Tag Archives: Jerusalem

VENGEANCE DAY

Christian Life, ,

VENGEANCE DAY

“‘When you see soldiers camped all around Jerusalem, then you’ll know that she is about to be devastated. If you’re living in Judea at the time, run for the hills. If you’re in the city, get out quickly. If you’re in the fields, don’t go home to get your coat. This is Vengeance Day — everything written about it will come to a head. Pregnant and nursing  mothers will have it especially hard. Incredible mistery! Torrential rage! People dropping like flies; people dragged off to prisons; Jerusalem under the boot of barbarians until the nations finish what was given them to do.'” Luke 21:20-24 (The Message).

Why is it that this one city should have experienced more war and destruction than any other city in the world? What does Jerusalem have that makes it the focus of so much conflict? It has no strategic geographical significance, no major economic or industrial function, some historical and archaeological interest, perhaps, but not enough for nations to have fought over it for more than three thousand years.

Once again the issue is a spiritual one. Three major faiths claim Jerusalem as their own. Judaism claims it because Jerusalem was the City of David, their greatest king. It was the capital of their Promised Land and the Temple the symbol of God’s presence among them. Islam claims Abraham as the anscestor of their race; their great Mosque of Omar occupies the place where he offered his son and where the Temple once stood. Christians love Jerusalem because it was the city where Jesus was crucified and rose again.

Jesus’ answer to His disciples’ question,‘Teacher, when is this going to happen?’ takes in two major events, the destruction of Jerusalem under the Roman general, Titus, in 70 AD and the tumultuous events preceeding His return. It is not easy to separate these two happenings because, in His predicitons, they seem almost to run together. Perhaps He did this on purpose to prevent people from assigning dates to the ‘end of the world’.

When we read about the fall of Jerusalem, it fills us with horror because God appears to be cruel and heartless, subjecting people to terrible suffering out of revenge for not  taking Him seriously. But that is not God’s way. From the beginning of their history He made it clear that their protection lay in their trust in Him and obedience to His word. He showed His love for them rescuing them from slavery and by giving them a good land but they chose to reject Him and worship the worthless idols of the surrounding nations.

It was their choice, not God’s, that brought destruction on them. “‘Have you not brought this on yourselves by forsaking the Lord your God when He led you in the way.'” Jeremiah 2:17 (NIV).

The Jews sealed their fate by thoughtlessly calling God’s judgment upon them at Jesus’ trial. “When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood.’ he said, ‘It is your responsibility!’ All the people answered, ‘Let His blood be on us and on our children.!'” Matthew 27:24-25 (NIV).

When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey to claim His rightful kingship of His people, the sight of the city reduced Him to tears because He saw the outcome of their rejection of Him. “‘The days will come when your enemies will build an embankment against you and will encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognise the time of God’s coming to you.'” Luke 19:43-44 (NIV).

God’s word makes it clear that whatever fate we suffer is the end result of our own choices. He has given us the option to receive the mercy He offers us because Jesus died in our place. He honours our freedom to choose right up to the choice of our own destiny. For those who honour Him, there is mercy, forgiveness and a new life which never ends; for those who reject His offer, the eternal rubbish heap of wasted opportunity.

He forces nothing on us. It is up to us to choose.

THE MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE BELIEVER

Christian Life, ,

THE MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE BELIEVER

On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Acts 1:4-5

Although Jesus breathed on them and told them to receive the Holy Spirit after His resurrection, (John 20: 22) and before He finally left them, He told them to wait in Jerusalem for the coming of the Spirit in power. The powerful ministry of the Holy Spirit in the disciples was yet to come and would be twofold:

  1. He would be their internal power source, guiding and transforming them through the Word of Jesus and His sanctifying work.
  • He would be their power source for being Jesus’s witnesses in the world. Whatever equipment they needed for Him to convince the world through them who Jesus was, He would supply. Gifts, ministries, miracles, and supernatural protection were all in Him and from Him.

