The Covenant of Moses: The Greater Glory!

Read Ezra 3:7-13; Haggai 2:1-9

Last time, we found out that the Jews initially failed to put first things first in building the temple and instead focused on settling in other towns and establishing their own homes.  God cursed them and prevented them from prospering in their own endeavors.  Fortunately, they listened to the words of the prophet Haggai and put forth the work towards rebuilding the temple.  Within a month, they had laid the foundation of the temple and as would be expected, had a ceremony commemorating  the event.  The generation who had been born in captivity was very happy and celebrated their accomplishment, but the older generation who had been taken as captives from Jerusalem and managed to live long enough to be able to return, were stricken with a tremendous amount of sadness and cried when they saw the results of their work.

Why the mixed reaction?  Well, the older generation knew what Solomon’s Temple looked like before it was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar’s army.  It was the most glorious structure that had ever been created and it’s magnificence was in accordance to the One Whose presence occupied the Most Holy Place.  But the Hebrews sinned and violated the temple in every way imaginable, thus God allowed it to be destroyed with the rest of the city.   Now, the older generation is looking upon a foundation of a temple that would be far inferior in splendor to Solomon’s Temple and all they can do is grieve over what their past sins had caused to happen.  No doubt, they saw what little in their eyes they had accomplished as a sign that their relationship with God could never be the same again.

God doesn’t leave his people to remain in despair.  He sends Haggai again, this time not to reprimand a people who earlier failed to put their focus on their work to rebuild the temple, but to encourage them that all is not hopeless.  God reminds them that he is still faithful and still with them as He has been since He led their ancestors out of Egypt according to the covenant He made with at Sinai!  God doesn’t end there. In fact, He says the glory of this house under construction will exceed the glory of Solomon’s Temple!  Whoa!  How is that possible?  The glory of the Lord that entered into that temple was so bright and awesome it forced the priests to leave the building during the dedication ceremony.  Plus so many structures around that temple was constructed with gold and this one wasn’t!  What did God mean when He said that?

God’s plan always was to reveal Himself fully to the world and the Hebrew nation at this time was the vehicle through which He was working through.  As we learned a couple of posts ago,  it was through this nation that the Messiah would appear!  But that couldn’t happen with  a city and a temple in ruins.  The tabernacle in the wilderness was erected because God WANTED to dwell amongst people!  The temple Solomon built to house the tabernacle was built for the same purpose. The brightness of God’s glory inhabited the Most Holy Place in both instances.  While God was ever-present amongst His people, access to him was restricted because the glory of God’s presence would only destroy His people if it came upon them unveiled.  Now God plans to do the same thing but this time the temple will be graced by the presence of God who will take on humanity, Jesus Christ!  That is how Haggai’s prophecy would be fulfilled.  The arrival of the greater glory would shake the nations and people in need would find the peace they had been seeking from God!

Food for thought:  Restoring a relationship to the Lord isn’t easy.  When we attempt to rebuild that relationship and recover from the mess we brought upon ourselves because of our pas sins, it can seem that we can never get back to where we were before in our relationships with God and others.  But the words of the prophet still resonate today.  Don’t give up!  It isn’t easy but the Lord is always ready to restore His people in many ways when we come back to Him in full repentance.  While we may lament what we lost in the past, He can not only heal us but bless in ways in the future that will exceed what we had in the past!

Up next:  Now Satan decides to show up…

 

The Covenant of Moses: God Is Still In Control

Read Jeremiah 25:12-14; 50; 51; Daniel 1-5

During Jehoiakim’s reign in Judah, Daniel and his three close friends,  Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah are taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar.  In chapter one, we see that they make a conscious decision to be loyal to God in spite of their difficult circumstances.  God rewards their loyalty to Him through their dietary practices by giving them far sharper minds than Babylonian youth, with Daniel in particular being given the gift by God to understand dreams and visions.

In chapter two, the gift by God gave Daniel to reveal dreams and visions is on display for the first time.  The Babylonian wise men were unable to tell Nebuchadnezzar what he dreamt and what his dream means, but with God’s power, Daniel reveals to Nebuchadnezzar that while a progression of kingdoms as displayed in the statue (Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, modern contries) will rule for a period of time, they will all come to an end when God’s kingdom takes over the whole world.  This is the first message to Nebuchadnezzar that he is not as great as he thinks he is.

