Psalm 104

Amen and amen to the love of God made manifest in a small babe wrapped in swaddling clothes…all God, all man, the Word of God made flesh! 

May all of creation rejoice in His gift to this world that He so loves. 

Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of the world.

Psalm 104, a wisdom psalm, is also a creation psalm. It is an exuberant poetic recasting of Genesis 1, a joyful celebration of the world as the creation of God. The poetry of the psalmists and the prophets often reflects upon God’s work in creation. The structure of the poem is: (1) praise for God’s great creation (2) the creation of the heavens (3) the creation of the earth (4) the waters of blessing (5) the fullness of the earth (6) the patterns of life (7) praise for God’s great creation (8) an acknowledgment that all life is dependent upon the Lord (9) a prayer for God’s glory (10) a personal response to God. NKJ Bible.

PSALM 104

Praise to the Sovereign Lord For His Creation and Providence

1 Bless the Lord, O my soul!

O Lord my God, You are very great:

You are clothed with honor and majesty,

2 Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment,

Who stretch out the heavens like a curtain.

3 He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters,

Who makes the clouds His chariot,

Who walks on the wings of the wind,

4 Who makes His angels spirits,

His ministers a flame of fire.

5 You who laid the foundations of the earth,

So that it should not be moved forever,

6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment;

The waters stood above the mountains.

7 At Your rebuke they fled;

At the voice of Your thunder they hastened away.

8 They went up over the mountains;

They went down into the valleys,

To the place which You founded for them.

9 You have set a boundary that they may not pass over,

That they may not return to cover the earth.

10 He sends the springs into the valleys;

They flow among the hills.

11 They give drink to every beast of the field;

The wild donkeys quench their thirst.

12 By them the birds of the heavens have their home;

They sing among the branches.

13 He waters the hills from His upper chambers;

The earth is satisfied with the fruit of Your works.

14 He causes the grass to grow for the cattle,

And vegetation for the service of man,

That he may bring forth food from the earth,

15 And wine that makes glad the heart of man,

Oil to make his face shine,

And bread which strengthens man’s heart.

16 The trees of the Lord are full of sap,

The cedars of Lebanon which He planted,

17 Where the birds make their nests;

The stork has her home in the fir trees.

18 The high hills are for the wild goats;

The cliffs are a refuge for the rock badgers.

19 He appointed the moon for seasons;

The sun knows its going down.

20 You make darkness, and it is night,

In which all the beasts of the forest creep about.

21 The young lions roar after their prey,

And seek their food from God.

22 When the sun rises, they gather together

And lie down in their dens.

23 Man goes out to his work

And to his labor until the evening.

24 O Lord, how manifold are Your works!

In wisdom You have made them all.

The earth is full of Your possessions—

25 This great and wide sea,

In which are innumerable teeming things,

Living things both small and great.

26 There the ships sail about;

There is that Leviathan 

Which You have made to play there.

27 These all wait for You,

That You may give them their food in due season.

28 What You give them they gather in;

You open Your hand, they are filled with good.

29 You hide Your face, they are troubled;

You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.

30 You send forth Your Spirit, they are created;

And You renew the face of the earth.

31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever;

May the Lord rejoice in His works.

32 He looks on the earth, and it trembles;

He touches the hills, and they smoke.

33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;

I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.

34 May my meditation be sweet to Him;

I will be glad in the Lord.

35 May sinners be consumed from the earth,

And the wicked be no more.

Bless the Lord, O my soul!

Praise the Lord!

Luke 14:25-33

Forsaking all others and clinging to the life that is only  found in Jesus!

Luke 14:25-33

25 Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—29 lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. 33 So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.

Continuing His journey to Jerusalem Jesus teaches on the cost of being His follower. 

Jesus is using hyperbole—a figure of speech that relies on exaggeration to make a point. He is not encouraging His followers to turn against their family members; rather, He is explaining that even devotion to family does not supersede the call to discipleship. Jesus and God’s kingdom must come first in the life of a believer. With death awaiting Him in Jerusalem, Jesus wants His disciples to understand that they may be subject to the same fate. Jesus encourages His followers—as well as those in the crowd of pilgrims who had not yet become His disciples—to consider the great sacrifices involved in their decision. This section is unique to Luke’s travel narrative. Jesus sees an abundance of possessions as a hindrance to faith. He instructs His followers to rid themselves of anything that prevents a total commitment to God’s kingdom. For many this meant selling everything they had for the betterment of the impoverished and for the sake of spreading the news about Jesus. This is seen in a tangible way in the lives of Jesus’ earliest followers. Faithlife Bible.

