Reading 1 – Est 5:14

“His [Haman’s] wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, ‘Have a gallows built, seventy-five feet high, and ask the king in the morning to have Mordecai hanged on it. Then go with the king to the dinner and be happy.’ This suggestion delighted Haman, and he had the gallows built” (Est 5:14).

…So that Mordecai might be lifted up, and his shame and suffering be seen by all! It looks very much as though Haman intended to CRUCIFY Mordecai (cp Est 2:23). Haman is the embodiment and personification of the Sin Power: his determination was to destroy his great enemy, but in reality — as it worked out through the providence of Almighty God — the “cross” on which the enemy sought to kill the Jew became… the scene of HIS OWN DESTRUCTION!

This is plainly typical of Christ: “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death — that is, the devil — and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death” (Heb 2:14,15). “And so he condemned sin in sinful man [the flesh]” (Rom 8:3).

Reading 2 – Amos 9

“The final chapter of the prophecy of Amos reveals… Yahweh over the Altar. The Altar represents the sacrificial principles by which the judgment of Yahweh over sin and the elevation of His character are revealed. It demonstrates that the divine glory will be achieved, through the redemptive work of the Son-Altar, Yahshua the Anointed. But the altar of Jerusalem has disgraced its purpose; it no longer was identified with the work of Yahweh, but with the elevation of those who worshiped in Jerusalem. So the altar was to be destroyed, as later the temple would be shaken and removed. The vision describes:

Yahweh’s command to destroy the altar: vv 1-6. Israel’s elevation shall not save those who are guilty: vv 7-10. Yahweh will purify, restore and glorify the faithful remnant in the nation: vv 11-15.

“Thus ultimately Israel will be purged of sin, and become the foundation of the divine mercy for a purified and regenerated people. It is a wonderful conclusion to the book of severe and uncompromising judgment. Despite the wickedness of His people, Yahweh will vindicate the promise inherent in the Name (v 6; Exo 36:22), and that Name will be manifested in the earth (Psa 8:1; Zec 14:9; Num 14:21)” (GE Mansfield).

Reading 3 – Heb 1:10-12

“In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.” (Heb 1:10-12).

Heb 1; 2 was written to prove that Christ is greater than the angels. How does the quotation of Psa 102:25-27 in Heb 1:10-12 fit into this? Those words are certainly about the greatness of Yahweh, but they also describe the removing of an old creation (a: that of Gen 1? or b: the Law of Moses? cp Isa 51:6,16; also cp Isa 50:3,9). Therefore the New Creation which takes its place must be better, just as the New Covenant is better than the old (Heb 8:13). The old creation (both a and b) was brought in by angels (a: Gen 1:26; Psa 33:6; b: Heb 2:2; Acts 7:35,38,53; Gal 3:19), but the New Creation is brought in by the Messiah. Therefore Messiah must be greater than the angels, because his “Creation” — “the world to come” (Heb 1:2; 2:5) and the saints who rule it — will continue forever! And, in Psa 102:28, the “children” of this new world can “continue” only by sharing the endless years of Yahweh (vv 26,27), that is, by undergoing a change to His divine nature. This is already true of the Messiah (v 27; Heb 13:8), and it will most surely be true of all “in him” (Heb 10:9)!

Literally speaking, the earth will of course not be burned up, despite Peter’s words in 2Pe 3:10 (Isa 45:18; 11:9; Hab 2:14; Ecc 1:4; 1Ch 16:30; Mat 5:5; Psa 37:9-11; 115:16; Pro 10:30). The “new heavens and earth” will be a re-creation, or reordering, of the old. This is evident by, among other points, the fact that the new “heavens and earth” will still include a Zion and a Jerusalem (Psa 102:13,20; Isa 65:18,19). But — as with the flood of Noah’s day — the wicked works of man will be totally destroyed (2Pe 3:5,6), and the “new” heavens and earth will solely be the dwelling place of righteousness (v 13). Or, to use the Biblical figure of speech found in this context, the heavens and earth will shed their old, tattered “garments” and replace them with bright new ones!

Reading 1 – Est 8:5,8

” ‘If it pleases the king,’ [Esther] said, ‘and if he regards me with favor and thinks it the right thing to do, and if he is pleased with me, let an order be written overruling the dispatches that Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, devised and wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king’s provinces’ ” (Est 8:5).

But Haman’s decree had been written in the king’s name, and was thus — by the law of the Persians — unchangeable (Est 1:19; cp Dan 6:17). What to do?

“Now write another decree in the king’s name in behalf of the Jews as seems best to you, and seal it with the king’s signet ring — for no document written in the king’s name and sealed with his ring can be revoked” (v 8).

The laws of the Medes and Persians could not be repealed (cp Dan 6:8). And so, instead, another decree would have to be written into law (Est 8:9) — which, in its carrying out, would neutralize the effects of the first (and unchangeable) decree!

Typically, this presents an interesting, and thrilling, parallel: God Himself has issued decrees that cannot be repealed (“Thou shalt surely die…”); so how to deliver HIS people without repealing this law?

The answer is Christ: a greater deliverer who can neutralize, and overcome the effect of the previous “law” — the law of sin and death — without overturning the law itself! Or, to put it another way, a God who can show mercy and forgive sin, while at the same time upholding His own absolute holiness and righteousness:

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, [covering] through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished — he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus” Rom 3:23-26.

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man [the flesh]” (Rom 8:1-3).

Thus, in type, God’s death sentence hangs over a sinful humanity, but He has also commanded a decree of salvation. Only by a knowledge of, and a response to, the second decree [cp Est 8:9] of saving grace — through the Lord Jesus Christ — can the terrible effects of the first decree of universal condemnation for sin be averted.

Reading 2 – Obad

The prophecy of Obadiah is the shortest book in the Old Testament. Briefly, it recounts how Edom is to be brought low (Oba 1:3-9,16), on account of its treachery against Israel in the day of Israel’s calamity (Oba 1:10-14). And it promises that “the day of the LORD” (Oba 1:15) will reveal God’s judgments upon all nations — at the same time that there will be salvation in Zion and Jerusalem for the faithful remnant (Oba 1:17-21).

