AM Nov 15th James 2

November 15^th   James 2            Prejudice and respect

1: My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. 2: For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; 3: And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: 4: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? 5: Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? 6: But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? 7: Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called? 8: If ye fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: 9: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. 10: For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. 11: For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. 12: So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. 13: For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

Faith in action

14: What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? 15: If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 16: And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? 17: Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. 18: Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. 19: Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 20: But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? 21: Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? 22: Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? 23: And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. 24: Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. 25: Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? 26: For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

James cautions his Jewish brethren not to have faith in Christ with prejudice. We must never allow ourselves to be overawed by the rich or powerful and treat them with respect, while ignoring or even despising the poor. In our celebrity focused society this could not be more appropriate. He says, hasn’t God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith? James describes this as a sin, a very grevious sin. And he says brothers you might keep the whole law, but if you act in this disgraceful way to a poor man, who has no power to defend himself,  then you have broken all the law. (Christians are not under the Mosaic Law, however the exhortation to non partiality could be applied to us. We should not have prejudice to ward any brother but treat all brothers with equal respect. This does not mean lowering our respect to include all but raising respect to be applied to all.) next James turns to our treatment of the poor. James says if a poor man comes into your synagogue[1] then you are not to treat him in any inferior way, if a rich man follows him in, wearing a gold ring – a symbol of authority and power) He continues to says, its one thing to say l will pray for the hungry and homeless, but that does not fill a hungry stomach or clothe a person shivering in the cold. Faith should have action attached to it. And if a person says, l have faith - then that faith can be justifiable questioned if there is no charity expressed. (For the Jews charity was the height of righteousness) James gives the example of Abraham and Rahab who not only believed God and were justified before God but who did acts of practical charity. Faith without action is worthless.

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[1] There is no excuse of any translator to turn the word synagogue into assembly or church it is referring to a Jewish synagogue.

PM Nov 14th Eze 1

November 14^th  Ezekiel 1          A. The Glory of the Lord & the Commission of Ezekiel    The First vision of Ezekiel

1: Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. 2: In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity, 3: The word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was there upon him. 4: And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire. 5: Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man. 6: And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings. 7: And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass. 8: And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings. 9: Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward. 10: As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle. 11: Thus were their faces: and their wings were stretched upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies. 12: And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went. 13: As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. 14: And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning. 15: Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces. 16: The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel. 17: When they went, they went upon their four sides: and they turned not when they went. 18: As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four. 19: And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up. 20: Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. 21: When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. 22: And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above. 23: And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward the other: every one had two, which covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that side, their bodies. 24: And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host: when they stood, they let down their wings. 25: And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings. 26: And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. 27: And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. 28: As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.

Ezekiel 2           God makes Ezekiel a prophet

1: And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee. 2: And the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me. 3: And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day. 4: For they are impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD. 5: And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them. 6: And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. 7: And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious. 8: But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee. 9: And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein; 10: And he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.

 

Ezekiel,  3

1: Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. 2: So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll. 3: And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness. 4: And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them. 5: For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel; 6: Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee. 7: But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted. 8: Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads. 9: As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. 10: Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears. 11: And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear. 12: Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the LORD from his place. 13: I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing. 14: So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me. 15: Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel-abib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar, and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days.

Ezekiel the Watchman

16: And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 17: Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. 18: When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 19: Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. 20: Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 21: Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.

Ezekiel is speechless

22: And the hand of the LORD was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee. 23: Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and, behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar: and I fell on my face. 24: Then the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet, and spake with me, and said unto me, Go, shut thyself within thine house. 25: But thou, O son of man, behold, they shall put bands upon thee, and shall bind thee with them, and thou shalt not go out among them: 26: And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover: for they are a rebellious house. 27: But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house.