The master’s second invitation extended beyond the city limits, encouraging even more people to come to the feast. This may picture the inclusion of Gentiles in God’s salvation. The instruction to compel them to come in does not mean to force people in, but to urge them. As outsiders, the people might not feel comfortable coming. The essence of discipleship is giving Christ first place. To “hate” one’s family and even one’s life is rhetorical. It refers to desiring something less than something else. This instruction was especially appropriate in Jesus’ day, since a decision for Jesus could mean rejection by family and persecution even to the point of death. Those who feared family disapproval or persecution would not come to Jesus. Jesus’ call here is to follow Him in the way of rejection and suffering. A disciple will be rejected by those in the world who do not honor Christ. Therefore, a disciple must be ready to face and accept such rejection. Following Christ is not something to be taken up on a trial basis. It calls for ultimate commitment.

The picture here is of a king assessing his ability to do battle with another more powerful king. The king sends a delegation only after appreciating the weight and consequences of his decision. Jesus urged the people to think about what it would mean to follow Him, and not to take it lightly. NKJ Bible.

Matthew 10:37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.

Ezekiel 1:10-12

For us to fulfill our walk of faith we need the mind of Christ, the strength of a lion, the stubbornness of an ox and the 2020 vision of the eagle. 

Holy Spirit has been speaking to me lately of reverence for God.  He is all love but He is also God Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. We need more respect for His holiness in our Churches. 

Hosanna in the highest… blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. We are forgiven in the blood of Christ because the Father sees the Son when He sees us. We are not friends, we are His children, and subject to His authority.

In the end times if we are not very careful to follow the guiding of Holy Spirit we too can be deceived along with the unbelievers.

Ezekiel 1:10-12

10 As for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man; each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, each of the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and each of the four had the face of an eagle. 11 Thus were their faces. Their wings stretched upward; two wings of each one touched one another, and two covered their bodies. 12 And each one went straight forward; they went wherever the spirit wanted to go, and they did not turn when they went.

The Hebrew word used here, ruach, seems to refer to an external spirit or force directing the movements of the living creatures. The word often refers to the Spirit of God and may refer to the empowering of the Holy Spirit. Faithlife Bible.

Composite fantastic figures in these classic combinations have been found in Mesopotamian and Egyptian iconography. The idealized strengths of each figure were thus presumed to reside in the living creature so described. One pair of wings was stretched upwards, as if in reverence; the other pair was used to cover the body as if in submission. NKJ Bible.

Isaiah 6:2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

Isaiah 6:3 And one cried to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

The whole earth is full of His glory!”

Matthew 24:36-44

Be prepared in season and out for the coming of the Lord. It will come without us knowing the day and hour. 

Who knows maybe we were made for just a time as this. We could be living in the times of tribulation.

Life as we know it…could change in a heartbeat.

Matthew 24:36-44

36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. 42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Mark indicates that even Jesus Himself did not know the day and hour of His return. When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He voluntarily limited His use of His divine attributes. Therefore He became hungry, thirsty, and tired. Luke records that Jesus grew in knowledge and wisdom. In this instance, Jesus surrendered the use of His divine omniscience. As the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Jesus was referring to the indifference of the people of that time to the coming disaster. There is nothing sinful about eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. However, the people of the end times will be doing these things without any thought of God or the coming judgment. As Noah was vigilant in preparing for the Flood, so should people living in the tribulation be alert. They should prepare for the return of Christ. NKJ Bible.

Jesus teaches His disciples to be ready because no one knows exactly when the Parousia will occur. They should live in expectation, always prepared for His return.

