to bring the Kingdom under the dominion of God Most High, but this does not mean that we will also escape the hazards of thwarting government authority. Whether or not we live through the punishment government may impose upon us, we must obey God rather than man when the two conflict. Darius was rooting for our hero Daniel, and magnified the Glory of God when his friend was safe.

We see Psalm 49 align perfectly with our reading from the prophets today, as we see “man in his pomp will not endure; He is like the beasts that perish.” We might stop there and think that psalm speaks of any rich man who enjoys his wealth, a preposterous conclusion for King David and Solomon were among the wealthiest to ever live, and yet David, at least, was a man after God’s own heart, and Solomon was the wisest man before Christ. The second iteration clarifies the verse: “Man in his pomp, yet without understanding, is like the beasts that perish.” First we see that there is no heaven for animals, for God tells us so twice right here. Second, we see that it is not the pomp that leads to death, but the lack of repentance leading to obedience that leads to death. One who has price may come to a fall, but when there is understanding from repentance that comes out of that fall, the Lord’s forgiveness raises us back up in His righteousness. Only those who are foolish, who disobey God’s law or rebel against it in the pride of their own hearts are the ones who will lose their place in God’s kingdom.

Daniel 7, Daniel 8, Daniel 9, Psalm 50

Daniel 7 and 8 speak about the kingdoms that will rise leading up to the advent of Messiah Yeshua, and very importantly, we see that the “Beast” is very clearly defined as a Kingdom, and so in Revelation when we read about beasts, there should be no ambiguity. Chapters 7 and 8 use different metaphors to explain the same thing, for we know where there are two or three witnesses, a thing is established. The lion with wings of an eagle is Babylon, and the bear standing with one leg higher than another as well as the ram with two horns is Media-Persia, which devoured Babylon. The third beast, the leopard in 7 and the male goat in 8 are Greece. Alexander the Great read Daniel’s prophesy, according to Jewish historians, and knew that the prophesy was about him. From him came four generals, and the little horn Antiochus Epiphanies is described with such accuracy that many have proposed Daniel was written after the fact. It wasn’t, and for a very important reason.

Namely, Daniel 9 speaks about the coming of Messiah with such precision that no one who is being honest can possibly deny that Yeshua fulfilled them in every way. From the time that Darius decreed that Israel would reinhabit the land to the time of Yeshua was exactly the period of time that Daniel prophesied. This is why many historians say that Daniel’s will instructed the “wise men” from the East to bring gifts to the Messiah when he was born. The thing is, subsequent to the Messiah getting “cut off,” there is no definitive time frame between that point and the time of the end. We only know it will be a time of desolation. If you look at Jerusalem today, there could possibly be no greater desolation than a mosque sitting on top of the Temple Mount that says “God has no son” on its walls. The people of the prince to come, Rome, brought this desolation on by destroying the Temple in 70 AD. From this point, we must turn to Revelation to find out what happens next and when it will come to pass.

Going back to Daniel 7 & 8, the fourth Kingdom is this Roman empire, the great and terrible beast that would devour the whole earth and tread it down. And yet, this Fourth Beast would be in control when One Like a Son of Man would come, and every people group of every nation would serve Him, and His Kingdom would endure forever. But first, from Rome ten dominions would arise in the Old World, and another will rise after them, and eventually wear down the saints of the Most High. Is this America? I’ve always thought so, but I could be wrong. When this latter, separate power that overpowers three of the kings of the old world is destroyed, the Messiah returns. It’s not chronological, because the truth is delivered in three different visions during three very separate occasions. The first during Belshazzar’s first year, the second during his third year, and the third during the time of Darius. Only pieces of the puzzle are delivered each time, and we will know the full meaning when all is fulfilled. Prophesy is meant to give us faith when it comes to pass.

With all this said, the first part of Daniel 9 is of such importance, I must address it. Daniel notices that 70 years had passed, and that means Jeremiah’s prophesy of 70 years of captivity was about to end. Daniel doesn’t just wait for it to happen, though; rather, he gets down on his knees in deep prayer and repentance, and he doesn’t just repent for himself, but for all the people of God who refused to keep His commandments, who sinned, who acted wickedly and who rebelled (against God’s law). “As it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come on us; yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our iniquity and giving attention to Your truth,” He writes, and then: “So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplications, and for Your sake, O Lord, let Your face shine on Your desolate sanctuary.” We ought to humble ourselves and pray this same prayer right now. “For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.” Come Lord Yeshua!

We praise you Father, in the name of Yeshua, our Messiah, and we thank you for all that you do for us! As David writes in Psalm 50, we offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving and honor you and call upon you in our day of trouble. You will rescue us out of the world, and we will indeed honor you, for blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord, Yeshua HaMashiach.

Pay attention to this: God says to the wicked: “You hate discipline and you cast my words behind you.” Beware, lest you find yourself doing this today within the halls of Christendom. We are to fully embrace, obey and cherish the Word of God, for “He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors God,” and to “him who orders his way aright,” meaning the one who keeps the commandments of God through faith in Yeshua, this one will see “the salvation of God.”

Daniel 10, Daniel 11, Daniel 12, Psalm 51

Daniel, who is highly esteemed by God for his humility, for his prayer, for his fasting, for his repentance is given another vision during the time of Cyprus, who came after Darius. The vision helps elucidate that angels are very much involved with the affairs of men, doing God’s bidding to set up the situation just as He wants it. There is prophesy here I will need to study in more depth to fully grasp, but we see that those who endure in desolation, though purged, purified and refined, after 1335 days they will be blessed, if they are found written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

This time would not be for Daniel though, for he would rest in the grave until the return of Messiah, and then he will rise again to receive His inheritance in the Kingdom of God. Anyone who dies before the time of the End will have this pleasure. Those who live in the End Days will need to endure through them, but know that “those who have insight [into the Word of God through the Holy Spirit] will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” Yes, we will be like the angels, those of us who are saints who keep the commandments of God and faith in Yeshua.

