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John the Immerser – The Harbinger of Messiah (2 of 5)

Focus Text: Luke 1.67-76

“But when he [John] saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ‘Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our father.” For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit…  ( Click for more )

Focus Text: Luke 1.67-76

“Now his [John’s] father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying: ‘Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited and redeemed His people, And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of His servant David, As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, Who have been since the world began, That we should be saved from our enemies And from the hand of all who hate us, To perform the mercy promised to our fathers And to remember His…  ( Click for more )

Jonah – The Reluctant but Penitent Prophet (4 of 4)

Focus Text: Jonah 3-4

At long last Jonah was finally on task. “So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, ‘Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do…  ( Click for more )

Focus Text: Jonah 3.1-3

I don’t know when the first poet said, “Once burned, Lesson learned; Twice burned, Lesson spurned.” Although I have no reason to believe that Jonah ever heard this poem, I have every reason to believe that Jonah knew what the poet was talking about! The first time God told Jonah to go to Nineveh, Jonah ran the other way. However, Jonah learned a life-changing lesson in the belly of a great fish. Because of that experience, the second go-round was entirely different. The Bible…  ( Click for more )

Jonah – The Reluctant but Penitent Prophet (2 of 4)

Focus Text: Jonah 1.1-3

“Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.’ But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.” (Jonah 1.1-3).

Jonah might well have written a chapter in…  ( Click for more )

Jonah – The Reluctant but Penitent Prophet (1 of 4)

Focus Text: 2 Kings 14:25

“He (Jerobaom II) restored the territory of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which He had spoken through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet who was from Gath Hepher.” (2 Kings 14.25).

Other than in the book of Jonah, this is the only time the Old Testament writers mentioned this unique prophet from the region of Galilee. However, as a point of history, Jonah was one of the…  ( Click for more )

Contradiction or Context

Scripture Reading: Acts 11.1-18

Contradiction is such a harsh word. It has no wiggle room in it. It speaks of something amiss. The word contradiction is used in the NKJV Bible one time and that in Hebrews 7.7. The word that is translated contradiction in this passage is used a total of 4 times and it translates the Greek word antilogia. It takes little imagination to see that word is made up of two words, the first being anti and the second word very much akin to logos or logic. Literally the word means to speak against or to oppose by words.

Over…  ( Click for more )

Micaiah – The Non-Politically Correct Prophet (2 of 2)

Focus Text: 1 Kings 22:28

Micaiah had been adequately “coached” as to what to say before Ahab and yet he refused the counsel saying, “As the LORD lives, whatever the LORD says to me, that I will speak.” (1 Kings 22.14). Now the acid test came!

“Then he [Micaiah] came to the king [Ahab]; and the king said to him, ‘Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall we refrain?’ And he answered him, ‘Go and prosper, for the LORD will deliver it…  ( Click for more )

Micaiah – The Non-Politically Correct Prophet (1 of 2)

Focus Text: 1 Kings 22:14

The kingdom of Israel had been divided for several years with a major difference being the Northern Kingdom’s propensity to engage in idolatrous practices. Even at Sinai the children of Israel had flirted with idols despite God’s specific and explicit commandments to the contrary. However, on a scale, Judah (the Southern Kingdom) had been less likely to pursue idols than Israel (the Northern Kingdom). However, even Judah had her dark years when idols supplanted Jehovah…  ( Click for more )

Nathan – A Prophet; Not a Yes Man (3 of 3)

Focus Text: Psalm 51,2 Samuel 12

Question: What is more difficult than a true friend telling another that he/she is wrong? Answer: Not telling a friend when he/she is wrong when they need to be told. Whether you agree with this statement or not, you have to admire Nathan as he came before David to tell him of his wrong and that with the apparent motivation of obtaining David’s repentance and his ultimate restoration to God.

Nathan was not the first prophet to have such a task and neither was he the last.…  ( Click for more )

Nathan – A Prophet; Not a Yes Man (2 of 3)

Focus Text: 2 Samuel 12

From a human perspective, the major players were David, Bathsheba, and Nathan. In the story itself, Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, was but an object that had to be removed in order for King David to have his way with Bathsheba. From a larger perspective, God was an important but undesired aspect of the story. David had wanted to completely forget about God as the plot unfolded but God was not about to forget about David, or Bathsheba, or Uriah, or Nathan.