The country of Edom (called Idumea in the New Testament) extended from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea, and was bounded on the east by the Arabian Desert and on the west by the land of Judah. It was a mountainous district with average elevation of about 2,000 feet. Its wild and rugged character is described in Oba 1:3,4.

This was the land occupied by Esau, the ancestor of the Edomites, after the death of his father Isaac (Gen 36:6-8). There his descendants, cousins to the Israelites, built cities literally in solid rock, in almost impregnable positions. They became rich by controlling and traveling the trade routes between Egypt and the East. Even in modern times, the ruins they left behind — as at Petra — stand as stark and magnificent testimonies to their power and achievements.

There is a long history of enmity between Edom and Israel, beginning with the bitter rivalry between the twins Esau and Jacob (Gen 25:19-34; 27:1-40; etc), and continuing all the way through the OT, until the time when Herod the Great, the hated Idumean (or Edomite), used his Roman connections to gain ascendancy over the Israel of Jesus’ day.

And the same enmity continues to our day, in the struggles between the Arabs — of Palestine and Jordan and Saudi Arabia — and the Israelis, over the ancestral lands which they both claim.

Outline

1. Judgment on Edom: Oba 1-14

a) Edom’s destruction announced: Oba 2-7

b) Edom’s destruction reaffirmed: Oba 8-14

2. The Day of the Lord: Oba 15-21

a) Judgment on the nations but deliverance for Zion: Oba 15-18

b) The Lord’s kingdom established: Oba 19-21

Initial Fulfillment(s): Who is Obadiah? When, and in what circumstances, was the prophecy first given? There are no details about the prophet himself; “Obadiah” is a common name signifying “the servant of Yahweh”. And no time period is definitely specified in the prophecy itself.

Given the lack of a definitive date, several different times are possible as the initial context of Obadiah’s “burden” upon Edom:

Judgments upon Edom for participating in a cowardly attack upon Israel in the days of David, when the king and his forces were occupied in Syria. This “stab in the back” — from a people who were near of kin to Israel (cp Deu 2:4,5; 23:7) — was swiftly answered by a punitive raid by David’s armies, led by Abishai (1Ch 8:12), Joab (1Ki 11:15,16; Psa 60 title) and David himself (2Sa 8:12-14). About 200 years later (c 860 BC) another “Arab” invasion of Judah was repelled by faithful king Jehoshaphat (2Ch 20). This confederacy included Edom along with Moab and Ammon. During the reign of Hezekiah (c 720 BC), the Edomites gave enthusiastic support to the irresistible Assyrian invasion, and were utterly callous in their treatment of the desperate refugees from Israel and Judah (cp Isa 21:11,12; 34:5-10; 63:1-6; Joel 3:19). And finally, the prophecy could be dated as late as 588 BC, when Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon devastated Jerusalem and its Temple, and once again men of Edom — like loathsome jackals or vultures — joined in to pick the bones of their cousins (cp Jer 49:7-22; Lam 4:21; Psa 137:7; Eze 25:12-14; 35:1-15). In favor especially of this possibility is Oba 1:16, which pictures Edom “drinking [from the holy vessels?] upon my [God’s] holy mountain” (cp Jer 25:15-26, esp v 21): So far as is known, none of the earlier attacks upon Israel in which Edom took part resulted in the actual capture of God’s temple mountain.

The Last Days Fulfillment: But even if we cannot be certain which of Edom’s many atrocities upon Israel provoked the tongue, and pen, of Obadiah — it seems certain that we are intended to read Obadiah’s prophecy as a Last Days prophecy as well: Oba 1:15,17,21.

Such language can only be absolutely fulfilled with the return of Christ and the establishment of God’s Kingdom. Seen as a Last Days preview, Obadiah’s words corroborate certain details of the general picture:

This Edomite enemy will be a member of an alliance: Oba 1:11. Edom is a member of the 10-nation Arab alliance described in Psa 83. The controversy of the Last Days will concern God’s holy mountain, mount Zion. There the enemies of Israel, including Edom, will rejoice over her: “Just as you drank on my holy hill….” (Oba 1:16). And there also will God bring retribution upon these blasphemous enemies: Oba 1:15-17. This observation lends credibility to the idea that the last great conflict in and around Jerusalem — a conflict which will bring on the literal Return of Christ — will be a religious conflict, between two peoples desperately struggling to lay claim to the same “holy places”. At this point the prophecy dramatically changes tone. The people of Israel are saved from their adversity and are spiritually regenerated. They receive back the Land promised to their fathers, to its fullest extent, and the rescued and redeemed state of Israel becomes the nucleus of the Kingdom of God: “But on Mount Zion will be deliverance; it will be holy… The house of Jacob will be a fire and the house of Joseph a flame; the house of Esau will be stubble, and they will set it on fire and consume it. There will be no survivors from the house of Esau… Deliverers will go up on Mount Zion to govern the mountains of Esau. And the kingdom will be the LORD’s” (Oba 1:17,18,21).

Territorial Expansion: Oba 1:19,20 go into detail as to which lands the redeemed people of Israel will recover and occupy:

People from the Negev will occupy the mountains of Esau. People from the foothills will possess the land of the Philistines. They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria. Benjamin will possess Gilead. This company of Israelite exiles who are in Canaan will possess the land as far as Zarephath. The exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad will possess the towns of the Negev.

Certain of these territories (ie, Samaria and Ephraim and part of Philistia) were conquered by modern Israel in 1967. [Will some of this territory be returned as a result of the current “Peace Process”?] Zarephath, in southern Lebanon, is increasingly coming under Israel’s influence since the incursions of 1982. But other territories (ie, Gilead and the mountains of Esau) remain today in Arab hands.

Will Israel, as presently constituted, conquer all these lands prior to the return of Christ? Or will Israel need to suffer a serious defeat, losing the very lands which it now possesses (together with its own sovereignty?) before a chastened remnant will repent and turn to God?