And so because of this promise for those who are faithful, I pray as David prayed, and I pray and pray again: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners will be converted to You. For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.” Oh Lord, I am forever thankful for the Glory of Your Name, Yeshua! Praise and thanksgiving are on my lips, for without you I am undone, but in you I have hope.

Hosea 1, Hosea 2, Hosea 3, Hosea 4, Hosea 5, Psalm 52

The multitudes of Israel are before their groom on the Last Day, during the marriage supper of the lamb. Those who love and obey their bridegroom, whether native born or grafted-in, will be there on that day, and those who rebel against Him, whether native born, or grafted-in, will not be. The Lord is long-suffering and merciful and is giving us this time to prepare for our wedding. Will our gown be prepared? Will our candles be lit? Will we have enough oil? Today is the day to prepare.

Syncretism was the sin of Israel; mixing the Holy ways of God and His commandments with the practices of the pagan religions around them. Nothing has changed. Now the Gentiles who were grafted-into Israel do the same thing, celebrating the “day of the sun,” instead of God’s Sabbath, Ishtar instead of Passover, and Mithras’s birthday instead of the Holy Feasts that God has commanded us to keep forever. This is adultery from God’s perspective. Hosea withholds the marriage bed from Gomer all while calling her back to be covered by him in marriage, which is what God did for Israel and those Gentiles grafted-in when He died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead in victory. He calls now to His wife, but he will not choose everyone who has been called. Like Gomer, Christians, whether Jews or Gentiles, must walk away from their harlotry and give their whole heart to their husband. We must prepare our wedding gown, God’s righteousness, for the upcoming marriage, or we won’t make it.

In Matthew 23:39, Jesus said to the Jewish leaders, “you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’” This was a prophesy, and it lines up with our reading in Hosea 5: “I will go away and return to My place Until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.” This time is coming—soon. Coronavirus was just the start, but the pain in Israel today is real, palpable and will get worse. There will come a day when the Jews cry out, “Blessed is Yeshua, who comes in the Name of Yahweh!” They will testify that Yeshua is God, that He is one in being with the Father, and that only through Him can anyone be saved, whether Jew or Gentile. And in that day, Christ will return.

You see, God’s people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. It is the knowledge of God that we must seek with all of our heart, by pursuing Him as a bride pursues her groom, without another lover. When we reject the knowledge of God, found in Scripture, God will reject us—even us. We are no different than Israel on the upside or on the downside. We must seek God through Yeshua to live. Consider Peter’s exhortation to us in 2 Peter 1:5-11: “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue KNOWLEDGE, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the KNOWLEDGE of our Lord Jesus Christ. …

Hosea 6, Hosea 7, Hosea 8, Hosea 9, Hosea 10, Psalm 53

The Lord demands loyalty to His law, including the Sabbath law, and not sacrifice, because Jesus is our sacrifice. I don’t understand how so many miss this. Men chase after the desires of their own heart, to do what they wilt, and think God will bless them. He will NOT! Scripture is repetitive and clear. Jesus sacrificed for us once and for all so that no more temple sacrifices were needed. But they weren’t sacrificing these beasts at the Temple, they were using the occasion to have a feast and fatten themselves rather than celebrate the time with the Lord. We do the same. We must repent (turn away from breaking the commandments), truly feel sorry for breaking the commandments, and then break them no more. That means keeping God’s Sabbath, not our idea of what the Sabbath is. That means honoring His commandments, not making up our own based on some false interpretation that takes Scripture completely out of context. REPENT! Turn, and live!

Those who live in lawlessness, who violate God’s commandments, will call on the mountains to fall on them when God rolls back the curtain of the Heavens and we see Him on His throne. We cannot possibly bear to see His face if we are living in sin. Only through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, our total repentance and our subsequent obedience is there any hope that He will bring us into His kingdom on that day. Revelation repeats the same prophesy. The Saints who endure until He comes keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. There is no other way to make it. The grace of God saves us so that we can pursue the Lord with all of our heart. If we don’t find ourselves doing this, we had better drop to our knees and repent with the most earnest and heartfelt humility of our lives. There is not one of us without sin that leads to death, but Christ has saved those of us who follow after Him. The time is coming. We are running out of time to get right with the Lord. Repent!

Some key phrases to highlight from our reading: “I would redeem them, but they speak lies against me, and they do not cry to Me from their heart when they wail on their beds, for the sake of grain and new wine they assemble themselves, they turn away from me.” This is the same message as this: “Thorn and thistle will grow on their altars.” The thorns and thistles were the curse of Adam, the demons and false prophets who would come and make it harder for us to walk right with the Lord. Some people say there are 613 laws of God, but God disagrees: “Though I wrote for him ten thousand precepts of My law, they are regarded as a strange thing.” This is all the same message. Because of false prophets and the temptations of the world and the flesh, God’s people have turned away from Him and are at risk of the judgment. Only those who turn back in repentance who then walk out their lives in Christ, pursuing Him first, will be saved.

Hosea 11, Hosea 12, Hosea 13, Hosea 14, Psalm 54

“For the ways of the Lord are right, and the righteous will walk in them, but the transgressors will stumble in them,” we read at the end of Hosea. Kiss the son, lest He be angry, we read in Pslam 2, and He is angry that His people “kiss the calves” instead. We can’t have it both ways. Just as Jesus said when He started His ministry, “repent and hear the good news,” so too does He say here: “Therefore, return to your God.” Repent! “Observe kindness and justice, and wait for your God continually.” He told the same parables to the prophets that He told when He came in the flesh. Only the righteous who seek Him with all their heart understand them. “Here is the patience of the Saints,” those who wait on God continually, “Here are they who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” He will save the remnant that does this.

