The Intolerant

And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This onefellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door. But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door. And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.
Genesis 19:9-11

Tolerance is a two way street that most seem to travel only one way on.  The problem with most who cry the loudest for tolerance is that they are, themselves, usually militantly intolerant.  This is found to be true to a great degree here in the story of the destruction of Sodom.  This is a chapter that needs to be read and understood well in order to avoid similar judgement on across the land and to see how compromise can destroy others.  Has God called us to be tolerant of behaviors that cause a soul to be lost forever? Should a Christian accept opinions as valid and equal when they are  are opposed to the revealed will of God? Will compromise on what is right and wrong not hurt the one who is in error?

The Bible is very clear in its position on homosexuality and what defines marriage the way God intended in both Testaments.  The real issue, then, is not whether this lifestyle is wrong, but why is the enemy of men's souls pushing the fight to make evil seem good and good seem evil?  As said here before, the real issue comes down to the problem of trying to hide the cross.  The Bible is clear when it says, "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them (2 Corinthians 4:3-4)."  By redefining what is sin, the god of this world, satan, has effectively hidden the Gospel.  One will not repent nor turn to Christ if he/she is under the delusion that their actions are not wrong.

Genesis 19 could well be a commentary on attitudes found today across America.  Two angels enter the city of Sodom to investigate the depth of darkness and, if needs be, to deliver Lot and his family.  Lot, who already knows and is tolerant of the evil, begs them to come to his house; however, it is already too late.  The men of Sodom have seen the angels who appear as men to them.  Do you think for a minute that they didn't understand Lot's opinion of their lifestyle?  By banging the door nearly off the hinges, they were showing their intolerance of his opinions.  It was as if they were saying, "accept our way of life, but we  will not tolerate your ideas."  This took place just today in Ohio when a federal judge, ruling by fiat, beat against the door of the voter approved gay marriage recognition ban and said that the law was "unconstitutional and unenforceable."  http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2014/April/Ohio-Must-Recognize-Out-of-State-Gay-Marriage/

Lot's reaction is one of the saddest commentaries on compromise in all of the Word of God. Rather than solidly affirm what the purpose of God really was, he tried to appease the unappeasable. He brings his virgin daughters to the door and makes a twisted offer.  The men at the door saw right through this.  They knew it was a half measure.  It was as if Lot were saying, "While I don't agree with your choices, I'll meet you half way with a sin more along my liking." No wonder his own daughters came up with such a warped solution to the problem of carrying on the family name.  With an example like that...  Sin is sin and all sin must be seem for what it is.  Furthermore, there is but one cure for sin and that is the blood of Jesus Christ.  

Tell the truth!  Don't compromise what God has said with the opinions of men.  How will folks ever see the depth of their need for forgiveness if they don't see their condition from God's vantage point?  Church, stand strong and boldly proclaim the truth--for it is by truth that men are set free.  In an age similar to Lot's, a sure sign that angels may soon escort us out of here, stand firm by the power of the Holy Spirit and loudly proclaim that Jesus Christ is Soon2Come!

A Personal Psalm 83 War

That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.

Psalm 83:18

Most who study prophecy would agree that the next major event on the horizon might well be the Psalm 83 War.  Israel will be involved in a battle with their immediate neighbors who have covenanted to wipe the Jewish race from the face of the earth.  Not only will Israel win this battle, but also in the process the nation will triple is size.  This will also lead to the ability to rebuild the temple that is to be one day desecrated by the infamous antichrist.  However, this Psalm could well be seen as much more than a descriptor of a future event.  It could also speak to each individual believer about their personal walk with Christ.

John Hyde was a missionary to India during the late 1800s and early 1900s, he became known worldwide as a mighty man of prayer.  Taking Christ as His word, Praying Hyde, as he was affectionately nicknamed, trusted God to give him a burden for the lost.  He prayed at a missionary convention day and night for God to allow him to win a soul a day throughout 1908.  He did!  This prayer was multiplied in 1909 as he prayed for two souls a day, and then believed for four a day in 1910.  His prayers were again answered.  However, there were days that it seemed that the request would not be honored. Rather that blame God, he asked the Holy Spirit to reveal what was in his own heart that was blocking the request from being answered. On this point he once remarked, "Self must not only be dead, but buried out of sight, for the stench of an unburied self-life will frighten souls away from Jesus."  What a challenging insight. Reading such an account from a man who seemingly lived at the very foot of the cross was heart rending to say the least.  It felt as if being with Isaiah before the throne and crying, "I am undone!"

