Malachi 1:2-3

Unless God builds it it will not stand. 

There were two brothers, same Father, one was chosen one was not. Some are made for honor and others for dishonor and only time shows their true worth. We know that God chooses whom He wills and His ways are beyond our understanding. Jacob, far from perfect, fought for his birthright and Essau sold his for a bowl of soup.

The Book of Genesis speaks of the relationship between Jacob and Esau, focusing on Esau's loss of his birthright to Jacob and the conflict that had spawned between their descendant nations because of Jacob's deception of their aged and blind father, Isaac, in order to receive Esau's birthright/blessing from Isaac.

In Genesis, Esau returned to his brother, Jacob, being famished from the fields. He begged his twin brother to give him some "red pottage". Jacob offered to give Esau a bowl of stew in exchange for his birthright (the right to be recognized as firstborn) and Esau agreed.

This conflict was paralleled by the affection the parents had for their favored child: "Now Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison, and Rebekah loved Jacob." (Genesis 25:28). Even since conception, their conflict was foreshadowed: "And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the Lord. And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger." (Genesis 25:22–23)

In the measure that we treasure our relationship with God is how much we can be used by Him for our good and the good of His Church. It isn’t about our goodness it is about His.

The contrast between the words love and hate here seems much too strong. But on many occasions in the OT, the verb hate has the basic meaning “not to choose.” God’s love for Jacob was expressed in His electing grace in extending His covenant to Jacob and to his descendants. In His sovereign purpose, God set His love on the one and not the other. The term hate may carry the idea of indifference as well.

Malachi 1:2–3 (NKJV)

² “I have loved you,” says the Lord.

“Yet you say, ‘In what way have You loved us?’

Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?”

Says the Lord.

“Yet Jacob I have loved;

³ But Esau I have hated,

And laid waste his mountains and his heritage

For the jackals of the wilderness.”

⁹ You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, And called from its farthest regions, And said to you, ‘You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away: 

Isaiah 41:9

¹²  This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 

John 15:12

⁹ I will make you perpetually desolate, and your cities shall be uninhabited; then you shall know that I am the Lord. 

Ezekiel 35:9

Job 12:21-23

Pray for God’s guidance for America and the world. For God loves the world He created so much so that He gave His only begotten Son to die for us to show us the way back to Him.

God loves all of us and He considered it too small a thing that Jesus would die only for the Jews. Jesus offers salvation to anyone who pursues the truth and accepts that He died in their place for their sins.

Unless God is in it…it will not bear fruit.

In His speech, God lowers Himself to Job’s level in order to answer Job’s questions. In the process, He reveals to all people that He is completely free but also truly good. He is the sovereign and benevolent Creator who continues to determine the course of the universe according to His own hidden plan. Just like Job, we must learn to submit to the Almighty God and accept by faith that He has a good plan for us. The NKJV Study Bible.

Job 12:21–23 (NKJV)

²¹ He pours contempt on princes,

And disarms the mighty.

²² He uncovers deep things out of darkness,

And brings the shadow of death to light.

²³ He makes nations great, and destroys them;

He enlarges nations, and guides them.

¹⁹ Yet He is not partial to princes, Nor does He regard the rich more than the poor; For they are all the work of His hands. 

Job 34:19

²¹ And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding. 

Daniel 2:21

²² He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, And light dwells with Him. 

Daniel 2:22

⁵ Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God. 

1 Corinthians 4:5

Daniel 5:18-20

God is in total control! He places people in places of honor. If they abuse the position that He has given them or credit themselves for that position…He can and does remove them. To Him alone all glory belongs. 

Some things are a test of our obedience to God and not man.

God hates pride and arrogance and He will not be mocked!

God had weighed Belshazzar, and the king did not measure up to God’s standard of righteousness.

Daniel 5:18–20 (NKJV)

¹⁸ O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father a kingdom and majesty, glory and honor. ¹⁹ And because of the majesty that He gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whomever he wished, he executed; whomever he wished, he kept alive; whomever he wished, he set up; and whomever he wished, he put down. ²⁰ But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him.

⁵ ‘I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are on the ground, by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and have given it to whom it seemed proper to Me. ⁶ And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant; and the beasts of the field I have also given him to serve him. ⁷ So all nations shall serve him and his son and his son’s son, until the time of his land comes; and then many nations and great kings shall make him serve them. 

Jeremiah 27:5–7

²⁵ They shall drive you from men, your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make you eat grass like oxen. They shall wet you with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses. 

Daniel 4:25

²⁵ For he stretches out his hand against God, And acts defiantly against the Almighty, 

Job 15:25

³⁰ The king spoke, saying, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?” 

Daniel 4:30

³⁷ Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down. 

Daniel 4:37

Jeremiah 21:11-14

Right is right and wrong is wrong. No amount of sugar coating the truth will stop the Father from allowing disaster when we are not living according to His ways. He disciplines those He loves.