We know the Gospels quote Hosea, “out of Egypt I called my son,” because Yeshua went down with his mother and father to Egypt to escape the sword of Herod. There are legends that He even spent some time in Ethiopia and Christian tradition there celebrates this. Orthodox Jews believe this refers to Israel as a whole, and it does, for God called Israel out of Egypt, but as we know from studying Scripture, each verse has so many layers of meaning, and at least has one for the present and one for the future. Yeshua is this one’s future meaning. Why then does God say, “for I am God and not man,” for the Orthodox Jews quote this to disprove Yeshua’s divinity, and the Jehovah Witnesses use this verse also. Read on, the verse says: “the Holy One in your midst.” When Yeshua came in the flesh and lived as a man as beautifully articulated in Philippeans 2, He lived without sin. Though a man, He did not sin like every other man. After His resurrection, He ascended back to His Glory as the right hand of the Father. He will come again, and so we ought to “wait for your God continually.”

Joel 1, Joel 2, Joel 3, Psalm 55

Let us trust in the Lord. Read Joel as a prophesy steeped in thick metaphor, for every verse has multiple layers. Locusts very well may have devoured the crops, but consider that the harvest that they devoured was a harvest of souls. These are demons looking to eat up any remaining fruit that the Lord might have harvested on the Last Day. This was Babylon sweeping through Jerusalem leaving it bear. This is the Antichrist’s army in the last days emptying the whole world of the saints of Jesus Christ, for Revelation tells us that the beast was given authority to wage war against the saints and conquer them. So we must cry to the Lord, even amidst the fire that burns around us, for if He dwells in us, we will be preserved as gold. Return to the Lord, if you are not with Him, “return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping and morning, and rend your heart and not your garments.” For Christ is our garment, but our heart must be circumcised of its sin. “Grain, new wine and oil” came with Christ, and we are certainly satisfied by Him. His Spirit has been poured out, young men see visions, old men dream dreams, and the servants (Gentiles) also have received His Holy Spirit. As these last days approach, when blood, fire and columns of thick smoke will fill the air and the sun will be turned to darkness and the moon into blood, yes, “whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered.” His name is Yeshua (Jesus, as anglicized.) And on the Last Day, His name will be one. “There will be those who escape.” Judgment will remain for everyone who does not in the valley of Jehoshaphat, which is a graveyard today between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives, right in front of the Eastern Gate that Yeshua will enter. The Lord will roar like a lion from atop Mount Zion, and by the sound of His voice the whole world will be judged. The heavens and the earth tremble, but the Lord is a refuge for His people and a stronghold to the sons of Israel. In Messiah Yeshua, we are grafted-in to Israel, and we will praise and worship the Lord on that day. From then, the mountains will drip with sweet wine and the hills will flow with milk and all the brooks of Judah will flow with water and a spring will go forth from the house of the Lord, as the world as we know it is laid waste. Judah and Jerusalem will become an eternal dwelling place for all who have been saved by the Messiah Yeshua, who trust in Him and keep His commandments, and there He will dwell among us forever.

Amos 1, Amos 2, Amos 3, Amos 4, Amos 5, Psalm 56

The Lord roars like a lion, bringing on earth quakes as the birthing pains of the Earth, which is about to give birth to her dead. We ought to look toward natural disasters introspectively, for yes, the Lord is trying to get our attention when these things befall us. He declares judgment on all the lands that turn their backs on Him, especially when His People who are called by His name turn their backs on Him, then the judgment is severe. We as His People are meant to be His witnesses, bringing the Gospel to the edges of the Earth, making disciples from all nations. When the churches teach “another Gospel,” one that does not align with His Word, trouble is coming. “If a calamity occurs in a city has not the Lord done it?” Here’s what the Lord says to His people, which includes those of us who call on the name of Yeshua: “Seek Me that you may live. Seek the Lord that you may live … Seek good and not evil, that you may live; And thus may the Lord God of hosts be with you, Just as you have said! Hate evil, love good, And establish justice in the gate! … let justice roll down like waters And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

Amidst the judgment of the world, and the judgment of other men or women against us, as followers of Yeshua who keep His commandments, these words from Psalm 56 ought to be ringing in our hearts: “When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me? … In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

Amos 6, Amos 7, Amos 8, Amos 9, Amos 10, Pslam 57

In Amos 6, it’s clear that we cannot sit back and be grateful by the provisions we’ve received from the Lord when the rest of the land is suffering in judgement. It is our duty as God’s people to go out into the land and call it to repentance. If we do not do this, we too will suffer from the judgment. This is analogous with Ezekiel 33. The watchman must call upon the sinner to repent, or the watchmen will be proclaimed guilty.

In Amos 7, we see that when you pray for the Lord to withhold his judgment, He may do so. This is a prayer for repentance and deliverance. “Thus the Lord God showed me, and behold, the Lord God was calling to contend with them by fire, and it consumed the great deep and began to consume the farm land. Then I said, “Lord God, please stop! How can Jacob stand, for he is small?” The Lord changed His mind about this. “This too shall not be,” said the Lord God. We ought to pray for the repentance of the people of America, and pray on their behalf; perhaps the Lord will stay His hand.

We also see that Amos was a herdsman and farmer, but the Lord called him out of this lifestyle to prophesy on His behalf. This is what the Lord did with Peter, also, who he called away from fishing to become a fisher of men. If the Lord calls, we had better answer.