Many, if not all of the nations mentioned as invading Israel in this upcoming battle are also mighty examples of biblical symbolism.  Esau is the father of the Edomites.  This is the same Esau, brother of Jacob (Israel), who sold his birthright for a bean dinner.  It is well known that this man is a shadow of those who follow the flesh. Another antagonist in the list of combatants in Psalm 83 is Amalek, Esau's grandson.  It was Amalek who attacked Israel on their wilderness journey and to who God said, "Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation (Exodus 17:16)."  How could God fight this long annihilated tribe of people perpetually from generation to generation?  Because God is ever engaged in fighting fleshliness in each of us!  While the devil and the world are formidable foes, we usually are our own worst enemies.  

You see, God wants to win us!  Jesus shared many paradoxical statements that prove this without a doubt.  In order to live, you must die--even bearing a cross.  If you seek to save your life you will lose it, but whoever loses his life shall find it.  In order to be great in the Kingdom, you must humble self and be the least being even a servant to all.  It is here we all need to place our lives on the altar before the Almighty and become as stubble before the wind of His holy presence (Psalm 83:13).  We need to be burnt at the altar even as Psalm 83:14 suggests that fire destroys the enemies of God.  To be a victorious overcomer in Christ, we must be overcome.  We need a victory in our personal Psalm 83 War.  

John Hyde knew the secret of an ongoing life of victory in Jesus.  He knew how to assure that all men would see that the LORD was the most high over all of the earth.  The secret is dying to self and being wholly buried in Christ so that all may see Christ in us, the hope of glory.  My prayer for you and me is that the LORD will overcome us all so that all may know that the LORD is God and many, as a result, will willingly submit to the grace of the cross as they see lives thoroughly devoted to Jesus.  May the LORD expand our borders in Him and make us all to be His visible temple among men.  May all see by our submission to the LORD of Glory and that He is Soon2Come!

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

1 Corinthians 6:19

The Last Shall Be First

But many that are first shall be last; and the last first.

Mark 10:31

It is certain that Jesus upset the apple cart when it came to how he responded to those pushed aside by society.  He did say that the first (those highly valued by other men) shall be last and that the last (those who tended to be despised and rejected) would be first.  A brief look at three examples reveals the truth on this matter, and it should speak to our own hearts about the value that God has placed on all men.  Whether it was lowly shepherds, condemned criminals, or women made to feel they were second rate by societal norms, Jesus sanctified that value of all humans in His gracious treatment of those pushed aside and overlooked.

Most know that the Egyptians considered shepherds with much disdain prior to the Exodus; however, most seem to think that shepherding was a noble profession in the land of Judea at the time of the the birth of Jesus.  Actually, the very opposite was true.  Shepherds were on the bottom rung of the social ladder.  A close study will find that they were often deprived of their rights, they were considered unworthy to be a witness in any legal proceeding, and the term "incompetent" was often associated with the profession.  One Mishnah went as far as to say that a person was under no obligation to rescue a shepherd that had fallen into a pit. Talk about the bottom of the barrel!  This was also a profession that some believed should not be taught to children.  You just about could not get any lower.  Now, who did the Almighty value so much that He made them the first witnesses to the birth of the Savior of mankind.  "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.(Luke 2:8-9)."  As Jesus might say, Truly I tell you that the last shall be first and the first shall be last.

Nobody likes a thief even today.  It was no different in the Lord's day.  If a shepherd was low, a criminal was even lower.  They lost all rights and most often were penalized with very harsh sentences as we see with the condemning of the two thieves hung on either side of Jesus.  In their story, suspended between the heavens and the earth there with the Son of God, is the essence of the whole gospel message.  All are guilty and worthy of death.  It seems at first both thieves railed accusations at Jesus.  Why would the Son of Man allow himself to be associated with such vile people, even to be numbered among them?  Because God is not so high and mighty that His grace cannot reach the lowest of the low. There was something about Jesus that eventually caught the eye of one of those robbers.  Was it His suffering?  Maybe it was His kind words to His followers? Could it have been His forgiving the very Roman squad that nailed Him to the tree?  Finally, the thief cried out for forgiveness.  The lowest of the low, a convicted felon, pleads out and pleads for mercy.  Many might look down on him for his crime, but not Jesus.  He allowed this man to be the first to enter His kingdom truly making the last first.  Won't you join Jesus in His Kingdom?  Plead out now and live.  Don't be like the other thief who rejected Jesus that Day and lost his soul.  Jesus still makes the first last and the last first.

