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God’s message to me: your heritage means nothing. many good and God fearing kings had sons who were pure evil and Evil kings had sons who turned good. Hezekiah served God more thoroughly than any king since David and destroyed all false worship in Judah. His son rebuilt those high places and idols, He sacrificed his sons to false gods, he killed and destroyed in the name of false gods, he practiced witchcraft and consulted mediums. He was pure evil. His son Amon did the same. His grandson Josiah became king at age 8 and turned Israel back to god destroying idolatry and bringing back the law of God and begging God’s forgiveness for the sins of his father and grandfather and others. Josiah’s son went right back to all the evil of his grandfather and great-grandfather. His rule only lasted 3 months. Pharaoh made his brother king and he did all the same evils. When his brother was captured by Babylon, the king of Babylon made his uncle king and he continued the evil of his predecessors.
Promises: It’s hard to miss fulfilled prophecy. Hezekiah was warned that he showed Babylon all their treasures and now we can see where Babylon comes and takes those treasures.
Commands: Serve the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind and with all your soul.
Timeless principles: God fulfills his promises. Because he humbled himself before God and asked forgiveness for past sins, God withheld judgment during the time of king Josiah. The evil of Manaseh and Amon had caused God to promise judgment that would make it clear He didn’t tolerate disobedience and turning from God. The judgment would be terrible enough to make the ears tingle of those who heard it.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: God is just. I cannot expect to live like the devil then receive a full pardon and entry to heaven. God has always preserved a remnant who do not turn from His name and they have been made secure despite the troubles that come because of the evil of others. Noah, Abraham, the remnant of Benjamin, the survivors taken captive by Assyria and Babylon. He preserves this remnant and allows them to rebuild in His name that no one can ever say they over came Him.
more to learn for in-depth study: Josiah was zealous for God as no king before or after him. He destroyed all signs of Idolatry in Judah and in the cities of Samaria, some of which dated back to the time of Solomon. He eliminated the mediums, witches and perverted people who served false Gods with acts of evil. He read the law to all of his kingdom and swore to uphold it.
The king of Egypt at this time is Necho. Judah is captured by Babylon in the 8th year of king Nebuchednezer. The king of Babylon appointed Mattania as king and renamed him Zedikiah.
Chronicles is just that. History. It will involve a lot of lineages(begats) and reference material that some may wish to make notes on and use to clarify the timelines they already have. Some of it can be dry reading and boring but, it is important. Not only is every word of scripture meaningful, this section will help to clarify history and prophecy by laying out the details of events.
tomorrow: First Chronicles 1-3
Showing posts with label Egypt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Egypt. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Exodus chapters 16-18
God’s message to me: I don’t need to see the solution to know that it is there. What looked like frost on the ground turned out to be the bread of God. What looked like solid rock became the spring the watered a nation. An impassable sea became a safe path for His people and a death trap for their oppressors.
Promises: “I will provide your needs”, God says. “I will give you your daily bread.”
In an age where we are so dependent on having much and when we are always frightened for the future it is often difficult to remember this principle. The Lord’s prayer says, “Give us this day our daily bread”. God taught us to pray this way so that we would learn to trust him as the Israelites had to learn. He can provide for us enough to last for years without work, or he can provide for us each day as we need. For those that place their faith in him it is a matter of walking before you run. Until we learn to trust Him for our daily needs, we have no right to expect Him to trust us with more.
Commands: Obey God’s command. When God first said “I will see if they will follow my law” He hadn’t written one yet. He simply referred to His commands. He commanded they gather manna and quail for that days need and not keep any overnight. Some of them disobeyed. Later He commanded they take 2 days portion on the sixth day and not go out to gather on the Sabbath. Some of them disobeyed that command as well. It didn’t take long for God to see who was and wasn’t following his command/law. They showed themselves in the first week.
Timeless principles: People tend to depend on what they understand and give no faith to what they don’t. God brought horrible judgments on Egypt but they didn’t trust Him to defeat the Egyptian army. God sent them from Egypt with piles of treasure in clothing, supplies, gold and silver and other precious commodities but they didn’t trust him to provide food. God gave them manna, which covered the earth like frost each morning and sent quail into the camp for them to cook at night but they didn’t trust him for water.
DON’T TRY TO HELP GOD! When God says He will provide that is all you need to know. It will be there. You don’t need to help Him. You couldn’t help Him if you tried. Helping Him is an act of pride and mistrust. Well meaning pastors teach “pray as if it all depended on God and work as thought it all depended on you”. These pastors are WRONG! and there is no scripture to back their words. Scripture teaches the opposite.
