Heathen Kingdoms That Ruled Israel
It is true that the pastors, Evangelists, college and seminary professors, missionaries, and church elders used to spend their precious time in acquiring the knowledge of the Bible and church history. Some others take more interest to go through the Bible in different languages for further information. Such people would be pregnant with enormous knowledge of the Bible and good command about the subject and Godly references. The leaders or teachers, while teaching will have control over the students of theology because of their depth of knowledge. So the students that are trained under such efficient professors will have their own independent views regarding theology, as future guidance in preaching or teaching. The depth of knowledge the students require completely depends upon the quality of the institution they study. Such efficient theological students from standard institutions will certainly honor the following facts of the Bible.
1.The triune nature of God – Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are not
three gods in one person, but there is one God in three Persons. This
truth every believer must remember.
2.The Bible is a sacred document written by about 40 writers with the
inspiration from God. It is everlasting and most powerful. If anyone says
that he has no belief in the contents of the Bible, it works like a sharp
sword and pierces into the heart of such nonbelievers.
3.In this material world, all people are born with sin nature. And due to
that sin, there are separated from God, and no relationship with Him
exists. In such circumstances, man needed a savior to save him from the
clutches of sin. As a matter of fact, man has not committed any sin, but
he is born with sin which he inherited with the fall of Adam and Eve in the
Garden of Eden. We call them our first parents of the human race. In a
word all of us are sinners, in Adam, because we are all in his loins.
4.Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is called the undiminished deity because of
His virgin birth, He became a perfect humanity. He is through and through
a Godly man and also a complete man. In this matter let us not go deep
into details because it is a clear Biblical fundamental doctrine.
5.On the cross of Calvary the Son of God paid our debts by shedding His
blood as a compensation for our sin. So, through this means, he brought
all of us salvation, with His precious blood on the Cross. As a result He
made us heirs to eternal life. According to the Bible, His own people (the
Jews) were responsible for the consequences of the Son of God. Our
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father God sacrificed His beloved Son Jesus to die on the cross, and
Jesus with all His majesty, climbed onto it. With this action, He saved all
humanity and promised everlasting peace and eternal life. As it has
become cruel necessity, He calmly walked toward the cross. God had
some purpose when He sent His beloved son into this world. He has to
fulfill three things – to heal the sick and suffering, to spread the word of
God, and to die for the sin of humanity.
6.Jesus fulfilled these three things. He conquered death and came out of
the grave successfully. As the son of God, and as a deity, He is capable
of giving away His life and taking it back. He said the same to His
disciples and did it successfully.
7.After resurrection, He spent forty days on Earth by appearing before
different people in order to make them believe that He rose from the
dead. He also met his disciples and confirmed His promise that he would
rise on the third day. All the disciples and other followers believed in His
resurrection except one disciple, namely Thomas. He was otherwise known
as doubting Thomas. He believed only after putting his fingers into the
wounds of Jesus Christ. Then after 40 days, Jesus went to His father in
Heaven and sent the Holy Spirit to His disciples after ten days, as He
promised. Basing on the fact that He shed His blood on the cross, He is
functioning now as our Great High Priest. What He did for us on Calvary,
He is going to do the same to all the believers if they are put into troubles
by Stan anyway. When He comes again to the earth, as all believers are
anticipating. He will turn to His father God and say that He shed His
blood for the sin of all humanity and so, the sinners can confidently sing
to the top of their voices that they have all security through Christ.
8.If we study the Bible carefully we can understand that “salvation” was
planned by God and for that purpose He willingly sacrificed His Son.
Salvation was purchased by His Son, Jesus Christ, with His blood on the
cross, and this salvation was processed by the God the Holy Spirit. So to
say salvation is a teamwork of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
We also see in the Scripture how the prayer is always addressed to the
Father only as – “Our Father who art in Heaven……..”
9.It is also said that salvation is not achieved by the works of righteousness
but by the grace of God through faith, as the gift of God that leads to
salvation. And this is not at all Calvenistic doctrine, but it is a Biblical
truth.
10.Everybody is aware of the fact through prophecy that Jesus is coming
again into this world before the end of the age not as a lamb as He came
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first, but as a roaring lion of Judah to reign his millennial kingdom. When
He comes the first thing He will do is to resurrect all the dead and the
living shall be raptured. Then He will defeat all the evil and establish a
literal and physical millennial (thousand years) kingdom upon the new
Heaven and new earth. For instance, people who are called by God for
His ministry or to teach theological students, or to preach in the churches,
must be bold enough to defend God and gospels under all conditions.
Then only they will be treated as true servants of God. They must be also
in a position to defend the foundational doctrine of truth before the false
teachers and false prophets.
The teachers who teach the Word of God must stick onto the truth always. They should not have second thoughts or decisions of their own on any point. For example, if anyone would like to speak about Jesus as a deity, such great topics must be confined to a particular place because it is a Holy matter. The word deity is Holy and eternal, and it belongs to infinite Savior Jesus Christ. We must be careful whenever we talk about such godly things. Jesus is the Son of God in the flesh. Apart from that, there are some doctrines considered less important as foundational doctrinals. Yet, they should not be ignored as unimportant to them. To illustrate this point more clearly, the second coming of Jesus Christ is treated as the foundational doctrinal because He is coming for the redemption of the earth. Let us look into the events according to chronological order. His second coming is primarily concerned to the living of the rapture of the church. So, this essential point is described by some scholars as pre-tribulational rapture, mid-tribulational rapture, partial rapture, and past-tribulational rapture. But majority of the scholars authentically declared pre-tribulational rapture of the church as the correct time of his Second Coming.
In order to solve this sensitive issue, some scholars confirmed the prophecy of Daniel in the second chapter of his book would be an authentic one to set right this problem. According to the prophecy, the most brilliant but wicked king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had a terrible dream. He did not remember the contents of the dream, but only the dream as important, and such dreams could be interpreted by the beloved prophet Daniel, as he only got this gift from God. The dream was about an image (a statue), which was composed of five distinguished parts representing five powerful kingdoms of Heathen origin, and those five empires were found in the book of the Word of God due to some reason. What must be that reason, to keep the names of those empires in the pages of the Word of God? Not because they were powerful kingdoms, but because four of them had already ruled the nation of Israel and the capital city of Jerusalem as Heathen kings, and the
SHOOTS OF JERUSALEM fifth kingdom rulers will rule at the end of times. And according to prophecy, this fifth kingdom will come to power shortly and rule Jerusalem.
What are the names of those four kingdoms that already ruled the nation of Israel? The first one was called Babylon, the world’s oldest city and the birthplace of all kinds of idolatry. So in the image, Babylon was considered the head of gold. The second empire was the chest and arms of Silver that represented Medo-Persian kingdom. The third one was the thighs and belly of bronze that represented the kingdom of Greece. The fourth one was the legs of iron that represented the Roman Empire. The king of Babylon happened to launch three massive attacks on Jerusalem. The first one was in 606 BC, the second one in 598 BC, and the third one in 586 BC. In the third attack, the king commanded the generals to kill all the rebellious captives. Added to that, they destroyed the city as well as the walls of Jerusalem, and set the temple on fire. At that time, Zedikiah, a wicked man, was the king of the Judean Empire. In the series of Davidic Dynastic rulers, Zedikiah was the twentieth and last king, and he was responsible for the destruction of the empire. While the fierce battle was going on, he tried to escape secretly though the passingway of the city wall, which was already destroyed to its foundations. Then to his bad luck, he was caught with his family near the city of Jericho and they were taken as captives to Babylon. After that, he was forced to watch the cruel death of his sons, and then his eyes were removed. He was finally kept in prison till his death.