Women, sadly, were considered the very bottom of society in that day, and we know that there are cultures where they still hold that terrible position (some even teaching that the majority of people in hell are women).  They had no rights, could not testify in court, could own no property, could work no job or own a business in Judea at that time.  The only schooling a little girl would be given was training in household duties.  While boys could go to school and learn, girls were deprived of an education.  But Jesus makes the last first.  This teacher allowed women to follow Him and learn even as we see Mary at His feet with the apostles learning of the promises of God.  It is a well known fact that the testimony of women was ignored since they held such a low place in that culture.  Why then did Jesus allow the lowest of the low, women, to be the first witnesses to His resurrection?  This must have been an embarrassing fact to the folks in Jesus day--oversensitive women saw a risen dead man first.  No!  It was no accident at all that a woman, even one with a colorful past, was the first at the tomb because Jesus loves those who are least esteemed by others.  Ladies, when the men ran like babies, the teenager, John, and the women bravely stayed at His side to the very end, and their faithfulness was returned when they visited that empty tomb. Jesus still makes the first last and the last first.

You see, Jesus was not like any other man, because when we see Jesus we see the face of God; we see His mercy, His grace, and His compassion.  Men, (and even some "Christians") may push others aside as meaningless, but not Jesus.  Jesus doesn't see skin color or sex and recoil with dislike as He knows all men and women are sons and daughters of fallen Adam.  He doesn't look at a persons intelligence to see if they are worthy learning of Him. He doesn't count the number of dreaded sins a person has committed and conclude that one is beyond his help.  He doesn't check bank records or personal property values and then rank a person.  No!  Jesus builds His flock with the spotted lambs just like you and me.  All one needs to do is be humble in the sight of the LORD and He will lift them up.  Call on Jesus and ask for Him to plead your cause through the power of His cross that associated with all of our lowliness and He will lift you up. Do it quickly as Jesus Christ is Soon2Come!  

The Man Christ Jesus

For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

1 Timothy 2:5-6

There is absolutely no one like Jesus.  He is very God.  He is very man.  He is both at the same time, so He is the only one qualified as God's prophetic voice to speak to and for humanity, to serve as the high priest bringing men to God through salvation by His redeeming blood and to rule as a King bringing God to men in submission to the Divine plan of salvation.  In short, He alone is Lord and Savior.  No!  There is no one like Jesus.  Yet, there will be false Christ's proclaiming themselves to be something they are not.  Figuring out who they are is easy when we understand the uniqueness of the LORD.

It seems the world is rife with those proclaiming another Jesus.  In their version He is a spirit guide who ultimately leads us to a knowledge of our own divinity.  "He is god but we are all god", they exclaim.  All one needs to do is evolve to that higher knowledge and suddenly all will be alright, somehow.  This is the very deception of Eden--"you shall be as gods."  It is the fallacy that we will explore here for a moment as this lie is associated with the spirit of Antichrist.  Will not the liar proclaim, he is god?  "Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God (2 Thessalonians 2:4)."

John the Apostle warned us to be wary of any teaching the denies the humanity of Jesus.  He gives us the test of the spirits in 1 John 4:2, "Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God..."  Satan knew Jesus was fully God.  Had he not led angelic worship services before the Throne of Glory?  Yet, he also knew Jesus was fully man--the New Adam--the one who would crush his kingdom and take back the dominion that was given to the first Adam.  For Jesus to succeed where Adam failed He would need to win that dominion as a man and not rely on the powers of Deity.  This fact seems to come out clearly when considering the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness.  Jesus would need to conquer the very lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life as a man indwelt by the presence of the Holy Spirit, and not through any power of His own.

Take another quick look at the temptation of Jesus as it is very insightful.  Imagine the hunger Jesus faced after a 40 day fast.  Here the devil says, "command this stone that it be made bread."  What man can speak to rocks and make them bread?  It was as if the adversary was saying, "don't wait on the Father, make your own with your own creative power."  In immediate response, Jesus pointed out that as a man he would live off of every Word of God.  Next, the enemy tested Jesus by tempting Him to jump from the pinnacle of the temple. As God, Jesus could have commanded angelic protection.  This point also comes out at the cross with the statement of having the ability to call legions of angels to assist if needs be.  Finally, he hits him as a man--to take a short cut--the easy route.  Two of the tests directly involved Jesus' divinity as the devil wanted him to be more than a man so he could disqualify this New Adam.  Jesus passed the test, and the Son of Man submitted Himself even to death as any other man--even the death of the cross.  The Lamb had won and the New Adam crushed the devil's power permanently.  Revelation 4-5 records the change of deed ceremony that will soon take place.