Jesus might be alluding to the Septuagint translation of Zecariah, which reads “It will be for one day—and that day is known to the Lord.” If the Father knows something, it is difficult to understand how Jesus does not also know it since He is equal with God. However, when Jesus took on human form, He accepted limitations of His divine attributes. It may be that Jesus does have this knowledge now since He is presently in His exalted state. This might describe the gathering of God’s people to Himself if that is the case there is no indication here of what happens to the remaining people. The point of this parable is that believers need to be vigilant for Jesus’ return, because it will be sudden and unexpected. Faithlife Bible.

Genesis 6:5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Luke 12:39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.

1 Thessalonians 5:2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.

Zephaniah 1:1-3

What a month! My Facebook account was taken over by RUSSIA. Crazy. I cannot access my account but truthfully I have not missed it. Spiritually I have been warned that this Trump National worship is not of God. We need to be very careful in our dealings with him. Is he a form of the anti-christ and the beast that allows him to operate the extreme factions of the Republican Party?  

December 3rd was Timmy’s 73rd Birthday a day to celebrate with his only wish...a chocolate layer cake with chocolate frosting. Wish granted! 

Then a week later the unexpected news of my mother’s baby sister in the hospital. Aunt Sandy was 4 years older than I am. Within a few days she passed. I am still trying to internalize it. With COVID rampant and Tim and my mothers’ health concerns I did not get to attend the funeral. My brother and I were allowed into the locked down Primrose Memory Care to tell my Mother.  At times such as these memory loss can be a blessing. 

Within a week of Sandy’s passings Timmy started experiencing major abdominal  pains. Little did we know that this would end in a week long stay at FMC with a ruptured appendix. If we had waited one more day.....He is now home but recuperating slowly. Thank you God that you had been warning me of all that 2020 would encompass and that I had the wisdom of Holy Spirit guiding me to follow. If Timmy had COVID on top of the operation I shudder to think what the outcome would have been. I am so very thankful that I have such a praying Christian family that covered us!

In the end times even the elect are subject to fail.

Zephaniah 1:1–6 (NKJV):

The word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah. 2 “I will utterly consume everything from the face of the land,”Says the Lord; 3“I will consume man and beast; I will consume the birds of the heavens,the fish of the sea, and the stumbling blocks along with the wicked. I will cut off man from the face of the land,”Says the Lord. 4“I will stretch out My hand against Judah, And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will cut off every trace of Baal from this place, the names of the idolatrous priests with the pagan priests—5 those who worship the host of heaven on the housetops; those who worship and swear oaths by the Lord, but who also swear by Milcom;  6 Those who have turned back from following the Lord,

Zephaniah’s genealogy is the longest of the writing prophets. The writer includes this lengthy genealogy to show that Zephaniah was the great-great-grandson of King Hezekiah. Zephaniah’s royal lineage makes him a distant relative of King Josiah, during whose reign he prophesied. The prophet’s position in the royal family provided him with an ideal opportunity to witness the apostasy of Judah’s leaders firsthand. Signaling complete destruction of all who do not worship Yahweh. Faithlife Bible.

The messages of the OT prophets did not arise from the prophets’ own will, but from God Himself. Zephaniah means “Hidden in the Lord,” a name that relates to the principal message the prophet presented. The names of the prophets were often significantly associated with the message that God gave them to present to the people. Hezekiah most likely refers to the notable king of Judah. Thus Zephaniah the prophet was related to King Josiah. The message of Zephaniah begins with a pronouncement of universal judgment. These words not only introduce the particular judgment that would be pronounced upon Judah, but they also speak of the final judgment that will usher in the kingdom of God on earth (Revelation 19). Stumbling blocks here refers to idolatry, or substitutes for God in the life and affections of a person. Because there is nothing in the universe that really may be compared to the Creator, God abhors all forms of idolatry. Says the Lord: this phrase added gravity to the prophetic oracle and assured the hearer of the source of the message. NKJ Bible.

Hosea 4:3 | Therefore the land will mourn; and everyone who dwells there will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea will be taken away.

Acts 21:17-25

 Peter called the Jewish converts to Christianity to adhere to stricter rules than the Gentile converts.Continuing Catholics have stricter regulations today than Protestants.

Biblical? Where does that place those of us who were born and raised Catholic but later convert to Protestant? I am sure that it raises many questions in our Christian walk. 