In chapter three, Nebuchadnezzar builds a statue dedicated to serve as a way for his kingdom’s subjects to display loyalty to him not long after he subdues a revolt to overtake him and his kingdom.  Daniel’s friends, in honoring their Hebrew vows to God by not bowing down to anyone or anything, infuriate Nebuchadnezzar to the point where he throws them into a fiery furnace meant to kill those who would dare to defy his orders to bow down to his statue.  Shockingly, not only do the young men survive the ordeal and leave the furnace unharmed, but Nebuchadnezzar sees God amongst them within the furnace.  Nebuchadnezzar is thus given another message from God that Nebuchadnezzar must acknowledge His power and authority over all kings.

In chapter four, which Nebuchadnezzar wrote himself, he receives a dream about a large tree that grows to the heavens and then is cut down to the ground.  He had acknowledged God earlier, but when he has this dream he asks Daniel what it means after the Babylonian wise men can’t interpret it to him (the fact that Nebuchadnezzar asks them for an interpretation again shows he fully hasn’t learned his lesson).  The prophet is disturbed because the dream is about the king.  He urges the king to acknowledge that God is the Most High and to have greater compassion to the poor, or he will suffer losing his kingdom and living as a wild animal for seven years.  A year later, Nebuchadnezzar is boasting about his work in making Babylon great, and the angel pronounces on him God’s judgement and the  vision comes to fruition.   At the end of his seven year exile, Nebuchadnezzar finally gives God the adoration He deserves and God restores him back to his kingdom completely.

In chapter five, Belshazzar (Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson), is having a feast with all the important officials from the empire, along with his wives and concubines (his father, Nabonidus, is the sitting ruler, has been defeated by the Medes and the Persians in battle).  He calls for the vessels that his grandfather had taken from the temple in Jerusalem so they could drink wine out of them.  During this feast, he pays homage to all the Babylonian gods.  Suddenly,  a hand appears from out of nowhere and begins to write on the wall.  Everyone is afraid, and he calls for the Babylonian wise men of Babylon (haven’t we seen this before?) to interpret the hand’s writing on the wall but they are unable to do so.  His mother, (Nebuchadnezzar’s daughter), reminds Belshazzar that Daniel had been made chief of the wise men by Nebuchadnezzar because of his strong spirit and ability to interpret dreams.

Belshazzar brings Daniel and tells him he will give him great rewards and will make him third in the kingdom if he can accurately discern the hand’s writing on the wall.  Daniel, who is an elderly man now,  turns down the offer and proceeds to recall the history of Nebuchadnezzar’s relationship with God.  He explains the fact that it was God who gave power to Nebuchadnezzar to conquer and when Nebuchadnezzar became arrogant, God forced him to live as an animal until He acknowledged that God was supreme.  Daniel reminds Belshazzar that he knew all of this about his grandfather but still proceeded to pay homage to false, powerless gods rather than the true God who was responsible for his existence.   In reading the handwriting on the wall, Daniel pronounces God’s judgement upon Babylon and the city is taken by the Medes and the Persians that night, killing Belshazzar, his nobles , wives and concubines while Daniel is spared.

Food for thought:  The first several chapters of the book  Daniel cover many years.  When we first meet Daniel, he is a young man who is captured and sent as a slave to Babylon.  Somewhere along that, long awful journey that took a few months, it is clear from the time we meet him and his friends that a decision was made by them with complete resolve to follow God and trust Him regardless of the fact that they were also partaking of the punishment from God that came upon a nation that had rebelled against Him.  God rewards their resolve and dedication by using them as means to show the king who had conquered their nation (with God’s allowance) that the true God of heaven was the one in control and not the false gods of Babylon.    Even though Jeremiah prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem and the combined captivity and killing of the people of Judah, he also prophesied the downfall of Babylon.   The story in chapter sex showed that the because the true God of heaven had been revealed in the life of Nebuchadnezzar, all of Babylon was now beholden to worshiping Him instead of the false gods of Babylon.  Because Belshazzar refused to do so, and in fact dishonored the Lord, that nation met its just disaster.

I one of the many lessons in these collective chapters is that God is still merciful to His people even when they fall by the wayside.  Even while dealing with the consequences of sin, God’s people can still decide to take a stand for right and be used by Him.  God never tires of trying to reveal Himself to people so that they can be saved.  We often bring upon ourselves so much chaos in our lives because of mistakes we make, but God will turn the situation into the prototypical “silver lining behind the dark cloud” scenario when a child of his leads the way in returning to a life of servitude and obedience to God.  From his capture to Babylon through his entire life, Daniel experiences tremendous chaos and upheaval but survives it all.  It reminded him then and us today that regardless of the personal choices of humans, God is still in control over all the affairs of humanity.  No wonder we can put complete faith in Him!