With the end of Davidic rulers, Israel became a doomed nation. The capture, blindness, and imprisonment of king Zedikiah made the nation worse than before. During the reign of King David and his son Solomon the nation was considered great and powerful. But after them, the other kings could not have the blessings of God and became slaves to paganism. So, God became furious at their attitude and planned to put Israelites and their kings into the hands of the Heathen kings with the hope they would repent. The fact is at the time of King David, God made a covenant with him by saying that his house and his kingdom shall be established forever, and also, his throne shall be established forever. Such a great promise was shattered when God saw some negative attitude among the later kings. God also told King David if his descendants commit any sin, at any time, they would be cursed and punished. And such a situation had come to God to punish the Kings and the people.
God made another promise to king David, that is only his lineage, the seed of a woman, a virgin birth, will become a legitimate heir to the throne of David, who is no other than Jesus Christ. So, when the pagan kingdoms complete their reign over Israel, Jesus in His Second coming will be a legitimate heir to the legitimate throne over the legitimate nation (Israel). For the
SHOOTS OF JERUSALEM confirmation of this fact, let us read the first verse of the first book of the New Testament. The image described in the second chapter of Daniel was the clear indication of the times of different Gentile rulers that ruled Israel. This Gentile ruling was described as a period of times when there was no worthy descendant from the royal lineage of King David to rule like himself. By keeping all these points in view, God wanted to establish a special nation to bear His name and through whom the king of kings and the Lord of Lords would come to rule. Prior to His coming, Israel nation would be ruled by four idolatrous nations (Pagan rulers). The above mentioned details are true and certain, just as the morning follows night. The times of Gentile rulers, quoted above, were the master plan of Satan to defeat the plan of God. Because of the interference of Satan in the plan of God, He would redeem the world by sending His beloved son Jesus Christ to the earth.
God allowed Satan to implement his own plan to rule the nation of Israel by Pagan rulers, with some purpose. According to the plan of Satan, the first heathen nation that ruled Israel was Babylon. It began to rule Jerusalem from 606 B.C. The next nation was the Medo-Persian empire. This empire ruled Jerusalem from 536 B.C. That means, the Babylonians ruled just for seventy years as per the prophecy of Prophet Jeremiah. Then, Greece began to rule Jerusalem from 322 B.C. It means, the Greeks ruled Israel for about 214 years. The fourth Pagan ruler, the Romans, began to rule Jerusalem from 63 B.C. After about 600 years of King Zedikiah, it is said some divine influence was conspicuous in the history of Israelites’ nation. The Roman emperor Augustus Caesar, at that time, proclaimed that all Jews shall return to their native towns for the purpose of census. In such a situation, Miriam (Mary), the mother of our Lord Jesus and also who was highly esteemed by the believers, had to come to Bethlehem from Nazareth because her original place was Bethlehem. She reached Bethlehem just at the time of her delivery of Jesus. Yet, she had to travel more than seventy miles with her husband Joseph. The route between Nazareth and Bethlehem was with mountain ranges, which became very difficult for a pregnant woman like Mary. According to genealogy, both Joseph and Mary were Judeans and descendants of King David. The real name of Mary was Miriam, but it was anglicized to Mary.
The birthplace of Christ was noticed by the shepherds, who were feeding their sheep near the mountains of Jericho, and they were guided by the angelic messengers and the star. They came and worshipped Christ. The next worshippers were three wise-men called Magi from the east. They travelled a long distance to reach the birthplace of Jesus. As located in the history, the Magi took more than one year to reach the birthplace of Jesus,
SHOOTS OF JERUSALEM that is to say, Jesus was in His second year at the time of the visit of Magi. Jesus grew to manhood and, for about three years, He ministered to His nation though it was still in Roman domination. In this context, it is appropriate to mention His credentials, His lineage from which He came, the place of His birth, under what conditions He was born, what kind of things He taught to His disciples and others in various gatherings, the way of life He lived, and different types of miracles He performed. All these examples were like testimonies to endorse that He was a godly man. He was the seed of the woman, as mentioned in Genesis 3:15. We can add some more points to His credit like His virgin birth, the son of David, the promised king and long waited Messiah. In spite of all these wonderful credentials attributed to Jesus, the people of the nation from which He sprang, the corrupted religious leaders bluntly rejected Him. “He came unto His own (creation) and His own (nation) received Him not” (John 1:11). The result of the rejection by His own people caused Him great agony and He foretold about the coming destruction of Jerusalem. This foretelling was fulfilled in 70 A.D., forty years after the death of Jesus Christ. What He exactly said was, “Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled” (Luke 21:24). Actually, the times of Gentile rule over Jerusalem would have ended if the Jewish people had accepted Jesus Christ wholeheartedly as their Messiah and king. Instead of that, they rejected Him openly and so the Lord Jesus foretold that they would continue under the influence of other heathen nations of the world. Fortunately, Israel became an independent nation on May 8, 1948. But Jerusalem, being the capital city, remained as a divided city because of the declaration of the United Nations. To their bad luck, Israelites had fought wars for their peaceful survival and to endure the countless attacks, since it became a free nation. The major problem here is the Temple Mount Moriah, which is the soul of Jerusalem, remained in the hands of Gentiles. Apart from this headache to Israelites, the enemy nations are demanding Israel to retreat the impossible borders of 1967. This became a perpetual nuisance and unsolvable problem, even to the United Nations.
Prophet Daniel, while interpreting the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar, spoke about the fifth part of the image. The first one is the head of gold, the second one is the chest and arms of silver, the third one is the belly and thighs of bronze, the fourth one is the legs of iron, and the fifth one is the feet and toes of iron and clay. Here, if we study carefully, the mixture of iron and clay indicate that the feet and toes were partly strong and partly weak. Many imminent scholars came to an understanding that the two feet were the representation of the revived Roman empire. According to that understanding, this revived Roman empire will come into existence at the
SHOOTS OF JERUSALEM granted the image represented only four empires that ruled Israel already, but not five. Since the time of Nebuchadnezzar till the time of Jesus Christ and after His death, the nation of Israel was ruled by different empires as if it was no man’s land. This is what Jesus Christ predicted. He said with grief in His mind, “Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled” (Luke 21:24).
Those scholars also suggested regarding the revived Roman empire will emerge and be ruled by Anti-Christ. Along with the ruling of Israel, this Anti-Christ will also become a supreme persecutor of Israel during the great tribulation period. This is what the theological students were taught in their seminaries by their professors. This persecution during the time of great tribulation may cause some believers to be dull, helpless, and desperate. In such conditions, a helping hand will come before them, and it is the hand of hope, confidence, and faith. In continuation of the story, we come across the next part. According to that part, a stone cut out of a mountain without hands appears on the stage (Daniel 2:34-45). The stone is nothing but the cutout image of Christ. He is the smitten stone (Isaiah 5:3-4). Christ is the stumbling stone (1st Peter 2:8). Christ is the chief cornerstone (Psalm 118:22). But in the description of Prophet Daniel, Christ is the smiting stone. He will smite the counterfeit world kingdom of Anti-Christ and his guide, Satan. We have to brood over the sensitive point regarding the stone cut out of the mountain without hands. In this case, there shall be no involvement of human beings. But the stone (the Lord Jesus Christ) alone will smash the image of Daniel’s story on the feet. The story of the image ends with the smashing down of the whole thing to the ground immediately. In this context, some lines from the Book of Daniel should be quoted as more appropriate.
“Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the
silver, and the gold, broken to pieces, to-
gether, (at the same time) and became like
the chaff of the summer threshing floors
and the wind carried them away that no
place was found for them, and the stone
that smote the image, became a great
mountain (literally kingdom) and filled
the whole earth” (Daniel 2:35).
The above quoted lines and their importance are the four names represented in the image will all present at the end of times. It is not simply the final empire. The Roman empire is revived. The Medo-Persians defeated the Babylonians, then the Greeks defeated the Medo-Persians. That was not the end. Unfortunately, after the sudden death of Alexander the Great, the
SHOOTS OF JERUSALEM Greek empire was divided into four nations. The separation made the powerful kingdom weak in the sight of other nations around. Among the four generals who made that division, Seliucus appeared to be more powerful with his capital Syria. In such circumstances, Romans came to limelight in 63 B.C. and remained as superpower of the world. But this kingdom also became weak during the fourth century A.D. Their strength and influence were totally diminished. Yet, it was not the end of Rome. At the end of times, it is believed that all the four kingdoms will join together for the final attack of Israel and try to prevent Christ from returning to the earth as the lion of the tribe of Judah.
The concealed meaning of the above said sentence is the feet of the image do not represent the only revived Roman empire, but it can be called fifth empire composed of four former kingdoms. The popular impression of the people is that the two feet and toes identify with Rome, Italy, Western Europe, and the Papacy. If not, this reference has no biblical evidence. The prophecy about the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by Roman rulers is often thought over by many educated elite as the evidence of the Roman empire as the kingdom of anti-Christ at the end of days. The cream of the society applauded the statement of Prophet Daniel. What he said was, “The people of the prince that shall come and destroy the city and the sanctuary” (Daniel 9:26). Many believers are able to understand about the prince that he is no other than the anti-Christ. Then, the city he will destroy is Jerusalem and the Temple on the Mount Moriah. In this context, we have some important facts expressed by both ancient and modern historians. Let us look into some of the details concerned to the attack of Jerusalem city and the Holy Temple.
1)General Titus, son of Vespasian, emperor of Rome, led an attack on
Jerusalem.
2)The Roman soldiers, selected for this purpose, were divided into six
legions. The fifth, tenth, and fifteenth legions were already with their
spears, who broke the city walls and completely destroyed the Temple.
They also looted the gold and silver of the Temple. Apart from the
appointed soldiers, there were also some emergency soldiers. It was
finally estimated the total number of invading soldiers was 50,000 or
55,000 men.
3)It was the people (but not the nation) of the prince, the anti-Christ, that
will come to destroy the city and the sanctuary.
The soldiers, recreated for the purpose of invading Jerusalem, were
SHOOTS OF JERUSALEM small number was taken from Europe. It is historically proved as “the people of the prince that shall come.” Those people were from Asia Minor. They were the ancestors of Muslims, who dominate the Middle East today. And those people were identified as iron and clay of the feet and toes, in the image of Daniel. So, it is concluded after looking into all details till now people took it for granted that the anti-Christ will not emerge from Europe, or from revived Roman empire, as it is believed today. The second chapter from the Book of Daniel depicted the story of the wicked pagan king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar. The image he saw in his dream was most terrifying, dazzling, and with the appearance of fear. Daniel, the beloved prophet of God, while interpreting the dream, did not exhibit any distress over the meaning of the dream as it had not indicated any immediate danger to his people, the Israelites. This wonderful interpretation of the dream prompted the king to promote Daniel to the highest position in his government. Added to that, Daniel received many valuable gifts also from the king.
Then, in the year about 553 B.C., after the dream of the king, Daniel also dreamed a dream. It is said there is some similarity between these two dreams. They seemed to have painted with a broad brush a picture of human history during the time of Gentiles’ rule that began in 606 B.C. and will continue until the coming of the king of Jews (Jesus Christ), the son of David. He will come and judge the people of the world for their inequity and finally bring golden age upon the earth. The cut-out stone that is mentioned in the dream of Nebuchadnezzar will receive the final victory. In the dream of Daniel also, it is Christ who will become victorious as the son of man. The dream of Nebuchadnezzar was explained to the believers with the presence of an awesome, unimpressive image, whereas the dream story of Prophet Daniel was explained through the presentation of four beast empires. But for the mind of Daniel, it was more significant and frightening; and at the same time, it was appropriate to the situation. The dream of the king reflected a sweeping and general scope of world history, whereas the dream of Daniel focused more in a negative way on Israel. So, Daniel further said, “I Daniel grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body and the visions of my head troubled me” (Daniel 7:15).
The four of Daniel’s beasts were located in the biblical history. As traced, the first beast was like a lion with eagle wings. That beast embodied power and royalty, and it represented Babylon. The second beast was a bear, raised upon one side and devouring much flesh. This beast was identified as Medo-Persian empire. This empire appeared to be very weak in the beginning, but later picked up strength and power and conquered many countries. It remained stronger, like a lumbering, powerful bear. The third
SHOOTS OF JERUSALEM kingdom was compared to a leopard, which had four wings like a bird and four heads. These four wings and heads indicated a powerful Greecian empire, which was divided among four military generals after the death of Alexander the Great. He was the most powerful emperor of Greece. He wanted to become the world conqueror. He conquered a major part of the eastern world through his brilliant tactics. Yet, due to his sudden demise at the age of 32, his kingdom was divided among four military generals. In course of time, they too became weak but could survive for more centuries because of their ethical and cultural values. In course of time, the Greek nations became so weak and the neighboring countries ignored even their presence as rulers. But at the right time of history, they would rise again to become enemies to the Jews. And the Jews also at present do not believe in Jesus Christ as their Messiah and trust Him. To say in nutshell, ancient Babylon is modern-day Iraq, and we can see the location of it in the map. Ancient Persia is modern-day Iran. The kingdom of Persia happened to change its name from Persia to Iran in 1935. The ancient Greece is modern Syria. We studied already about the Greecian empire, how it was divided into four due to the sudden death of Alexander the Great. Then, among those four nations, Syria became more powerful. For this nation, the most notorious and wicked man, Antiochus Epiphanes, the descendant of Seliucus, became the king, only to take revenge against Jews. This Antiochus did many abominable things in the Temple of God in Jerusalem and polluted it. He was otherwise known as the progeny of Satan. Antiochus became more powerful and used that power to suppress the Jews, and finally called himself the main persecutor of Jews.
The ancient persecutors of Israel have been planning to join together with the fourth beast empire. This fourth beastly empire is clearly identified and that will be in the control of the anti-Christ, who is also the progeny of Satan. For all this, the current events are the witness for fulfilling the prophecy before our eyes. And also, these happenings are indicating the time of the coming of the lion of Judah (Jesus Christ) to solve all the problems. It is clearly referred that this empire is no other than the revived Roman empire. It is said the final empire would be like some form of “rebirth” or revival of the original Roman empire. But one thing is clear. The final form of the empire will be completely a new form. It will be totally different from what we studied. I think it is correct time for all of us to have a second thought at the “Revival Roman Empire,” and look at it with a fresh biblical perspective. We are expecting more about the fourth beast with ten horns and the anti- Christ, if possible in future. This subject is, as a matter of fact, very complicated. Yet, it is very, very important, particularly at this hour of history.