That same devil is now busily painting a picture of another Jesus.  Jesus is god, but aren't we all? He pleads with the lost to look within themselves to find that spark of god deep inside.  He has a host of lying fallen beings claiming to be co-equal with Christ and it is certain that all false religion has the original lie of Eden hidden somewhere deep within its twisted theology--you will be as gods.  Scripture is clear--we are not little gods and we will never be anything but redeemed humans glorified in Christ Jesus.  We are men and women so loved that the Son came to a dirty manger and died on a rugged cross to make a way where there was no way. Soon, one proclaiming that he is on a higher evolutionary plane that all can attain will show up with false signs that will deceive many.  Don't be mislead by his mesmerizing deception, this strong delusion.  There is only one Savior who has come in the flesh and is Soon2Come.  Only one reigns and will reign as the ultimate and only Mediator between  God and men.  He is the Man Christ Jesus!

I AM Here...

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness wasupon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

Genesis 1:1-3

There are a few things from these precious first three verses of the Bible that seem to apply to our lives if we look carefully through the eyes of the Spirit.  It is certain that there are times when life sometimes just does not seem to make sense at all and it is this point which we will take a few minutes to consider.  In order for us to trust God in those chaotic places on the pathway called life and for there to be some clarity we need to first appreciate God and the way He often works knowing that all He does is for our blessing.

"In the beginning God..."  Such a profound statement.  Can you ever think of a time in existence when He wasn't there working behind the scene?  Now, who invented camouflage (Think tigers, deer, walking sticks, etc...)?  In essence, He is always there but at the time of crisis He seems to be hiding somewhere out of sight, but rest assured God is there.  Where can you go that God is not present?  David plainly answered this for us in Psalm 139:7-12--enough said.  What are you facing that He doesn't know about already?  Nothing!  You see, He was, is, and will be there, and He understood the end from the beginning long before your dilemma manifested itself!

Without form, and void; and darkness...   Such words!  These almost seems like a contradiction following the revelation of God.  If God is there how could there be chaos, emptiness, and darkness?  Let's consider another verse which gives some interesting insight--Matthew 4:1, "Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil."  The Holy Spirit led Jesus to a place that must have seemed like a low point in His life.  While dark times don't seem to be congruent with a God of love, it is His love that brings us to dark times.  He sees the pain and confusion, but He has a lesson for you.  When my wife and I were once flying to Hawaii, the plane came to a storm that was too large to divert around.  Rather than fly into it, the pilot flew above it.  It was amazing!  It was a beautiful sunny day above that storm.  Maybe God is trying to pilot you to a higher place where you can see His glory above the storm?

And the Spirit of God moved...   So the LORD has led you to a valley, one so bad that you think King David named it in Psalm 23.  Elijah had one of those days.  After the great victory against the vain idol, Baal, and his priests, Elijah ran like a baby at a mere threat from Queen Jezebel.  Funny, her name means "Baal exalts" but all she did was bring the prophet to the lowest point of His life.  In a cave miles from the threat he sulked.  It was then that God began to move to get his attention.  Finally the still small voice of the Spirit spoke and prepared Elijah for greater things.  The lie, Baal, just wood and stone, could not exalt like God did!  Elijah was soon caught up by the Spirit into the very presence of GOD. Now that is being exalted! Stop looking at the darkness around you and listen.  That sound you hear is the ever presence of the Holy Spirit moving on your behalf.

And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.  It is certain that when the Spirit moves God is speaking.  The question then is are you listening?  Things sometimes get so tough that we focus on the confusion and not on God.  At those times, the problem seems to preoccupy us that we can think of nothing else.  I once was in such a dark place as this when an Army Chaplain took me to the side and said, "You need to quit worshiping the problem and begin to worship the Problem Solver."  It brought light to that dark place!  At a personal level, Jesus Christ is not Soon2come.  No!  He is already here. 

Something's Missing!