Jesus was born into the world to fulfill Gods’ rule of a blood sacrifice for sin…who are we to take so lightly our place in His Body? Rules were instituted by God? Should we not accept His gift in fear and trembling?

Acts 21:17-25

17 And when we had come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. 18 On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. 19 When he had greeted them, he told in detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20 And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many myriads of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law; 21 but they have been informed about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. 22 What then? The assembly must certainly meet, for they will hear that you have come. 23 Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have taken a vow. 24 Take them and be purified with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads, and that all may know that those things of which they were informed concerning you are nothing, but that you yourself also walk orderly and keep the law. 25 But concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written and decided that they should observe no such thing, except that they should keep themselves from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality.”

James was the brother of Jesus and leader of the church in Jerusalem. 

Some Jewish people in Jerusalem believed incorrectly that Paul was discouraging Jews from keeping the law. This was not true, since Paul himself continued to observe Jewish customs. 

A Nazirite vow was connected with becoming pure or holy before Yahweh for a set period of time. James may be suggesting that Paul join in the Nazirite vow himself—which he may have already voluntarily done at one point or that Paul undergo a different kind of purification rite. By doing this, Paul will show that he is still sensitive to Jewish culture, which James believes will overturn their fellow Jews’ concerns about Paul. This action demonstrates that Paul is not encouraging Jews to abandon their traditions, cultural identity, or religious identity. 

James affirms the decision of the Jerusalem Council. Faithlife Bible

James and the elders were the leaders of house churches meeting in Jerusalem. It is interesting that none of the apostles are mentioned here. Seven years had passed since the Jerusalem council meeting. At that time, the apostles and the leaders of the church had gathered to settle the question of whether Gentiles had to become Jews before becoming Christians. That question was settled in the negative; the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit both taught that the gospel was for all people. Apparently the apostles left Jerusalem after that conference to carry out Jesus’ commission to be witnesses to the “end of the earth”.

The evidence of how God changed the lives of Gentiles was presented to the Christians in Jerusalem. The strongest evidence was the Gentile believers themselves who had accompanied Paul to Jerusalem. At this time, Paul may have also given the money he had been collecting from the Gentile Christians. The love the Gentiles expressed to their suffering Jewish brethren was a mark of their genuine conversion.

Reports were circulating that Paul had been urging Jews to abandon Mosaic traditions. However, Paul never derided his Jewish heritage nor demanded that Jewish Christians renounce the Law of Moses. He only made it clear to everyone that the law could not function as a means of salvation. There is evidence that Paul was continuing to keep the Law when he stood before Felix. The fact that he was coming to Jerusalem to worship was evidence of this. What Paul did resist was any attempt to force Gentiles to become Jews. Salvation was through faith alone. Relying on adherence to the Jewish law was repudiation of the gospel message that salvation proceeds from faith in Christ and that alone.

Paul paid the expenses of the four men who had taken a vow, because the men were impoverished by the famine in Judea and did not have enough money to complete their vow by offering a sacrifice in the temple. But there might have been another reason as well. The Jewish historian Josephus tells us that when Herod Agrippa I began his reign over Judea in a.d. 41, he paid for a considerable number of Nazirite vows to show his respect for the Mosaic Law. For the sake of showing his Jewish brethren that he had not forsaken the laws of Moses, Paul did what they asked. Reputation was an issue for the apostle, as it is for all believers. 

The Christian leaders were not asking Gentiles to live like Jews; neither did they want to compel Jews to live like Gentiles. The spiritual unity of the body of believers is realized in its diversity, not in its conformity. From our diverse backgrounds and cultures we honor the same Lord. NKJ Bible

Acts 15:4 And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders; and they reported all things that God had done with them.

 

The fig tree is cursed and the Temple cleansed.

Jesus’ final week of work in Jerusalem: King of king and Lord of lords.

Monday…On the way to Jerusalem from Bethany the fig tree is cursed and the Temple cleansed. 

Matthew 21:10-19

10 And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?”

11 So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.”

12 Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 13 And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”

14 Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant 16 and said to Him, “Do You hear what these are saying?”

And Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read,

‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants

You have perfected praise’?”