In short, is Oba 1:19,20 being fulfilled right now, or do they await a future fulfillment?

The order of Oba 1:17-21 suggests an answer: First, there must come a deliverance to mount Zion (v 17), and not just a military victory such as in 1948 or 1967: “But on Mount Zion will be deliverance; it will be holy [or ‘there shall be holiness’: AV], and the house of Jacob will possess its inheritance.”

And so this “deliverance” will of necessity involve “holiness” — and for this there must be true repentance and forgiveness of sins. Only then will Israel — ie, a renewed and glorified remnant of Israel — go forth to possess all the lands promised to the fathers (cp Gen 15:18-21; Exo 23:23; Deu 1:7; 11:24; Jos 1:4; Psa 72:8), as detailed in Oba 1:19,20.

This last territorial expansion will never be set back or thwarted in any way. Why? Because “Deliverers [‘saviours’: AV] will go up on Mount Zion… and the kingdom will be the LORD’s” (Oba 1:21).

Reading 3 – Heb 3:5

“Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house, testifying to what would be said in the future” (Heb 3:5).

“It must also be borne in mind that Jesus does not present his death as an isolated act; it was the fulfilment of his life. He came to serve, and service was consummated in the death of the cross. His atoning work did not begin with Gethsemane or Golgotha, but with his baptism, and it was the completed life of obedience which was offered to the Father. Moses, whom the Jews called ‘the first redeemer,’ as Messiah would be ‘the last,’ had been willing to offer his life for the people: ‘Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin — and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written’… But Moses, forbidden at last to enter Canaan, could not offer the perfect life; he was a great servant of the Lord and of Israel, ‘faithful in all God’s house,’ but he could only provide ‘a testimony of those things which were afterward to be spoken’ (Heb 3:5, RV). He could only bear witness as a type to the greater Redeemer, whose whole life was an offering which his death perfected” (LG Sargent, “Gospel of Son of God” 148).

Reading 1 – Est 9:10

And so, when the day came, the Jews rose up against their enemies, and slaughtered them before they had a chance to kill the Jews.

“…But they did not lay their hands on the plunder” (Est 9:10; cp vv 15,16).

…Even though they had been given permission to do so (Est 8:11). This refraining from the spoils would illustrate that their interest was not in material gain (as was Haman’s: Est 3:9,11,13 — and Saul’s: 1Sa 15:3,19!), but merely in preserving their lives and showing forth the glory of the God of Israel.

The deliberate decision not to enrich themselves at the expense of their enemies would not go unnoticed in a culture where victors were expected to take the spoil. The very novelty of such self-denial would be remarked upon and remembered, and taken as proof of the upright motives of the Jewish communities.

Compare the example of Abraham, who after winning a battle and being offered spoils by the king of Sodom, protested: “I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the thong of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich’ ” (Gen 14:23).

Reading 2 – Jonah

Why Jonah?: Of what significance was Jonah? Why would Jesus choose this rather obscure prophet as the only sign that he was Messiah? He tells them (and us): “As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Mat 12:40).

Jonah was God’s sign to the Ninevites of Assyria, a people who weren’t serving Him. If Jonah had not gone to Nineveh, how would its citizens have heard God’s message? By the LORD’s insistence, it was clear that this task belonged only to Jonah.

We must assume that God had a special purpose in ordering the evangelizing of one of Israel’s enemies. If Nineveh, hearing the word of God, repented through fear of the judgment of heaven, then perhaps wayward Israel would be persuaded to take notice and follow their example, thus saving itself also from the wrath of God.

But Jonah tried to get out of his divinely-appointed task. He recognized that the growing might of Assyria was a threat to be feared. How long would it be before that rising tide of Assyrian expansion swept south to engulf his own land? Then why should he lift a finger or raise a voice to fend off the violent judgment of God upon such a nation?

So, rebellious, and with a certain feeling of self-righteousness and nationalistic pride, Jonah determined to have no part in preaching to Nineveh. In trying to evade his commission, Jonah took a ship and tried to flee from the presence of God (Jon 1:3). “Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up” (v. 4). The sailors tried in vain to save the ship. Jonah was rousted from his sleep in the hold, and implored to explain the circumstances.

All were afraid when Jonah told them he was fleeing from his God, but there was nothing they could do — the ship was sinking. So after beseeching God to forgive them, “they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm” (v. 15).

Jonah disappeared under the waves, went down to the bottom, and drowned (Jon 2:5-7). “But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights” (Jon 1:17).

No one ever expected to see him again. But “the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land” (2:10). Truly an amazing sign! But of what?

Why Was Jonah Saved?: Jonah was not delivered from this three days “grave” just to sit back peacefully and contemplate what had happened to him. He was delivered from death so that he could preach to the Ninevites. And finally (after a more circuitous and eventful journey than any other missionary ever took!), he reached his destination and went to work.

So, simply put, the worth of Jonah as a “sign” to an unbelieving generation was this: A man who had died was now alive! And empowered by God to preach to the Gentiles! What a sign for Israel, the would-be “people of God”. Jesus, the man like Jonah, would be killed by them; but God would raise him from the dead (Acts 2:22-24) — and the gospel which he preached to them, and which they refused, would be preached to the Gentiles (Act 2:39) — who would accept and repent!

That this was the intent of Jesus when citing the “sign” of Jonah is evident in his next words — as recorded by Matthew: Mat 12:41. And then, as if his lesson needed reinforcing, he referred also to another notable Gentile “conversion”: Mat 12:42. Nineveh repented; Jerusalem did not. The queen of Sheba sought wisdom; Jerusalem turned its back on the man who was the wisdom of God personified. Truly, one greater than Jonah, and greater than Solomon, was in their midst; and they were preparing to reject him! The sign of the prophet Jonah was more than a man dead and buried for three days, then resurrected. It was a contrast between the wise and the unwise, the repentant and the unrepentant — with warnings of destruction for those who refused to recognize the greatest prophet of God, Jesus Christ.