Amos 8 continues along the same theme. There, the Lord criticizes His people on the Sabbath and Holy Feast days for looking forward to the Sabbath and Holy Feast days to be over so they can go back to their work. I’ve seen people do this, and it ALWAYS bothers me greatly. When the sun goes down on the Sabbath, my heart is for it to continue. I always mourn the end of the day of rest dedicated to the Lord. I urge all to cherish every minute of God’s appointed times.

In Amos 9, we see the Lord bring judgment on sinful kingdoms, including Judah, but for the sake of Jacob, He will sort the people of God like wheat, and discard the chaff. The wheat will be preserved forever in the Kingdom of God, while the chaff will be burned up.

Obadiah 1, Jonah 1, Jonah 2, Jonah 3, Jonah 4, Psalm 58

Obadiah is a prophesy to the children of Esau, who traded his inheritance for a bowl of red lentil stew. While his children had the opportunity to repent and get their heart right with the Lord and their neighbor Jacob, they chose to gloat in Jacob’s misfortunes and take advantage of the spoils of the land. Because of this deep-seeded jealousy and hatred, all of Esau will be destroyed on the last day and will be given to other nations who turn toward the Lord. Jacob will burn with fire but not be consumed, but Esau will burn up in the flame. This is a metaphor representing purity of heart, for stubble that burns up does not endure, but gold that is purified lasts forever. Yeshua instructs those caught up in the Last Days church that turns away from the Lord to buy from Him gold refined by fire, and white robes to cover unrighteousness, and salve for their eyes so that they can see. In order to buy these ingredients for eternal life, we must sell everything we have and follow Him.

Jonah has a similar message to Amos, but with a twist; the prophet Jonah disobeyed the Lord at first and went away from His calling. The men on the boat were affected by Jonah’s disobedience and Nineveh continued in sin waiting for the prophet to come and call them to repentance. Only when Jonah turned His heart back to the Lord did good come from him. His Christ-styled self-sacrifice brought faith the seamen, and then his preaching in Nineveh brought repentance to the whole evil land, enemies of the Jews, and even the King turned his heart to the Lord. Jonah’s heart never did take joy in the mission that God had given him, and what a sad state of affairs. Should the Lord not have compassion on a sinful land and try to call them to repentance? He does, and He always sends His prophets to call the land to repentance. The heart of the Lord is that the people will turn from their sins and live; He does not take pleasure in the soul that sins and dies, but rather that the soul repent, turn away from their sin, and live.

I have posted a full sermon on the book of Jonah online that I delivered in June 2021 to attendees of the Porcupine Freedom Festival in New Hampshire if you care to read it: https://odysee.com/@FirstFruitsMinistries:b/BookOfJonah:f

Micah 1, Micah 2, Micah 3, Micah 4, Micah 5, Micah 6, Micah 7, Psalm 59

How can we not do as the Psalmist in Psalm 59, and say. “O my strength, I will sing praises to You; For God is my stronghold, the God who shows me lovingkindness.” Micah, a prophet for sure, tells God’s story another time. “The Lord is coming forth from His place. He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.” This is the first coming of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach. The second coming is prophesied next: “The mountains will melt under Him and the valleys will be split.” All of the strongholds of the world and it’s manner will be destroyed, the “Kingdoms of this World will become the Kingdoms of the Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever.”

In the midst of this knowledge, there is judgment coming: “Woe to those who scheme iniquity … when morning comes, they do it.” These are those who have the “mark of the beast,” to think on the way of the World and to act out the way of the world. The Lord’s calamity will destroy those who fall into this category. The Lord asks, “Do not my words do good to the one walking uprightly?” By all means, yes. To those with the seal of the Holy Spirit, the Mark of God, they have the Word of God between the frontlets of their eyes and bound on their right hands; they think, speak and do the will of God by obeying His commandments and trusting in Him.  

Those who do injustice will “cry out to the Lord, but He will not answer them. Instead, He will hide His face from them at that time because they have practiced evil deeds.” The Lord Yeshua does not save those who disobey His commandments. Worse than those who “practice lawlessness” (see Matthew 7), are those who lead them to practice lawlessness by prophesising to them “Peace,” but “against [God] who puts nothing in their mouths they declare holy war.” These are the teachers and preachers who today say the “law is done away with” or that you don’t have to keep God’s commandments to make it into Heaven. What a lie against the Word of God! God says, “the sun will go down on the prophets and the day will become dark over them.” Those who preach the Word of God, to obey God and keep His commandments and keep the faith of Jesus, these will be “filled with power—with the Spirit of the Lord.” The purpose of this power is to warn the rest and call them to repentance, “to make known to Jacob his rebellious act.”

In the Last Days, the Lord’s mountain, His Holy Kingdom, “will be established.” Those who are saved by Christ to obey the Lord will say, “come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us about His ways and that we may walk in His paths.” Those who desire with all of their hearts to know the Lord and His commandments and His ways are the ones who will dwell on His Holy Mountain, but from “Zion will go forth the law, even the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” This is the Great Commission, for we are to go out and teach the world to be disciples of Yeshua, to love Him, trust in Him, and keep His commandments.

In Micah 5, we see the Lord’s first coming prophesied, “from Bethlehem Ephrathah, “One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.” He is God, the Son, who Created the Heavens and the Earth and everything in them, and who came in the flesh to teach us how to obey Him and follow Him and saved those who turn toward Him from their sins. “This One will be our peace.” And after He came, we see “the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations … like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep.” This is the time when the Lord, slowly but surely, tears down all of the abominations of the world and sets up the time of His kingdom. When He returns, He “will execute vengeance in anger and wrath on the nations which have not obeyed.” There will be a remnant taken from all of them to live with the Lord, those who trust and obey. Everyone else will be destroyed.