He said to them: ‘Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well. (Mark 16: 15-18)

When the Holy Spirit fell on the believers on the Day of Pentecost, His coming was the final and complete fulfilment of the prophetic word of the prophet Joel (Joel 2: 28-32) and Jesus’ promise to His disciples and for all His future followers all over the world. There is no need ever, for God’s people to beg Him to pour out His Spirit on us again. He has done it, once for all. The Holy Spirit has never left, and He never will.

Why is the church in many places so cold and ineffective? Is it not because God’s people have been led astray by false prophets or have wandered from the way of Yahweh because of sin and self-will? God’s call is for us to return – shuv – repent, change our minds and get back to His way and His Word. He has provided everything we need for godly living (2 Peter 1: 3-4). It is up to us to obey His Spirit, to believe and take hold of His “very great and precious promises” through which we participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

It is time for us to stop waiting for God to “rescue” us from our sinful and disobedient ways. He has done it all through Jesus and given us His Spirit to empower us to obey. Jesus said, “Follow me!” and “Remain in me.” He has given us all the equipment we need to do it. Now we must “just do it!”

Three words keep recurring in Jesus’s final words to His disciples before His death – love, joy, and peace. He not only spoke about love, joy, and peace but He also claimed ownership; “my” love, “my” joy and “my” peace. These qualities were very important to Him; they were the very energy supplied by the Holy Spirit that sustained Him through the rigours of His earthly life.

It was time to impart these same gifts as a legacy of love to His disciples before He died. He left no earthly inheritance, except His clothing for which the soldiers gambled, but what He gave His disciples was of far greater value than material goods. He promised to send them the Holy Spirit who would be in them. and would impart to them the love, the joy and the peace that energised and sustained Him through trials, tests, and suffering.

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in His love. (John 15: 9-10)

The secret of living in the love of Jesus is simple – just do what He tells you. The outcome is a life without fear. According to the Apostle John, it is the fear of punishment that cancels out our experience of God’s perfect love (1 John 4: 18). It is fear that steals our joy and our peace and makes us uncertain of the love of God. The Holy Spirit reassures us that we are the children of God (Rom. 8: 15-16).

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. (John 15: 11)

Jesus was a man of joy, anointed with the oil of joy above His companions (Heb. 1: 9). His steadfast vision of the goal enabled Him to rise above His circumstances, no matter how tough they were, secure in the Father’s love and unfazed by what happened around Him and to Him.

His promise of joy arises from their union with Him and obedience to His commands.

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in His love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be compete. (John 15: 9-11)

As they lived in union with Jesus, experiencing His love and doing what He wanted them to do, His joy would sustain them through every trial because they would see, not the trouble they were experiencing but the result – just as He was sustained by His expectation of the glory that would follow the cross.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world give. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (John 14: 27)

He left His disciples in no doubt about the inner energy of His life. As His followers, the Holy Spirit would nurture in them the very same strengths which carried Him through His deepest, darkest valleys if they remained in Him as branches in the vine. He left them His legacy, but it was up to them to walk in the Spirit and be led by the Spirit so that the fruit of the Spirit would be nurtured in them.

Jesus’s disciples were to be no less dependent on the Holy Spirit than He was. The Spirit would be the same to them as He was to Jesus.

And if the Spirit of Him who raised Christ from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through the Spirit who lives in you. (Rom. 8:11)

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

UNFULFILLED DREAMS

Bible Study, ,

UNFULFILLED DREAMS

“This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you. But now there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to visit you, I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to see you while passing through and have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while. Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the Lord’s people there.” Romans 15:22-25.

The Bible is such an interesting book! Not a book of philosophy or ethics, it’s a book about people, ordinary people, not plaster saints.

Although Paul was a servant of the Lord and in partnership with the Holy Spirit, he had plans and dreams which he wanted to fulfil, and which the Holy Spirit allowed him to follow as and when it fitted into His bigger plan. Rome was Paul’s goal, the centre and hub of the known world. There was already a church there, no doubt the outcome of the witness of believers who moved in and out of the city.

As an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul felt responsible for all His churches, even those he had not personally founded. However, since it was his ambition to take the gospel where Christ has not already been preached, his priority was to go to those regions first. Rome would have to wait. However, now, it seems, he was running out of virgin territory and his thoughts turned to the people of God in the Eternal City.

