Romans 11:25-36
“The Deliverer will come from Zion,
he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;
27 “and this will be my covenant with them
when I take away their sins.”
28 As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake.
But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.
29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
30 For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, 31 so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. 32 For God has consigned all to disobedience, that He may have mercy on all.
33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!
33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
34 ““For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been His counselor?”,
or who has been His counselor?”
35 “Or who has given a gift to Him
that He might be repaid?”
36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.
34 ““For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been His counselor?”,
or who has been His counselor?”
35 “Or who has given a gift to Him
that He might be repaid?”
36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.
To Him be glory forever. Amen.
Proverbs 17
3 The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,
and the Lord tests hearts.
24 The discerning sets his face toward wisdom,
but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.
The purpose of life would be easily held on to by Proverbs 17 and the Prodigal Son.
Hindsight might illustrate the point more clearly.
We might call this a Struggle for Righteousness in the established Temple of God in Jerusalem among people who had struggled for centuries.
The Essenes were a Jewish sect during the Second Temple period and flourished from the 2nd century BC to the 1st century AD, 70 AD to be precise. About the late 1st century BC, the Essenes began to predict the end of the world.
The Essenes have gained fame for the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Essenes' library, probably to safeguard Scripture from their belief in the coming end. These documents preserve multiple copies of parts of the Hebrew Bible untouched from possibly as early as 300 BC until their discovery in 1946.
The first Historical reference to the sect is by the Roman Historian Pliny the Elder (d 79 AD) in his Natural History. Pliny's few lines explain the Essenes possess no money, existed for thousands of generations, and that their priestly class do not marry. Unlike Philo, Pliny was a geographer Pliny places them somewhere above Ein Gedi desert near the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. Bam, Essenes are known.
The Jewish General turned Roman historian, Josephus, records Essenes existed in large numbers, not merely mystics huddled in the desert. Thousands lived throughout Roman Judea. But they were fewer in number, locally to the Temple, than the Pharisees and Sadducees, the other two major sects of power.
The Essenes lived in various cities but congregated in communal life dedicated to voluntary poverty, daily immersion, and asceticism and celibacy. It's reported John the Baptist was a visitor, and some fragment of the Dead Sea Scrolls poetry alludes to the ministry of Jesus. His amazing healing ministry.
Josephus later gave a detailed account of the Essenes in The Jewish War (c. 75 AD), with a shorter description in Antiquities of the Jews (c. 94 AD) and The Life of Flavius Josephus (c. 97 AD). Claiming firsthand knowledge, Essenes demonstrate piety, celibacy, the absence of personal property and of money, the belief in communality, and commitment to a strict observance of Sabbath. Josephus adds Essenes ritually immersed in water every morning, ate together after prayer, devoted themselves to charity and benevolence, forbade the expression of anger, studied the books of the elders, preserved secrets, and were very mindful of the names of the angels kept in their sacred writings.
By excluding Habakkuk Chapter 3, the Essene leaders demonstrate the unwillingness to see God's Healing return. The Essenes believed the end of the world was upon them.
Habakkuk Chapter 3
A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth.
2 O Lord, I have heard the report of you,
and your work, O Lord, do I fear.
In the midst of the years revive it;
in the midst of the years make it known;
in wrath remember mercy.
3 God came from Teman,
and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah
His splendor covered the heavens,
and the earth was full of his praise.
4 His brightness was like the light;
rays flashed from his hand;
and there he veiled his power.
5 Before him went pestilence,
and plague followed at his heels.
6 He stood and measured the earth;
he looked and shook the nations;
then the eternal mountains were scattered;
the everlasting hills sank low.
His were the everlasting ways.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction;
the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.
8 Was your wrath against the rivers, O Lord?
Was your anger against the rivers,
or your indignation against the sea,
when you rode on your horses,
on your chariot of salvation?
9 You stripped the sheath from your bow,
calling for many arrows. Selah
You split the earth with rivers.
10 The mountains saw you and writhed;
the raging waters swept on;
the deep gave forth its voice;
it lifted its hands on high.
11 The sun and moon stood still in their place
at the light of your arrows as they sped,
at the flash of your glittering spear.
12 You marched through the earth in fury;
you threshed the nations in anger.
13 You went out for the salvation of your people,
for the salvation of your anointed.
You crushed the head of the house of the wicked,
laying him bare from thigh to neck. Selah
14 You pierced with his own arrows the heads of his warriors,
who came like a whirlwind to scatter me,
rejoicing as if to devour the poor in secret.
15 You trampled the sea with your horses,
the surging of mighty waters.
16 I hear, and my body trembles;
my lips quiver at the sound;
rottenness enters into my bones;
my legs tremble beneath me.
Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble
to come upon people who invade us.
Habakkuk Rejoices in the Lord
17 Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
19 God, the Lord, is my strength;
He makes my feet like the deer's;
He makes me tread on my high places
God says the Fight is ON. Even to imagine the Essenes getting the pottery papyrus into these cliffs.
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2 Chronicles 20:15
Regardless of the reports of fighting, history records the entire sect died during the Jewish Wars. And today we know they were dying in several ways.
1 Timothy 6:12
Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
Philippians 3:12
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
1 Corinthians 9:24
Don't you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!
We read recently that Paul felt strongly motivated to spread the Gospel of Jesus because Paul tremendously loved the people he ministers to. Yes, some are untouched, not warmed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Why would some people draw back, have hardness of heart?
We are called not to hide in a desert, have fear, bitterness and desire not for the renewing Strength of God. We are called to something much harder than war, we are called to participate in making a Peace God would be pleased to have.
Jesus did answer.
Life is a test.
Jesus did answer.
Matthew 13:30
Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.
Life is a test.
When we draw a line, we want to stand where we can be pleased we stood. Not have expectations to press on His Mercy, we were counting on Him looking the other way and handing out a free pass to be selfish. Or tell God what is good.
The Lord bless us, we ask in the Highest Name of Jesus.
The Lord make His face shine with favor and forgiveness.
The Lord be gracious to us for honoring Him.
The Lord turn His face to guide us in His paths with gentle Love.
The Lord teach and give us peace.
Help us to be grateful for His help daily.
Amen in Jesus.
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
Anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Daniel 2:37
Your Majesty, you are the King of Kings.
The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory
Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good news;
lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah,
“Behold your God!”
Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?
Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what man shows him his counsel?
Whom did he consult, and who made him understand?
Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge,
and showed him the way of understanding?
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint
Blessed be the Name of Jesus
Blessed are those whom Jesus would dwell within
Please bless those we Love.
Alleluia for Jesus.
Amen!
Jesus, God of Encouragement.
Jesus, Hope and Future.
Jesus the Lord
saves the world
Amen.
♔ LORD JESUS SAVES †
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