In Micah 6, we hear the Lord point us back to a critical story mentioned quite frequently throughout all of Scripture as an example for us: “My people, remember now What Balak king of Moab counseled And what Balaam son of Beor answered him, … So that you might know the righteous acts of the Lord.” Balaam answered and said that he could not curse what the Lord has blessed. If we trust in Yeshua and obey His commands, we are untouchable by those who want to curse us. “What can man do to you?” Jesus said in Matthew 10:28, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” This is the lesson from Balaam, who tricked Israel through temptation to sin, which led to the loss of their protection. If we practice sin after salvation, we cannot dwell with the Lord. But we should not worry about sacrifice, for Christ is our sacrifice, and instead we should be obedient children doing the will of our Father: “Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?”

In Micah 7, we see that as obedient children, we are few and far between on the land. In fact, we cannot even trust our neighbor or our family members, for even they have turned away from the Lord. Yeshua said that unless we love Him more than our wife, our parents or our children, we can’t be His disciples. Micah says the same here. This must be our heart: “as for me, I will watch expectantly for the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy. Though I fall I will rise; Though I dwell in darkness, the Lord is a light for me.” The Lord will Himself “shepherd His people with His scepter, the flock of His possession which dwells by itself in the woodland, in the midst of a fruitful field.” We must be a people set apart, willing to do God’s will, bearing fruit for His kingdom. He will show us miracles. For “Who is a God like [Yeshua], who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in unchanging love.” We must trust in Him and obey His commandments, and He will pardon and bring us into His kingdom.

Nahum 1, Nahum 2, Nahum 3, Psalm 60

The Lord is a jealous God and He takes vengeance on those who worship other gods before Him; He will not tolerate it. While slow to anger, He will by no means leave the guilty who persist in unfaithfulness unpunished. He warns a people over and over again, but at some point the warnings cease and the judgment comes. Lord sent Jonah to Nineveh to warn the city of its sin and the whole city repented and a generation was saved, even the king himself. Nahum prophesies destruction on Nineveh just a few generations later, because the children of the men who repented have returned to their wicked ways and sadly, Nahum’s prophesy does not change their fate. Nineveh is destroyed this time. “For never again will the wicked one pass through you; He is cut off completely.”

“All because of the many harlotries of the harlot, The charming one, the mistress of sorceries, Who sells nations by her harlotries And families by her sorceries.” This harlot leads cities and nations toward idolatry, away from God, and she keeps coming back, because she is powered by the evil one who seeks to lead the Saints astray. One day, the Lord will destroy her forever by exposing the absurdity of worshipping idols, and those who remained faithful to the Lord will be saved.

Habakkuk 1, Habakkuk 2, Habakkuk 3, Psalm 61

From the great flood that destroyed the whole world and made it into a new creation for Noah and his seven companions to the flood of Chaldeans who wiped out Israel and Judah and all of the nations of the ancient world, God judges Man for sin and His wrath when executed is harsh. “You, oh Lord, have appointed them to judge,” Habakkuk says. “Let all the Earth be silent before” the Lord, who is “in HIs holy temple.” We pray for repentance, “Lord, revive your work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.” No matter what violence surrounds me or evil seems to overcome, “I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation, Yeshua, the Lord God is my strength.”

Zephaniah 1, Zephaniah 2, Zephaniah 3, Psalm 62

Yeshua said the Last Days would be “like the days of Noah” in Matthew 24, where men were marrying and giving in marriage, buying and selling and essentially living the life that they were given by God. As Job says, the Lord has given and the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” We must be like these two men if we expect to meet Yeshua in the clouds, for it is abundantly clear that like God destroyed the whole Earth in a flood—and promised never to do that again—He has said repeatedly that He will destroy the whole Earth in fire on the Last Day, a fire that comes out of His mouth, and that fire is the Word of God. The Lord says in Zephaniah: “I will completely remove all things from the face of the earth. …
… I will remove man and beast, I will remove the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea, and the ruins along with the wicked, and I will cut off man from the face of the Earth.” Abraham believed God and it was accounted to Him as righteousness. Yeshua said “I am the door.” He also called Himself the narrow gate at the end of the narrow path. Noah’s Ark had a single door that saved Noah and his family when the rest of the whole world was utterly destroyed. The Lord tells Zephaniah: “And all the earth will be devoured In the fire of His jealousy, For He will make a complete end, Indeed a terrifying one, Of all the inhabitants of the earth.” Are we like Noah and Job, prepared for this day? Do we truly follow Yeshua, are we perfect, like our Heavenly Father is perfect, keeping the commandments through His power that He gave us with all faith? If not, we will be caught up in the fire. Pray for Yeshua’s deliverance and follow through with action that shows your faith, for faith without works is dead.

Zephaniah 2 and 3 explain that we ought to repent, “before the decree takes effect … before the burning anger of the Lord comes upon you.” We ought to “seek the Lord, all you humble of the earth who have carried out his ordinances; seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden in the day of the Lord’s anger.” This describes the point of time when Yeshua returns and gathers together all His Saints with His angels (see 1 Corinthians 15), and then His wrath will burn up the entire World. Those who are grafted into Israel through Messiah Yeshua, both Jews and Gentiles, will inherit the land that remains after everything is torn down.

The Lord repeats: “Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled, the tyrannical city! She heeded no voice, she accepted no instruction. She did not trust in the Lord, she did not draw near to her God.” This describes those deceived by false teachers and the false church, those who teach the law is done away with and you have to do nothing once you’ve been saved, but God will do everything for you.