Up next:  A man shows the power of prayer…..

The Covenant of Moses: Back From The Dead!

Read Ezekiel 11:14-25; 12:1-16;  36:22-28; 37:1-14

When God speaks to you and basically tells you to “pack up your bags and get moving”, one would expect that He is taking you to a destination that is far better than the one you’re leaving, such as when He told Abraham to go to Canaan.  That wasn’t the case for Ezekiel who along with the other thousands of Hebrews was taken captive and sent to Babylon to serve Nebuchadnezzar.  In fact, God instructs Ezekiel to act out the process of their captivity by digging a hole through a wall of a house and carrying his baggage with him.  The message God gives to his young prophet comes to fruition and he is among those who is spared the slaughter that comes upon those who remain in Jerusalem years later.

Ezekiel follows message about the Hebrews and their fate echoes that of his older contemporary, Jeremiah.  He doesn’t hesitate to deliver the message from God that a rebellious people are meeting their just fate in suffering death and destruction because of their blatant sins against God, but he also adds the fact that God is the one who will bring about a change of heart in his people and restore them.    In a graphic vision, God presents Ezekiel with a vision of a valley of dry bones.  God asks him if the bones can live, and not surprisingly, Ezekiel tells God He knows.  God instructs Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones and the bones began to come together to  followed by flesh and skin joining together with the bones to form many bodies.  The bodies has no breath so God tells Ezekiel to prophesy for breath to enter the bodies.  As Ezekiel keeps prophesying, the bodies become alive and turn into a great army.

Ezekiel further explains from God that the vision is depicting the state of fallen Israel.  They are spiritual dead and when you see the condition of the bones it is apparent that they have been spiritually dead for a long time.   In addition, the state of Israel shows they feel hopeless.  Is that how you are feeling now? Do you see yourself as being in the same situation as ancient Israel?  Do you feel that because of your past sins and the fact you’ve been away from God for so long that there is no hope for you to live again spiritually and find yourself back within the family of God?  Well, God showed Israel that he could resurrect the people of God and restore them back into a proper covenant relationship with Him and returned to their home.  God reveals that He has a vested interest in restoring His wayward people into a proper relationship with Him because they carry his name.  That is why God keeps coming back to you!  As a child of God, even one who has gone astray, you carry His name with you and He is doing everything in His power to see to it that you are restored back to where he wants you to be in all facets of your life!  So keep praying and keep studying His word because even when you’ve wandered away from God for so long, prayer and Bible study are key means to for God to reach you and restore you like only He can!

Up next:  God is still in control

The Covenant of Moses: You Can Come Home Again

Read Leviticus 25:1-7; Deuteronomy 30:1-14; 1 Kings 8:46-53;  2 Chronicles 6:36-39; Jeremiah 16:14-21; 29:1-20; 30

Food for thought:  As we have discovered in previous posts, the Hebrew people are paying the consequences for violating the covenant that God made at Sinai and they are being taken in captivity.  As mentioned before, Jeremiah has the difficult task of prophesying the demise of his people and city while urging them to return to God.  The record shows they refuse to listen to them and he has to watch on two occasions Nebuchadnezzar come to Judah and Jerusalem and take many of the inhabitants to Babylon.  He is prompted by God to write a letter to the captives, including his younger prophetic companions Ezekiel and Daniel.  The message is mixed with hope and despair; those who remain in Jerusalem who weren’t taken captive will be slaughtered by Nebuchadnezzar and his army, but those who are taken captive are urged to make homes and to make families even while in captivity because God will bring them back.

Why was the captivity for seventy years?  This time of captivity was set because one of the laws that Israel was to observe the land Sabbath.  Every year for six years, they were to cultivate and harvest the land in order to feed the nation.  However, they were to leave the land alone on the seventh ‘sabbath’ year in order to let the land rest.  They failed to do that, so every year of captivity represents a time when the Hebrews failed to observe the land sabbath.   Thus the Hebrews are being punished for 490 years of neglecting this command (the significance of this will be revisited later).

