Archive for April, 2012

Isaiah 4:3 Jerusalem Survivors, Known Before Creation

Posted in Isaiah with tags , , , , , , , , on April 29, 2012 by paulthepoke

Isaiah 4:3 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.

Specifically, this is a list of people for those who are in Jerusalem. It is clearly for Jerusalem, there are three references alone in the sentence. Zion is a reference to Jerusalem and it means “parched place”. The survivors are holy, special and set apart.

God clearly keeps a ledger of what is taking place on planet Earth. He knows the eternal destination of all of the people (past, present, and future). This concept is encompassed from before the creation all the way through the book of Revelation. For example, look at the references to The Book of life. God is keeping track of everybody. Revelation 13:8b …everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. Known from the beginning, the book belongs to Jesus, He is the Lamb. Ownership of the book is confirmed in Revelation 21:27. This is a radical statement. God is claiming to know who would turn to Him and believe in His Lamb before the creation of the universe. God knew in eternity past what individuals would choose for their eternal destination in the 21st century.

Psalm 139:6 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them. God knows the number of days we are going to live before we are born and physically on the planet.  God has seen our soul and spirit.

Exodus 32:32-33 Moses speaking “But now, if You will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out from Your book which You have written!” The LORD said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. Nation Israel was aware of the Book of Life while wondering in the desert.

Psalm 69:28 May they be blotted out of the book of life and may they not be recorded with the righteous. 

Psalm 87:6 The LORD will count when He registers the peoples, “This one was born there.” Selah. He knows when and where people were born.

Revelation 20:12, 15 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.  These verses point out there are many books in addition to the Book of Life. Our lives are being documented, both good and bad. There is an eternal accounting. Our actions and choices are recorded. He knows the eternal destination of individuals whether it is Heaven or Hell.

Luke 10:20 “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.” -Jesus

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Isaiah 4:2 Branch of the LORD

Posted in Isaiah with tags , , , , , , on April 22, 2012 by paulthepoke

Isaiah 4:2 In that day 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. 

The Branch of the LORD is a name that is given of the Messiah in the Old Testament. In the present day and age, we know him as Jesus. He is the Branch of the LORD. Listed below are examples in the Old Testament of the name of the Branch.

Isaiah 11:1 Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.

Zechariah 3:8 ‘Now listen, Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who are sitting in front of you—indeed they are men who are a symbol, for behold, I am going to bring in My servant the Branch.

Jeremiah 23:5 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land.

Zechariah 6:12 “Then say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Behold, a man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of the LORD.

The word for “branch” in the Hebrew is tsemach. Per Strong’s, it means: a sprout, growth, branch, or shoot. In Isaiah 4:2, the “Branch” is of the LORD or Yahweh. Two members of the Trinity are represented in this verse, the Father and the Son.

The description of the Branch is beautiful, glorious, honorable, abundant with riches, splendorous, and reverent in the Hebrew.

During the reign of the Branch, the vegetation and produce will be prolific. This is confirmed throughout the Old Testament. Three examples include Jeremiah 31:12 “They will come and shout for joy on the height of Zion, And they will be radiant over the bounty of the LORD— Over the grain and the new wine and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd; and their life will be like a watered garden, and they will never languish again.

Isaiah 30:23 Then He will give you rain for the seed which you will sow in the ground, and bread from the yield of the ground, and it will be rich and plenteous; on that day your livestock will graze in a roomy pasture.

Ezekiel 34:27a “Also the tree of the field will yield its fruit and the earth will yield its increase, and they will be secure on their land…”

For the remnant that escapes and is delivered, better days are coming. That is the case with God. Blessing and abundance follows trials and tribulation.

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Isaiah 3:25-4:1 A Shortage of Men

Posted in Isaiah with tags , , , , , on April 15, 2012 by paulthepoke

Isaiah 3:25-4:1 Your men will fall by the sword and your mighty ones in battle. And her gates will lament and mourn, and deserted she will sit on the ground. For seven women will take hold of one man in that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach!”

The last piece of the judgment is noted in the above verses. The loss of life will be devastating, especially to the men of the city. War will devastate the male population. The women and the city will sit in lonely isolation. An extreme sense of sadness and mourning are noted in the Hebrew grammar.

Look at the change of attitude with the women of Jerusalem. The women of Jerusalem previously focused on how they presented themselves. “We want more, more, more…”, material possessions (verses 18-24). They lusted for stuff more than they valued a legitimate relationship.

