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| Celebrating the Birth of Christ - The Gulf of Mexico, Galveston Island But unto you that fear My name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings; and you shall go forth... |
My Meditations on Today’s Readings
(Ellipses are mine
and are used for contemplation.)
Key Words/Phrases: Carefully Consider your ways (x 4); build the
temple that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified; you looked for much,
but it came to little; when you brought it home, I blew it away because of My
house that is in ruins while every one of you runs to his own house; Be strong
and work for I am with you; the silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine, says the
LORD of hosts; Sing praises and thanksgiving to the LORD; This is the way of an
adulteress woman; O King of the saints! The 7 angels and the 7 plagues
Carefully Consider
Your Ways! – Haggai 1 and 2 – (Facts: What It Says – Summarized) God’s Complaint
Against the People: Is it time for
you to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins? Consequences of
Their Sin: You have sown much…and bring in little; You eat…but you do not have
enough; you drink…but you are not filled with drink; You clothe
yourselves...but no one is warm; and he who earns wages…earns wages to put into
a bag with holes. Why? Because of my house that is in
ruins…while…every one of you runs to his own house. Thus...the heavens withhold the dew, and the
earth withholds its fruit. For I called…a drought on the land, the mountains,
the grain, the new wine and oil on, whatever the ground brings forth on men and
livestock…on all…the labor of your hands. Thus says the LORD, Consider your ways! God’s Counsel
to the People: Go up…to the
mountains…and bring wood and build
the temple…that…I may be glorified, says the LORD. The
Response: God…stirred up…the spirit of Zerubbabel, governor of Judah and…the
spirit…of Joshua, the high priest…and the spirits…of all the remnant of the
people…and they came…and worked…on the house of the LORD of hosts, their God.
God’s Encouragement of the
People: Now, be strong, Zerubbabel, says the LORD, and be strong, Joshua, the high priest, and be strong, all you people of the lands, says the LORD…and work…for…I am with you, says the LORD of hosts. According
to the word…that I covenanted with you…when you came out of Egypt…so My Spirit…remains among you; do not
fear! God’s Millennial
Promise: For thus says the LORD of
hosts: Once more (it is a little while) I will shake…heaven and earth, the sea
and dry land; and I will shake…all nations, and they shall come…to the Desire
of All Nations, and I…will fill this temple with glory, says the LORD of
hosts. The silver is Mine, and gold is
Mine, says the LORD of hosts. The glory
of this latter temple shall be greater than the former, and in this place…I
will give…peace, says the LORD of hosts.
God’s Warning: Carefully consider from this day forward…I…struck you…with blight and mildew and
hail…in all…the labors of your hands…yet…you did not turn to Me. Consider
it! Principle: Throughout
the Bible, God warns us to consider what we are doing carefully, to turn back
to Him. When we don’t, judgment comes –
sometimes later – but it comes. Is this
your call today from God’s Spirit…to carefully consider, to turn to Him and to turn away from your sin?
Carefully Consider
What Pleases God – Psalm 147: 7-11 – (Facts: What It Says Summarized) – What Pleases God: The LORD takes pleasure…in those…who fear Him, in those…who hope…in His
mercy. What
Does NOT Delight the LORD: He
does…not…delight in the strength of the horse; He takes…no pleasure…in the legs
of a man. Our Necessary Response:
Sing…to the LORD…with thanksgiving; Sing…praises…on the harp to
our God. Principle: Note that it is His people…not things…that give
God pleasure. That is how much He
desires and loves intimate fellowship with us…so much so…that He sent His Son
to die for us so that we might be made holy through His sacrificial blood and
enter into eternal communion with our holy God and Father.
Carefully Consider
the Adulteress: -Proverbs 30:20 – (Facts: What It Says) The Way of the Adulteress: This is the way of the adulteress
woman: She eats…and wipes her mouth…and
says, “I have done no wickedness.” Principle: The usual response of the sinner is
that he/she has done nothing wrong, much less done wickedness. Carefully consider the generational chaos
caused by this wickedness.