When God entered into a covenant with the Hebrews at Sinai, he gave them the choice to follow Him and be prosperous or reject him and suffer the consequences.   God knew that His people had it in them to reject him so he made provision for them to return to the Promised Land after they had been taken captive as long as they had a change of heart spiritually.  This is consistent with the larger plan of salvation that God had prepared in case Adam and Eve sinned  We cannot underestimate the depth of God’s grace in dealing with the fallacy of sinful human beings.  Not all sin in the Bible is viewed as the same.   When the word “sin” is being used, it comes most often reflects disobeying God’s law just because you “miss the mark”, i.e. you sin because unintentionally.  Other times, the word “iniquity” is used to describe a sin of a deliberate nature; in other words, you commit premeditated sin, knowing that what you are doing is fully wrong and against God’s law but you do it anyway!  And yet God is still merciful in not making a complete end of His people, instead in the midst of a difficult captivity giving them a second chance to get it right!  You can’t put words on the depth of that kind of mercy!

Perhaps some of us are in the same situation as the Hebrew’s during Jeremiah’s time.  Many problems in this life come upon us because it’s just the reality of living in a sinful, troubled world.  Sometimes, though our problems are the fruit of our deliberate rebellion against God.  We simply don’t care what God thinks at the time because we are enjoying the temporary pleasures that often come living in sin and we do what we want. But before we know it we look up and we have a complete disaster on our hands.  Our affairs, indiscretions, and addictions have destroyed our marriages.   Greed has caused us to throw others  under the bus and we now are broke with no friends.  We had sex with the wrong person outside of marriage and we now have HIV.  We have committed a heinous crime and now we have to live life as a convicted felon.    Now we know we are a complete mess and want to come back but we wonder will our family take us back?  Will our church take us back?  Even more importantly, will God take us back?  If you are one of these people or are in a similar situation and are reading this I hope that this and the next several posts help you remember you are NEVER too far outside of God’s graces as long as you are willing to repent and offer yourself back to him.  Human beings will never forgive you but God will.  God provided a way for the ancient Hebrews to come back to Him and he’s done the same for you!

Up next:  Can dead bones live?

The Davidic Covenant: Return Of The King! (An Introduction)

Read 2 Kings 23:28-37; 24; 25:1-21; 2 Chronicles 36:1-21; Jeremiah 13:12-27; 22-23:1-8; 30:8, 9 33:14-36; Ezekiel 37:15-28

The death of Josiah resulted in the loss of the last good king of Judah.  Jehoahaz did evil things in his short time on the throne. His son Jehoahaz reigned only three months before Pharaoh Neco came, took him prisoner to Egypt where he died. He put his brother Eliakim on the throne Eliakim and changed his name to Jehoiakim. Neco forced Jehoiakim to pay him taxes in silver and gold. Jehoahaz reigned for eleven years and did evil just as his brother did. When Nebuchadnezzer came to power he invaded Judah three years into Jehoiakim’s reign and forced Pharaoh to retreat into Egypt as Nebuchadnezzer conquered much of his territory. He made Jehoiakim a vassal (which meant that Jehoiakim was allowed to rule over Judah while being being under Nebuchadnezzer’s authority). He rebelled three years later, which caused Nebuchadnezzer to come to Jerusalem to take Jehoiakim and many Jews captive (The prophet Daniel and his friends were among them).  He reigned for eleven years.

Jehoiachin succeeded his father upon his death and reigned for only three months. He did evil in the sight of God. Nebuchadnezzer came back and not only took Jehoiachin but his family captive and the prominent people of the kingdom. In addition, he took the vessels and treasure from Solomon’s temple, all the skilled works, artisans, fighters which numbered several thousand (the prophet Ezekiel was taken captive at this time as well).  Only the poorest people of the land were left. Nebuchadnezzer put Mattaniah, the uncle of Jehoiachin in as king, and changed his name to Zedekiah. Zedekiah did evil in the sight of the Lord and he too rebelled against Nebuchadnezzer. Nine years into his reign, Nebuchadnezzer laid seige to Jerusalem for two years until the population starved. Then he and his army broke into the city and captured Zedekiah as he attempted to escape. he killed his two sons in front of him and took his eyes out before was taken to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzer took the remaining treasures out of the temple before he completely destroyed it along with the whole city. He had executed the chief priests and other officers executed too.

Food for thought: It was during this tumultuous time that God called Jeremiah to be His prophet to minister to the people of Judah.. He started his ministry during the reign of Josiah until the en of the reign of Zedekiah and was given the difficult task of telling the kings and people of Judah about the consequences of turning their back on God. God had made up his mind that Jerusalem was going to be destroyed and the people of Judah taken into captivity or killed before Jeremiah began his ministry so why bother? Because in sending his prophet, God was demonstrating that he loves His people so much, that he will send someone to tell them to turn back toward worshiping Him even when their minds are made up! Once again, we learn from this story that judgment from God upon the ungodly is coming and it won’t pretty. Salvation is found only in being loyal to Him.