He took the opportunity to write a letter to them, first of all to give them a thorough explanation of the message of God’s righteousness revealed in Christ, and then to prepare them for his visit sometime soon. He was not aware at that time, that the Holy Spirit had other plans for getting him to Rome.

Still a free man, he was on his way to Jerusalem to deliver the offering from the churches in Macedonia and Achaia to the believers in Jerusalem who were in great need because of a famine in the land.

“For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord’s people. They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings.” Romans 15:26, 27.

Paul was unaware, at that time, of a serious interruption in his plans that was coming as a result of his ministry to the Gentiles. He was a marked man! The moment he put his foot in Jerusalem, he would become the target of a torrent of Jewish hatred and murderous intent. Yes, he would go to Rome as he longed to do but, compliments of the Roman government, under Roman guard and at Rome’s expense.

He would not see Spain as he planned, but he had a commission to fulfil, as revealed to Ananias at the start of Paul’s Christian journey. He must still stand before Nero to proclaim the name of Jesus.

“But the Lord said to Ananias, ‘Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.'” Acts 9:15, 16.

Nero, like many of his predecessors and successors, thought he was God and demanded worship as Lord, Saviour and Prince of Peace! He had to learn, once and for all, that there is only one Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ, given the title by the God of the universe. Once he had heard the truth, he would have no excuse.

Paul’s dream to visit the Roman church as a free man was never fulfilled, yet God honoured his passion to go to Rome. Paul was content to carry out the Lord’s will, no matter what it cost him. Perhaps, for him to suffer for his Lord, unexpected though it was, was for him the highest honour because his Master had suffered for him in the city of God in his homeland.

It was perfectly okay for Paul to tell them his plans as long as they understood that his plans were always subject to his Master’s plans to whom he was submitted for better or for worse.

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – VENGEANCE DAY

Bible Study, ,

VENGEANCE DAY

“‘When you see soldiers camped all around Jerusalem, then you’ll know that she is about to be devastated. If you’re living in Judea at the time, run for the hills. If you’re in the city, get out quickly. If you’re in the fields, don’t go home to get your coat. This is Vengeance Day – everything written about it will come to a head. Pregnant and nursing mothers will have it especially hard. Incredible misery! Torrential rage! People dropping like flies; people dragged off to prisons; Jerusalem under the boot of barbarians until the nations finish what was given them to do.'” Luke 21:20-24.

Why is it that this one city should have experienced more war and destruction than any other city in the world? What does Jerusalem have that makes it the focus of so much conflict? It has no strategic geographical significance, no major economic or industrial function, some historical and archaeological interest, perhaps, but not enough for nations to have fought over it for more than three thousand years.

Once again the issue is a spiritual one. Three major faiths claim Jerusalem as their own. Judaism claims it because Jerusalem was the City of David, their greatest king. It was the capital of their Promised Land and the Temple the symbol of God’s presence among them. Islam claims Abraham as the ancestor of their race; their great Mosque of Omar occupies the place where he offered his son and where the Temple once stood. Christians love Jerusalem because it was the city where Jesus was crucified and rose again.

Jesus’ answer to His disciples’ question, ‘Teacher, when is this going to happen?’ takes in two major events, the destruction of Jerusalem under the Roman general, Titus, in 70 AD and the tumultuous events preceding His return. It is not easy to separate these two happenings because, in His predictions, they seem almost to run together. Perhaps He did this on purpose to prevent people from assigning dates to the ‘end of the world’.

When we read about the fall of Jerusalem, it fills us with horror because God appears to be cruel and heartless, subjecting people to terrible suffering out of revenge for not taking Him seriously. But that is not God’s way. From the beginning of their history He made it clear that their protection lay in their trust in Him and obedience to His word. He showed His love for them by rescuing them from slavery and by giving them a good land but they chose to reject Him and worship the worthless idols of the surrounding nations.

It was their choice, not God’s, that brought destruction on them. “Have you not brought this on yourselves by forsaking the Lord your God when He led you in the way?” Jeremiah 2:17 (NIV).