17 Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there.

18 Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry. 19 And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again.” Immediately the fig tree withered away.

This procession symbolizes Jesus’ messiahship. 

In Jesus’ day, dignitaries would go on procession through a city in an act of triumph or celebration. Processions generally were reserved for religious festivals or kings returning from battle. Kings occasionally went on procession through cities after conquering them. City officials would welcome the dignitary outside the gates, and the group would parade victoriously to the city’s temple. The people would offer a sacrifice to honor the dignitary and acclaim his gods, and a feast would be held.

In keeping with custom, Jesus’ procession ends at the temple. He disrupts the merchants in righteous anger, replacing their commercial activity with healings. The crowds hail Him as the messianic Son of David, which angers the religious leaders. Merchants were selling animals for sacrifices, and money changers converted the foreign currency of pilgrims into the temple’s official currency. The poor offered these in place of lambs. Jesus’ reaction may have been prompted, in part, by injustice done to the poor. Jesus’ rebuke suggests that He is condemning corruption of the temple. This judgment might be aimed at commercial activity within the temple courts, or it might signal that oppressive (or unjust) practices were involved. 

The religious leaders are disturbed not only because the people hail Jesus as the Son of David, but also because He does not disavow this messianic title. Jesus appears to confirm that the crowd’s messianic praises are appropriate.

When Jesus reenters Jerusalem the next morning, He pronounces a curse on a barren fig tree as a symbolic act of judgment against the city and its leaders. In rejecting the Messiah, Jerusalem is failing to fulfill its purpose—just like the fig tree. The fig tree is a common old testament metaphor for Israel, and fruitless fig trees represented judgment. Faithlife Bible.

The city was moved is literally “the city was shaken.” Two cleansings of the temple are recorded in the Gospels—one in John at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, and one in the synoptic Gospels at the end of His ministry. Financial corruption ran rampant in the outer courts of the temple. Some of the gains that were realized from this profiteering probably went to the family of the high priest. The money changers exchanged coins with pagan symbols on them for acceptable coins to be used in the temple. They charged a premium for this “service.” Those who sold doves sold them at top prices. My house shall be called a house of prayer is quoted from Isaiah. The temple had become a garrison for bandits. Jeremiah says that the Jewish people, after committing all sorts of sins, would plead deliverance from the consequences of those sins based simply on the fact that they came to the temple. Thus in Jeremiah’s day, it became a den for robbers—just as it was in Jesus’ day.

The idea here is that Jesus abandoned the chief priests and scribes, the temple, and the city of Jerusalem. Instead of welcoming their Messiah, the religious authorities had rejected and opposed Him. Jesus desired to eat of the fruit of the fig tree one more time before He died, but could not. Fig trees do not bear their fruit in the spring, during Passover, but in the fall of the year. However, fig trees do have a small, edible fruit that appears in the spring before the sprouting of the leaves. This tree was full of leaves, but had no fruit. It looked full of promise, but was empty—just like the city of Jerusalem and its beautiful temple. This miracle—the only recorded miracle of Jesus that involved judgment—illustrates God’s judgment on the Israelites, who professed adherence to God but produced no fruit or spiritual reality. NKJ Bible.

Mark 11:12018

12 Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. 13 And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.”

15 So they came to Jerusalem. Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 16 And He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple. 17 Then He taught, saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”

18 And the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy Him; for they feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His teaching.

Luke 19:45-48

45 Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, 46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”

47 And He was teaching daily in the temple. But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him, 48 and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to hear Him.

Ezekiel 8:1-5

Our God is jealous for His people!

He will not have strange gods before Him.

Ezekiel 8:1-5

8 And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell upon me there. 2 Then I looked, and there was a likeness, like the appearance of fire—from the appearance of His waist and downward, fire; and from His waist and upward, like the appearance of brightness, like the color of amber. 3 He stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my hair; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the image of jealousy was, which provokes to jealousy. 4 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the plain.

5 Then He said to me, “Son of man, lift your eyes now toward the north.” So I lifted my eyes toward the north, and there, north of the altar gate, was this image of jealousy in the entrance.