God gives us the ability to do things and when He does He expects us to do them. When we lack the ability to deal with a problem that is God’s signal that He is teaching us trust. The key to ending stress: If you can handle the problem do so. If it’s not your problem forget it, you can pray for the person whose problem it is. If it is your problem and you can’t fix it or handle it, give it to God and trust Him to deal with it. Pray over it and move on. Christ asked, “which of you, by worrying, can add one cubit(18in) to his height?” A silly question to be sure, but the point is made. Worrying accomplishes nothing.
more to learn for in-depth study:
Fun Fact: The Children of Israel were to gather 1 Omer of manna each day. That’s a little more than the size of a 2 liter Pepsi bottle. 1 Omer to feed 1 person for 1 day along with the quail that were sent at evening. For those who don’t know, a quail is a small game bird that, when cooked, is like a small flavorful chicken. 1 Quail will make a decent supper for a person.
God inspired Jethro, Moses’ father in law, to propose the first appeals court process. Think of it this way:
The rulers over tens - small claims court
The rulers over fifties - Court of Common Pleas
Rulers over hundreds - Court of Appeals
Rulers over thousands - Federal Appeals court
Moses - US Supreme Court
Names of God: Jehovah Jirah - The Lord Provides (Genesis 22:14) Jehovah Nissi - The Lord is My Banner (Exodus 17:15)
Promises: “I will provide your needs”, God says. “I will give you your daily bread.”
In an age where we are so dependent on having much and when we are always frightened for the future it is often difficult to remember this principle. The Lord’s prayer says, “Give us this day our daily bread”. God taught us to pray this way so that we would learn to trust him as the Israelites had to learn. He can provide for us enough to last for years without work, or he can provide for us each day as we need. For those that place their faith in him it is a matter of walking before you run. Until we learn to trust Him for our daily needs, we have no right to expect Him to trust us with more.
Commands: Obey God’s command. When God first said “I will see if they will follow my law” He hadn’t written one yet. He simply referred to His commands. He commanded they gather manna and quail for that days need and not keep any overnight. Some of them disobeyed. Later He commanded they take 2 days portion on the sixth day and not go out to gather on the Sabbath. Some of them disobeyed that command as well. It didn’t take long for God to see who was and wasn’t following his command/law. They showed themselves in the first week.
Timeless principles: People tend to depend on what they understand and give no faith to what they don’t. God brought horrible judgments on Egypt but they didn’t trust Him to defeat the Egyptian army. God sent them from Egypt with piles of treasure in clothing, supplies, gold and silver and other precious commodities but they didn’t trust him to provide food. God gave them manna, which covered the earth like frost each morning and sent quail into the camp for them to cook at night but they didn’t trust him for water.
DON’T TRY TO HELP GOD! When God says He will provide that is all you need to know. It will be there. You don’t need to help Him. You couldn’t help Him if you tried. Helping Him is an act of pride and mistrust. Well meaning pastors teach “pray as if it all depended on God and work as thought it all depended on you”. These pastors are WRONG! and there is no scripture to back their words. Scripture teaches the opposite.
God gives us the ability to do things and when He does He expects us to do them. When we lack the ability to deal with a problem that is God’s signal that He is teaching us trust. The key to ending stress: If you can handle the problem do so. If it’s not your problem forget it, you can pray for the person whose problem it is. If it is your problem and you can’t fix it or handle it, give it to God and trust Him to deal with it. Pray over it and move on. Christ asked, “which of you, by worrying, can add one cubit(18in) to his height?” A silly question to be sure, but the point is made. Worrying accomplishes nothing.
more to learn for in-depth study:
Fun Fact: The Children of Israel were to gather 1 Omer of manna each day. That’s a little more than the size of a 2 liter Pepsi bottle. 1 Omer to feed 1 person for 1 day along with the quail that were sent at evening. For those who don’t know, a quail is a small game bird that, when cooked, is like a small flavorful chicken. 1 Quail will make a decent supper for a person.
God inspired Jethro, Moses’ father in law, to propose the first appeals court process. Think of it this way:
The rulers over tens - small claims court
The rulers over fifties - Court of Common Pleas
Rulers over hundreds - Court of Appeals
Rulers over thousands - Federal Appeals court
Moses - US Supreme Court
Names of God: Jehovah Jirah - The Lord Provides (Genesis 22:14) Jehovah Nissi - The Lord is My Banner (Exodus 17:15)
Monday, January 19, 2009
Exodus Chapters 10-12
God's message to me: Revenge is in God's hands. As He punished the land of Egypt for it's oppression He will punish those who wrong me.
Promises: He will deliver me from the worst conditions and see that I come out in prosperity.
Commands: Do what God commands even if it doesn't make sense to you. His plan sees beyond what you can and will work for the good in the end. (Caveat: God will not command you to do anything that violates his previous command. If you feel led to do something which the bible forbids then you are not led by God but by your own mind, your own heart, or by the enemy.)