Paul’s Commentary: Paul deals with this same theme: the repentance of the Gentiles as an object lesson, and as a means of provoking Israel likewise to repent: Rom 11:13-15,24,30,31).

A Last Days Repentance: Scripture indicates that there will be a wholesale repentance of Israel in the Last Days (Lev 26:40-42; Deu 4:30; 30:1-7; Joel 2:12-20; Jer 31:17-20; 50:4,5; Mat 23:39; Act 3:19,20; Mat 6:10; Rev 22:17; Mat 24:22). This Last Days repentance will bring back their Messiah to save them from the latter-day “Assyrian”. The lesson from the prophet Jonah will finally have been learned!

Reading 3 – Heb 7:26

“Such a high priest meets our need– one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens” (Heb 7:26).

We are forgiven and shall be saved for Christ’ sake, but HE required no forgiveness… Christ was undefiled in mind, absolutely pure, and therefore he required no cleansing as pertaining to the conscience at baptism, for there never was a moment in his life when God was displeased with him; he always did and said what pleased the Father. He only required cleansing in nature — which was done after resurrection.

We must be careful that the means by which all believers are commanded to remember the Lord’s death until He returns, does not become instead a ritual, with efficacy in the object itself, by which we establish our “purity” in a negative sense. “Negative holiness” can save no man. Neither can the proximity of one whom we consider a “sinner”, even one so close as to partake of the same cup, endanger our “fellowship” with that one who was ever and always the friend of “sinners”, who touched lepers and lunatics, harlots and dead bodies — yet in the best sense was still “holy, harmless, and undefiled” (Heb 7:26).

Reading 1 – Job’s “satan”

Job’s “satan”: an angel of evil?

Job’s “satan” comes into the presence of God, and is in conversation with Him, among the “sons of God” (Job 1:6). Elsewhere in Job the sons of God are plainly His angels (Job 38:4-7). True, “sons of God” can refer to human believers (as in 1Jo 3:2), but Job should interpret Job first! Job’s affliction is consistently attributed to God (Job 4:9; 5:17; 6:4; 7:20; 11:6; 19:21; and esp Job 42:11).

Difficulties?

Why is an angel of God called “Satan” (or “satan”)? Because this designation well described his actions here — he was Job’s “adversary” (cp also Num 22:22). Isn’t there a wicked or sinful mind behind his words (Job 1:9-11; 2:5)? Answer: The words CAN be read that way, but they do not HAVE to be read that way. Although “angels of God” are immortal, they can be limited both in their personal knowledge and in their personal powers. (Consider Mat 24:36; 1Pe 1:12; Dan 10:13; 8:13; Gen 22:12; 32:24-28; Exo 31:1,7 compared with Exo 23:12). So it is possible to read the words of this angelic “satan” as expressing his assessment of the life of Job… distorted a bit by his own limited knowledge.

I would suggest that in all that this “satan” says of Job there is no sign of wickedness, only limited understanding seeking clarification. He declares his unwillingness to believe that Job’s “righteousness” is anything but self-serving:

“Then Satan answered the LORD, Does Job fear God for nought? Hast thou not put a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But put forth thy hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse thee to thy face” (Job 1:9-11).

As if to say, ‘All my experience of this race of humans tells me that when they serve God they do so only for selfish reasons. Let us see how he reacts to severe trials.’

And so God gives over to this “angel” the testing of Job:

“Behold, all that he has is in your power; only upon himself do not put forth your hand” (v 12).

Now compare this v 12 with v 21: “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” Who was it that took away Job’s health, wealth, and family?

And with Job 2:10: “Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?”

And also with Job 19:21, where Job says: “Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has touched me!” Doesn’t this equate the “satan” with “the hand of God”?

And so, all through Job 2, “Satan” continues to hold out for his own assessment of things, while God agrees to bring more and yet more trial upon Job… until, eventually, it may be assumed, “Satan” is finally satisfied with the integrity of Job.

Is this fair? Is this the way God acts? Of course. The NT is filled with discussions of the trials brought by God on His faithful ones, to perfect or purify their faith.

And from his trials, extreme though they were, Job emerges as a man of tested and perfected faith… a fitting type of the Lord Jesus Christ, who was to come, and who would himself suffer “unfairly” and “unjustly” as a way of showing (to men… and to angels?) the way into the most holy place of the Father.

Also, please note 1Pe 1:6-12:

“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while you may have to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Without having seen him you love him; though you do not now see him you believe in him and rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy. As the outcome of your faith you obtain the salvation of your souls. The prophets who prophesied of the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired about this salvation; they inquired what person or time was indicated by the Spirit of Christ within them when predicting the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glory. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things which have now been announced to you by those who preached the good news to you through the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.”

In this passage (and, compared with Job) we see:

severe trials by which the faith of the believer is purified. the prophets (OT writers?) who saw, faintly perhaps, the sufferings of Christ mirrored in the lives of OT men (like Job?). the sufferings were followed by subsequent glory. … AND… “into these things (sufferings, trials, perfecting of faith, of righteous men who pointed forward to the Messiah) ANGELS LONGED TO LOOK!”

Reading 2 – Jon 3:4,5

“On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: ‘Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.’ The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth” (Jon 3:4,5).

“The transformation that took place was breathtaking in its magnitude and comprehensive character. But it is not unlikely that the impact of the message of such an extraordinary man as Jonah would be reinforced by the considerable reputation of those other notable prophets of the Lord, Elijah and Elisha. It may be, too, that Jonah’s campaign went on for all the forty day period which was Nineveh’s time of grace. However it happened, the transformation in those Ninevites far surpassed the effect produced by John the Baptist in Jewry, and of all the prophets there was none greater than he (Mat 11: 11). And after John the Baptist, Jesus was to hold up to the same people the example of this city’s repentance: ‘The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here’ (Mat 12: 41). The message of John was: ‘Yet forty YEARS and Jerusalem shall be overthrown!’ (AD 30-70). Those Ninevites changed their lives so dramatically because they were led by the good example of their ruler. What a lesson was held out here to Judah and Israel, with their sequence, rarely interrupted, of unworthy kings, so often downright wicked. The narrative here is careful to specify ‘the high and the low’, appropriately reversing the phrase: ‘both small and great’ (Jer 31: 34), this latter form being more usual because God has greater regard for the humble than for the proud” (Harry Whittaker, “Jonah”).

