April 28, 2006

Reading through the Bible in one Year: Ruth 1:1-3:18; Luke 14:7-24

Good Evening Brothers and Sisters,

"In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans— in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed and said, “Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, we have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly and rebelled, even turning aside from Your commandments and ordinances. " (Daniel 9:1-5, NASB95)

"‘This whole land will be a desolation and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. ‘Then it will be when seventy years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,’ declares the Lord, ‘for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it an everlasting desolation. " (Jeremiah 25:11-12, NASB95)

"“For thus says the Lord, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. " (Jeremiah 29:10, NASB95) ^[1]

Daniel addresses the situation at hand to begin with.  First of all, Jeremiah had prophesied that Babylon would fall after seventy weeks.  Daniel demonstrates for us that he was a student of the written word and he believed the written word that he had received.  Imagine knowing that the end of the seventy weeks of Babylonian captivity was coming to an end and observing the characteristics of the people of Israel.  Daniel may have been discouraged at what he saw in the people.  The prayer reflects a lot for us.  Daniel went before the Lord in intense prayer for his nation.  Look at the way that verse 5 starts out, "we have..."  Daniel knew that the people were not walking where they should be walking and recognized that the entire nation had walked away from the Lord.  Notice also that Daniel reminded the Lord of the covenant that the Lord had made with those who keep His commandments. 

This is a spiritual lesson for us. We beg the Lord for things, pray for things, and live our lives hoping that God will bless us with good things.  Yet are we like the Jewish people of Daniel's days?  Have we departed from our first love in following the Lord?  We claim that we are not under the law, therefore we should not have to worry about keeping the commandments of the Law.  I wonder if Jesus was thinking about this passage when He made the following statements:

"“Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves. “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." (John 14:10-15, NASB95)

"“He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” " (John 14:21, NASB95)

"Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. “He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me. " (John 14:23-24, NASB95)

"“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. “You are My friends if you do what I command you. " (John 15:10-14, NASB95) ^[2]

The real question is what is our spiritual state of being?  Are we following our own paths, or are we following the leading of God?  We want God to keep His covenant with us, to lavish us with promises, yet are we willing to keep His commandments?  Do we demonstrate our love to Him through our obedience to His word? 

We can take verse 5 and apply it to today.  There aren't many churches or fellowships that can stand up to this test.  As a society we have turned from the Lord.  I believe that it is time to wake up the sleeping Christians and refocus our efforts on following God.

Closing here, all comments are welcomed.

Father, teach us and guide us through our study of Your Word.

In Him,

Joe Turner.

April 29, 2006

Reading through the Bible in one Year: Ruth 4:1-1 Samuel 1:28; Luke 14:25-15:10

Good Evening Brothers and Sisters,

"“Moreover, we have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes, our fathers and all the people of the land. “Righteousness belongs to You, O Lord, but to us open shame, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against You. “Open shame belongs to us, O Lord, to our kings, our princes and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. “To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him; nor have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His teachings which He set before us through His servants the prophets. “Indeed all Israel has transgressed Your law and turned aside, not obeying Your voice; so the curse has been poured out on us, along with the oath which is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against Him. “Thus He has confirmed His words which He had spoken against us and against our rulers who ruled us, to bring on us great calamity; for under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what was done to Jerusalem. “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. “Therefore the Lord has kept the calamity in store and brought it on us; for the Lord our God is righteous with respect to all His deeds which He has done, but we have not obeyed His voice. “And now, O Lord our God, who have brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and have made a name for Yourself, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have been wicked. “O Lord, in accordance with all Your righteous acts, let now Your anger and Your wrath turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a reproach to all those around us. “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. “O my God, incline Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits of our own, but on account of Your great compassion. “O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”" (Daniel 9:6-19, NASB95)

"but they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, until there was no remedy. " (2 Chronicles 36:16, NASB95)

"‘Yet I sent you all My servants the prophets, again and again, saying, “Oh, do not do this abominable thing which I hate.” ‘But they did not listen or incline their ears to turn from their wickedness, so as not to burn sacrifices to other gods. " (Jeremiah 44:4-5, NASB95)

