Day 263 - Joel 1 - Amos 9

ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE
Day 263 - Joel 1 - Amos 9 (Hate Evil, Love Good)
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       "Seek good and not evil, 
        That you may live; 
        So the LORD God of hosts will be with you, 
        As you have spoken. 
        Hate evil, love good..."  (Amos 5:14-15a)

In all nine chapters of the book of Amos, almost all pertained to God's pronouncements of judgments on the northern kingdom of Israel except in chapter 5 where the prophet calls the people to repentance and righteous living providing a glimmer of hope to an otherwise dark message of condemnation upon the people.

The nation was at that time experiencing an unparalleled time of success but rather than seeking out opportunities to do good, the people embraced their arrogance, idolatry, self-righteousness, and materialism.  

In our text above, Amos pleads with the people to "seek good and not evil" so that they may live and not die from God's wrath and so that God would once again dwell with them. Then Amos declares what is my favorite prayer phrase: "hate evil, love good."  I especially love saying that phrase whenever I pray with my wife and children because I want them to adopt it as their utmost goal in life as well.

But how does one practically hate evil and love good?  For me personally, I apply it in my life by carefully choosing what I look at with my eyes and not allow my feet to bring me to a place where God would not be pleased with me.  I try to say a prayer whenever I hear or read about a gross evil such as abortion or lewdness and ask God to give me a righteous hatred for the sin.

With regards to loving good, I choose to dedicate my time and resources to things that will last forever such as reading God's Word and sharing it, serving at my home church, practicing hospitality both towards friends and family and first-time aquaintances, and even returning to my native country in order to serve the Lord in full-time ministry.

How about you?  How can you practice "hating evil and loving good"?  If you are not sure, ask God to help you and He will.

Day 261 - Hosea 1-14

ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE
Day 261 - Hosea 1-14 ()
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       ^"Sow for yourselves righteousness; 
        Reap in mercy; 
        Break up your fallow ground, 
        For it is time to seek the LORD, 
        Till He comes and rains righteousness on you."         (Hosea 10:12)

Contrary to what many believe and teach, man is not basically good; rather, the Bible teaches that man is inherently bad.  Paul wrote, "There is none who does good, no, not one (Romans 3:12)."  The prophet Hosea was sent by God to call the divided nation of Israel and Judah to repentance and to righteousness because the people have forsaken the God of their fathers and turned to idols.

The book of Hosea makes clear that God will bring judgment on sin but He will always bring His people back to Himself.  In our text above, God calls His people to "sow" righteousness and promises that they will reap in mercy if they obey Him.  He tells them to break their "fallow ground" referring to their hard hearts because it was time for them to seek the Lord and to continue to seek Him until He "comes and rains righteousness on them."

Day 259 - Daniel 8-12

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Day 259 - Daniel 8-12 (Timeline of History Until Christ's Return)
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²⁴"Seventy weeks are determined 
        For your people and for your holy city, 
        To finish the transgression, 
        To make an end of sins, 
        To make reconciliation for iniquity, 
        To bring in everlasting righteousness, 
        To seal up vision and prophecy, 
        And to anoint the Most Holy. 
        "Know therefore and understand, 
        That from the going forth of the command 
        To restore and build Jerusalem 
        Until Messiah the Prince, 
        There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; 
        The street shall be built again, and the wall,  
        Even in troublesome times. 
        "And after the sixty-two weeks 
        Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; 
        And the people of the prince who is to come 
        Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. 
        The end of it shall be with a flood, 
        And till the end of the war desolations are determined. 
        Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; 
        But in the middle of the week 
        He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. 
        And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, 
        Even until the consummation, which is determined, 
        Is poured out on the desolate." (Daniel 9:24-27)

I believe that it is but fitting that the prophet Daniel has been given the honor by God to receive, arguably the most significant prophecy in all of Scripture - that which pertains to the events from the time of the command to rebuild Jerusalem during the time of Nehemiah until the second coming of Christ after the seven-year great tribulation.

I will lean on the side of being labelled simplistic in the hope that most of my readers in this blog will continue to read my short exposition of our passage above.  The seventy weeks are seventy seven-year cycles that are determined upon the nation Israel, its people and upon the city of Jerusalem.  Therefore, this is a prophecy that relates to God's dealing with the nation of Israel. It will be accomplished in seventy times seven years. 