“God delights to do the impossible, and never more so than in turning men to Himself. Instead, then, of denying on the grounds of its ‘human’ impossibility the repentance that swept over Nineveh, let us see it as an evidence of divine power. For this, not the episode of the sea monster, is the greatest miracle in the book” (Frank Gaebelein).

Reading 3 – Heb 9:12

“He [Christ] did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption” (Heb 9:12).

The AV adds, in italics, “for us”, at the end of this verse — as if to say that there was no salvation required for Christ at all.

This is manifestly untrue. Christ obtained redemption for himself, as well as for others — for us! Our redemption is bound up in his. “[Christ] obtained eternal redemption” (the words “for us” — italicized in the AV, are omitted in various other versions, including RV, RSV, and NIV; Jesus obtained redemption FOR HIMSELF AND for others).

“He [Jesus] was a sufferer from the hereditary effects of sin; for these effects are physical effects. Death is a physical law in our members implanted there through sin ages ago, and handed down from generation to generation. Consequently, partaking of our physical nature, he partook of this, and his own deliverance (as ‘Christ the first fruits’) was as necessary as that of his brethren. In fact, if Christ had not first been saved from death (Heb 5:7), if he had not first obtained eternal redemption (Heb 9:12), there would have been no hope for us, for we obtain salvation only through what he has accomplished in himself…” (Robert Roberts).

Reading 1 – Job 4

Eliphaz (who speaks in Job 4; 5; 15; 23) rests his philosophy on general observation and special revelation (Job 4:8; 5:3,27; 15:17; 4:12-16; 15:18,19). He is committed to a fixed theory, with a much too narrow view of providence (Job 5:3-16; 15:20-35): that is, that no innocent man suffers or perishes (Job 4:7). Therefore, according to Eliphaz, Job suffers because he sinned.

Reading 2 – Jon 4:5

“Jonah went out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city” (Jon 4:5).

“In high dudgeon he went out of the city (on its east side because there was high ground, and on the west Calah abutted on the wide fast-flowing Tigris). There he built himself a booth, of the sort he had made in early days at Jerusalem at the Feast of Tabernacles; and there he would discipline his impatient soul with patience. Perhaps, after all, his remonstration to the angel would bring thunderbolts from heaven, something comparable to Sodom’s grim fate and would ‘turn Nineveh to ashes, condemning it with an overthrow.’ What a satisfaction it would be to himself and to his countrymen to see a politically-inflated Nineveh wiped out!” (Harry Whittaker, “Jonah”).

Jonah chose his “ringside” seat and waited, hopefully, for the heaven-sent destruction of the great city. But… nothing happened! Do we — sometimes — wait eagerly for what will NOT happen… because we misunderstand the character of God, or His prophetic timetable?

Reading 3 – Heb 10

Heb 10:23: “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)”

“The second ‘Let us’ [the first is in v 22] is connected with hope, although the AV obscures the matter by translating ‘elpis’ in this sole instance by the word faith. ‘Let us hold fast the confession of our hope, that it waver not; for he is faithful that promised.’ Hope is grounded upon promise, even the promises made unto the fathers. God is faithful; the promise is sure. Only man’s part is in doubt; their beginning was right in their confession of Christ. The end would also be so if they held fast to that confession. Every generation sees its quota of waverers, and to every generation may this appeal be made, ‘Let us hold fast’ ” (John Carter, “Hebrews” 192,193).

Heb 10:24 : “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”

“Do everything in love: love of God and love of man. Forget yourself. Forget all your own desires: they will never give you any real satisfaction — only frustration and disappointment. There is nothing there: so quit looking for it there. Get independent of personal pleasure and desire. That is the greatest emancipation possible. It frees you to get into the real joys and satisfactions — which are all in love of, and work for, God. This beautifies the character and purifies the flesh” (GV Growcott).

Heb 10:25: “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another– and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

” ‘I am too tired’ — ‘I prefer to hear the lecture’ — ‘Bro So-and-so is the speaker, and I never get any good from his addresses’. These are not justifiable excuses for absence from the Breaking of Bread. Christ’s command is this: ‘This do in remembrance of me’ (1Co 11:24), and for us to ignore the command is to imperil our salvation. Was ever a divine appointment set aside without incurring disastrous consequences to ourselves and God’s displeasure towards us? Those who absent themselves from the Lord’s Table should think of this. To refrain wilfully from assembling together on the first day of the week is not only to display a shocking lack of appreciation of the importance and profit of the appointment, but it is a direct insult to Christ” (AT Jannaway).

Reading 1 – Job 5

“It must have been one of the sorest trials that Job had to suffer, when his closest friends condemned him for wickedness, and refusal to acknowledge the righteousness of God. Job knew that he was not guilty of such terrible crimes against the great One he worshipped. His friends acted without knowledge of the true facts to which we are privy through the Inspired Record. Eliphaz claimed to have received a visitation, and this colored his comments. He asserts:

That suffering stems from personal folly: vv 1-7. That as suffering is divine judgment on sin, Job should seek God’s forgiveness: vv 8-16. If Job places himself in the hands of God, He may deliver him: vv 17-27.

“But Eliphaz’s basic mistake is applying what ultimately will be to present circumstances, and so observing all things from that biased viewpoint. He presses the teaching of the vision by the evidence of personal experience, and in so doing adds to the sufferings of Job — as the misunderstanding of the apostles (and ourselves!) added to the distress of the Lord Jesus” (GE Mansfield).

Reading 2 – Mic 1:10-16

In Mic 1:10-16, the prophet used several clever wordplays in this poem to describe the desolation that God would bring on Judah. He selected towns and villages near his own hometown in Judah’s Shephelah whose names were similar to the coming devastations or to other conditions that he described.