Ezekiel’s inaugural vision also occurred on the fifth day of a month. The sixth year refers to the years of King Jehoiachin’s exile, the typical reference for Ezekiel’s dating  scheme. This event occurs in mid-September 592 bc, a year and two months after the vision in chapters. 1–3. The leaders of the exiled community are with Ezekiel in his home when he is overcome by the vision from God. The exact nature of the leaders’ business with the prophet is unstated.

The Hebrew word used here, tavnith, indicates a pattern for construction. Ezekiel uses the word synonymously with words for likeness and appearance. Ezekiel describes a supernatural, dream-like experience in which God shows him what is happening in Judah. The detailed nature of Ezekiel’s description has led to speculation that he traveled to Jerusalem during his exile. However, he would have had intimate knowledge of the temple layout from his priestly education. Further, his vision does not necessarily reflect the physical reality of events in Jerusalem. The vision is concerned with depicting the sin of Israel in a tangible way that justifies Yahweh’s punishment.

Ezekiel’s tour of the abominations in the temple begins outside the inner court. The reference is clearly to an idol  at the entrance to the inner court of the temple, but the identification is left ambiguous. Idol worship provoked Yahweh’s jealousy. Based on other uses of the term, Ezekiel might be referring to an image erected by King Manasseh. Second Chronicles says that Manasseh constructed a carved image of a semel. The parallel in 2 Kgs 21:7 indicates it was an image of the Canaanite goddess, Asherah). Faithlife Bible.

This second exact date given in Ezekiel is 592 b.c., when Ezekiel was acting out the siege of Jerusalem. The first word translated fire may also be read in Hebrew as the word meaning “man.” In the second instance fire is the expected meaning. The north gate of the inner court, called the “altar gate” was near the sacrificial altar.  There Ezekiel saw the image … which provokes to jealousy. All idolatry was forbidden, and any idol represented a violation of the loyalty that belonged to Israel’s God. The people thought that just because the temple stood among them, whatever wrong they might do could not bring ultimate disaster. They thought the temple guaranteed their security. They did not realize that their evil had actually caused God to leave His temple, which would then no longer be their protection. NKJ Bible.

Exodus 20:4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;

Deuteronomy 32:16 They provoked Him to jealousy with foreign gods; with abominations they provoked Him to anger.

Deuteronomy 32:21 They have provoked Me to jealousy by what is not God; they have moved Me to anger by their foolish idols. But I will provoke them to jealousy by those who are not a nation; I will move them to anger by a foolish nation.

Ezekiel 3:22 Then the hand of the LORD was upon me there, and He said to me, “Arise, go out into the plain, and there I shall talk with you.”

Acts 19:1-10

Baptism in Christ through water and in the Spirit are two separate acts.

There is power in the name of Jesus and it is carried out through the Holy Spirit.

Acts 19:1-10

19 And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples 2 he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

So they said to him, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.”

3 And he said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?”

So they said, “Into John’s baptism.”

4 Then Paul said, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.”

5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. 7 Now the men were about twelve in all.

8 And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God. 9 But when some were hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them and withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. 10 And this continued for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

While the term disciples usually refers to followers of Jesus, these people were likely originally followers of John the Baptist, since they had received his baptism. Speaking in tongues is likely a reference to an act related to worship, not miraculously speaking in another person’s native language. In Acts, speaking in tongues is related to the Holy Spirit indwelling and empowering believers. 

Paul’s lengthy stay in Ephesus allowed him to use the city as his base of ministry operations for his third missionary journey. Because Ephesus is a key city for travel and business, it allowed Paul’s testimony of Jesus to spread throughout the Roman province of Asia (a region on the west coast of modern-day Turkey). People visiting Ephesus had the opportunity to hear Paul preach the gospel, and those who believed would have then spread the message to the various places they visited and lived. Faithlife Bible.

These 12 men had been baptized into the baptism of John the Baptist, but they had never heard about the Holy Spirit. All they knew was that One mightier than John was to come. They did not know that Jesus the Messiah, the One mightier than John had already come. He had died for their sins, had been raised from the dead, had ascended to the Father, and had already sent the Holy Spirit. They needed to hear the rest of the gospel. As soon as this happened, these men could place their faith in Jesus and receive the Holy Spirit.