The Jews sealed their fate by thoughtlessly calling God’s judgment upon them at Jesus’ trial. “When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood.’ he said, ‘It is your responsibility!’ All the people answered, ‘Let His blood be on us and on our children.'” Matthew 27:24-25 (NIV).

When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey to claim His rightful kingship of His people, the sight of the city reduced Him to tears because He saw the outcome of their rejection of Him.

“‘The days will come when your enemies will build an embankment against you and will encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognise the time of God’s coming to you.'” Luke 19:43-44 (NIV).

God’s word makes it clear that whatever fate we suffer is the end result of our own choices. He has given us the option to receive the mercy He offers us because Jesus died in our place. He honours our freedom to choose right up to the choice of our own destiny. For those who honour Him, there is mercy, forgiveness and a new life which never ends; for those who reject His offer, the eternal rubbish heap of wasted opportunity.

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – ON A STEADY COURSE TOWARDS JERUSALEM

Bible Study, ,

ON A STEADY COURSE TOWARDS JERUSALEM

“He went on teaching from town to village, from village to town but keeping on a steady course towards Jerusalem.” Luke 13:22.

Jerusalem, the Holy City of God, ancient citadel of David, Israel’s model king and revered leader. Jerusalem, seat of religious government and site of their most holy shrine – the great temple of God, place of God’s presence and the rallying point of His people. The temple was their security and their expression of unity. Every year they gathered in their thousands to celebrate their feasts at the temple in Jerusalem.

Jesus loved Jerusalem; He loved the temple. His first experience at the age of twelve captured His heart. He tarried in Jerusalem while His parents set off for home, not knowing that He was still in His Father’s house, about His Father’s business. Every time He returned to Jerusalem at feast times, He taught in the temple. His passion for His Father’s house drew forth white-hot anger when greedy merchants turned it into a market place. Why would He not move with eager steps towards Jerusalem?

Jesus was fully aware of the sinister side of Jerusalem. Its beauty and fascination eclipsed its history. It was also the place where its own people had murdered its own prophets. Jerusalem was a place of religious intolerance and a rigid and ruthless priesthood. Anyone who threatened their position and power was dispensed with. Both political and religious threats were quickly judged and exterminated to keep the peace with Rome and to maintain the status quo.

Jesus fell into the category of a religious embarrassment. His popularity temporarily bordered on fanaticism because He was everything the people longed for. He was there for them in their physical crises; He miraculously fed them from meagre resources; He was kind and compassionate; He was the friend of sinners; He forgave their sin and restored peace in their hearts and, best of all, they fervently believed He would rescue them from their Roman oppressors.

Jesus knew that Jerusalem was the place of His final showdown with His opponents. To move steadily towards Jerusalem, knowing that they held the power to destroy Him, was to commit suicide, and yet He was unflinching in His purpose. Worse still, He not only put Himself in the place of personal danger, He deliberately provoked His enemies into a frenzy of murderous hate by His exposure of their hypocrisy, His insistence on His identity as the Son of God and His unflinching adherence to the truth.

Jesus was not afraid of Jerusalem. It was the place where the climax of history would be played out with Himself the focal point. He had come to die in Jerusalem. Luke captures this in His attitude in this moment in this one significant phrase, “…on a steady course towards Jerusalem.” Unlike us who are swept along by our circumstances, Jesus moved purposefully into His because He knew who He was and why He had come.

What an inspiration this is for those of us who have chosen to believe what He said and to entrust our lives and our destiny to Him! We are secure in the truth that His death on the cross was neither a coincidence nor the victory of devil-inspired religious despots but the pre-determined plan of a loving and compassionate heavenly Father who sent His Son into a dangerous world to rescue us from the clutches of the devil.

Jesus was fully aware of what lay ahead of Him and moved into it with steadfast purpose because He knew the outcome and obeyed the Father in order to carry out His rescue plan. He absorbed the very worst that human beings could do to Him, He died as a silent and unprotesting sacrificial lamb although He was innocent, and triumphantly rose from the dead to prove it.