No, the Lord is looking for a people like He always has, the same type of people, to become His bride, to become One with Him and HIs holiness through Christ Jesus. These will be “a humble and lowly people, and they will take refuge in the name of the Lord,” Yeshua. You see, “the remnant of Israel,” whether Jew or Gentile, “will do no wrong and tell no lies, nor will a deceitful tongue be found in their mouths.” These will inherit the Kingdom, and the Lord God Yeshua will be in our midst, a victorious warrior who destroys all the rebellious of the Earth. He will gather those who grieve about the world that has shunned the Lord and His commandments throughout human history, for those who long to be with the Lord and do what He says, because we love Him. We are the outcasts, who were a people set apart to the Lord to do His will, and “all of the shame will be turned into praise and renown in all the earth.” I long for this day, and there is no other pearl that I would rather own.

Psalm 62 speaks my heart: “My soul waits in silence for God only; from Him is my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken.”

Haggai 1, Haggai 2, Psalm 63

Haggai speaks to us today: “Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate? … Consider your ways! You have sown much, but harvest little…” The Lord, right before He ascended into Heaven, said “go and make disciples of all nations” baptize them, and teach them all I commanded (from Genesis to Revelation). Do we sit in our paneled houses while the temple of the Lord lies desolate? While the churches crumble with false doctrine leading to lawlessness and the ministers look more like the world than your average “moral” atheist. How can we sit back and relax when the Lord’s Temple is being defiled? It is “My house which lies desolate while each of you runs to his own house,” the Lord says.

Historically, Haggai prophesies about the second temple: “The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘and in this place I will give peace.” Read about the glory of the first temple in 2 Chronicles 4: “the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.” How was the latter house more glorious when the glory of the Lord never came into it like this? This is because the Lord God, Creator of Heaven and Earth and everything in it, was born into the flesh of a man and walked among us, even into the Temple of the Living God. Our Lord Yeshua walked in that Temple, and thus the glory of the second Temple was more glorious than the first. But now He builds a Third Temple, which is the Body of believers who follow Him and keep His commandments, the temple of the Holy Spirit of God most High, whose temple you are. Be sure you do not do anything to defile this temple.

Zechariah 1, Zechariah 2, Zechariah 3, Zechariah 4, Psalm 64

What prophesy! The return to Jerusalem, the coming Messiah, the Gentiles being grafted-in to Israel for an eternal unification with God! It’s all here! It all starts here: “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Return to Me,’ declares the Lord of hosts, ‘that I may return to you,’ says the Lord of hosts. We must turn to the Lord in repentance through Messiah Yeshua and “go and sin no more” as Yeshua told us through multiple stories, or the Lord’s Holy Spirit will not come into us. It is possible to “quench the Spirit” through sin, and thus as the Lord tells Zechariah, “return now from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.” Listen to the Lord’s words, His statutes, which He commanded through His servants the prophets, and through His own mouth when He walked the Earth in the flesh.

The Lord next prophesies about being “exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and Zion,” but he is “exceedingly angry with the nations who are at ease.” For this reason, the Lord would rebuild His house in Jerusalem and set-up the time of His visitation. It would be inhabited without walls, for the Lord God would provide “a wall of fire around her,” Israel, “the apple of His eye,” and He would be “the glory in her midst.” This happened when Yeshua came in the flesh. He tells Israel: “Behold I am coming and I will dwell in your midst … Many nations will join themselves to the Lord in that day and will become My people.” This is describing the age of grace that we now dwell in. The fullness of the gentiles is about to come in, and then the great falling away will occur as Israel increasingly accepts our Messiah Yeshua and the Day approaches, when they will say, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” “The Lord will possess Judah as His portion in the Holy Land, and will again choose Jerusalem. The Lord was aroused from His Holy habitation, and He will be once more when He comes again to inherit the New Heaven and New Earth forever.

The prophesy of Joshua the high priest indicates how only through Yeshua, the Branch, the stone with seven eyes, can remove the iniquity of the land and of the Assembly. He would do it in one day, the day He was crucified in Jerusalem. Upon His resurrection, “every one of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and under his fig tree.” The Great Commission of Matthew 28 is what is meant by this. It is our duty to spread the Word of the Lord, His Gospel, regarding Messiah Yeshua and the salvation we have in Him, for we are among the Menorah, the lampstand with seven spouts, with the two witnesses, the Law and the Prophets standing on each side of us. We are to walk, “not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,” said the Lord of Hosts. The cornerstone has come with “grace, grace to it.” This is the foundation of the House of the Lord, the Temple which He is building in us and through us, His Body, His Holy Assembly, His Holy Habitation. When He returns, He will become the head and we will dwell with Him forever. We ought to use Zechariah to help us interpret Revelation, because many of the same images are here.

Zechariah 5, Zechariah 6, Zechariah 7, Zechariah 8, Psalm 65

When you see “the two women,” as in much of Scripture, or “the two trees,” they identify the two paths we have to choose from, the wide path or the narrow path, the tree of knowledge of good and evil, or the tree of life, the woman who bore a male child whose offspring will inherit the Earth, or the whore of Babylon, who sold the world out for her pharmakeia, her worldly passions, her sorcery and her promises of a man-made heaven. “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess.” (Deuteronomy 30:15-16). 1 John 5:11-12 makes this all clear, “And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” Yeshua is the tree of life, the male child born to the woman, the woman wisdom (personified in the feminine), the narrow path, and without Him, there is no life.

Please note: “He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” (1 John 2:4)

In Zechariah 6, we see defined here the four horsemen of Revelation 6, for they ride more than once throughout human history; in fact, they ride every time the Lord brings judgment on the Earth, for “These are the four spirits of heaven, going forth after standing before the Lord of all the earth…” These are the spirits who stand before the throne of God in Heaven, who go forth to execute His judgments and His blessings. And as always, the Lord’s judgment is meant to bring repentance and then blessing to the remnant who repents.

