Posts filed under ‘israel’
His Will Remains
Thank God for His compassion, His pity, His love. Without it, this world would be an absolutely horrible place to live. Yet, God continues to hold out His arms beckoning people to come to Him in spite of their rebellion. He does this with Israel. He does this with other nations and He does this with individual people.
Privacy Is Dying Thanks to AI
There’s something happening that most cannot see because it is hidden under the surface. Artificial Intelligence (AI), is more and more included in the design of too many things: cars, appliances, telephones, TVs and too many other things to list. People are using AI to help write their papers or books. AI is being used as part of company coding that unfortunately, has had some very negative effects, which we’ll get to in a minute.
We are losing freedom in huge steps due to the Internet, which can be hacked. Yet most of us are completely unaware that this is the case. The reason? Because we do not see any real physical signs of the digital prison being built. Oh sure, when we go to stores, we see those cameras but we tell ourselves those are to stop shoplifters. They do work for that purpose, but they go well beyond that purpose too. Maybe we no longer see the cameras.
Do We Christians Do This?
By the time of Malachi, Israel had literally become numb toward God, having gotten to that point by deliberately and continually moving from faithful and obedient to becoming full faithless and disobedient. They eventually became bitter toward God. Can you imagine that? They actually harbored animosity and bitterness toward the God who had rescued them from Egypt and many troubles after that.
What Can Happen to Society, Pt 3
This is how far the Israelite society had fallen because of their continued rejection of God and His truth. They didn’t want to do things His way. They wanted to do things their way, much like the way global society today is doing things. God out. Self in. They think because there has been no immediate reckoning, that God either doesn’t hear, or worse, doesn’t exist. This is the exact same type of thinking that Israel entered into and because of it, got themselves in serious trouble time and time again.
Zechariah 14: Last Days in Detail
Zechariah 14 is a powerful and dynamic chapter that speaks of the Day of the Lord and the ultimate victory of God over evil. It serves as a reminder to all believers of the hope and redemption that is to come through Jesus Christ. The imagery of judgment, deliverance, and worship points to the final fulfillment of God’s promises to his people. As we await the return of Christ, we can take comfort in the knowledge that God is sovereign and will ultimately triumph over all.
Zechariah 13: An End to Idolatry
Israel’s problems came from the fact that they often wandered from God, literally turning their backs on Him, to worship false gods (demons). While they often continued to observe the sacrificial system, their hearts were not in it. They simply went through the motions of worship to check things off. God saw their hearts, that they were far from Him. Because they had turned their backs on Him, He chose to turn His back (temporarily) on Israel in order to refine and purify those within Israel who were dedicated to Him.
What Can Happen to Society, Pt 2
Let’s go back to realize something Gideon did not. The reason it appeared to Gideon that the Lord had forsaken Israel is simply due to the fact that Israel had forsaken the LORD. I find it fascinating that God did not directly respond to Gideon’s question, but simply tells him to go and save Israel from her oppressor, Midian.
Zechariah 12: Deliverance of Judah
In truth, it is not just that Israel rejected the Good Shepherd, but that Israel then embraced/will embrace Worthless Shepherds throughout her history and will do so a final time in the future! This recounts the events of the Messiah’s first advent and death, followed by the destruction and dissolution of Jerusalem and Israel as a nation in AD 70.
Zechariah 11: Israel’s Sin and Punishment
Zechariah 11 deals with the problems that Israel would face. The prophet was speaking a hundreds of years before Roman armies surrounded and sacked Jerusalem, but his words came to fulfillment. While many conservative commentators believe there was partial fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecies in the Roman destruction of Jerusalem (AD 70), the full and final aspect of this fulfillment will not occur until the coming Tribulation period of seven years, leading up to the physical return of Jesus to this planet.
Nadab’s Strange Fire
For Christians today, we are all fully under the blood of Jesus. Without it, we have zero protection from God’s wrath. With it, we are fully protected from it. However, the same temptation exists today for all Christians that existed for Nadab and Abihu. That is, the tendency to take God for granted or to allow our arrogance to move us away from how God expects us to live in this life.
It is a constant battle for the Christian, isn’t it? Thank God He does not deal with us as He dealt with the Israelites under the Law!
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