The book of Ezekiel the priest is probably the most unread book of the bible. It deals with great prophecies that describe the coming Kingdom even describing in great detail the Millennial Temple. Ezekiel begins saying that he was with the captives of Babylon and he even gives us the exact date in which he received it. The first thing he sees is a whirlwind coming out of the north. It was a whirlwind of fire. And in the middle of the whirlwind was what appeared to be four creatures alive. They appeared to be similar to a man yet each one had four faces and four wings. Their feet went straight down and looked like the feet of young cattle. They sparkled like shinning brass. They had hands like a man under each wing - four hands. Their wings were joined to each other enabling them to fly in any direction without turning around. All four creatures had four faces, but their faces where of four types. One face was like a man, one like a lion, one like an ox and another like an eagle. It seemed that they had two sets of wings each. They had a reddish appearance like glowing coals on a fire. And there came out what appeared to be flashes of lightening. Ezekiel is struggling to describe these things and it’s a struggle for us to understand what he is meaning. There were wheels within wheels. Perhaps he’s describing a sort of halo like that which we see on the planet Saturn. He sees a throne above them and a man sitting on the throne. Perhaps this is a vision of Christ in glory. Then the Lord told Ezekiel to stand up so that the Lord could speak to him. At that moment the Spirit of God entered into him. The Lord tells him that he is going to be sent to the Children of Israel who are wicked and backsliding. But the Lord says do not be afraid of them or of their threatenings. He is not to concern himself in the outcome of his ministry only in the faithfulness of its execution. Then the Lord showed him a scroll and he was told to eat it. In his mouth it was like honey. He is warned that Hebrew is a hard language. He is to be strong and not put off by his ministry. Ezekiel heard the sound of rushing waters from the four living creatures. Then he was carried away to Tel-abib and he sat with the people for seven days. Then the word of the Lord came to him again saying (The Lord always addressed him as ‘Son of man’) Son of man l have made you a watchman (Lookout or Overseer or Pastor) for the house of Israel. The Lord explains that he is to have a very serious duty because if he refrains from speaking the word of the Lord then the Lord will require his blood for the people. Only if he speaks out will he deliver his own soul from death. Then the Lord said to Ezekiel, go and shut yourself into your house and you will bind your mouth so that you will not go and rebuke the people. Then the Lord said Ezekiel when l tell you to open your mouth then you must say – This is what the Lord says… The person who hears you - let him hear and he that refuses you - let him refuse, because they are a rebellious people.

AM Nov 14th James 1

November 14th  James 1            A. Prologue      Greeting from James

1: James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

B. The Believers Experience              Faith and Joy in temptation

2: My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3: Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4: But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. 5: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 6: But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7: For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8: A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. 9: Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: 10: But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. 11: For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.

Blessing & rewards of temptation

12: Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. 13: Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15: Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. 16: Do not err, my beloved brethren. 17: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. 18: Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Repentance and Faithfulness

19: Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: 20: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. 21: Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. 22: But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 23: For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 25: But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. 26: If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. 27: Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

James picks up his pen to write an open letter to the twelve tribes of Israel. Now in his day the twelve tribes did not exist. The Jews were the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, The other ten tribes were scattered by the Assyrian invasion. So there is a very real sense in which this letter is addressed to the twelve tribes that will be gathered again into the land in the day of the LORD. Therefore we can expect James’s message to have a legal tone and many references to Israel’s unique relationship to the LORD under the old covenant. This is a letter not to Christians or to a church but to James’ brethren the Israelites. It has the same focus as the ministry of John the Baptist, Christ and the Disciples up until the teaching of Paul when he reveals the truthes of the Church the body of Christ. James writes to encourage his brethren to have the joy of the LORD when they come into persecution, because they are to know that this persecution is going to bring to them patience. James encourages his brethren to bring their prayers to the Lord with faith not wavering in unbelief. The LORD is in control and he will redress the balance in terms of poverty and wealth. As ever the Issues he addresses are not church issues but Judaism in the world and he begins with injustice. James reminds the brethren that the Lord has a crown of life which he will give to those who love him. The theological points from James brings are brief and punchy and they flow quickly and with fluency. He moves rapidly from one thought to another. This is typical of a Jewish teacher. He describes temptation and sin and tells his listeners not to think that it is God that is tempting us. He then goes into a sort of hymn of praise to the Lord the giver of all good things. He then cautions his brethren to live righteous lives before God (under the old law) and to build up their lives on the Word of God and that God expects of us holiness and righteousness. The blessing of God is on those who obey and not just on those who ‘talk about obeying’. Real religion is seen in a controlled tongue and especially in acts of righteousness like visiting the fatherless and widows in their suffering and in personal purity.   