SHOOTS OF JERUSALEM CHAPTER - 14
Prophet Jonah
During the reign of King Solomon the kingdom of Israel was divided as two nations, the Southern kingdom of Judah, and the Northern kingdom of Israel, because of the sins committed by King Solomon. Though God blessed him abundantly as the richest man and the wisest man in his time, he became ungrateful to God. He got too many heathen wives, and to please them he even built heathen temples. His way of life displeased God, and cursed him by saying that his kingdom would be divided into two. Accordingly, in 922 BC,it was divided after his death. The first one was called Northern kingdom of Israel with ten tribes of the sons of Jacob, and the second one was called the Southern kingdom of Judah with two tribes of the sons of Judah and Benjamin. The capital city for the northern kingdom was Samaria and the king was Jeroboam. The capital city for the southern kingdom was Jerusalem and the king was Rehoboam, son of King Solomon. King Jeroboam made his country a heathen nation and introduced idol worship.
From the beginning of the separation of those two countries, there were continuous wars between them. Then prior to the reign of Jeroboam II, the northern kingdom was attacked and oppressed by the Assyrians in 722 BC. They launched a series of devastating methods against Syria, otherwise known as (the Arameans) and completely ravaged it. As Syria was consuming the time and energy of the Syrians, the northern kingdom of Israel began to rebuild the nation. But the most unfortunate thing is that the attack of the Assyrians had made them slaves and they even lost their identity as Israel, and in course of time they too, became idol worshippers and forgot their real God Yavah. After a few decades Jeroboam II became the king of Israel kingdom and the Prophet Jonah presented himself with fulfilled prophecy regarding that nation. The Bible readers must have seen in (2 Kings, 14:25) how Jeroboam II restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of plain.
Accordingly, the Word of the Lord God that spoke by the hand of His servant, Prophet Jonah, regarding the prosperity of Israel and the outcome of his prophecy was that, the time of abundance was not seen in Israel since the day of King Solomon. Jonah gave a wonderful prophecy, for which he deserved to be honored and respected. Let us look into some of the references of Prophet Jonah.
1)“But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.—
”(Jonah 1:3)
2)“....... For I knew that thou art a gracious God and merciful, slow to
anger and of great kindness and repentist thee of the evil.” (Jonah 4:2)
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3)“And, should not I spare Nineveh that great city wherein are more than
sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand
and left hand, and also much cattle.” (Jonah 4:11)
We are immediately introduced to the story that God commanded Jonah to “Arise, go to Nineveh that great city and cry against it for their wickedness is coming before me.” (Jonah 1:2). To the command of God, the answer is one of the most surprising in the entire Scripture. The answer is that Jonah arose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of God, but not to go to Nineveh. It is really a stunning incident in the character of Jonah which clearly showed his disobedience towards God’s command. Anyway, he boarded a ship which was bound to Tarshish.It was about 2,500 miles in Spain. After the ship started moving, the Lord sent a tempest over the waters of the Sea, which caused utter confusion in the crew of the ship. They tried their best to control it, but in vain.
Jonah understood the unfavorable situation and went down the deck to sleep. The captain of the ship, who observed the movements of Jonah, asked him why he was behaving like that, when all the crew and the ship were in trouble. The captain actually wanted to ask him, “How can you sleep at a time of this?” In the meantime, each crew member began to call upon his heathen deity to save them from that calamity. When all the crew members failed in their attempt, they at last decided to cast lots to find out the real culprit. In their lot, Jonah was identified as the real person responsible for all the unhappy situation. Then the crew asked Jonah what they should do to him to pacify and calm the tempest on the sea. He asked the crew to take him up and throw him into the Sea. He confessed that the tempest was only because of him, as he disobeyed the command of God Almighty. So, even in that critical condition, Jonah, instead of repenting and praying to God, he preferred to die willingly. But the crew unwillingly accepted the obligation of throwing him into the sea. And finally the Mediterranean Sea remained calm.
The next incident in connection with the story of Jonah was that he remained in the belly of a large fish which had swallowed him alive. By remaining in the belly, Jonah said “I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and He heard me.” (Jonah 2:1). What was the affliction Jonah spoke about? The affliction here was that God threw Jonah into the deep sea and it is God that controls everything. So, this unusual event took Jonah to the bottom of the sea that is, he actually drowned. Jonah understood the critical situation of his life, and then prayed to God, as a last desperate attempt to live. God understood Jonah was repenting for his grave mistake, and sent a “fish” to swallow and keep him alive. But, we don’t have further details about the fish. Jesus also said in Matthew 12:20 that Jonah remained in the belly of a whale for three days and three nights.
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Let us not be dogmatic in one critical point. It is believed by some eminent scholars, and it is quite possible, that Jonah had actually died prior to being swallowed by the whale. A careful study of Jonah’s description in the sea would certainly indicate his death. This event appears to be supported by the reference of the Lord to the book of Jonah. Jesus was questioned by the Pharisees and teachers of law, for a sign to prove His divine and Messianic claims. For that, the reply of Jesus was “An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign and there shall be no sign given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah, for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a whale, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the Earth.” (Matthew 12:39-40).
Here we can see clearly how Jesus was referring to His own death, burial, and resurrection. He seemed to have chosen the example of Jonah because Jonah also actually died as he sunk to the bottom of the sea before being revived by God. Anyway, the mercy of God was granted to Jonah and he got his life back. Now, Jonah had changed his mind, and God asked him again to go to Nineveh and preach. We see according to the story, Jonah became completely a changed man, and remained more obedient to God. So as per the Word of God, Jonah rose and went unto Nineveh to preach about the coming calamity if they would not change their way of life. The fact is that Jonah was prompted to obey God’s instructions. He received the message from God regarding the doom. “Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” (Jonah 3:4). In other words, God granted only forty days to the people of Nineveh to repent for their sin and wicked life. If they repent, God would spare them, if not, they have to be destroyed.
The most wonderful and unexpected thing is that the people of Nineveh became obedient listeners to the preaching of Jonah and repented wholeheartedly. What must be the reason for those hard-hearted people of Nineveh to repent so easily? It must be God’s providence. God must have planned human affairs for repentance easily. There are three main reasons for their change.
1)A few years ago, Nineveh was miserably hit by two plagues (during 765
and 759 B.C.) which ravaged the citizens in the midst of this calamity,
and another event was that a total eclipse of the sun occurred in 763
B.C. These two plagues and the eclipse of the sun have been treated as
the work of divine punishment.
2)The story of Jonah’s adventure on the ship must have been circulated
among people, even in Nineveh. So, the people of Nineveh saw Jonah
the Hebrew prophet, who had been thrown into the sea, now entered the
city. In addition to that, the people of Nineveh were terribly afraid of the
God of Israel and the first entry of the Hebrew prophet Jonah.
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3)The people of Nineveh were thoroughly disgusted with the ruthless
Northern foes. It was the kingdom of “Urantee,” that controlled the South.