The Book of Jeremiah, perhaps more vividly than any other book of the Bible, reveals the inner struggles of a prophet of God.Jeremiah candidly reveals his inner turmoil concerning his call to prophetic ministry. Indeed, the prophet’s anguish over the message of judgment upon his people and the coming destruction of the land was at times overwhelming. Yet despite his anguish, Jeremiah fulfilled his ministry of proclaiming God’s judgment against the people of Judah for their idolatry, their unfaithfulness to the covenant, and their obstinate disobedience of His will. Long acknowledged as one of the great prophets of the Old Testament, Jeremiah serves to this day as an example of someone who remained faithful to the word of God despite countless hardships. The NKJV Study Bible.

The king was to be devoted to the commandments of God and was to mete out judgment, or justice. The ultimate test of the king was measured in his judicial response to those who were oppressed and plundered.

Jeremiah 21:11–14 (NKJV)

¹¹ “And concerning the house of the king of Judah, say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, ¹² O house of David! Thus says the Lord:

“Execute judgment in the morning;

And deliver him who is plundered

Out of the hand of the oppressor,

Lest My fury go forth like fire

And burn so that no one can quench it,

Because of the evil of your doings.

¹³ “Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley,

And rock of the plain,” says the Lord,

“Who say, ‘Who shall come down against us?

Or who shall enter our dwellings?’

¹⁴ But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings,” says the Lord;

“I will kindle a fire in its forest,

And it shall devour all things around it.” ’ ”

¹⁷ Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow. 

Isaiah 1:17

³ Thus says the Lord: ^b“Execute judgment and righteousness, and deliver the plundered out of the hand of the oppressor. Do no wrong and do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, or the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. 

Jeremiah 22:3

⁹ “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Execute true justice, Show mercy and compassion Everyone to his brother. 

Zechariah 7:9

⁵ The Lord is righteous in her midst, He will do no unrighteousness. Every morning He brings His justice to light; He never fails, But the unjust knows no shame. 

Zephaniah 3:5

⁸ Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Because you have spoken nonsense and envisioned lies, therefore I am indeed against you,” says the Lord God. 

Ezekiel 13:8

³ The pride of your heart has deceived you, You who dwell in the clefts of the rock, Whose habitation is high; You who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’ 

Obadiah 3

⁴ Though you ascend as high as the eagle, And though you set your nest among the stars, From there I will bring you down,” says the Lord. 

Obadiah 4

Lamentations 3:22-24

Amazing Grace! Great is Your faithfulness. 

Our faith in God and faithfulness to His values is precious in His sight. Christ within is our hope of pleasing Him. 

The evidence of His fruit in us is His gift to a dying world.

The Book of Lamentations reveals the broken heart of the prophet Jeremiah. In forceful poetry, Jeremiah expresses his grief over the national tragedy that had unfolded before his eyes: Jerusalem, God’s city, had fallen to the Babylonians. Jeremiah’s sorrow and tears were not for his own personal loss, however, but for the sinfulness of the Israelites. The people of Israel had chosen to reject God. The very fact that there was a prophet left to write these words and a remnant left to read them show that not every person in Jerusalem had been consumed. The fact that there was a remnant at all was due to the mercies and compassions of God. 

Even in His wrath, God remembers to be merciful.

Here is the heart of the Book of Lamentations. The comforting, compassionate character of God dominates the wreckage of every other institution and office. God remains “full of grace and truth” in every situation.The NKJV Study Bible.

Hope is not a wishful thought, but a confident expectation in the Lord.

Lamentations 3:22–24 (NKJV)

²² Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,

Because His compassions fail not.

²³ They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.

²⁴ “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,

“Therefore I hope in Him!”

³⁸ But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, And did not destroy them. Yes, many a time He turned His anger away, And did not stir up all His wrath; 

Psalm 78:38

¹² Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say: ‘Return, backsliding Israel,’ says the Lord; ‘I will not cause My anger to fall on you. For I am merciful,’ says the Lord; ‘I will not remain angry forever. 

Jeremiah 3:12

²⁶ My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. 

Psalm 73:26

⁷ Therefore I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; My God will hear me. 

Micah 7:7

Acts 8:35-37

We are drawn to Jesus in faith, without seeing Him believing in Him, for faith alone pleases God. 

We are His living testament to others and His truth was given to us to be shared. The OT is useful for teaching and proving the prophesies of the Messiah that had been fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

First-century Jews did not speak much about a suffering Messiah. The Jewish people, facing the yoke of Roman rule, believed that the Messiah would come as the Lion of Judah, a delivering King, not a weak lamb. They believed and taught that the suffering One spoken of by Isaiah was the suffering nation of Israel. Most likely this eunuch had heard the “official” teaching of this passage in Jerusalem but still had some questions. Philip showed him that suffering One was Jesus. He had to suffer on the Cross for the sins of all of humanity.

Having heard the message of Christ’s sacrifice for sin, the eunuch responded to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Irenaeus, an early church father who lived between a.d. 130 and 202, wrote that the eunuch returned to Ethiopia and became a missionary to his own people.