PM Nov 13th Lam 3

November 13^th   Lamentations 3  Hope in the midst of affliction

1: I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. 2: He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light. 3: Surely against me is he turned; he turneth his hand against me all the day. 4: My flesh and my skin hath he made old; he hath broken my bones. 5: He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail. 6: He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old. 7: He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy. 8: Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer. 9: He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked. 10: He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places. 11: He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me desolate. 12: He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow. 13: He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins. 14: I was a derision to all my people; and their song all the day. 15: He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood. 16: He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes. 17: And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity. 18: And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD: 19: Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. 20: My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. 21: This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. 22: It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 23: They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. 24: The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. 25: The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. 26: It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD. 27: It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. 28: He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him. 29: He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope. 30: He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach. 31: For the Lord will not cast off for ever: 32: But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies. 33: For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men. 34: To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth, 35: To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most High, 36: To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not. 37: Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not? 38: Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good? 39: Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? 40: Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD. 41: Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens. 42: We have transgressed and have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned. 43: Thou hast covered with anger, and persecuted us: thou hast slain, thou hast not pitied. 44: Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through. 45: Thou hast made us as the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the people. 46: All our enemies have opened their mouths against us. 47: Fear and a snare is come upon us, desolation and destruction. 48: Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people. 49: Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission, 50: Till the LORD look down, and behold from heaven. 51: Mine eye affecteth mine heart because of all the daughters of my city. 52: Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause. 53: They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me. 54: Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, I am cut off. 55: I called upon thy name, O LORD, out of the low dungeon. 56: Thou hast heard my voice: hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry. 57: Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not. 58: O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life. 59: O LORD, thou hast seen my wrong: judge thou my cause. 60: Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their imaginations against me. 61: Thou hast heard their reproach, O LORD, and all their imaginations against me; 62: The lips of those that rose up against me, and their device against me all the day. 63: Behold their sitting down, and their rising up; I am their musick. 64: Render unto them a recompence, O LORD, according to the work of their hands. 65: Give them sorrow of heart, thy curse unto them. 66: Persecute and destroy them in anger from under the heavens of the LORD.

Lamentations 4  God’s anger is satisfied

1: How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street. 2: The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter! 3: Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness. 4: The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst: the young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them. 5: They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills. 6: For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her. 7: Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire: 8: Their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick. 9: They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field. 10: The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people. 11: The LORD hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof. 12: The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem. 13: For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her, 14: They have wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, so that men could not touch their garments. 15: They cried unto them, Depart ye; it is unclean; depart, depart, touch not: when they fled away and wandered, they said among the heathen, They shall no more sojourn there. 16: The anger of the LORD hath divided them; he will no more regard them: they respected not the persons of the priests, they favoured not the elders. 17: As for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain help: in our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save us. 18: They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets: our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come. 19: Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness. 20: The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen. 21: Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz; the cup also shall pass through unto thee: thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked. 22: The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no more carry thee away into captivity: he will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom; he will discover thy sins.

Lamentations 5  Jeremiah pleads for restoration

1: Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach. 2: Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens. 3: We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows. 4: We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold unto us. 5: Our necks are under persecution: we labour, and have no rest. 6: We have given the hand to the Egyptians, and to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread. 7: Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities. 8: Servants have ruled over us: there is none that doth deliver us out of their hand. 9: We gat our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness. 10: Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine. 11: They ravished the women in Zion, and the maids in the cities of Judah. 12: Princes are hanged up by their hand: the faces of elders were not honoured. 13: They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under the wood. 14: The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their musick. 15: The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning. 16: The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned! 17: For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim. 18: Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it. 19: Thou, O LORD, remainest for ever; thy throne from generation to generation. 20: Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so long time? 21: Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old. 22: But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us.