For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day...And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

Luke 17:24 and 26-30

The LORD Jesus gave the church specific instructions on their mission in the world--it was to be a witness that preserves, protects, prevents, and prepares mankind for eternity by sharing the everlasting Gospel.  In short, the Lord wants a church that is both salt and light in the midst of corruption and darkness.  However, in this passage which speaks of His coming as lightning where some are taken and some are left (see Luke 17:34-36), He reveals a problem that is keeping believers from accomplishing their mission and that is averting the church's attention to the signs of the shortness of the hour just before His return.  First, we must be certain that the message here is specifically for believers and then we must see what is missing in order to understand what the message is for the church shortly before the Blessed Hope unfolds.

It is certain that this message is a statement for believers only.  Just prior, he was addressing the Pharisees about their false preconceptions on the purposes of God and the establishment of the kingdom of God.  Before Jesus could set up His heavenly kingdom on earth, the power of sin had to be destroyed at the cross so that the kingdom of God could first be established in the heart of those trusting in the work of the cross.  He had to deal a death blow to the sinful issues of the heart through His own vicarious death.  Anyways, as the LORD goes on, he changes the audience, "And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it (Luke 17:22)."  Much could be said here but let's set it aside for another time.  It is enough that we see He is addressing His church about a last days problem.

This brings us to what is missing in His description of the last days because it seems He forgot to list something.  When Paul twice addressed Timothy, he discussed how sinful and wicked the world will become in 1 Timothy 4:1-3 and 2 Timothy 3:1-9.  He called it perilous times!  "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away (2 Timothy 3:1-5)."  

The idea that the world will become a cesspool of evil at the end of days is a consistent message in the writings of John, Jude, Peter, and Paul.  It is why Jesus mentioned the days of Noah and Lot.  Genesis 6:5 tells us, "And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."  In Lot's time, men would attempt to rape angels--how much worse could it get? So where is the sin in Luke 17?  Yet, in Luke, Jesus does not mention sinfulness.


What is wrong with any of these things Jesus mentioned?  He said that most would be eating and drinking, giving children away to marriage or getting married, buying and selling,  planting or building.  These are not sinful actions in and of themselves.  God created marriage so that can't be wrong.  He surely wants us working and making a living.  We all have to eat.  So what is He trying to say?  Did Jesus not understand?  Since, again, this is a message specifically for the disciples, it is certain He understood.  In the last days the church would cease to be a witness because they were preoccupied with the things of life.  So much so that they would ignore the plethora of events showing the soon coming of Messiah.

It seems that He saw our day perfectly.  Most are overly devoted to the normal everyday things of life and under devoted to Christ.  This is distracting their attention away from the obvious signs of His coming while also keeping them from being a witness to a world that is about to experience the cataclysm of the Tribulation.  How can they share Christ when sports, and pleasure, and prosperity, and relationships, and personal kingdom building, and...? Even "church" is a distraction as most are just there to sing a few songs, feel a dab of joy bumps, and get their ears tickled by their "life coach" rather than mourn like Jeremiah and the other prophets who saw that writing on the wall in their day.  Noah heard God and suffered through building an ark for his family.  Abraham saw a distracted relative and stood in the gap in prayer until deliverance came.

Can you, dear distracted Christian, hear the urgency of the alarm ringing in the words of Jesus?  "Remember Lot's wife (Luke 17:32)."

Father, forgive us for being distracted from the task at hand.  Help us to hear the LORD when He says to seek first the Kingdom and then the things we need for life here will be added.  Inspire us anew and empower us with a Divine move of the Holy Spirit to win all we can, to redeem the time for the days are evil, and to properly discern any and all distractions that keep us under committed to Christ.  May we not be like those who have the seed in the weeds that choke out fruitfulness in Christ. May we hear our Lord's warning to watch. Help us Lord even now as we know the Jesus Christ is Soon2Come.

And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.

Luke 21:34-35

The Road Map

And when this cometh to pass, (lo, it will come,) then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them.
Ezekiel 33:33

 Where are we as far as Bible prophecy, and the fulfillment of the Gog/Magog war as recorded in Ezekiel 38-39?  At a place very close to the coming of the LORD!  In order to understand this we should look at the entire last section of Ezekiel starting at chapter 33 and finishing with chapter 48.  One thing to note about prophecy is that it does at times have a dual fulfillment, so there is a SMALL portion of this section that was fulfilled after the Babylonian Captivity. Yet, most of these chapters looked well beyond to the return of Christ. Also, there is an actual chronology to these chapters and one could use it as a prophetic road map. 