Timeless principle: In this case the principle is expressed in writing. The Passover feast has been held by practicing Jews from the time of their escape from Egypt until this day. Easter is set on our calenders and isn't always consistent with theirs but, will always fall with a short time of passover. Christ was Crucified just before the passover and rose from the grave just after. The blood on the doorposts and lentils is prophetically symbolic of the crucification. The command against breaking any bones of the passover lamb is symbolic of the fact that none of Christs bones was broken.
Passover is a feast of remembrance for the people of Israel so they do not forget their escape from Egypt. It is doubly significant to the Messianic Jew who know what it prophesied and can look back on the deliverance from Egypt and the deliverance from sin by Christ. For those who feel that Easter has to many pagan trappings, perhaps you should consider the time of passover as the appropriate time to celebrate Christs deliverance of your soul.
more to learn for in-depth study: Why did God harden the heart of Pharaoh? Why did he force Pharaoh into doing things that brought such horrible judgments? The answer is in the text.
The father of this particular Pharaoh had taken the children of Israel from the position of honored friends of Egypt to the position of slaves. The Egyptians went along with this for the most part. Exceptions, like the midwives who spared the children from being killed by Pharaoh's command, were rewarded by God. Most were complicit in the oppression of God's people. This continued until the Pharaoh's son, and Moses' adoptive brother, took the throne and he continued the oppression.
For the crime of oppressing His people, God brought judgment on the Egyptian people. He hardened the heart of Pharaoh because he was their leader. Through his actions God could demonstrate his justice by punishing Egypt. God could demonstrate His power, by reminding everyone of the terror He could bring when His commands are disobeyed. God could demonstrate his grace by freeing His children and bringing them to prosperity.
It's a basic rule that society has no real, long term, memory. God could have made Pharaoh free the Jews the first time he was asked. If he had done that the Egyptians would have missed their slaves, they would have sent them away with nothing, they would have probably come to retake them, and they would have forgotten the incident inside a generation. Instead the people of Egypt have never forgotten the plagues brought on them for their actions against the Jews. They went from being among the most powerful Empires on the earth to being lucky to find food in 1 year. They were made so afraid of God and so impressed by His works on behalf of the Jews that they gladly gave their treasure to the Israelites when they asked for it.
Think of it in terms of today. The history of this country isn't learned very well but most people can tell you a few facts. Abraham Lincoln was assassinated and so was JFK. Terrorists smashed the twin towers of the World Trade Center with Airliners full of people. We fought a civil war between our northern and southern states and that war ended in the elimination of slavery. WWI and WWII Brought the whole world to war. An event called the Great Depression caused great financial turmoil when banks failed and no jobs could be found for years. Finally, most people know that we got into a war because the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in a sneak attack. We remember that which went very, very wrong. Few manage to remember the pleasant events.
We remember the hostages in Iran but few remember Reagan sending Carter to greet them when they were freed. He gave the former president credit for weathering the storm and standing watch for those poor people for so long. We forget the overwhelming outpouring of help to the survivors of the world trade centers and Katrina. We forget the Joy when early Amber Alert systems resulted in recovery of stolen children. We remember our deepest losses and our greatest and most hard won victories. Everything else is background noise.
Promises: He will deliver me from the worst conditions and see that I come out in prosperity.
Commands: Do what God commands even if it doesn't make sense to you. His plan sees beyond what you can and will work for the good in the end. (Caveat: God will not command you to do anything that violates his previous command. If you feel led to do something which the bible forbids then you are not led by God but by your own mind, your own heart, or by the enemy.)
Timeless principle: In this case the principle is expressed in writing. The Passover feast has been held by practicing Jews from the time of their escape from Egypt until this day. Easter is set on our calenders and isn't always consistent with theirs but, will always fall with a short time of passover. Christ was Crucified just before the passover and rose from the grave just after. The blood on the doorposts and lentils is prophetically symbolic of the crucification. The command against breaking any bones of the passover lamb is symbolic of the fact that none of Christs bones was broken.
Passover is a feast of remembrance for the people of Israel so they do not forget their escape from Egypt. It is doubly significant to the Messianic Jew who know what it prophesied and can look back on the deliverance from Egypt and the deliverance from sin by Christ. For those who feel that Easter has to many pagan trappings, perhaps you should consider the time of passover as the appropriate time to celebrate Christs deliverance of your soul.
more to learn for in-depth study: Why did God harden the heart of Pharaoh? Why did he force Pharaoh into doing things that brought such horrible judgments? The answer is in the text.