The prophecies of Daniel wewre based upon the Babylonian calendar of 360-day years and so transposing seventy times seven years would equal to 173,880 days or 483 years.  According to records that were found by Sir Rawlinson in the Palace of Shushan, the order to rebuild Jerusalem was given in March 14, 445 B.C.  And so from the year March 14, 445 B.C., according to the prediction here, the Messiah should have come in 483 years from the time of this commandment.

On April 6, 32 A.D., exactly 173,880 days from the commandment of Artaxerxes to Nehemiah to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey, for the first time officially claiming His rightful place as Messiah to the nation of Israel; "but not for Himself," literally, "and receive nothing for himself."   We know that Jesus was killed without receiving the kingdom at that time because He was, as predicted by Isaiah, despised and rejected by His people.

From the time of the command to rebuild Jerusalem until the time when Messiah was cut off or killed was sixty-nine seven-year cycles.  Now, we have one seven-year cycle that is not yet transpired.  It is as if at that point, God's prophetic clock has stopped because the last seven-year period is yet to be fulfilled.

The last "week" or seven years is what Bible scholars call the Great Tribulation.  It will begin with the anti-Christ, who at that time will rise up as the supreme ruler of the revived Roman empire, master-minding a peace treaty with Israel and her enemies so that she is able to rebuild the temple.  

In the middle of the seven years, the anti-Christ will break his treaty with Israel and sit in the temple to desecrate it and declare himself as God at which time will mark the series of terrible judgments from God on the world culminating in the return of Christ to rightfully re-claim that which belongs to Him.

The Bible teaches that the Christians will be raptured or taken up to heaven without dying before the second coming of Christ to judge the world.  It makes most sense that the rapture takes place before the great tribulation because the Bible also teaches that believers are not appointed for God's wrath which is what the great tribulation is.

Are you ready should the anti-Christ reveal himself tomorrow?  Will you be among those raptured before the wrath of God is poured out on the world?  If not, there is still time for you to escape judgment; but you need to humble yourself before God and repent of your sins and ask for His forgiveness and He promises to forgive you through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ who paid for your sins and mine.

Day 256 - Daniel 4-7

ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE
Day 256 - Daniel 4-7 (The Influence of One Godly Life)
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"Then King Darius wrote: To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you.  I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. 
        For He is the living God, 
        And steadfast forever; 
        His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed, 
        And His dominion shall endure to the end. 
        He delivers and rescues, 
        And He works signs and wonders 
        In heaven and on earth, 
        Who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions. 
So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian."  (Daniel 6:25-28) 

I have read the book of Daniel several times but it wasn't until now that I have truly appreciated the character of the man whom the angel Gabriel said of him that he was "greatly beloved of God."  Daniel was also among the three persons mentioned by God through the prophet Ezekiel along with Noah and Job as being the most righteous persons who ever lived.

It is no less than remarkable that one man, in the person of Daniel, was used by God to influence the world through not just one but eight kings including, Nebuchadnezzar, Darius, the Mede, and Cyrus, the Persian. In the case of Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel told the king his dream and its interpretation thus saving the lives of his fellow advisors to the king.  

God also used Daniel to interpret another dream of Nebuchadnezzar which was a warning from God to humble himself and acknowlege God as God or he would be turned like unto an animal for seven years which was exactly what happened because the king refused to heed God's warning.  After that, King Nebu as I have fondly nicknamed him), acknowleged God throughout all his dominion.

I have time just tio mention one more highlight in the life of Daniel.  During the reign of king Darius and shortly after he took the kingdom from Belshazzar after the night of the famous handwriting on the wall by the hand of God, the other officials became jealous of Daniel's position and infuence that they plotted againts him resulting in his being thrown in the lion's den.  God shut the mouths of the lions and Daniel was restored to his position as the king's loyal friend and advisor.

I can go on and on about Daniel's influence including his prophecies about the future events leading up to the culmination of history when Jesus returns to establish His kingdom on earth and defeat Satan; Daniel's leadership as personal advisor to the kings; his influence on his friends who refused to compromise their faith but rather chose to be thrown into the fiery furnace; and so forth.  The person who reads the book of Daniel will profit tremendously from the lessons learned from the life of this godly person who was greatly beloved by God.