Baptism was a ritual used by the Jews as a picture of cleansing and purification. Gentiles who converted to Judaism would go through the rite of purification as their first act of worship. They would dip themselves in water as a sign of being cleansed from their old way of life. Before entering into the temple to worship, Jews would dip themselves in ritual bathing pools to show their desire for purification. But the dipping performed by John the Baptist was a call for repentance rather than mere ritual cleansing. His baptism was a call to people to turn to God and to identify with the coming Messiah who would forgive their sins. In the name of the Lord Jesus was a declaration of ownership, an identification with Jesus as Lord and Savior of one’s life.

The Holy Spirit was received without the laying on of hands. By laying on his hands here, Paul was demonstrating his apostolic authority. This speaking in tongues was a sign to others that they were part of the body of Christ.

From Ephesus, other churches were born in Asia Minor—in Colosse, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Note the sequence of events. Paul tried explaining the things of the kingdom of God to the Jews in the synagogue for three months. After he was finally rejected, he took those who had believed and started a new “school” for the study of the Scriptures in the facilities of a philosopher named Tyrannus. During the two years that Paul conducted these classes, all who dwelt in Asia heard the gospel. This indicates that Paul and the students of the school did more than study; they must have witnessed to others as well. NKKJ Bible.

Matthew 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Mark 1:4 John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

Acts 8:16 For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Ezekiel 7:23-26

 And the end will be…Jesus. And the beginning of a new life in God…Jesus.

To Him whose right it is to judge…all glory comes.

Ezekiel 7:23–26

23 ‘Make a chain,

For the land is filled with crimes of blood,

And the city is full of violence.

24 Therefore I will bring the worst of the Gentiles,

And they will possess their houses;

I will cause the pomp of the strong to cease,

And their holy places shall be defiled.

25 Destruction comes;

They will seek peace, but there shall be none.

26 Disaster will come upon disaster,

And rumor will be upon rumor.

Then they will seek a vision from a prophet;

But the law will perish from the priest,

And counsel from the elders.

27 ‘The king will mourn,

The prince will be clothed with desolation,

And the hands of the common people will tremble.

I will do to them according to their way,

And according to what they deserve I will judge them;

Then they shall know that I am the Lord!’ ”

The people desperately seek divine guidance from the prophets, priests, and elders. The people confidently express that the law would never perish from the priest. The prophet, priest, and elders fail. Faithlife Bible.

The punishment will fit the crime—God promised to do to them according to … what they deserve. Because Judah had been so bloodthirsty, God would send the worst of the Gentiles to possess their houses, defile the temple, and bring violence to the land. This section predicts Nebuchadnezzar’s desecration of the Jerusalem temple in 586 b.c. As a last resort, peace at any price would be fervently sought from false prophets, priests, and politicians, but without success. The deadline for decisive action would have passed. NKJ Bible.

Deuteronomy 32:23 ‘I will heap disasters on them; I will spend My arrows on them.

2 Kings 21:16 Moreover Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides his sin by which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the LORD.

2 Chronicles 7:20 then I will uproot them from My land which I have given them; and this house which I have sanctified for My name I will cast out of My sight, and will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.

Psalm 74:9 We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet; nor is there any among us who knows how long.

Isaiah 47:11 Therefore evil shall come upon you; you shall not know from where it arises. And trouble shall fall upon you;  you will not be able to put it off. And desolation shall come upon you suddenly, which you shall not know.

Acts 14:19-20

On Monday afternoon, Joe diGenova, a lawyer for the re-election campaign of President Donald Trump said that Chris Krebs, the now-former director of Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) who was in charge of maintaining election security, "should be drawn and quartered, taken out at dawn and shot."

Our democracy is being threatened by a leader who is gnashing his teeth against his own country.

God protect the United States of America from those who want to destroy it!

Acts 14:19-20

19 Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there; and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. 20 However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.

The physician Luke may be saying that Paul did not die here. However, some believe that the text speaks of Paul’s resurrection. NKJ Bible.

Acts 13:45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken by Paul.

Acts 13:50 But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region.

Acts 14:2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren.

Acts 14:5 And when a violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to abuse and stone them,