First, starting at verse 21 of chapter 33 we get insight into why Israel was to be judged by being dispersed from their native homeland. This comes on the heels of a message of individual accountability. Though God may judge the nation, those faithful at an individual level are blessed of the LORD even in trial. The rest of this chapter is dual prophetic in nature. God is giving the nation a message on the eve of the destruction of Jerusalem. This also would replay with the Roman destruction under Titus in 70 AD. Notice 33:33! When Jerusalem was destroyed, many would understand that there had been a prophet among them. What Prophet delivered the detailed message of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans? Jesus Himself, and His predictions were fulfilled to the letter!

The next few chapters are in chronological order. Some folks call these the "good news" chapters because each ends with good news for Israel who has been judged for its sin and is now being returned home by the incredible grace of God.

Chapter 34 rebukes false shepherds, but the "good news" is that "As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day (34:12). This is exactly what Christ has been doing with Israel and the world for the 2000 years of the church age--shepherding his people during the scattering (pinpoint on the Jews here). "Thus shall they know that I the LORD their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord GOD."

Chapter 35 is good news for the LAND of Israel as God judges those who claim the Covenant Land as their own. First, God will deal with the squatters on His land (Edom). They have taken possession of Israel and claim it as their own. This did happen during the Babylonian Captivity, but it also happened when Israel was dispersed after the Roman diaspora. Yet, here is this same issue again presently--"Because thou hast said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas the LORD was there:" They get thumped as a result!! "I will make thee perpetual desolations, and thy cities shall not return: and ye shall know that I am the LORD." "As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it: and they shall know that I am the LORD." This is the PSALM 83 War!! Parts have been fulfilled and parts have not--dual aspect of prophecy as the two dispersions end.

Chapter 36 is still good news for the land according to verse 1. God will begin to restore the land to the Israelites. The Jews and the land are inextricably linked. When Israel is gone, the land is barren. Again, the land was barren after the Babylonian Captivity, but it was even more so after the Roman Diaspora. Google search Mark Twain's description of the land of Israel from 1867. Yet, as God begins to bless the land and return the Jews, it will bloom incredibly. Verses 8-10 and 35 mention this clearly as well as the fact that God will begin to return the Jewish people by great numbers. This is matter of historical record and is STILL being fulfilled. God began to bless the land around the early 1900s as soon as a trickle of Jews began to return. Now, in harmony with other prophetic passages, the desert has bloomed like a rose. 

Chapter 37 is good news for the children of Israel, but, sadly, it comes with a price. The dry bones of Hitler's ovens literally fulfilled this passage. From this, the LORD set in motion the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy that the nation would be born in a day. Yet this passage is still being fulfilled. God has not yet brought a spiritual awakening to Israel. They are like a fully formed body without the breath of life. So, we are in the midst of chapters 34-37 being fulfilled around us--exciting!!

38-39 have NO historical fulfillment to the degree to which the prophet gives. Find me any war after Israel's return to the land where God brought an earthquake, and sent storms, fire, and brimstone shortly after the Babylonian captivity. When did Israel's oppressors lose 83% of their invading armies upon invading from the north? It hasn't happen. Furthermore, since there is a chronology here, these chapters are related to the following chapters, 40-48, which is a description of the fulfilling of the land grants to Abraham and the rebuilding of the Millennial Temple by none other than Messiah Jesus. GOOD news Israel--when it seems your back is against the wall and you have been depleted to the point that it is apparent you cannot help yourself--God works No Atheists Day!  "Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD." 38:23


The last chapters are in an ancient literary form known as a chiasm. This is actually a device used frequently by the writers of both testaments. All of them are future and end with the last revealed special case name of the LORD.

1. Millennial Temple measurements (40:1-42:20)
     2. Arrival of the LORD's presence from the East (43:1-12)
          3. Temple rules and guidelines (43:13-44:31)
               4.Measurement's of the Holy Section of Messiah (45:1-12)
          3. Temple rules and guidelines (45:13-46:24)
     2. Departing river to the east (47:1-12)
1. Measurements of the entire land of Israel (47:13-48:35)

The book ends with the greatest single portion of good news in the entire Good News section--the 8th single mention name of the LORD. YHWH Shammah--The LORD is There!
It is at this time when the verse above, Jeremiah 33:33, will be fulfilled in its entirety for all Israel will know that the Suffering Savior of Mt. Calvary was the prophet like unto the suffering Joseph.  As always, He is Soon2Come!