As for me, Daniel has become one of my top heroes of faith and I pray to God that I might grow further in my character to become more like Daniel.  Like Daniel, I hope to become uncompromising in my faith; fearless of the consequences of obeying God rather than man; bold in proclaiming God's truth despite the danger of persecution or even death; and fierce loyalty to my authority whom God has placed over me. How about you?  Has the life of Daniel inspired you?  If not, perhaps you need to read about his life more closely.

Day 255 - Ezekiel 46 - Daniel 3

ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE
Day 255 - Ezekiel 46 - Daniel 3 (Prayer Changes Things!)
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"So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, that he might tell the king the interpretation.  
Then Daniel went to his house, and made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.  Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven."  (Daniel 2:16-19)

Babylon is the reigning world power and Nebuchadnezzar is king of the known world.  Jerusalem falls to the Babylonians and the temple is plunderred.  The best of the best of the young men of Judah were brought to Babylon to be raised to serve in the king's palace.  Among those were Daniel and his three companions renamed as  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. 

One day, the king had a disturbing dream and he issued a command to all his magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to not only interpret his dream but for them to tell his exactly what he dreamt about.  Naturally, noone could do what the king demanded and the king ordered that all the wise men of his kingdom be killed.  

Since Daniel and his friends were included in the group of wise men, they too were summoned to be executed.  Daniel pleaded with the king for some time that he might give the king his request and it was granted to him.  Daniel then called an urgent prayer meeting with his friends to petition God and God heard their prayers and, as we read in our text above, "the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven (Dan 2:19)."

Daniel told the king his dream and its interpretation which pertained to the future world events up to the coming of the kingdom of the Messiah.  Daniel saved the lives of the wise men and was promoted as the king's second in command and Daniel's friends as his assistants.  Daniel's story, as well as history itself, would have been very different had Daniel decided not to call that small prayer meeting with his friends. This highlights the extreme importance of prayer in changing things, both small and great.

Have you been trying to write your own life story on your own apart from God?  You can certainly continue to do what you have been doing or you could, like Daniel, approach the throne of almighty God perhaps with a few God-fearing friends, and ask His help and intervention in whatever circumstance or need you may be facing right now.  One thing is for sure: prayer changes things.

  

Day 253 - Ezekiel 20-43

ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE
Day 253 - Ezekiel 20-43 (News Flash: Russia Attacks Israel!)
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'"Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, and say, "Thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal.  I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords.  Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer and all its troops; the house of Togarmah from the far north and all its troops--many people are with you."' (Ezekiel 38:1-6)

Most Bible scholars agree that Rosh, which means chief, is a reference to modern Russia which also means chief.  

             "the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal (Eze 38:2)",

Meshech is the ancient name for Moscow, Tubal of Tobolsk, the Russian cities.  

              "Then you will come from your place out of the far north, you and many peoples with you (Eze                  38:15)",

In order to erase any doubt that God was referring to Russia, He explicitly mentions Rosh as the country from the far north.  I just looked at Google Map and found that the only country to the farthest north of Israel is Russia and Moscow is a striaght line to the north of Israel.  "So what," you may say.  Well, I would agree that it wouldn't be such a huge deal were it not for God declaring in our Scripture text above that Russia will attack Israel along with other nations.

              "Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer and all its                 troops; the house of Togarmah from the far north and all its troops (Eze 38:5,6)"

Persia, we all know is Iran but back then included Iraq, which country has not had any military ties with Russia until just a few years ago and expressly for the purpose of preparing for war against Israel.  Ethiopia and Libya have kept their names up to the present day.  Gomer is Germany, but mainly eastern Germany and Poland. Torgamah are the Balkan States: Turkey, former Yugoslavia (now seven independent States) and Romania.

There is a lot in this whole passage concerning the prophecy about Russia and its allies attacking Israel that I thought it would be appropriate for this post to put the highlights in bullet points below:

> God entices Russia, along with her allies including Iran, to attack Israel - I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army (Eze 38:4)

> Israel becomes a nation again since the Babylonian exile around 600 BC (Fulfilled in May 14, 1948) - In the latter years you will come into the land of those brought back from the sword and gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate; they were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely (Eze 38:8).

> Israel will become a wealthy nation (which she is today) - Sheba, Dedan, the merchants of Tarshish, and all their young lions will say to you, "Have you come to take plunder? Have you gathered your army to take booty, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?" (Eze 38:13)

> God's purpose in bringing Russia against Israel is to hollow His name - You will come up against My people Israel like a cloud, to cover the land. It will be in the latter days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me, when I am hallowed in you, O Gog, before their eyes (Eze 38:6).