In this case, the Lord is setting up the coming of His “Branch,” from Strong’s 6780, “(צֶמַח) tzemach; a sprout (usually concrete), literal; or figurative,  branch, bud, that which (where) grew (upon), spring(-ing).” This is “a man” whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from His death on the cross and resurrection from the dead and “build the temple of the Lord. … He will bear the honor and sit and rule on HIs throne.” We see here prophesied, that He is both a king and “a priest on His throne,” and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices.” This Branch tells us in John 15:5, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

Note how Zechariah’s prophesy unfolds in chapter 6 about Yeshua: “Those who are far off will come and build the temple of the Lord. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. And it will take place if you COMPLETELY OBEY the Lord your God.” By the power of His Holy Spirit (John 14). Read 1 Corinthians 3:9-17 and you will see clearly the Temple that God is building through His vine. Here’s an excerpt: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.” In the New Covenant, Yeshua is the High Priest and the Mediator, the King of kings, and we are the Temple of God, having the law of God written on our hearts, looking alone to Christ as our one-time sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins.

As we walk in the light of Christ, we must be sure that our heart is right before the Lord, for this is the circumcision made without hands that He looks to for our salvation. We must be sure not to fall into the same trap as the people of old, who “when you fasted and mourned … was it actually for Me that you fasted? When you eat and drink, do you not eat for yourselves and do you not drink for yourselves?” The Lord wants us to worship Him and do things His way, not to forge our own path or come up with our own traditions. He wants us to “dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to His brother; and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor, and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.” We MUST NOT make our “hearts like flint so that they could not hear the law and the words which the Lord has sent by His Spirit through the former prophets.” If we do not obey the commandments, “great wrath” will come “from the Lord of Hosts.” If He calls and we do not listen, He will not listen or save us on the day of His wrath.

The Lord promises to return to Zion to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. He did this in 30 AD, and He will do this again on the Last Day. This is when Jerusalem “will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the Lord of Hosts will be called the Holy Mountain.” This day is yet to come. The Lord will gather His people, whether Jew or Gentile, from the land of the east and the land of the west, and He will bring us back to live in the midst of Jerusalem. We shall be His people, and I will be our God in truth (your law is truth) and righteousness (Christ is our righteousness). This remnant will not be treated with the fire of testing as the Lord has done in the former days, but rather in this eternal Kingdom, “there will be peace for the seed: the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce and the heavens will give their dew, and God will cause the remnant of His people to inherit all these things.” This is the Kingdom of God, eternal life in the New Heaven and the New Earth for those who keep His commandments and the faith of Messiah Yeshua.

We must be grafted-in to Israel to inherit the Kingdom of God. “It will come about that just as you were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you that you may become a blessing. Do not fear; let your hands be strong.” These are the things that we ought to do as Christians grafted-in to the Tree of Israel: “speak the truth to one another; judge with truth and judgment for peace in your gates. Also let none of you devise evil in your heart against another, and do not love perjury.” Yeshua told us, “Love one another, as I have loved you.” He said the second greatest commandment, after love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, is to “love your neighbor as yourself.” He says to keep His feasts with joy, gladness, and cheer, and by this we will “love truth and peace.”

And hear this: “It will be that peoples will come, even the inhabitants of many cities.” These are the Gentiles who are grafted-in. They will say, “Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the Lord, and to seek the Lord of Hosts.” The Lord prophesies through Zechariah 8 that Gentiles, “many peoples and mighty nations” will come to seek the Lord of Hosts, Yeshua, in Jerusalem, and to seek His favor there. But here is the most important part: “In those days ten men from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’” As Christians, we become Jews through Christ, and Paul clarifies this in Romans 2:29: “he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit.” When we grasp the garment of a Jew, we grasp onto the Tzit-tzit, the tassels with a cord of blue commanded by God in Numbers 15:38, which represents the commandments of God. Yeshua, our Jewish Messiah, is the only way we are saved, and then we must go with Him, “follow Me,” He said, by keeping the commandments of God.

Zechariah 9, Zechariah 10, Zechariah 11, Zechariah 12, Zechariah 13, Zechariah 14, Psalm 66

Zechariah is one of the great prophets of the End Days, from the coming Messiah and His crucifixion and resurrection, to the return of the Messiah and His institution of the Eternal Kingdom, which will have its capital in Jerusalem. It is not sequential. Each section looks to both the first coming and the second coming. It takes study and discernment to see this, and for so long, so many have missed this. Revelation is written with the same structure. It’s not sequential. It jumps back and forth to the first coming and the second coming, to the early church and the church in the last days. This is truly a wonderful work to read alongside Revelation to fully understand its implications.

In Zechariah 9, we see that the nations of the world, Tyre here, attempt to build themselves towers and heap up treasure. Has America not done this, calling itself blessed while flagrantly turning its back on God. Calling itself great when truly God alone is great. God will destroy the proud nations; “behold, the Lord will cast her out, He will destroy her power in the sea and she will be devoured by fire.” The other nations will see judgment come on the proud nations and fear, and be sorrowful, and will lose their hope in the world. “Ashkelon shall see it and fear; Gaza also shall be very sorrowful; And Ekron, for He dried up her expectation.” Does this not sound familiar: “They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth! For in one hour she is made desolate.’” (Revelation 18:19). Trye is the city personified as Satan’s throne, and its prince was Satan in Ezekiel 28. Satan is the ruler of every nation that puts its own glory above the glory of God and turns its back on His law.

Note the next verse in Revelation 18:20: “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her!” Consider Zechariah’s next words in Chapter 9: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.” Yeshua came first lowly, riding on a donkey, so we know that He is the Messiah when He came the first, and it is His Kingdom that will overthrow all the kingdoms of the Earth. The Saints will rejoice in this and not put any of their cares in the interests of any nation of the world, for Yeshua’s kingdom is not of this world. When He came, He spoke peace to the nations, and then His dominion spread over 2000 years to “all of the ends of the earth.” He set the prisoners of sin and death free through His blood. Every day He declares that He will restore double to us of what we give up in this world, when He returns to bring in the next. When the Lord blows the trumpet, “the last trumpet,” He will come and devour all of those who oppose Him, and the “Lord [our] God will save [us] in that day, as the flock of His people.”