The father of this particular Pharaoh had taken the children of Israel from the position of honored friends of Egypt to the position of slaves. The Egyptians went along with this for the most part. Exceptions, like the midwives who spared the children from being killed by Pharaoh's command, were rewarded by God. Most were complicit in the oppression of God's people. This continued until the Pharaoh's son, and Moses' adoptive brother, took the throne and he continued the oppression.
For the crime of oppressing His people, God brought judgment on the Egyptian people. He hardened the heart of Pharaoh because he was their leader. Through his actions God could demonstrate his justice by punishing Egypt. God could demonstrate His power, by reminding everyone of the terror He could bring when His commands are disobeyed. God could demonstrate his grace by freeing His children and bringing them to prosperity.
It's a basic rule that society has no real, long term, memory. God could have made Pharaoh free the Jews the first time he was asked. If he had done that the Egyptians would have missed their slaves, they would have sent them away with nothing, they would have probably come to retake them, and they would have forgotten the incident inside a generation. Instead the people of Egypt have never forgotten the plagues brought on them for their actions against the Jews. They went from being among the most powerful Empires on the earth to being lucky to find food in 1 year. They were made so afraid of God and so impressed by His works on behalf of the Jews that they gladly gave their treasure to the Israelites when they asked for it.
Think of it in terms of today. The history of this country isn't learned very well but most people can tell you a few facts. Abraham Lincoln was assassinated and so was JFK. Terrorists smashed the twin towers of the World Trade Center with Airliners full of people. We fought a civil war between our northern and southern states and that war ended in the elimination of slavery. WWI and WWII Brought the whole world to war. An event called the Great Depression caused great financial turmoil when banks failed and no jobs could be found for years. Finally, most people know that we got into a war because the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in a sneak attack. We remember that which went very, very wrong. Few manage to remember the pleasant events.
We remember the hostages in Iran but few remember Reagan sending Carter to greet them when they were freed. He gave the former president credit for weathering the storm and standing watch for those poor people for so long. We forget the overwhelming outpouring of help to the survivors of the world trade centers and Katrina. We forget the Joy when early Amber Alert systems resulted in recovery of stolen children. We remember our deepest losses and our greatest and most hard won victories. Everything else is background noise.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Exodus chapters 3-6
God’s message to me: Never worry about what you will say to share the Gospel. When the time comes, God will give you the words. This was one of my more foolish arguments with God. When called to the ministry I argued I wasn’t knowledgeable and couldn't’ express the ideas. God brought me to a friends house as the friend was witnessing to a Muslim. God guided me through the bible to the prophecies of Christ and the passages which answered his questions and arguments. It was more than a year later before he came to be saved but, by guiding me to so many passages I hadn’t realized I had learned, God showed me he could put the words in my mouth and the knowledge in my hand that I would need when the time came.
Promises: My job is just to be a messenger. God will change the hearts. That is His job.
Commands: Deliver God’s message. No matter what. No matter how often the message is ignored, no matter how much ridicule and oppression I receive for giving the message, I must do my job.
Timeless principles: “I AM” God is the uncaused cause. Creator of everything and not created himself. God has always been and always will be. Philosophy and logic do not apply to this concept. They only confuse and obscure it. Many theories have been given as to how the universe came to be but none, when carried to their logical conclusion, can deny that it began with the conscious will of a supreme creator. One who was there all along and not created by another.
more to learn for in-depth study: It’s just about time for another time chart. We are coming to the end of Egyptian captivity. In order to understand the timing, the history, the fulfillment of prophecy and the documentation of the history I will be adding a timeline with some explanation in the next few days. Many of the details will be filled in in from today's study but, specific timing goes on through the entire book of Exodus until the 40years in the wilderness. From there we will take a break from timelines until Joshua except to clarify a few points of the line in the book of Numbers, which is a census and genealogy of Israel.
Promises: My job is just to be a messenger. God will change the hearts. That is His job.
Commands: Deliver God’s message. No matter what. No matter how often the message is ignored, no matter how much ridicule and oppression I receive for giving the message, I must do my job.
Timeless principles: “I AM” God is the uncaused cause. Creator of everything and not created himself. God has always been and always will be. Philosophy and logic do not apply to this concept. They only confuse and obscure it. Many theories have been given as to how the universe came to be but none, when carried to their logical conclusion, can deny that it began with the conscious will of a supreme creator. One who was there all along and not created by another.
more to learn for in-depth study: It’s just about time for another time chart. We are coming to the end of Egyptian captivity. In order to understand the timing, the history, the fulfillment of prophecy and the documentation of the history I will be adding a timeline with some explanation in the next few days. Many of the details will be filled in in from today's study but, specific timing goes on through the entire book of Exodus until the 40years in the wilderness. From there we will take a break from timelines until Joshua except to clarify a few points of the line in the book of Numbers, which is a census and genealogy of Israel.
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