The NKJV Study Bible.

Acts 8:35–37 (NKJV)

³⁵ Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. ³⁶ Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?”

³⁷ Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.”

And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

² Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 

Acts 17:2

²⁸ for he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. 

Acts 18:28

¹⁶ He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 

Mark 16:16

⁹ that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 

Romans 10:9

Revelation 12:16-17

…and He died and rose again conquering death once and for all. We now fight against the spiritual forces of darkness not human. Listen closely to the inner voice of the Holy Spirit in your life. He alone can protect you from the evil we now face here on earth. Satan only seeks to kill, steal and destroy believers making them so involved in worldly success that they forget the God that they serve. All things must be filtered through Scripture…if it is not in the NT it is not relevant for today. Jesus came to bring truth to the earth He is our template for Godly success. 

There is victory in Jesus.

Devil (Gk. diabolos) (2:10; 12:9, 12; 20:2, 10; Matt. 4:1; Acts 10:38) Strong’s #1228; Satan (Gk. Satanas) (20:2, 7; Matt. 4:10; Rom. 16:20) Strong’s #4567: The word diabolos signifies a slanderer, one who accuses another. Hence that other name given him: “the accuser of our brethren” (12:10). The name Satan signifies an adversary, one who lies in wait for or sets himself in opposition to another. These and other names of the same fallen spirit point to different features of his evil character and deceitful operations.

Enraged by his inability to destroy the woman, Satan, the dragon, resorts to war against a related group. The rest of her offspring are believers in Christ, since they keep the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. It is not clear whether they are Jewish believers (physical offspring of the woman) or Gentile believers (spiritual offspring). 

In desperation, Satan opposes every trace of a biblically oriented faith in Christ.

Revelation 12:16–17 (NKJV)

¹⁶ But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. ¹⁷ And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Daniel 7:13-14

Pray for His return.

Free will in todays culture in my estimation is highly overrated. Give me Jesus! 

Son of Man is Semitic for “human being.” Daniel saw One like the “Son of Man,” indicating that He is not a man in the strict sense, but rather the perfect representation of humanity. Jewish and Christian expositors have identified this individual as the Messiah. Jesus Himself used this name to emphasize His humanity as the incarnate Son of God. 

He will reign over all things as the regent of Almighty God. 

Daniel 7:13-14

¹³     “I was watching in the night visions,

And behold, One like the Son of Man,

Coming with the clouds of heaven!

He came to the Ancient of Days,

And they brought Him near before Him.

¹⁴  Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,

That ALL peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion,

Which shall not pass away,

And His kingdom the one

Which shall not be destroyed.

³⁰ Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 

Matthew 24:30

²⁶ Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. 

Mark 13:26

²⁷ Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 

Luke 21:27

⁷ Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen. 

Revelation 1:7

³⁶ He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” 

John 3:36

²² And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 

Ephesians 1:22

⁹ Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, ¹¹ and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 

Philippians 2:9–11

¹⁵ Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” 

Revelation 11:15

²⁸ Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 

Hebrews 12:28

Micah 2:1

Satan comes to kill, steal and destroy. In the power of the Holy Spirit we overcome his hatred with the love of Christ. If Jesus is held up others are drawn to Him and the loving forgiveness that is His right alone to give!

Man and his half baked ideas will always fail. The wisdom of the Holy Spirit…infallible!

The ethical teaching of the prophets regularly included oracles of judgment against greed, theft, and oppression, actions of the powerful in attacking the weak.

Micah 2:1–1 (NKJV)

2  Woe to those who devise iniquity,

And work out evil on their beds!

At morning light they practice it

Because it is in the power of their hand.

⁶ They prepare their heart like an oven, While they lie in wait; Their baker sleeps all night; In the morning it burns like a flaming fire. 

Hosea 7:6

⁷ They are all hot, like an oven, And have devoured their judges; All their kings have fallen. None among them calls upon Me. 

Hosea 7:7

Psalm 71:17-18

Open my mouth to speak of Your wondrous works. 

To tell of all that You do for Your creation especially for those who trust only in You.

I was nine or ten years old when I first remember placing all of my hope, all of my trust, all of the protection of me into the loving hands of my God. Although I have failed Him many times He has never failed me…never. He was, He is and will always be my loving Daddy… in the good and in the bad and in the downright ugly times of my life. 

Forever I will love Him, forever will I trust only Him, forever I will rest in His arms.

Psalm 71 is a psalm of lament with a major focus on the psalmist’s trust in God.The poet has trusted in God all his life.

Psalm 71:17–18 (NKJV)

¹⁷ O God, You have taught me from my youth;

And to this day I declare Your wondrous works.

¹⁸ Now also when I am old and grayheaded,

O God, do not forsake me,

Until I declare Your strength to this generation,

Your power to everyone who is to come.

⁴ Even to your old age, I am He, And even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; Even I will carry, and will deliver you. 

Isaiah 46:4

⁵ “Surely I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should act according to them in the land which you go to possess. 

Deuteronomy 4:5

⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 

Deuteronomy 6:7