As we move into Zechariah 10, we know He will come again “in the time of the latter rain,” which means during the Fall Feasts, which begin with Yom Teruah, the Feast of Trumpets. When He comes, he will destroy the false prophets, those who preached against Him and His commandments. The Jews will lead the world as they turn to their Messiah in keeping the commandments of God; the time of the Gentiles will be fulfilled, and we will have successfully provoked the Jews to jealousy, which according to Romans 11 is our purpose. From the House of Judah came the “cornerstone,” the tent peg, the battle bow, and He will rule with Judah and Israel being His people on whom He will have mercy through His blood. He will gather Israel from the ends of the Earth on the Last Day, He will whistle for us and gather us and redeem us according to His will, for His sheep hear His voice, and then we will increase.

Zechariah 11 speaks again to the false shepherds who either teach that Yeshua is not the Messiah or that the law is done away with. Both are wrong, for a testimony of two is needed to enter into God’s inheritance. He came in the flesh and rebuked them on both counts. He broke the Old Covenant in a single day, bringing in the new Covenant by His blood. The poor in spirit who watched Him knew He was the Word of God. He was sold for 30 pieces of silver, which was traded for the Potter’s field. From that point, He is against all who fatten themselves with worthless teaching who leads the flock astray. He blinds them, He turns against them, and He makes their work fruitless.

After His resurrection, Zechariah 12 prophesies about the centrality of Jerusalem for the past 2000 years. It has become “a very heavy stone for all peoples” and “all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces.” While all the nations of the World have gathered against it, the Lord will strike all these enemies with madness and destroy their ability to succeed against God’s Holy capital. Jerusalem will be inhabited in the last days, God says, and the Lord will preserve the remnant of His people there, 1/3 of them will be saved. These “will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. In that day there will be great mourning in Jerusalem,” when they realize that they have rejected their savior for 2000 years. This is a repentance, a turning back, this is the realization of the prophesy from our Lord, when He said, “You will not see me again until you say blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord.”

When He came, Yeshua “cut off the names of the idols from the land and they shall no longer be remembered.” He will also cast out false prophets (false teachers) and unclean spirits, we read in Zechariah 13. Because of that, the leaders would strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” From this point, God would turn His hand against the little ones. In fact, those who have truly followed the shepherd over the past 2000 years were the ones who were persecuted, who were tested in fire, to see if they would obey the Lord in this place despite every possible pressure to turn against Him. Only 1/3 of those who call on the name of the Lord, Yeshua, will be saved. One third of the Christians, whether Jew or Gentile, will be refined as silver is refined and tested as gold is tested. But we will also call upon His name, and He will answer us. We are His people, and we will say, the “Lord is my God.” Yeshua is Yahweh!

The Day of the Lord is coming. All the nations who puff themselves up will turn against Jerusalem. Half the city will go into captivity; this day is coming very soon. The remnant of the people of Israel will not leave the city and the Lord will come and defend them, and fight against those nations. As we read in Ezekiel, the Lord will come in to Jerusalem through the East Gate, from the direction of the Mount of Olives. This prophesy repeats many times in Scripture: “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.” (Revelation 1:7) “For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” (Matthew 24:27). On that day, when the Mount of Olives on the East side of Jerusalem breaks in two, the inhabitants of Jerusalem who follow Yeshua will flee through the new valley that was formed, and then all the Saints will return with the Lord with them from that direction. In the evening, the Light of Lord will shine as the sun and the moon fade away.

From there, we see the establishment of the New Jerusalem, which is further described in the latter chapters of Revelation. “And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be— “The Lord is one,” And His name one.” His name, Yeshua, will be the only name that we know to call God, because He will be dwelling in our midst. We read in Philippians 2, “Every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess, that Yeshua HaMashiach is Yahweh, to the Glory of God the Father.” From that point, all the inhabitants of the Earth will keep the Feast of Tabernacles and come to Jerusalem to celebrate God with us forever, for He will tabernacle with us from that point forevermore. No nation that resists the Lord will survive.

Malachi 1, Malachi 2, Psalm 67

Malachi 1-2 is summed up by this statement: “So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.” You have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet you say, “How have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delights in them,” or, “Where is the God of justice?” The People of God have turned to false gods, they have given God their second best, they have treated their tradition as an obligation rather than their first love, and they still as the Lord for blessing despite all of this. The Lord wants His name honored, He wants to be put first, He does not want to share worship with anything else besides Him, He wants our first and our best, and He wants our hearts. Through Yeshua, the Lord has opened up the opportunity for all the peoples of all the nations to seek Him the way He intended for Israel to seek Him, and whomever does seek Him in the way He desires is grafted in to the Israel that will stand.

Malachi 3, Malachi 4, Psalm 68

Malachi prophesies, “I am going to send My messenger, and He will clear the way before Me, and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple. Yeshua indeed came as prophesied. He came to judge those who held to the traditions of men and rejected the commandments of God. “From the days of your fathers, you have turned aside from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” God says. “For I, the Lord, do not change.” Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. For instance, pay tithes with all your hearts, giving God your first and your best, and He will bless you in return. Keep His commandments, including His Sabbath. Judgment is coming to those who refuse. The day is coming, burning like a furnace, and the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff and set ablaze. Those who fear God, who remember the law of Moses, healing will come upon them and they will live. Fathers and children will turn toward one another in lovingkindness and righteousness, and everyone else will perish.