If the fierce forces of Urantee attacked in any way, they would have
totally destroyed the city. The people of Nineveh were well aware that
their destruction was near at any time and so, they welcomed any promise
of deliverance. They did not mind even to humble themselves and appear
before the God of Hebrews. If we consider the above said words, we can
certainly believe that notoriously wicked people of Nineveh would heed
to the words of Jonah and repent. And in such circumstances, God would
no doubt spare them from destruction. Even then, the story was not
ended. Jonah again objected to God’s plan.
It is really unfortunate that the sparing of Nineveh by God displeased Jonah, and he was very angry. As a matter of fact, the Israelite (Jonah) was so irritated and requested the Lord, “Take I beseech thee my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” (Jonah 4:3) We see here the willingness of Jonah to die for the second time in view of his rebellion against God’s plan. What made him to be upset? He preached to the people of Nineveh and they positively responded. What must have happened to the gratefulness and renewed obedience that resulted from his miraculous rescue?
1)There are two possibilities in this connection. The distance between ‘Gathhepher’ and Nineveh is about 550 miles, and a healthy man can travel only 15 miles a day. Then, to travel such a long distance, it requires at least 36 days. Once the borders of Israel were crossed, one might have to go through cities, villages, temples, marketplaces, etc. Most of the temples in those days were identified by idolatry and cult prostitution. It is said that in some temples, there was child sacrifice also. The marketplaces were full of paganism. There was the sale of ‘unclean’ food and small household idols. In such a strange atmosphere, the soul of Jonah must have pained a lot. And the defilement of such an atmosphere must have changed his mind also.
So to say, Jonah was no doubt associated by ‘heathens’ of the surroundings; all the bitter experiences must have prompted him to develop a kind of aversion toward religion. He witnessed more than enough by the time he reached Nineveh city. Then, he came to a conclusion that the people of Nineveh would not deserve the mercy of God for their salvation.
2)Jonah was under the impression that though Nineveh was in the control of some powers, one day it would rise and become more powerful than any other place. If his words would become true, then that heathen country certainly create problems to Israel in future. In such expectations, he did not want to preach them for their repentance within forty days as a deadline. Basing on the impression, he had in his mind about the city and its people; he would have gone home safely. But he was not willing to accept the mercy of God on that city. With this idea in his mind, he set up a shelter (booth) at
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In the Scripture, it is said “The Lord God prepared a ground and made it to come up for Jonah to provide him with shady comfort.” Again, what must have been the intention of God? He made the life of Jonah unbearable. The main purpose of warming the place was only to destroy the shelter of Jonah, to see how far he could bear the heat of the blazing sun. But Jonah went to the extent of asking God to exterminate his life for the third time. At the end of the book, God, with His love, patiently communicated a moral to him. God wanted Jonah to understand that He spared the city of Nineveh, which had more than sixscore thousand persons who could not distinguish between their right hand and their left hand and with cattle. Perhaps God wanted to point out their innocence. The central idea of the whole story of Jonah was that God’s mercy and grace were not only for Israelites, but also for innocent people like the people of Nineveh, irrespective of their faith or belief.
The Assyrians were the second heathen kings that took revenge against Israelites, though they were the descendants of Abraham. The first heathen kings were Egyptians. The Assyrians became the rod of God’s anger (Isaiah 10:5). They attacked Samaria, the capital of Israel, in 722 B.C. and sent most of them into exile. The Assyrians, in their ruthless reign, marched their captives off to exile in chains and hooks in their noses and jaws. They also skinned many of them alive. According to history, there are many more examples of the brutal reign of Assyrians. Though the people of Nineveh were repented by the preaching of Jonah, it did not remain for a long time because it had to be destroyed by the giant forces of Medes, Babylonians, and Scytheans. We have studied that the Northern kingdom of Israel was in the control of Assyrians. Some years later, they tried to destroy the Southern kingdom of Judah also, during the reign of King Hezekiah. This kingdom of Judah was ruled by twenty kings, who were called Davidic dynastic rulers. So, for the sake of David, God protected the Southern kingdom of Judah by killing at least 1,80,000 Assyrian soldiers (Isaiah 37:36).
Prophet Jonah was called one of the ‘Minor Prophets.’ He prophesized in the same period of Amos and Hosea. Among the Minor Prophets, it was only Jonah who was commanded by God to leave the boundaries of Israel and preach to heathens like the innocent people of Nineveh. The city of Nineveh was located at the east bank of the Tigris River. Among the Minor Prophets and their books, it is only the book of Jonah that remained as a story-book but not a book of a series of prophetic sayings. Jonah was the only prophet from Galilee, which was also the basis for the ministry of Jesus Christ. Gathhepher was probably the native place of Jonah, only a few miles northeast of Nazareth. In the book of Jonah, God used some living and inanimate objects to accomplish His purpose in the story. They are a storm, a scorching wind, a sea creature, a plant, and a warm. God gave a good moral to the believers through this story.
SHOOTS OF JERUSALEM CHAPTER - 15
Women of the same Mind with the Lord
Much of the information we know about Christology ( the study about Christ based on the Bible)and Christmas (the incarnation or birth and humanity of Christ) are really strange and wonderful. The most important issue we are going to study about was the result of the two feuding women from the church of phillippi, according to paul. These two women were true believers with strong will power and regular church goers at phillippi. If we look into the church history it appeared women played a crucial role and became more powerful force in the church activities and also for the peaceful running of the church affairs. In addition to that women took the leadership frequently in Missionary work by calling Almighty God through their prayers. They provided financial support also to the deserving ministries. Some women with strong will power cannot live peacefully in harmony with others. Such women with independent views naturally cause some problems in the churches or in the society.
Now we are going to know something about such two women namely Euodias and Syntyche. These two were the regular church members of phillippi established by apostle Paul. At that time paul was imprisoned in Rome, which was about 800 miles from phillippi. Even then, the distance could not stop paul from hearing about those two women Elodeas and Syntyche some unfavourable news. He received the message through a different method. The philippean church authorities sent a man by name Epophrodites to help paul during his two year imprisonment. (Phillippians 2.25). It is not clearly mentioned how the church member was able to reach paul from such a long distance, still, we have to believe he brought the message about those two feuding women of the church. It is said paul knew those two women by name, personally because it was he who founded the church, in phillippi during his second missionary journey. (Acts 16.7 – 12) He recollected those two women who helped in his ministry. It is believed by some that paul must have written the book of phillippians, partly to help those two godly women in order to settle their dispute in the church mattes with the tact of a godly pastor paul addressed the problem with curing warning through the following lines –
“I beseech Euodias and beseech Syntyche that they be of the same mind in the Lord. And I entreat thee also true yoke fellow, help those women while labored with me in the gospel with element also and with other my fellow laborous whose names are in the book of life”. (phillippians 4.2 – 3). The two women Elodeas and Syntyche were gently warned to be with the same mind with the Lord. Then what is the meaning of the same mind in the Lord?. As a matter of fact, paul answered this question earlier in his epistle.
SHOOTS OF JERUSALEM While doing so, the purpose was not only to instruct the feuding women but also to instruct other women of future generations who will have the same bent of mind. Paul wanted to extend this idea but took the example of Jesus Christ of what the same mind with the Lord. It means paul shared the doctrinal truth in all epistles and then based on the doctrine gave duty. According to his principle duty was always based on doctrine. Here the letters of apostle paul to the phillippians were practical, but not doctrinal except one paragraph of doctrine that appeared suddenly out of context, and answered for the women, the real meaning of the mind of the Lord. At the same time, paul gave to all believers of all times, the most important chronological text and complete meaning of Christmas that is written in the Bible.