Jeremiah is very fluent and expressive in his sorrows. He takes onto himself the burden of his visions and seems at times to be in the depths of personal despair. Jeremiah expresses the sorrow of finding that God will not answer his prayers. In his distress he establishes some of the sweetest truthes. He says… It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, says my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The LORD is good to them that wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD and it is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Jeremiahs solution to the problems of Judah are…Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD. Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens. We have transgressed and have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned. Again Jeremiah finds expression in his sorrow at the judgments of God in tears. Jeremiahs mission was not something that he did from 9.00-5.00. It was lived out in his life and soul and tears. Jeremiah sees the most horrendous scenes. He sees the starving in the streets. The young girls raped. The princes are crucified. The young men are turned into slaves to grind corn. Children are crushed under timber. The elders have deserted justice and the young men has ceased to make music. Joy has ceased in the hearts of men and the dancing has turned into a funeral procession. The crown has fallen from the kings head and the cry of dispair eventually comes up to the Lord. Woe unto us – we have sinned. It is amazing to see how far a man must fall before he realises that he has sinned against the Lord.

AM Nov 13th Heb 13

November 13^th   Hebrews 13       Superior Love

1: Let brotherly love continue. 2: Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. 3: Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body. 4: Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. 5: Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. 6: So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. 7: Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. 8: Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. 9: Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein. 10: We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. 11: For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. 12: Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. 13: Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. 14: For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. 15: By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. 16: But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. 17: Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you. 18: Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly. 19: But I beseech you the rather to do this, that I may be restored to you the sooner.

Blessing & personal messages

20: Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21: Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. 22: And I beseech you, brethren, suffer the word of exhortation: for I have written a letter unto you in few words. 23: Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty; with whom, if he come shortly, I will see you. 24: Salute all them that have the rule over you, and all the saints. They of Italy salute you. 25: Grace be with you all. Amen.

And so the writer to the Hebrews brings his letter to an end with homely exhortation. He reminds the Hebrews to have brotherly love for each other and to have hospitality. They are to remember those who are in prison for Christ’s sake. He reminds them that marriage and sexual relations are honourable to all. He says let you hearts be contented, because Christ promised that he would never leave us. They are to have due respect for those who have the spiritual rule over them. He then warns them not to be carried away with different and strange doctrines. He then describes the rejection of Jesus and how that he was expelled outside ‘the camp’ of the Jews. He then exhorts the Jewish believers to go outside the camp of Israel to stand with Christ. He says, we have no earthly city here, because we seek one to come. He encourages us to worship in song and to give with charity. He says, obey those that have the rule over you in the LORD because they care for your souls and they will give account for their responsibility. Then the writer says, pray for us, because we live as law abiding Jews in good conscience before God.  Finally, the writer gives the benediction. He prays that the Lord Jesus – the Good Shepherd might bring them to maturity in every good work to do Gods will. He says, Timothy has been released and when he joins me we will come to you. He closes with salutations to the Elders and all the saints. Then the writer sends greets from the believers of Rome. (Probably this indicates that this letter is written from Rome by Paul. Lastly he closes with the Christian greeting ‘Grace be with you’.