It happened like this: David…  ( Click for more )

Focus Text: 2 Samuel 7.1-3

“Now it came to pass when the king was dwelling in his house, and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies all around, that the king said to Nathan the prophet, ‘See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells inside tent curtains.’ Then Nathan said to the king, ‘Go, do all that is in your heart, for the LORD is with you.’” (2 Samuel 7.1-3).

It seemed that David had the best of intentions, to build the LORD a house, that is. …  ( Click for more )

Samuel - Teacher, Prophet and Prophet Teacher (5 of 5)

Focus Text: 1 Samuel 25.1

Sometimes the death of the greatest of men is afforded little space in the history books. Certainly this was true of Moses about whom the scriptures simply say he died, he was buried by the LORD, and that the children of Israel mourned for him for thirty days. What was true concerning Moses’ death was also true of Samuel. Inspiration simply recorded, “And Samuel died; and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah.”…  ( Click for more )

Samuel - Teacher, Prophet and Prophet Teacher (4 of 5)

Focus Text: 1 Samuel 15.18-23

Samuel confronted Saul saying, “Now the LORD sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the LORD?’ And Saul said to Samuel, ‘But I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek;…  ( Click for more )

Focus Text: 1 Samuel 15.13-17

“Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, ‘Blessed are you of the LORD! I have performed the commandment of the LORD.’ But Samuel said, ‘What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?’ And Saul said, ‘They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.’ Then Samuel said…  ( Click for more )

Samuel - Teacher, Prophet and Prophet Teacher (2 of 5)

Focus Text: 1 Samuel 8.4-10

“Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, ‘Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.’ But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, ‘Give us a king to judge us.’ So Samuel prayed to the LORD. And the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have…  ( Click for more )

Focus Text: Acts 13.17-20

Paul speaking to an assembled crowd in the synagogue at Antioch of Pisidia: “The God of this people Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He brought them out of it. Now for a time of about forty years He put up with their ways in the wilderness. And when He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land to them by allotment. After that He gave them judges for about four…  ( Click for more )

Moses – Mighty Prophet of Many Seasons (9 of 9)

Focus Text: Revelation 15.1-4

"Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete. And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God. They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: ‘Great and marvelous are Your…  ( Click for more )

Moses – Mighty Prophet of Many Seasons (8 of 9)

Focus Text: Psalm 106.19-23

"They [the children of Israel] made a calf in Horeb, And worshiped the molded image. Thus they changed their glory into the image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God their Savior, Who had done great things in Egypt, Wondrous works in the land of Ham, Awesome things by the Red Sea. Therefore He said that He would destroy them, Had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach, To turn away His wrath, lest He destroy them." (Psalm 106.19-23).

A cursory reading…  ( Click for more )

Moses – Mighty Prophet of Many Seasons (7 of 9)

Focus Text: 2 Corinthians 3.7-10

"But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels.…  ( Click for more )

Moses – Mighty Prophet of Many Seasons (6 of 9)

Focus Text: Numbers 14.40-45

"And they [the children of Israel] rose early in the morning and went up to the top of the mountain, saying, ‘Here we are, and we will go up to the place which the LORD has promised, for we have sinned!’ And Moses said, ‘Now why do you transgress the command of the LORD? For this will not succeed. Do not go up, lest you be defeated by your enemies, for the LORD is not among you. For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you shall fall by the…  ( Click for more )

Moses – Mighty Prophet of Many Seasons (5 of 9)

Focus Text: Hebrews 11.24-26

"I’d rather be right than wrong!" These words came from an excited (but temporarily confused) friend of mine a few years back. What she meant to say was, "I’d rather be right than be President." Of course this famous quote is from Henry Clay, 19th century statesman and politician. In thinking about Moses, this attitude of being right as opposed to rich and powerful certainly leaps to the forefront. Or, to put it as the Hebrews writer did, "By faith Moses,…  ( Click for more )

Moses – Mighty Prophet of Many Seasons (4 of 9)

Focus Text: Numbers 20.7-12

"Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.’ So Moses took the rod from before the LORD as He commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, ‘Hear now, you rebels! Must…  ( Click for more )

Moses – Mighty Prophet of Many Seasons (3 of 9)

Focus Text: Exodus 32.15-19

"And Moses turned and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the Testimony were in his hand. The tablets were written on both sides; on the one side and on the other they were written. Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets. And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, ‘There is a noise of war in the camp.’ But he said: ‘It is not the noise of the shout of…  ( Click for more )