The one paragraph of paul on doctrine is found in (phillippians chapter 2 verse 5 – 11). The Bible readers used to call this context as “Kinosis” and it was taken from the phrase in verse 7. “But made himself no reputation” which can be understood as “he emptied Himself”. Indeed there has been a debate on this point by some scholars on what “he emptied Himself”. In this connection a closer look at (phillippians 2.5 – 11) is necessary and of great help.
1) Apostle Paul gave a wonderful statement on this topic. He said let his
mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. He encouraged the two
women earlier to have the same mind in Christ. Now he will reveal to
them what does it mean to have the same mind in Christ.
2) It is a fact paul spoke about the condition of the eternal life of Christ. He
wrote, “While being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be
equal with God. We all know Jesus was in the form of His father in
essence and attributes. That is, Jesus is “Deity” and equal to God in
everything. So it can never be called robbery or seized or embraced to be
equal to God. To speak the truth Jesus is equal to the Father throughout
eternity in the past at present and in future.
3)Apostle paul explained the incarnation of Jesus Christ in details in the
following lines. “Jesus made himself of no reputation, and look upon him
the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men” (phillippians
2.7). Incarnation comes from the root word, for “flesh”. That is a
“Carnivorous animal” – coming from the same root word is a flesh eater.
It is a fact that Jesus was born with human flesh (which was called his
incarnation) but without sin still in His incarnation He made Himself of
no reputation”, that is “He emptied Himself”. His emptiness was not of
His “Deity” as some people misunderstood and taught wrongly. He emptied
Himself of His independent use of some of His attributes. For example,
He called upon His father in heaven while praying, on certain occasions,
even though He could have done everything by Himself. But He gave due
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importance to His Father; Paul explained clearly for what purpose Christ
came to this world He successfully and wonderfully achieved in His stay
in this world. So he wrote –
“And being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even to death on the cross.” (Phillippians 2.8) In His appearance (fashion) as a man Jesus Christ was perfect humanity (without man’s sinful nature). He remained as undiminished Deity and no less than the infinite God. Jesus never turned back from His path. He went all the way toward the cross as He was destined. Yet His mind was always in His control at all movements. Nobody could do anything to Him or against His will on earth. So what He had in His mind about Himself was “No man taketh it, from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it, down and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my father (John 10.18)”. The outcome of what all He said about Himself was God became a man, He became a servant and died miserably on the cross as a criminal. His death on the cross was miserable and His suffering was beyond comprehension. This cross punishment was practiced only on non – Romans. The main purpose of this punishment was long suffering which the Romans used to enjoy.
Actually, we are studying here about two women of the church of phillippi, which was described by apostle paul. He esteemed those two women Euodias and Syntyche, for having the perfect mind of Christ and with their example, paul wished all the believers to have the same mind of Christ for achieving eternity. The correct outcome of this statement is that all of us must possess the noble quality of respecting others more than ourselves. Jesus as the embodiment of “God” became a “man” became a “servant” and died as a “criminal”. The more pathetic thing in this regard is that His own people (the Jews) killed Him on the cross. What must be the reason for Him to die like that?. The only reason is He esteemed others abou Himself. Actually to esteem others abou ourselves is like a long bridge to cross. Then how God must have estimated the action of His son Jesus?
Paul explained the unique creation of Father God, about His son in the following lines, “wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name, which is abou every name. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth. And that every tongue should confess Jesus Christ is the Lord, to the glory of God, the father” (phillippians 2.9 – 11). As Jesus achieved something through His incarnation and death, God the Father highly esteemed His son and gave Him the name, which is abou all other names. He was called at the time of His birth as the son of God(“Jesus which means “saviour”. Through His death, and resurrection salvation was achieved to the entire
SHOOTS OF JERUSALEM saviour is Jesus Christ the Lord. Then with the designation of Lord, He will rule overall things and over all beings in heaven on earth and under the earth. Finally He will rule over the entire universe.
This Baby boy Jesus at Bethlehem and also the sovereign Lord is coming soon for the second time with power and glory to rule His kingdom called Millennial kingdom for thousand years from His capital Jerusalem. The fact is our heavenly Father planned for our salvation even before the beginning of time. Our salvation was purchased by His son (Jesus) through His death and resurrection then our salvation is processed by the Holy spirit. So, every person has to accept Jesus, as his God and saviour He must be Baptized and then become a member of some church. Importance of Grace – “For the grace of God that bringth salvation that appeared to all men. Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and Godly in this present world. Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God, and our salvation Jesus Christ”(Titus 2.11 – 13).
To apostle paul two most favourite words are , “Grace and Glory”. And to confirm his interest in these two words he used the word “Grace” about 94 times and the word “Glory” about 70 times in his epistles we can see Gods glory and His grace, at the birth of the Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. Paul while writing to his son Titus, who was more faithful and trustworthy in his ministry instructed him by saying “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men” we can define grace in this way. It is shown by God toward people, whom He likes most without any expectation in return from them. It is really difficult to grasp the true implications of divine grace because it is totally a strange and controversial to our natural inclinations. But according to Bible grace is an absolute free expression of the living kindness of God Almighty to the humanity. And this continuous out pouring of God’s loving kindness is really wonderful God simply extends His loyal love without expecting anything in return.
Therefore, grace is commonly and correctly referred to “unearned” and “unmerited” favour. To explain more clearly this unearned and unmerited favour was embodied in the “manger” in Bethlehem; When Christ came into this world as a child. Then mankind because of its sinful nature correctly earned for itself divine judgement. And God through His son Jesus Christ offered His loyal love to all who would like to receive it. This offer is God’s unmerited favour of His grace. Then faith is personified as a vehicle through which the soul responses to God’s offer of grace and law is the antithesis of grace. But law requires hard work whereas grace requires faith in God. The final outcome of this wonderful statement is that law leads to bondage, but grace leads everyone to everlasting peace.
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All the abou said complicated problems forced paul to write the following lines – For by grace are ye saved, through faith and that not of yourselves. Grace is the gift of God; but not of works lest anyman should boost”. If anybody rejects this gift of Grace it is nothing but the final demonstration of foolishness and pride. If the grace is properly understood, it will take away all pride and arrogance from the person. Once the reality of God’s grace grips the soul of anyone it can never be the same. The grace of God is not a new one. It has a long history. It did not begin with the birth of Christ on the day of first Christmas that we celebrate. The truth is God had been offering this grace to humanity since the time of the creation of man.
If we further look into the Bible it was the grace which brought the first patriarch Father Abraham from our of the land of Chaldeans to the promised land. It sustained him and gave him the promise that in his seed all the nations of the world would be abundantly blessed. The same grace preserved the baby Moses and brought him to manhood in the royal palace of pharaoh of Egypt. Then this same grace appeared to Moses in the burning bush, to use him for some noble cause. Especially like liberating the Israelites from the bondage of Egyptian rulers. God also gave His law to Moses on the Senai mount, for His people Israelites. It was the same grace that raised the shepherd boy David who was caring for the sheep of his father and finally he was made the king of Israel after Saul. It was this grace, that saved prophet Daniel in the lions den, and permitted him to write about certain things yet to happen prophetically.