>God's other purpose in bringing Russia and its allies against Israel is to judge them - I will call for a sword against Gog throughout all My mountains," says the Lord GOD. "Every man's sword will be against his brother.  And I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed; I will rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.  Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the LORD (Eze 38:21-23).

> The Israelis will use their enemies weapons for fuel for seven years - Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and bucklers, the bows and arrows, the javelins and spears; and they will make fires with them for seven years (Eze 39:9).

> The Israelis will take seven months to cleanse the land of their enemies corpses - For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, in order to cleanse the land. Indeed all the people of the land will be burying, and they will gain renown for it on the day that I am glorified," says the Lord GOD. "They will set apart men regularly employed, with the help of a search party, to pass through the land and bury those bodies remaining on the ground, in order to cleanse it. At the end of seven months they will make a search.  The search party will pass through the land; and when anyone sees a man's bone, he shall set up a marker by it, till the buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon Gog.  The name of the city will also be Hamonah. Thus they shall cleanse the land (Eze 39:12-16).

 > God will restore Israel as His own special people and pour our His Holy Spirit upon many Jews -Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name--after they have borne their shame, and all their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, when they dwelt safely in their own land and no one made them afraid.  When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and I am hallowed in them in the sight of many nations, then they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their land, and left none of them captive any longer.  And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,' says the Lord GOD (Eze 39:25-29).

Ezekiel's prophecy about Russia and its allies attacking Israel is a huge thing because it will usher in God's restoration of Israel and of the return of the Messiah, Yeshua Ha-Mashiach.  It is an even bigger thing because the stage is all set for this world-changing event to take place any time now: Israel is once again a nation; she is very wealthy with her new-found gas and oil reserves; Iran wants to see her disappear; Russia backs Iran's goal to destroy Israel; Russia's allies mentioned in Ezekiel's prophecy all have stakes in wanting Israel annihilated; and most of all, the world will self-destuct with its arsenal of nuclear arms unless the Messiah returns soon.  The real question is:  Are you ready for Christ's return?

Day 245 - Ezekiel 11-19

ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE
Day 245 - Ezekiel 11-19 (Turn and Live!)
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          ^"'The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the               guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the           wicked shall be upon himself...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!"'  (Ezekiel 18:20, 31-32)

Satan is a master of propaganda and perhaps his greatest achievement of all is to convince multitude of people today that those who preach damnation for sinners are crazy fanatics who do not deserve the attention of civilized modern man.  I have to admit that there are those who sincerely try to preach the truth of the gospel but do so in an obnoxious way which does more damage than good to the cause of Christ and His kingdom.  I'm sure we all know the type.

Christians are called to preach the truth of the gospel to all people which includes telling them of God's warnings of judgment for sin and disobedience.  I would rather be labelled as a crazy Bible fanatic for preaching the whole truth of Scriptures than please the opponents of the Bible.  This is why I am writing about our text above in which God warns the Israelites to turn from their sins or die spiritually in everlasting punishment in hell.

Our text above highlights God's attribute of justice in that He declares that every person will be held responsible for his own sins and not the sins of another.  In other words, you and I have no person to blame or credit for our eternal desting other than ourselves.  No one can tell God that his parents' religion or tradition kept him from following the truth of the Bible.  Everyone must make a decision regarding one's faith.  God says, "get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit" which means we need to be born again in the Spirit of God (John 3:3).

There is one condition, though, to receive a new heart and a new spirit from God; the sinner must repent or turn from his sins and ask God's mercy and forgiveness through His Son Jesus Christ who died to pay the penalty of our sins.  God says, "Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed." The Bible says "all have sinned" and that includes you and me and every other person on earth.  Therefore, unless you and I turn and repent, we will die in our sins and end up in hell.  Conversely, God says that if we turn, we will live forever with Him in heaven.

As if it was obvious enough to all, God said, "I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies."  God bends backward, so to speak, in trying to reach every sinner to get him to repent and be saved.  If you have never truly repented of your sins and begged for God's mercy to forgive you and to save you, your reading of this message is proof that God loves you so much that He wants you to know the truth and for yo to turn and live.  May God be merciful to you if you have not yet come to Him in complete repentance.