Jeremiah didn’t hold backing condemning the aforementioned kings for their actions. When we look back at the people of Israel both during the united kingdom and during the separate kingdoms of Israel and Judah one thing we can readily conclude: the relationship of the people to God and their spiritual nature is determined by who sat upon the throne! Even the priests followed the spiritual lead of the king. Israel met their demise first because there was no period in which one of their kings followed God as David did. We learned that Judah had some but eventually, the sins and wickedness of other kings was too much to spare Judah from a similar fate. Sadly, the sins of Judah and the resulting consequences were even worse because not only were people killed but Solomon’s temple where the presence of God had resided was destroyed along with city that had carried God’s name.

Here are the list of the kings of  Israel and Judah

Kings of …		Start of reign	Years since Solomon	Length of reign (years)	Prophets to …
Judah	Israel				Judah	Israel
1. Rehoboam		931 BC	0	17
	1. Jeroboam	931 BC	0	22		(Ahijah)
2. Abijah		913 BC	18	3
3. Asa		911 BC	20	41
	2. Nadab	910 BC	21	2
	3. Baasha	909 BC	22	24		(Jehu)
	4. Elah	886 BC	45	2
	5. Zimri	885 BC	46	7 days
	6. Omri	885 BC	46	12
	7. Ahab	874 BC	57	22		(Elijah)
4. Jehoshaphat		870 BC	61	25		(Micaiah)
	8. Ahaziah	853 BC	78	2		(Elisha)
	9. Joram	852 BC	79	12
5. Jehoram		848 BC	83	8
6. Ahaziah		841 BC	90	1
	10. Jehu	841 BC	90	28
7. Queen Athaliah		841 BC	90	6
8. Joash		835 BC	96	40	Joel (guesswork)
	11. Jehoahaz	814 BC	117	17
	12. Jehoash	798 BC	133	16
9. Amaziah		796 BC	135	29		Jonah (to Nineveh) (approx)
	13. Jeroboam II	782 BC	149	41		Amos, Hosea (until Hezekiah)
10. Uzziah (Azariah)		767 BC	164	52	Isaiah (until Hezekiah)
	14. Zechariah	753 BC	178	6 months
	15. Shallum	752 BC	179	1 month
	16. Menahem	752 BC	179	10
	17. Pekahiah	742 BC	189	2
	18. Pekah	740 BC	191	20
11. Jotham		740 BC	191	16	Micah (until Hezekiah)
12. Ahaz		732 BC	199	16
	19. Hoshea	732 BC	199	9
13. Hezekiah		716 BC	215	29
14. Manasseh		687 BC	244	55
15. Amon		642 BC	289	2		Nahum (to Nineveh) (approx)
16. Josiah		640 BC	291	31	Zephaniah, Jeremiah (into exile)
17. Jehoahaz		609 BC	322	3 months
18. Jehoiakim		609 BC	322	11	Habakkuk (approx)
19. Jehoiachin		597 BC	334	3 months

This horrible situation presents a serious problem. God had promised David that he would have a descendant upon this eternal throne always and yet the last descendant of David just had his eyes plucked out and his kids killed as he was taken prisoner to Babylon.  Certainly it  God’s reputation is at state here because God swore by His own name that he would keep his promise to David and not fail to have a descendant of his reign on his throne.  In order for the people of God to ever be restored back to their rightful place there MUST be a future king to rule on David’s throne who will do things the way God wants him to. God, being who He is, doesn’t stay silent about this apparent dilemma. Just as he foretold of Jerusalem’s destruction and Judah’s captivity for seventy years, through his prophet He lets the people that indeed He WILL do just that..and that king who will rule over God’s people  will be none other than the Lord Himself!  In fact through the prophet, God reveals to his people that the covenant he made with David is as certain as the laws of nature that affect the actions of the stars in heaven and the earth!

Now, Ezekiel and Jeremiah also share a belief that appears to be God’s plan to raise David from the dead and reign over God’s people in the future as well.  That would make any Hebrew being led into captivity hopeful that the kingdom would be restored with David’s return.  Can God and David reign over God’s people at the same time?  That sounds a little confusing but that will be explained in a later post.  What else can we take away from this?  God is letting is people know that even in the midst of tragic events that can be brought on by their own doing, God’s promises are fast and sure and He continues to extend His hand of mercy to call us back into a relationship with Him.    You can’t ask for more than that!

Up next:  God has another plan for His people in the future.