"" (Matthew 3:37-39, NASB95) ^[1]

Daniel continues his prayer in today's study.  The Jewish people were aware of the fact that they had rejected the prophets that God sent their way.  They preferred their idols over the revealed will of God.  It is interesting that Jesus quotes from this He was speaking to the Apostles after delivering the woe's to the religious leaders of His day.  Jesus applied the truth from Daniel to his day.  Israel did not have a good track record regarding their following the Lord.  As a result of that, there were curses that were build in and attached to the law which dictated how God was going to judge Israel when they broke the rules, Deuteronomy 28:15-68.  God was faithful to keep His law and to enforce His law.  The purpose of this is rather interesting, God put the law in place in order that it could be possible for people to have a relationship with Him.  When they broke the law and ignored the prophets, they refused to have a relationship with God on His terms, so they had a relationship with God on their own terms.  Funny, those terms were rebellion, slavery and misery.

I wonder how that this would apply to us today.  Think about our nation as a whole.  We founded our great nation on the principles of the Bible, and wrote laws to protect the right to exercise our faith in God.  Today, God is getting kicked out of the United States, or so we are led to believe.  The prophets, great teachers and evangelists that established the spiritual base for our country are mostly ignored.  Pastors who teach fervently from pulpits accross the country are placated and appeased.  What happened to America?  The real question is how much longer that God is going to allow us to go down the wrong path.

How about the future?  How does this passage apply in the coming of the end times?  Things won't get better, they will get worse.  People will continue to turn away from the Lord and continue to walk their own paths so that eventually they will start persecuting those who are teaching them.  This is already happening in other parts of the world.  Jerusalem has been restored, and Israel has already been gathering from the four corners of the world where they have been scattered.  It is interesting because one of the catch phrases of Christianity during recent years was "Maranatha", translated, Come Lord Jesus.

"If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed. Maranatha. " (1 Corinthians 16:22, NASB95)

"Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. " (Philippians 4:5, NASB95)

"He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. " (Revelation 22:20, NASB95) ^[2]

Isn't it interesting that Daniel cries out the exact same cry in verse 19.  He was looking at the end of the Babylonian captivity, we are looking at the end of Satan's captivity of the earth.  The story remains the same, we are looking for the coming of the Messiah.

I am going to close here, all thoughts are welcomed.

Father as we consider Your word, teach us to apply it to our lives.

In HIm,

Joe Turner.

April 30, 2006

Reading through the Bible in one Year:1 Samuel 2:1-3:21; Luke 15:11-32

Good Evening Brothers and Sisters,

"Now while I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God, while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering. He gave me instruction and talked with me and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding. “At the beginning of your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision." (Daniel 9:20-23, NASB95) ^[1]

Concerning prayer.  What is prayer?  Daniel gives us a few insights into what real prayer is all about.  In the previous few verses we looked briefly at his prayer.  Look at what Daniel says that prayer is all about.  First he was speaking and praying.  Many of us think that when we pray we have to be in a special place, or in some cases in a special position, like being on our knees.  Daniel attribute prayer to speaking and praying.  Daniel was in sackcloth and ashes, but that is not the reason that God heard him.  Sackcloth and ashes are symbolic for a repentant heart.

"I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin.Selah. " (Psalm 32:5, NASB95)

"O You who hear prayer, To You all men come. Iniquities prevail against me; As for our transgressions, You forgive them. " (Psalm 65:2-3, NASB95)

"The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth. " (Psalm 145:18, NASB95) ^[2]

We have examples of prayer through the Bible, but in this case I want to look at the mechanics and results of the prayer.  Daniel confessed his sin before God, we know from other studies that confession means to agree with God that we sinned.  We aren't giving God new information.  What causes me to think is that Daniel confessed the sins of the nation of Israel.  That is significant because Daniel is a part of the nation and he bears personal responsibility as a result of that.  We don't think of it that way in our culture.  Consider that since he recognized the sin of the nation of Israel that he was also agreeing with God that Israel as a nation had violated the will of God. 