Carefully
Consider the Judgment of God – Revelation 15 – (Facts: What It Says – Summarized) The
7 Angels and the 7 Plagues: Then I
saw another sign in heaven…great and marvelous: 7 angels having the 7 last
plagues…for…in them…the wrath of God is complete. And those who have the victory over the
beast…over his image...and over his mark…and over the number of his name, stood
on the sea of glass…and sang…the song of Moses, the servant of God…and…the song
of the Lamb, saying: ‘Great and
marvelous are Your works, Lord God
Almighty! Just…and true…are Your
ways, O King of the saints!
Who shall…fear…You, O Lord, and…glorify…Your
name? For…You…are holy.
For…all…nations shall come…and…worship…before
You. For…Your judgments…have been manifested.’ After these things…I looked
and behold…the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony…was opened. And out of the temple came the 7 angels
having the 7 plagues. Then one of the 4
living creatures gave the 7 angels 7 golden bowls of…the wrath of God. The temple was filled with smoke…from the
glory…of God…and from…His power, and no one was able to enter the temple till
the 7 plagues of the 7 angels were completed.
Principle: This “final
outpouring of God’s wrath” ushers in the Second Coming of
Christ. “No one can enter the temple;
the time of intercession is past.
The saints rejoice with the song of redemption.” Hebrews 10:30-31 - For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the
Lord. And again, “The Lord will
judge His people.” It is a
fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Also please note Romans 1:18-32. There is a time when intercession is no
longer allowed and the sinful soul (who suppresses the truth in unrighteousness) is given over to the wrath of God. Consider
carefully!
My Lessons and Applications:
Again this is the full circle of God calling to sinful man with warnings,
with His enablement for His people to turn to Him in Haggai, with reminders of
what pleases God and what does not please Him in the Psalm, with sinful man
rejecting Him and choosing evil and saying “I did no wickedness” in the
Proverb, and then the ultimate prophesied judgment of God over these
unrepentant sinners in The Revelation. Are
we in the midst of this ruinous cycle? Have
we chosen the passing pleasures of sin (Hebrews 11:25) and are now (or surely
will be) dealing with the chaos and fallout of that? If you are in the midst of any
wickedness…adultery, rejecting God or Christ…we plead with you to…carefully consider! The time of repentance, of turning (Mark
1:15), of the open window of opportunity is…now. There will not always be this allowed time
for intercession, for turning. Note that
God was angry with the Chosen People in Haggai for building their own homes,
doing things for their own pleasure but rejecting Him, forgetting Him,
forgetting His temple. Curses came as a
result of this. In the New Testament, we
as believers are called the temple of God (1 Cor. 6:19). Have we neglected our bodies, our souls, our
spirits, our minds, our emotions? Have
we allowed the world’s value systems to take over any part of our lives? Are we professing to be Christians while
committing adultery, divorcing the wives of our youths and the mother of our
children (read Malachi 2:13-17), committing corruption
of any kind? We must carefully consider our choices. They will have impact on our lives for
generations and on our position or not within the kingdom of God. Are we “professing or possessing”
Christians? Our actions speak much
louder than our words. A personal aside
regarding the Proverb reading: One thing
that has come clear to me in the re-reading of the Bible this year: We have
begun to demonize certain sins and have so-called media “spokespersons” who
rant about the evils of certain sins (especially homosexuality) while they
themselves have divorced and remarried several times. We tend to wink at
adultery and divorce and demonize homosexuality. The Bible has the same punishment meted out
for both. Like the woman in today’s
proverb, we refuse to call our sin, sin.
We make our choices based on what we “think” will make us happy, rather
than on God’s Word. There…will be…eternal
consequences for this. Am I building
God’s temple or tearing it down?
John Gill
on Proverbs 30:20: Though she lives in adultery,
it is in a most private manner, and carried on so secretly and artfully that
she is not easily discovered; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth;
like
one that eats what he should not, wipes his mouth that it might not be known or
suspected he had ate anything; so such an adulteress commits the sin of
adultery; and when she has done looks as grave and demure, and carries it as if
she was the chastest person upon earth - she says by her behavior, by her
demure looks; and if suspected and challenged with it utterly denies it...yet pretends to be the pure and chaste spouse
of Christ; and, under the guise of purity and holiness, and with all
deceivableness of unrighteousness, seduces the minds of many.