It was this grace, that gave opportunity to Nehemiah to encourage Jews to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and accordingly the walls were rebuilt. It is the same grace, that made God to send especial messengers called prophets time and again to the children of Israelites to mend them from their ungodly life. God actually wanted to check their disobedience toward Him for centuries. But all those events that are mentioned above would fade away when they are compared to the manifestation of God’s grace which is evidenced today in the lonely life of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. During His earthly travel paul went on telling more about the greatness of the grace of God. Accordingly understood that God’s grace has always been present and its final manifestation occurred in connection with the incarnation of Lord Jesus Christ. He as the pre – incarnate, son of God who is from everlasting to everlasting come out of eternity in order to die for the sake of the sin of all humanity.
Jesus came to this world to pay a heavy debt which He did not owe. Actually, we made that debt by our sin, which we could not pay. So as to pay our debt the son of God became the son of man. So that the sons of men and women could become the sons and daughters of God. For the grace of
SHOOTS OF JERUSALEM and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ) to all mankind. If there is the grace, there can be no obligation where there is grace, there can be no guilt. However, in view of God’s grace, we need the presence of God to set right our way of life. Here also, paul spoke a few words in favour of grace.
For the grace of God, that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. (The first coming of Christ). Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should love soberly righteously and godly in this present world”. (Titus 2.11 – 12) We can find these salient points as a result of the manifestation of God’s grace.
The purpose of God’s grace is to train His believers as how they should live. Grace teaches us of humanity’s helpless condition. Grace teaches us the greatness of God’s love even though we don’t deserve it. God’s grace teaches us the impact of the heinous character of our sin how that sin expected high payment like the life of Jesus Christ. So to say the death of Jesus on the cross was the final compensation for our sin.
2)The manifestation of God’s grace, teaches us that there are many things
we should not do. If Jesus had to die on the cross for our sins in order to
satisfy the holy character of His Father then the believers naturally develop
a kind of hatred to commit sin anymore. So God’s grace teaches us that
we should always reject the ungodly way of life and also wrong thinking.
God’s grace calls all the believers to be attentive and commands them to
deny ungodliness and worldly lusts.
3)The manifestation of God’s grace instructs us that they are certain things
we should do. God wished the believers to live soberly life to live righteously
and godly in this natural world. To live soberly here means to live with
undisturbed mind, to possess self-controlled temper. He must be free
from the influence of ungodliness. One must possess the quality of self-
control (self-resistant) that controls everything including worldly desires.
This self-control keeps the believers to concentrate more on Jesus. He
will try to live righteously and maintain certain character that pleases
God.
In the Old Testament books, this righteousness was measured by the revealed will of God as evidenced in the law. But in the New Testament the same righteousness was measured by the character of God and revealed in the person of the lord Jesus Christ. The fact is to love the life of God the believers have to exhibit the grace of God to all. Apart from that the godly man and woman have to allow the holy-spirit to mend their lives around Jesus and live. Finally the true life of a believer is to worship the Lord Jesus Christ, and do good things to others as true believer basing on the commandment “Love every neighbour as thy self”.
SHOOTS OF JERUSALEM The Glory of God – On the eve of the birth of Christ in Bethlehem, the heavenly host proclaimed Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, goodwill towards men” (Luke 2.14). The fact here is the birth of Christ is closely associated with the glory of God. Then what is that glory? So, far we have studied about the “Grace” of God and became familiar with many new points that are to be observed in our day to day life. But here, we have to learn about the glory of God and its uniqueness. For this purpose, we have to refer some passages of (Titus 2.11 – 13). According to this reference both grace and glory clearly show the excitement of apostle paul over the birth of Jesus. As paul was thrilled at the birth of Jesus we must also as believers join our hands with him, and share his excitement during Christmas times.
We have seen already how paul was thrilled at the manifestation of God’s grace. As we see he was equally exited at the certainly of the future manifestation of the glory of God. Therefore, he wrote, Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and saviour Jesus Christ. It may look improper to think about the glorious birth of Jesus along with His death. But the fact we all know is He was born to die only. Another thing we have to keep in mind is that His death ultimately referred to His resurrection. He rose from His grave and conquered death and made all believers happy. We have to remember His resurrection is also closely associated in this connection, His resurrection is also closely associated with His return in glory, at the end of the age. The fact is Jesus made a promise to His disciples that after His crucification He would raise from the grave to life on the third day. (Matthew 10.21). And then before going to heaven to sit at the right hand side of His Father, God. He made another promise to His disciples and the humanity. That promise was He would return in glory what Christ had done at His birth in Bethlehem? As a deity he became flesh to take away the sin of the world.
Then in His second coming according to the prophecy, He will defeat the anti-christ and establish His Millinnial kingdom. Let us recollect a while the birth of Jesus the Christmas festival, and how people visit the houses of other church members by singing Hymns like “joy to the world” in Christmas carol’s. You may be surprized to know this English hymn was composed by Isaac watts. The wonderful words, of the Hymn would thrill the heart of every Christian believer not as a Christmas carol song, but as a Hymn about the return of Christ, gloriously and triumphantly and continue His philatemul reign at the end of the age. The lyrics of Isaac watts, are based on the text of psalm 98 and are blooded with wonderful music composed by “George Fredric Handel”.
Apostle paul clearly stated about the first coming of the son of God as a “grace” appearing (Titus 2.11) and His second coming as a “glorious”
SHOOTS OF JERUSALEM that Jesus in his first coming was like an innocent Lamb, But His second coming is like a roaring lion of the tribe of Judah. When Jesus came first, as a lamb, he remained silent. He did not open His mouth before the accusers who finally put Him on the cross. But when He comes for the second time as the lion of Judah, He was not remain silent. He will roar against all those who were responsible for His miserable death. In His first coming the wicked people judged the son of God whereas in His second coming the son of God will judge the wicked mankind. The first coming is a grace coming and the second coming will be glorious coming. The grace of God has been present always and reached its ultimate manifestation at the birth of Christ. In the same way, God’s glory has been present always preceding His death. What is the impact of glory – Moses saw the glory of God, at the burning bush. It was the glory of God that guided Israelites and protected them from the Egyptians bondage in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. It was the glory that filled the Temple of King Solomon at the precious time of the dedication. It was the glory Israelites saw when he cried out, “woe is me” for I am undone because I am a man of unclean lips for mine eyes have seen the king the Lord of hosts. It was this glory the shepherds saw in the fields of Bethlehem in connection with the birth of Jesus during that holy night. It was the same glory that appeared at Pentecost as cloven tongues of fire. It was this glory of God that Peter James and John saw on the mount of transfiguration as Christ glory shone out of His humanity.
According to some prophetic sayings the glory will reach its Zenith at the second coming of the son of God. The full manifestation of the glory of God, is so desirable that the believers are advised to look for the blessed hope and also for the glorious appearing of our Lord, and saviour Jesus Christ. If the grace of God is an offering to man and woman at unmerited favour, the glory of God is the manifestation of His intrinsic and eternal perfection. So He said “My glory will I not give to another” (Isaiah 42.8). If we say the glory of God is eternal it means there was never in the past nor in future the universe is without the glory of God. It has been there in the past in the present time and in future too. The Hebrew word for “glory” is “Kabod” and in greek it is called “doxa”. The meaning of these two words is “weight”. To give weight to a man is his glory. For our correct understanding wealth, fields, flocks, Herds, children etc all these things comprise of the glory of man.