Another interesting part of this passage is that the word for confession carries a different connotation than the one in the New Testament does.  The word translated as confessing is also translated as "praise, confess, give, give thanks and glorify".  How can that be?  The answer to this is that the word means literally "to use or hold out the hand", (The New Strong's Dictionary of Hebrew and Greek Words).  To confess is to wring the hands, hold out the hands, extend the hands (in surrender).  It is interesting that praise is similar because we also hold out our hands, surrender, and give thanks.  Picture it as a parent looking at a child, "show me what you have done", the child holds out his hand to show his handiwork.  A side note, I am not at all familiar with Hebrew, but I am told that it is a picture language, using mental imagery to communicate concepts.  Perhaps some in our group can shed more light on this.

Part of being the solution to the problem is understanding that there is a problem.  To often we are so self-centered that we fail to recognize the national sin that our society is guilty of.

Returning back to the text.  God sent Gabriel to speak with Daniel when he started praying.  God listens to our prayers.  I have heard people say that God does not hear your prayer if you are out of fellowship with Him.  I think that a better statement is that God hears those who pray according to His will.  What I mean by that is that God most likely will not answer prayers that are selfish in nature that glorify ourselves.  Another thing to consider is that Daniel spent time studying the scriptures that were available to him so that he could prepare his heart for praying intellegently.  Daniel displayed humility, a pure heart, spent time studying God's word, prayed according to the will of God and God listened.   Daniel was highly esteemed and an angel personally delivered the message. 

I've hacked away long enough.  Any comments are welcomed.

Father, as we consider Your Word, open our eyes so that we can both understand and apply Your word to our lives.

In Him,

Joe Turner.

May 1, 2006

Reading through the Bible in one Year:1 Samuel 4:1-7:17; Luke 16:1-18

Good Evening Brothers and Sisters,

"“Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place. “So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. “Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. “And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”" (Daniel 9:24-27, NASB95) ^[1]

It is thought that the seventy weeks is speaking of seventy sabbatical years.  Every seventh year is a sabbatical year, which would add up to 490 years.  This would line up with the time that Jesus came on the earth.  It is interesting that Jesus, the Messiah came to earth, was cut off, (killed) and rejected by the Jews, at exactly the time prophesied.  Shortly afterwards, the Jewish temple was completely destroyed, just like it was prophesied. Also consider that the city was virtually destroyed until recently. 

How about the idea that God would judge Israel and "make an end of sin, to  make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness".  There can't be a better description of the work that Jesus did on the cross.  Jesus paid the final price for all the transgressions of man and made it possible for each one of us to walk boldly into the presence of the Father with everlasting righteousness.

There are a lot of concepts built into these few verses.  Explaining it would require a lot of research, a lot of guess-work, and a lot of piecing the facts together.  There seem to be pauses between the weeks and the time periods, only God understands the true meaning behind these verses.  I am sure that once they are being fulfilled someone will pull out a calendar and explain that exactly this amount of time transpired between the cross and when things start to happen.  But now we work with suppositions. 

The important thing to understand is that God has a plan, and it is set on a specific time schedule.  We may not understand exactly what or when, only that we can catalogue exactly when things will take place.  For example, the firm covenant, could be speaking about the time of the church age, it could be speaking of something else.  Jesus promised in Matthew 24 that there would be wars, that the temple would be torn down, and that things will become extremely bad on the earth.  In a partial way, this prophecy was fulfilled when Rome set up a siege against Jerusalem and destroyed the temple.  Times were horrible as believers were burnt at the stake for the sake of lighting Nero's courtyards.  Is that a picture of what the end times will be like? 

Lots of theories are out there regarding gap theories in these numbers.  If you hold to a certain theory on these verses I would love to hear it, write in.

Father, as we consider Your word today, open our eyes so that we can understand and apply the Scripture to our lives.

In Him,

Joe Turner.