“There follows a series of lamentations for villages in the Shephelah, or coastal plain, along which Sennacherib was to sweep in his triumphal invasion. The section is to be compared with the remarkable passage Isa 10:28-32 — where the prophet describes the panic spreading from one town to another as the Assyrians invaded from the northeast, whereas Micah describes the effect of the invasion from the southwest, even as far as Lachish” (Fred Pearce, “From Hosea to Zephaniah” 132).

“This section begins with words that recall David’s lament at the death of Saul and ends with the name of the cave where David hid from Saul [Adullam: v 15]. These dark moments in David’s life form a gloomy backdrop to the description of the fall of the towns Micah spoke of. Though he is never directly mentioned, the figure of David appears hauntingly in the tapestry of destruction — not a David standing tall in triumph, but a David bowed down by humiliation. It is as if Micah saw in the fall of each town and the eventual captivity of the two kingdoms the final dissolution of the Davidic monarchy. Like David, the glory of Israel would come to Adullam” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary).

Reading 3 – Heb 11:13

“And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth” (Heb 11:13).

The story is told about some Christians who were traveling in the Middle East. They heard about a wise, devout, beloved old believer, so they went out of their way to visit him. When they finally found him, they discovered that he was living in a simple hut. All he had inside was a rough cot, a chair, a table, and a battered stove for heating and cooking. The visitors were shocked to see how few possessions the man had, and one of them blurted out, “Well, where is your furniture?” The aged saint replied by gently asking, “Where is yours?” The visitor, sputtering a little, responded, “Why, at home, of course. I don’t carry it with me; I’m traveling.” “So am I,” the godly Christian replied. “So am I.”

Reading 1 – 1Ki 17

Elijah was a prophet of the LORD; a man sent from God (1Ki 17). He appeared out of Gilead to Ahab, the apostate king of Israel, who ruled the ten rebellious tribes that worshipped at Bethel and Dan. Evils covered the Land like a flood. For three and a half years Elijah prayed for no rain; the LORD answered with drought and famine. The Land literally burned during that judgment, for its natural life and livelihood depends on the water from heaven.

Elijah hated Queen Jezebel’s promotion of Astarte, the goddess named for the planet Venus. He hated the whoredom of the people who worshipped the goddess of “love” and “queen of heaven” through the religious cult that included sodomy and prostitution. Elijah hated the robbery and oppression condoned by King Ahab. He hated the people’s disobedience to the Law given to Israel at Sinai. Ahab also worshiped the calves, the pagan imagery of the worship of the “host of heaven,” which dates from even before the time of the exodus from Egypt.

Elijah was one individual among 7,000 who remained faithful to God during Israel’s apostasy of the ten tribes. He was very zealous for the one true God, who created the heavens and the earth. A righteous man, Elijah was also a passionate man. Simple, child-like, trusting; at times not fully understanding why, he nevertheless did the bidding of his God. That’s all. Because he was hot and not cold to do His work, God will send him [or someone very like him!] to Israel again, before Christ returns to rule from Zion’s hill.

Reading 2 – Jer 43:7-11

“So they entered Egypt in disobedience to the LORD and went as far as Tahpanhes. In Tahpanhes the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: ‘While the Jews are watching, take some large stones with you and bury them in clay in the brick pavement at the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace in Tahpanhes. Then say to them, “This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I will send for my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will set his throne over these stones I have buried here; he will spread his royal canopy above them.” He will come and attack Egypt, bringing death to those destined for death, captivity to those destined for captivity, and the sword to those destined for the sword’ ” (Jer 43:7-11).

At last the emigrants arrived at Tahpanhes, ten miles west of where the Suez Canal now stands. There, in response to the word of the Lord, Jeremiah the prophet called the attention of his fellow-Jews to a specific prophecy regarding Nebuchadnezzar, whose wrath they had sought to flee.

Not only would the king of Babylon come into Egypt, but he would even set up his pavilion and throne of administration at the very place where they now were. Egypt would surely feel the weight of his military might. There would be plundering and destruction — and surely these fearful and faithless Jews would not escape him, even in this distant land!

In as powerful way as he possibly could, Jeremiah warned them, ‘You may run from the judgments of Yahweh, but you can’t hide!’

Reading 3 – 1Co 1:27-29

“But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things– and the things that are not– to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him” (1Co 1:27-29).

This is one of the fundamental messages of the Bible, and shown in practice a hundred times:

God saves a nation through one man, after first selling him into slavery, and casting him into prison. God rescues that same nation through one little baby destined for death, but plucked out of his burial coffin on a whim by a king’s daughter. God sends home 30,000 troops, and wins a great victory with 300. Another army cringes in their tents at the threats of a giant warrior, who blasphemes the name of the God of Israel, but a little boy — rejecting all the armaments of a soldier — goes out to “fight” him with a shepherd’s sling… and faith. A whole nation is brought to the brink of ruin, and extinction, with a huge army surrounding its capital city — and then, to top it all off, its king is smitten with a deadly disease — but God answers his prayers and the threat is wiped out in a single night. Thousands of Jews die ugly, horrible deaths on Roman crosses, but one of those poor suffering “criminals” turns out to be the Saviour of the world.

In our Father’s world, a still, small whisper of wind shakes the earth; a tiny cry in a lonely manger introduces a new world order; a microscopic seed grows into a great tree; and a little stone becomes a great mountain to fill the whole earth…

…”So that no flesh may boast before HIM…”

Reading 1 – 1Ki 18:45

“Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain came on and Ahab rode off to Jezreel” (1Ki 18:45).

This is the final embarrassment for Baal [the god of storm and rain!] and his worshipers. Who brings the rains back? Do they come back because Baal has escaped from the underworld, and finally has things under control? If the rains had come back without a demonstration of WHY they had come back, then the prophets of Baal could have passed off the three years as part of the natural cycle — in which Baal[the god of rain] is periodically captured and controlled by Mott [the god of death]. But no… the prophets of Baal are given their opportunity to bring back the rain… and fail!