PM Nov 12th Lam 1

November 12^th   Lamentations 1  Jeremiah mourns for Jerusalem

1: How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people how is she become as a widow she that was was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary 2: She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies. 3: Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude: she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest: all her persecutors overtook her between the straits. 4: The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: all her gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness. 5: Her adversaries are the chief, her enemies prosper; for the LORD hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: her children are gone into captivity before the enemy. 6: And from the daughter of Zion all her beauty is departed: her princes are become like harts that find no pasture, and they are gone without strength before the pursuer. 7: Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old, when her people fell into the hand of the enemy, and none did help her: the adversaries saw her, and did mock at her sabbaths. 8: Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore she is removed: all that honoured her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness: yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward. 9: Her filthiness is in her skirts; she remembereth not her last end; therefore she came down wonderfully: she had no comforter. O LORD, behold my affliction: for the enemy hath magnified himself. 10: The adversary hath spread out his hand upon all her pleasant things: for she hath seen that the heathen entered into her sanctuary, whom thou didst command that they should not enter into thy congregation. 11: All her people sigh, they seek bread; they have given their pleasant things for meat to relieve the soul: see, O LORD, and consider; for I am become vile. 12: Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the LORD hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger. 13: From above hath he sent fire into my bones, and it prevaileth against them: he hath spread a net for my feet, he hath turned me back: he hath made me desolate and faint all the day. 14: The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand: they are wreathed, and come up upon my neck: he hath made my strength to fall, the Lord hath delivered me into their hands, from whom I am not able to rise up. 15: The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty men in the midst of me: he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men: the Lord hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, as in a winepress. 16: For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water, because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me: my children are desolate, because the enemy prevailed. 17: Zion spreadeth forth her hands, and there is none to comfort her: the LORD hath commanded concerning Jacob, that his adversaries should be round about him: Jerusalem is as a menstruous woman among them. 18: The LORD is righteous; for I have rebelled against his commandment: hear, I pray you, all people, and behold my sorrow: my virgins and my young men are gone into captivity. 19: I called for my lovers, but they deceived me: my priests and mine elders gave up the ghost in the city, while they sought their meat to relieve their souls. 20: Behold, O LORD; for I am in distress: my bowels are troubled; mine heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled: abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is as death. 21: They have heard that I sigh: there is none to comfort me: all mine enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that thou hast done it: thou wilt bring the day that thou hast called, and they shall be like unto me. 22: Let all their wickedness come before thee; and do unto them, as thou hast done unto me for all my transgressions: for my sighs are many, and my heart is faint.

Lamentations 2  God’s anger against sin

1: How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, and cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel, and remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger! 2: The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied: he hath thrown down in his wrath the strong holds of the daughter of Judah; he hath brought them down to the ground: he hath polluted the kingdom and the princes thereof. 3: He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, and he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round about. 4: He hath bent his bow like an enemy: he stood with his right hand as an adversary, and slew all that were pleasant to the eye in the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion: he poured out his fury like fire. 5: The Lord was as an enemy: he hath swallowed up Israel, he hath swallowed up all her palaces: he hath destroyed his strong holds, and hath increased in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation. 6: And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a garden: he hath destroyed his places of the assembly: the LORD hath caused the solemn feasts and sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion, and hath despised in the indignation of his anger the king and the priest. 7: The Lord hath cast off his altar, he hath abhorred his sanctuary, he hath given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; they have made a noise in the house of the LORD, as in the day of a solemn feast. 8: The LORD hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion: he hath stretched out a line, he hath not withdrawn his hand from destroying: therefore he made the rampart and the wall to lament; they languished together. 9: Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars: her king and her princes are among the Gentiles: the law is no more; her prophets also find no vision from the LORD. 10: The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, and keep silence: they have cast up dust upon their heads; they have girded themselves with sackcloth: the virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground. 11: Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people; because the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city. 12: They say to their mothers, Where is corn and wine? when they swooned as the wounded in the streets of the city, when their soul was poured out into their mothers' bosom. 13: What thing shall I take to witness for thee? what thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? what shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach is great like the sea: who can heal thee? 14: Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee: and they have not discovered thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity; but have seen for thee false burdens and causes of banishment. 15: All that pass by clap their hands at thee; they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men call The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth? 16: All thine enemies have opened their mouth against thee: they hiss and gnash the teeth: they say, We have swallowed her up: certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it. 17: The LORD hath done that which he had devised; he hath fulfilled his word that he had commanded in the days of old: he hath thrown down, and hath not pitied: and he hath caused thine enemy to rejoice over thee, he hath set up the horn of thine adversaries. 18: Their heart cried unto the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night: give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thine eye cease. 19: Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street. 20: Behold, O LORD, and consider to whom thou hast done this. Shall the women eat their fruit, and children of a span long? shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord? 21: The young and the old lie on the ground in the streets: my virgins and my young men are fallen by the sword; thou hast slain them in the day of thine anger; thou hast killed, and not pitied. 22: Thou hast called as in a solemn day my terrors round about, so that in the day of the LORD's anger none escaped nor remained: those that I have swaddled and brought up hath mine enemy consumed.