Then what are the particular things that give weight to God? They are – His nature, His character, His attributes and works, what His is Like, and what He does are the manifestation of God –
1)The Devine Existence – God is. This does not mean God was or God will
be He is God alone and forever He is the perpectual contemporary. He
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2)The Devine Essense or substance – God is spirit. That does not mean He
is spiritual, but He would possess substance and that substance is called
spirit substance. Man’s substance is physical corporal, (in human form)
corruptible and mortal. In contrast, the substance of God, is spirit mon
corporal (not in human form) incorruptible and immortal. Infinitely superior
to man’s substance. This is part of His glory.
3)The Devine personality – God is the embodiment of spirit. He is possessing
intelligence, emotion and good will. He created man in His own image
“God is a being who can understand our thoughts, feelings and actions.
This is part of His glory.
4)The Devine Decree – God is spirit with the abou said qualifications God
wants to plan for history. His plan includes the redemption of lost sinners
also. He wants to suppress the power of Satan and evil because they
have been creating problems to His believers and see the enthronement
of righteousness. This is part of His glory.
5)The Devine sovereignty– God is spirit as a sovereign God, He allows
everything to pass without any hindrance. He does everything with perfect
confirmity to His holiness, Justice, love, truth, mercy etc. Who were Magi - At the time of the birth of Jesus, the heavenly host came down and adored Him by singing beautiful song Glory, Glory, Glory. Then a team of shepherds guided by the star came and worshipped Him. Finally three wise men who were called “Magi” came from east a long distance, also worshipped Him with some gifts. When this magi paid a visit to the humble abode (the actual birth plea) in Bethlehem, Joseph and Mary must have amazed at their presence because they came from a long distance and took more than a year to go to that place. To say more accurately they were stunned at the presence of the Magi, who paid their homage in a most humble way.
Then who were these Magi? They were it is said, the members of a priestly caste of ancient Persia. They studied about stars in order to obtain insight into the affairs and functioning of the world. Most of these men used to leave their persian homes and other things. By living at different places they formed their own communities in different parts of the world. Some such wandering priests settled in Egypt and Babylon. These men played a crucial role in the political matters of King Nebuchadnezzar and became his advisors even in suffering faithfulness and goodness. God does all these things with the instrumentation of His infinite power, flowless wisdom and universal presence. All these things reveal His true personality and works. These things are some of the facts of His glory.
SHOOTS OF JERUSALEM
The first coming of our Lord and His birth in Bethlehem were only His grace, which revealed to humanity where as His second coming the whole universe will radiate with the brightness of His glory. The fact is we are living today, between two amazing events in human history. The final manifestation of the grace of God, occurred 2000 years ago at the first coming of Jesus as a born child. And his second coming will be the divinity appointed time for the manifestation of His glory. He redeemed all those believers who accepted Him and His glory. The manifestation of the glory of God will be explained in the simplest way and they will be sinners in the hands of angry God. Then we have to think seriously of how we should love our mighty God Jesus Christ and keep our lives in perfect order.
The Magi in Babylon happened to settle in the area where the exiled Jews remained along with Daniel. This Daniel was made master of Magicians, astrologers, chaldeans and sooth sayers. (Daniel 5.11). In the kingdom of Babylon the influence of Daniel most likely had its own impact on the later interest in seeking out the new born King Jesus Christ became so important. By the time Jesus was born the wall of Jerusalem was already destroyed. Then there was a notion among the Jews and heathens that a Hebrew child would be born to bring “golden age” upon the earth and save men and women from the cruel activities of the evil satan upon the earth. We have to meditate upon this for a while, as how this idea came into existence.
This information was gathered through some reliable sources. According to that sources, the Jews when they were exiled to Babylon, they happened to migrate further to the east of Persia, and while going they took along with them the holy writings and important scrolls of the Old Testament. In those days, Israelites had become more sinful disobedient and idolatrons. Yet they were taught to be monotheistic people and worshippers of one God. All this they were taught in their exile. They also learned in exile to stick on to the scriptures that pointed out the promised “Golden Age”. In the book of Isaiah chapter 9 and 11 the prophet explained how that ruler will rule during that golden age. He will rule the kingdom with everlasting peace and to know more about that kingdom, let us look into the following lines – “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb and the leoperd shall lie down with the kid and the calf and the young lion and the falling together and a little child shall lead them”. (Isaiah 14.6)
The Magi made Daniel their leader but he did not share the above said truths with them. The Magi were a Monotheistic group who had regular contact with the sixth century spiritual leader Zoroaster. They also believed in one God, whom he called “Ahura””Mazda”. We have to take it for granted that Daniel would have introduced to the Magi the one true God, and also taught them about the precious time. When that new king would come into
SHOOTS OF JERUSALEM about the time of the coming of the new king. This probable time continued for 500 years and it was handed down to their descendants till the exact time of Jesus Christ. And this time the prophecy was fulfilled only after 500 years.
After the birth of the real king of Jews the Magi were looking for this new born king. Then on one unforgettable night a “star” appeared in the sky. what is the impact of the star? It was according to Biblical history known as “Shekinah glory” of God; which first appeared to Israelites during their desert wanderings. When the Lords led the nation in a pillar of cloud, by day and a pillar of fire during night (Exodus 13.21). The Shekinah of God from the Hebrew phrase means “he caused to dwell” what signifies devine visit.
The star that was seen by the Magi was nothing but the Shekinah glory of God and it was made visible only to the Magi. Apart from that there was some devine prompting from the Lord; that made easy for the Magi to find out the new born king of Jews. When the Shekinah of God guided them, it seemed the contingent (the number of people) that left Persia to Israel (Bethlehem) was very huge. Let us keep those three kings aside for a while. Hearing the happy news the Magi party that travelled all the way, must be more than a year, and the people should have been in hundreds. Travelling such a long distance in those days was really very dangerous. They finally reached the destination and presented three most expensive gifts to Jesus. They bowed before Jesus who was about two years old when the Magi visited Him. How the readers could assess the correct age of Jesus at that time? King Herod asked the Magi when they had seen the star first. Basing on their reply, the king estimated the age and issued his satanic decree to kill all boys in Bethlehem who were two years and less. In addition to this we have another proof of His age, which can be found in the book of Matthew, where in Jesus was referred as a child but not as a babe.
The Magi while worshipping Jesus honoured Him, with three costly gifts. They were gold Frankincense and Myrth. According to history, the word Magi is associated with magic. Yet we should not think bad about those distinguished searchers. Added to that, they were a group of deeply religious men, who looked for the will of God and obeyed His command. Then with all their sincerity, they searched for the new born king. And after finding Him, they fell to their faces, to the ground to worship Him. Their true and humble worship, set an example to others after them. Though there was some controversy and misunderstanding about the Magi, history has correctly honoured them with what they deserved. They were among the first who saw the Messiah, and recognized Him and His duty, and the purpose from the beginning. If we look into their history, the Magi earned a most respective place in Christian history. What was exactly said about those sages, who lived more than 500 years ago, before the birth of Jesus is still true for us
SHOOTS OF JERUSALEM CHAPTER - 16