Elijah on the other hand prays to the God of Israel, and not only does fire come from heaven (an event often associated with Baal, the thunderer), but rain comes back! So in a public way the people of Israel were shown that the one who REALLY controlled the weather was Yahweh, rather than Baal, and the people were given something: a solid foundation of evidence upon which to base their faith.

Reading 2 – Jer 44:4

“Again and again I sent my servants the prophets, who said, ‘Do not do this detestable thing that I hate!’ ” (Jer 44:4).

The particular sin, of which the prophet was speaking, was that of idolatry. These Jews would make gods in some form or other, and then they would bow down before them, and neglect the worship of the one invisible Yahweh. The Almighty calls their idolatry a detestable, or abominable, thing — and rightly so, for it is detestable ingratitude. That a man should not worship his Maker, that he should refuse obedience to his Creator, that he should say to Him who made the heavens and the earth, and who also made him, and sustains his being, ‘I will not worship you; I refuse to bow down before you. I choose to adore another god — Baal, Ashtaroth, Venus, Bacchus, anything but the one true God — and I will not worship you’… this is the most shameful ingratitude.

It is also an abominable thing, because it is so degrading and debasing. Everybody ought to be able to see that, for a man with intellect and mind to bow himself down before a carved image, is most degrading. That he should worship that which is made of wood, or stone, or metal, is practically to make himself inferior to the dead thing which he worships. There is practically no act in which a man seems to bring himself lower than when he prostrates himself before any material object, and says, ‘This is my god!’ This is indeed loathsome; it is insulting to God, and provoking Him to the last degree.

Reading 3 – 1Co 3:16

“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” (1Co 3:16).

“Every true son and daughter of the Lord God Almighty is a miniature tabernacle or temple, as saith Paul. Our minds should be a holy place lined with the gold of a tried faith, in which the one Christ-sacrifice for sins is continually offered, and the smoke of grateful incense, kindled by the fire of the altar, continually ascending, while deeply secreted in the innermost ark of the heart is the law of God in its remembrance, the scriptures in their affectionate study, the institutions of divine appointment in continual reverence, and the bread of God in its continual eating. Thus shall we be the sons of God in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, misunderstood by all, hated by many, despised and rejected of men, persevering in a bitter probation that will end at last in life and light and joy everlasting” (Robert Roberts, “Law of Moses” 98).

Reading 1 – 1Ki 19

James calls Elijah “a man of like nature with ourselves” (Jam 5:17, RSV), and nowhere is this more evident than in Elijah’s confrontation with God on Mount Horeb (1Ki 19). This austere prophet had just been instrumental in a great victory for the honor of the Lord over Baal, on mount Carmel (1Ki 18). But from the heights of spiritual exaltation Elijah was plunged into the depths of despair when he realized that his great accomplishments had not softened the heart of Ahab, and had served only to intensify Jezebel’s hatred for himself. Fleeing for his life, and yet in his despondency losing all desire to live, he came into the wilderness, to Horeb (1Ki 19:8). In a pathetic prayer Elijah reveals that he has given up on Israel, and that he sees himself as the only true believer remaining (1Ki 19:10). We have all heard such laments as this, generally for much less reason than Elijah’s. In the circumstances we may understand his pessimism, but God saw fit to dispel the mistaken notions that led to his negative state of mind. A contemplation of this incident might also cure the state of mind of any brother who, more or less self-righteously, isolates himself from ‘less worthy’ brethren.

God called Elijah forth from his cave, and paraded before him a tremendous panorama of His power — strong winds, earthquake, and fire. But the Lord was not in these; Elijah saw that something was missing. At last came a still small voice, and Elijah, bracing himself, came out of the cave where he had fled for fear at the previous manifestations. The soft voice had a soothing effect; now at last the frightened prophet felt, when he heard it, the presence of God. Thus was the message driven home to him: God is best known, not in works of judgment, but in the still small voice which calls His people, when properly prepared by adversity, to repentance.

And Elijah was to be that voice! “Go, return on thy way” (v 15). Like Samuel before him, Elijah was carefully taught that wickedness is primarily an affront against God, not against any individual (1Sa 8:7); and consequently no man (no matter how “righteous”) has any prerogative to turn his back on his brethren. Elijah must minister to the remnant that remains in Israel; in the midst of gross apostasy he is not to flee in fear, but rather to stand firm for God and provide a rallying point for the sheep of Israel.

“Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him” (v 18).

*****

“When men stand in the mouth of their caverns and declare that they alone are fighting the battle of right, and distress the hearts and weaken the hands of their fellow-warriors by their self-centered declamations based upon ignorance of the true state of affairs, not seeing the faithful attitude of the 7,000, then surely is needed the earthquake, the fire, and the still small voice to purge them of their discouraging fantasies” (Charles A. Ladson).

Reading 2 – Jer 45:3-5

“You said, ‘Woe to me! The LORD has added sorrow to my pain; I am worn out with groaning and find no rest.’ The LORD said, ‘Say this to him: ‘This is what the LORD says: I will overthrow what I have built and uproot what I have planted, throughout the land. Should you then seek great things for yourself? Seek them not. For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the LORD, but wherever you go I will let you escape with your life’ ” (Jer 45:3-5).

Baruch was a faithful servant of God, but (like us?) he was not above a bit of petty grumbling. His complaint (and remember, every complaint is really a complaint against God!) went like this: “Woe is me now! For the LORD hath added grief to my sorrow; I fainted in my sighing, and I find no rest” (Jer 45:3).

Baruch was very much like most of us. He wanted to have his cake, and eat it too. He wanted to see God’s purpose fulfilled in the earth, but he wanted a good measure of personal comfort in the meanwhile. In short, he wanted God and “mammon”! God’s answer to Baruch was blunt: “Behold, that which I have built will I break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up” (v 4).