If you were a man and happened to survive, odds were definitely in your favor. There were seven women for every man. I am sure this lead to another set of issues and abuses. It would stand to reason some of the men may have taken advantage of the situation. I am sure there were reminders and leverages towards women. “Hey, you can always go somewhere else”. If this were today, women would likely be more tolerant of their man leaving the lid up on the toilet.

Women had gone from high maintenance with excessiveness to being more than willing to accommodate any man. In Jewish culture, the husband is to provide food, shelter, and clothing for his family. Women were willing to excuse the responsibilities of food and clothing being provided by the husband. Women are now willing to be responsible for their own clothing and food. A childless woman would be ridiculed by other women. An example of this is 1 Samuel 1:6-7, 10 with Hannah and Peninnah. These are the wives of Elkanah. Her rival (Peninnah), however, would provoke her bitterly to irritate her (Hannah), because the LORD had closed her womb. It happened year after year, as often as she went up to the house of the LORD, she (Peninnah) would provoke her; so she (Hannah) wept and would not eat. She (Hannah), greatly distressed, prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly. Culturally, it was a curse for a woman to be without a husband and childless.

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Resurrection

Posted in Gospel with tags , , , , , , , , on April 5, 2012 by paulthepoke

1 Corinthians 15:4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…

Raised “egeiro” in the Greek

to arouse from sleep, to awake, to arouse from the sleep of death, to recall the dead to life 

Literally, Jesus was raised out of, from among the dead. 

1 Corinthians 15:13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised…

Resurrection “anastasis” in the Greek

raising up, rising (e.g. from a seat); a rising from the dead; that of Christ; that of all men at the end of this present age. 

The resurrection of Jesus is the power of God. The resurrection validates and authenticates Christ’s death on the cross which is the payment for sin. It proved Jesus was deity. 

Without the Jesus’ resurrection, there is no hope for our bodies. He is the first of the resurrection. He is the promise our resurrection. The result of sin is bodily death. As believers in Christ, our soul and spirit are separated from the body at the point of physical death. The promise of the resurrection is the reconnection of our body, soul, and spirit into a glorified body. The resurrection is the power over death. Without the resurrection, our faith is pointless. See 1 Corinthians 15.

Hebrews 7:25 Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. 

Because of Jesus’ resurrection and ascension into Heaven, He is alive in bodily form at the right hand of the Father. It is there, Jesus represents believers on their behalf to the Father. 

Acts 17:31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

God the Father will judge the world through His Son Jesus. Based on what, the fact of the resurrection.

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Why Did Jesus Have to Die?

Posted in Gospel with tags , , , , , on April 3, 2012 by paulthepoke

As we approach the holiday of “Easter”, many will ask “, What does a rabbit have to do with Jesus, why are eggs involved, and why did Jesus have to die?”

There are many traditions as to how “Easter” gets its name. Ishtar (Easter) is the Babylonian queen of heaven. She is the Assyrian and Babylonian goddess of fertility, love, war, and sex. Astarte (Easter) is the Syrian sun goddess, known as the queen of heaven. According to legend, she allegedly laid a golden egg which became the sun. There is also a pagan tradition concerning a bird who wanted to be a rabbit. The goddess Oestre (Easter) turned the bird into a rabbit. According to legend, this rabbit could still lay eggs. From this, the egg became a symbol of the start of new life, rebirth, and fertility. A rabbit became a symbol of fertility and new life. What does any of this nonsense have to do with Jesus? Absolutely Nothing!!!

One small problem, the early Christian church joined the fun and adopted the egg as a symbol of the resurrection of Jesus. This has done nothing but add to the confusion to the point and purpose of Jesus’ death.

Why did Jesus have to do die? This point is specific and clear according to the Bible. At this time, I will let the Bible speak for itself.

1 Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures…

Hebrews 9:26b … but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

1 Peter 2:24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

Just in case anyone is wondering, the message of a sacrificial death for sin rings loud and clear in the Old Testament in Isaiah. Look at the detail of these verses. This was written approximately 700 years before Christ. It reads as a narrative of the events along with the accounts in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Isaiah 53:3-12 He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; and as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? His grave was assigned with wicked men, yet He was with a rich man in His death, because He had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in His mouth. But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; if He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; by His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the booty with the strong; because He poured out Himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He Himself bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors.

But wait, there is more…

Hebrews 9:28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a SECOND time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.

Just believe it (John 3:16).

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