In this little book Jeremiah expresses his deep sorrows about Judah’s judgments and destruction. He begins by asking why is the city of Jerusalem destroyed?. He remembers her glory days and he just cannot comprehend the depth of her desolations. This book is like reading the personal journal of Jeremiah as he speaks to himself in his great distress. The sufferings of Judah are such that everyone looks on in amazement and wonders how such a glorious nation can be so humbled. He asks - Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if there is any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, in which the LORD has afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger. From above has he sent fire into my bones, and it prevaileth against them: he has spread a net for my feet, he has turned me back: he has made me desolate and faint all the day. One can feel the desperation of a nation that has turned its back on God. Jeremiah is called the weeping prophet. He says… these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runs down with water, because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me: my children are desolate, because the enemy prevailed. And again…Behold, O LORD; for I am in distress: my bowels are troubled; mine heart is turned within me. - There is none to comfort me: all mine enemies have heard of my trouble. The Jeremiah asks questions. Why? Why? Why?. How has the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, and cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel, and remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger! Of course everyone in his day saw these things happening by Jeremiah had vision. He could see these things happening before they happened – while the people thought everything was OK. He could see things from Gods perspective and he could see Gods judgment coming. He describes the situation as he sees it. The city is destroyed, the gates are burned, the King and the princes are captive in a foreign land, There is no law being kept, The prophets have no vision from the Lord, The Elders are silent, they sit in the dung hill with ash on their heads, they sit in sack cloth the young virgins cannot bring up their faces to look up, My eyes run out of tears. Hungry children ask for food. Gentiles who pass by say. - Is this the city that men call ‘The perfection of beauty’?  and ‘The joy of the whole earth? Jeremiah says, Their heart cries unto the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night: give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thine eye cease. Jeremiah sees young and old lying unburied in the streets and he asks God – not why he has allowed it but why have you done this?

AM Nov 12th Heb 12

November 12th

14: Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: 15: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; 16: Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. 17: For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. 18: For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, 19: And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: 20: (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: 21: And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:) 22: But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 23: To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24: And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. 25: See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: 26: Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. 27: And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28: Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 29: For our God is a consuming fire.

The writer exhorts his readers to live in peace with all men and holiness, because without these things no man shall see the Lord. The Hebrews are to be extra cautious not to fall from the Grace of God. because this will bring in a root of bitterness and through it many are defiled. The Hebrews were in danger of hearing of the Messiah and springing up but when the sun rises they wither and die. Why is that? Because they are religious but have not Christ. They are outwardly religious but then they return to Judaism and the sacrifices and thereby reject Christ and fall from the heights of Grace into the ditch of Judaism. This is the main message of the whole Book. It is addressed to the Hebrews. This is what Esau did. He rejected Gods word and Gods man and then found he could not repent even though he sought it with tears. The mountain that we are coming to is not Sinai which was the place of lightening and fire but we are coming to the Sion The messianic mountain, the highest mountain in the world. The site of the Millennial Temple. This is where the Hebrew is coming. He is not coming to the Old Covenant but he is coming to the New Covenant. - and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 23: To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24: And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. The Hebrews are coming to seven things. 1. The City – Jerusalem. 2. To the administration of Angels. 3. To the church. 4. To God the judge of all. 5. To the righteous in resurrection – in the kingdom. 6. To Jesus the mediator of the new covenant. 7. To the blood of the sprinkling. The writer then warns the Hebrews not to refuse the message of God which comes from heaven. The kingdom of heaven will be given to the Hebrews they are to receive it with grace. So that they might serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. The Hebrews are to serve God in the kingdom in reverence a godly fear because their God is a consuming fire.