How those words must have echoed around the court of Pharaoh and in the minds of his listeners. We see a proud monarch, clinging tenaciously to his own beliefs, having enslaved God’s people, yet determined to resist His Hand. The time had come for Israel’s deliverance, and such was the scene from which God would extract a people called after His Name.
The Purpose of the Exodus (1) – Ye Shall Know that I am Yahweh Read More »
In the previous two chapters, the problem and consequences of sin are laid out with the recognition that Yahweh is righteous in all his judgments. In this third song, the same picture of suffering is presented, but this time through the lens of the “man that hath seen affliction” (Lam 3:1). Out of the blackness of the first two chapters, this man emerges, to take us on a journey from ‘how could this happen?’ to ‘why did this happen?’
Leviticus 23 outlines the various feasts celebrated under the law, as well as events observed during that period. Each of the events point forward to prophetic events, which either have happened, or are about to happen. These events are, in fact, a prophetic timeline of the overall sequence of events, culminating in the kingdom of God.
Gleaning in the Fields of Israel Read More »
The first song of Lamentations introduces Jerusalem’s affliction and the sin that was the source of the problem. We find Jerusalem as a widow, alone and reeling from the recent invasion of the Babylonians. The second song (chapter 2) builds on these themes. Particular emphasis is placed upon the role that God himself played in the destruction of Jerusalem. Whereas chapter 1 recognises that Yahweh is righteous, chapter 2 acknowledges God’s justification in personally being involved in Jerusalem’s downfall. While the Babylonians may have been the instrument, God was the true architect. The fall of Jerusalem in AD70 is expressed in similar terms when we read of Christ coming at the head of the Roman army in the seventy weeks prophecy (Dan 9:26-27). Throughout the New Testament, AD70 is described as the “coming of the Son of Man” (eg: Matt 24:37) when our Lord used the Romans as the tools of God’s justice. Once again, the book of Lamentations would repeat itself through history.
Towards the end of the reign of Josiah, God ensured an intensity of prophetic work so that there were four contemporary prophets all simultaneously warning Judah of the judgment that was about to befall them. This was no accident.
The Dynasty of Josiah (1) Read More »
There are certain events in Scripture which are challenging to the 21st century sense of justice. One of these situations is recorded in 2 Samuel 21, where sevens sons of Saul are hanged for a crime that Saul committed. Does this mean that God is unjust?
The Parable of the Seven Sons Read More »
Both Elijah and Elisha were called “the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof” (2 Kings 2:12; 13:14) because it was known and understood that Yahweh was working through his prophets. The foundation for this expression is laid by David when he is instructing Solomon about building the temple. In 1 Chronicles 28:18 David calls the cherubim “the chariot of the cherubim”.
The Cherubim: A Developing Theme (2) Read More »
The book of Lamentations contains five lamentations, which all refer to the destruction of Jerusalem and of the Kingdom of Judah by the Chaldeans. Each song bewails the unutterable misery that has befallen the covenant people in this catastrophe, and the disgrace which the fallen daughter of Zion has thereby suffered.
This discussion is intended to be an introduction to the subject of the cherubim, to lay out the essentials of the subject as they develop through Scripture. It is not exhaustive—it is just enough to start the reader on a journey of discovery. It is a beautiful subject, but a deep one, for it reveals God’s working with and through man to develop His purpose.
The Cherubim – A Developing Theme (1) Read More »
As the story has it, Napoleon was walking through a small village in France, when he heard weeping coming from inside a small ramshackle building nearby. The sound was enough to stop Napoleon in his tracks and compel him to investigate this commotion. As he entered the building, he happened upon a group of Jews sprawled pathetically across a stone floor, reading a scroll by candlelight, weeping as they read. In astonishment, Napoleon turned to his men, wanting to know what great calamity had befallen the Jewish people for them to weep in such a way.
Lamentations (1) An Introduction: Mourning for Jerusalem Read More »
