King James Version, with Nii Okai's journal notes · 7 notes
1Moreover the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying,
2Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name;
3Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
4For thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are thrown down by the mounts, and by the sword;
5They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but it is to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have slain in mine anger and in my fury, and for all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city.
They came to fight in the physical, but they only came to fulfil what GOD had already established in his fury towards them.
In the natural lay slain bodies of men, but in the spirit raged the anger and the fury of GOD.
6Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.
7And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.
These words might have been consoling to Jeremiah to know, though it seems unbelievable considering the present circumstances.
I can imagine Jeremiah's pain as he saw the very things he spoke about come to pass.
You know how painful it can be, and the emotional turmoil of such mixed messages.
8And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me.
9And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it.
10Thus saith the LORD; Again there shall be heard in this place, which ye say shall be desolate without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast,
11The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith the LORD.
As I read this verse, there is this sense of awareness and awakening, that this Jerusalem that is being spoken about here is the real Jerusalem that we see being spoken of every day in the news.
This prophecy is concerning a real place we are living in in our days. So it means this prophecy can be tested, if it be true or it is just some ancient story and text.
If the things spoken concerning it come to pass, we can attest to it even if not in our lifetime; the point is it is verifiable.
12Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Again in this place, which is desolate without man and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, shall be an habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.
13In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the vale, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him that telleth them, saith the LORD.
14Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.
15In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.
When I look at all these messianic verses, I begin to wonder, how come they missed Jesus?
Many say it was because they expect the king of righteousness to come and rule and destroy Israel's enemies once and for all.
Good, I understand that, but it also says the Messiah will suffer in a way that doesn't make sense or befit someone of his stature.
A saviour who is almost God-like in his functions couldn't possibly suffer that way. I believe they then began to conjecture the meaning of the suffering part to be more metaphorical than the literal.
But in this wise they were wrong.
The Messiah's suffering was literal.
But either ways, God's plan was for the Messiah to come once to fulfill the suffering part and once more to rule in glory. This resurrection and ascension is what the Jews could not decipher.
Either ways, we both wait — Christians and Jews alike — for the coming of the Messiah.
One for his first coming and the other for his second and last.
In like manner, as there are many end-time prophecies, we would witness the plan of God unfold in ways not so predicted and expected by man, especially the seemingly confusing and contradictory portions of scripture.
Those days will be beautiful.
16In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness.
17For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;
18Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.
19And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying,
20Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season;
21Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers.
We see now in our days, as it were, that the throne of David is vacant and non-existent, so then how do we interpret this saying and promise of GOD?
Is GOD lying? No. Then what is it then? It means the throne of David will once more be set up and established, and one from his loins shall sit on it.
We see Israel being scattered for centuries, and finally now in their gathering the tribes are lost mostly.
So then how do we know who the descendants of David are, not just Judah but specifically of David? How can this word be truly fulfilled?
Will GOD come down and set up a man as the true heir of David by some means? NO.
It is as if GOD, knowing these times will come and Israel will not be divisible in their tribes, set up a man who never dies, to live forever, a true son of David whose genealogy can be traced, and that son, since he lives forever, will appear on the scene at the right time to reclaim his throne.
He only waits and bides his time and will come at the right time.
When is the right time? When the knowledge of GOD covers the earth as the waters the sea, and all know of the Christ and the gospel.
It seems that as yet that has not been attained, and the course is on to do so; when that is done and his kingdom ready, he will come.
This morning I was listening to Rick Warren talk of how many movements have attempted to reach the whole world with the gospel over the centuries, and none has quite gotten it right, always lagging behind the growth of the world and the spread of the gospel.
He has started a movement to achieve that by 2033, so let's see. But we must hasten the Lord's coming, and by hasten, really it is not of us but of the Lord and of his Spirit.
He shall, and that real soon.
22As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.
Awww... And we are part of that spiritual priesthood.
23Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,
24Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.
25Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth;
26Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.
It is easy to say that the word of GOD concerned the ancient times and that it was fulfilled in the times of the ancients.
But we see many of the things GOD says were not fulfilled and could possibly not be fulfilled in those times.