Do you think, God said, that everything in this age should minister to your comfort? I have greater purposes to accomplish, and you are just one small piece of a large operation. Do you expect that I’m going to shake the foundations of your world, and topple all worldly institutions, while you escape unscathed? “And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the LORD: but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest” (v 5).

So it will be for us, brothers and sisters. We live at the end of an age, on the brink of a volcano. A time of testing is coming, to prepare us for Christ’s return, and to teach us that we can place no trust in anything around us, but only in God. Do we seek “great things” for ourselves in this crumbling world? It is already too late. Let us pray God to spare only our lives.

Do we seek comfort now? It is a delusion. Do we somehow have the idea we can recline in our easy chairs and stare at our wide-screen color televisions, until the limousine comes to take us away to the kingdom? It is not to be, and the sooner we are rid of such fantasies the better!

Reading 3 – 1Co 5:8

“Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth” (1Co 5:8).

“To this day the Orthodox Jew is ruthless in the exclusion of all leaven (or yeast) from his home for the seven day feast [ie, of Passover]; even to the extent of using a special set of cutlery, crockery and cooking utensils lest a trace should be left on that normally used. In many cases this is merely a slavish adherence to the letter of the law but we can take a lesson from it. Should we not be just as diligent and just as ruthless ourselves with our lives, with our thoughts, words and deeds to exclude from them anything savouring of malice or evil? Bearing in mind the nature of the evil which Paul had in mind at this time, the warning is surely not to be lightly passed over when we live in a world rapidly becoming as morally degenerate as was the world by which the brethren and sisters at Corinth were surrounded. Such moral depravity must at all costs be kept at bay, and the only way this can possibly be done is by each one purging from his or her heart the old leaven that as a community we may be a new lump, as we are unleavened” (E. Toms, “Christ Our Passover”, “The Dawn Christadelphian” 21:280,281).

Reading 1 – 1Ki 20:42

“This is what the LORD says: ‘You have set free a man I had determined should die. Therefore it is your life for his life, your people for his people’ ” (1Ki 20:42).

“Here is an apparent frustration of the ways of providence through human weakness. God meant the destruction of the king of Syria, and he escaped through Ahab’s misplaced leniency. The case reveals the fact that there is no mechanical coercion of the human will in the working out of the divine purpose by means of men; co-operation of man in such a case is necessary, and that where the result aimed at is not attained through the failure of that co-operation, the purpose will be accomplished by another instrument, for divine purposes will never ultimately fail” (Robert Roberts, “Ways of Providence” 228).

Compare Mordecai’s words to Esther: “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” (Est 4:14).

Reading 2 – Jer 47

“This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines…” (Jer 47:1).

The Philistines are first mentioned in Gen 10:14. Apparently they came from Caphtor, or Crete, very early in Bible times (Deu 2:23; Jer 47:4; Amo 9:7). The land of Canaan received its other name — Philistia, or Palestine — from them (Psa 60:8; 87:4; Isa 14:29).

The Philistines ousted other peoples and settled initially on the Maritime Plain north of Gaza — a very fertile and desirable area. They seem to have lived in the region around Gerar and Beersheba as early as the time of Abraham (Gen 21:32,34; 26:1).

After the Exodus, the tribes of Israel were directed by God to journey to Canaan by a route that bypassed the coast of the Philistines (Exo 13:17,18), presumably because they were too strong for Israel at that time. When the Israelites began to settle the Land, the tribe of Judah captured Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron (Jdg 1:18), three of the five main Philistine cities; the other two were Gath and Ashdod. But a bit later, because of its idolatries, Israel was handed over into the hands of the Philistines (Jdg 10:6,7). It was delivered from them (Jdg 10:11,12), but soon fell under their dominion again, and remained so, off and on, through the times of Samson (Jdg 14-16), Eli (1Sa 4-6), Samuel, and Saul (1Sa 10:5: 12:9; 13:19-21; 14:52). After Saul’s army was defeated, and he and his sons slain by the Philistines (1Sa 28:4; 29:11; 31:1-13), king David overcame and repelled them on several occasions (2Sa 3:18; 5:17-25; 8:1; 19:9; 21:15-22; 23:9-17).

After David’s reign, the Philistines are mentioned less frequently, although they come in for threats of judgment by various prophets at later times because they invariably aligned themselves with Israel’s enemies (Babylon and Assyria) against their old foe Israel.

The Philistines are joined with other Arab nations confederated against Israel in the latter days was pointed out (Psa 83). This prophetic psalm undoubtedly had a historic fulfillment (possibly 2Ch 20 or 2Ch 32), yet it also points forward to a time when the combined enemies of Israel “know that thou alone, whose name is the Lord, art the Most High over all the earth” (v 18). Today, the modern counterpart to the ancient Philistine territory is what is now called the Gaza Strip, with its exploding Palestinian Arab population — nearly all of which are inflamed with the most intense hatred of their Israeli “oppressors”.

Bible prophecies about Philistia seem to fall into two main categories, with some natural overlapping: (1) first, the Philistines’ hatred toward Israel takes shape in despicable actions; and (2) then, the Lord Himself takes vengeance upon these enemies of His people.

Reading 3 – 1Co 6:20

“You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body” (1Co 6:20).

“Do not waste a minute of God’s time, not one cent of His money. You are totally ‘bought with a price,’ to be His faithful laborers. You were not selected from the perishing millions to indulge yourself in unfaithful stewardship, or to lounge lazily in the sun. Total devotion to the work of God is the only way to eternal joy. Indolent, self-pleasing, and embezzling servants will be cast with shame into outer darkness. Have wisdom in this brief day of such glorious opportunity. The reward for faithful devotion in His service is beyond our highest conception: the punishment for slothfulness is dreadful to contemplate. Truly, no one can earn the reward: it is a free gift — but on conditions. Only by total love, manifested in total devotion and service, can we obtain God’s mercy and acceptance. Anything less is a mockery of His infinite goodness toward us. Why would any servant be so stupid as to expect a reward, and not rather severe punishment, for laziness and unfaithful self-indulgence and self-use of his lord’s entrusted goods?” (GVG).