33 Jeremiah

Jeremiah - The weeping prophet. No wonder they called him this. The people ignored him, continued to commit idolaatry, adultery, injustice, tyranny against the helpless and dishonesty. I would weep too if I had to deal with these people and try to get a message to them. His purpose was to warn of the destruction that everyone was about to face and to urge Judah to return and submit to God. Jeremiah was a priest who God calls to be His prophet. Jeremiah identifies their sins and treachery, as he wants them to realize the serious condition of their sinful ways.

He then gives prophecies of the coming King and the New Covenant that would be made. God said - I will put my words in your mouth… Jesus and Paul actually quote Jeremiah. During this time they found the law book of Moses in the temple brought it to the king and there they began to follow the laws again, for awhile anyway.. But evil dominated their lives, as always, til satan gets removed from this earth, it will continue.
Jeremiah’s conception of human nature is well expressed in his statement "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Neither can you do good, when you are accustomed to doing evil." Us not so smart humans follow their desires rather than their intellect; for this reason, they cannot change their evil ways until they experience a change of heart. Furthermore, Jeremiah contended that humans cannot change their nature by themselves. Such reform can occur only through cooperation with God, and God can act on our human hearts only when we recognize our need for it. Without this inner transformation in human nature, all reformative movements or changes are destined to fail.

Nothing that Jeremiah taught during his career was more significant than his doctrine concerning the New Covenant. In Chapter 31 of his book, it says "'The time is coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.'" The Old Covenant, based on laws that were decreed as far back as the time of Moses, was a contract, or agreement, between God and the Israelites, in which the people agreed to obey all of the commandments given to them. But the Israelites did not live up to the terms of that agreement, and Jeremiah believed that he knew the principal reasons why they had not done so: the evil desires and wrong motives that were parts of their human nature - that ol heart of stone. The only thing that could bring about a right relationship with God would be a change of heart — in other words, a new nature. Such change was unattainable except by means of the New Covenant, in which God promises to do for the Israelites that which they cannot do for themselves. Speaking for God, Jeremiah declares, "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people." Jeremiah concludes by saying that when this is done, specific rules no longer will be necessary in order for people to know how they ought to behave. With changed natures and the right desires present within them, people will know what is the morally correct thing to do in any situation. How absolutley cool is that! Read it.. its there.

Ok.. let me explain that a little more since we are not into the New Testament yet. In the old testament God wanted people to follow his words and direction. Like he would tell them to do something and then expected them to do it. So it was like a physical promise to the people. He also wanted them to have a physical circumcision, that was a big one, once they had that done they were a part of the believers. And in the old testament, the people were not given God’s Spirit. Now once Jesus came, there was a New Covenant for the people. It was an agreement based on spiritual promises. So it was no longer physical. Circumcision was repentance and was of the heart and mind… And True believers have God’s Spirit. Now God promises us an eternal life full of love and glory, but only for those that obey God. And eternal death for those who completely reject God. I want everyone that I love to believe so we can all be together in eternal life… ok enough here.. back to Jeremiah

The Prophet Jeremiah had a most difficult message to deliver. Jeremiah preached for 40 years, and not once did he see any real success in changing or softening the hearts and minds of his stubborn, idolatrous people. Jeremiah loved Judah, but he loved God much more, the way we all should be. As painful as it was for Jeremiah to deliver a consistent message of judgment to his own people, Jeremiah was obedient to what God told him to do and say. Jeremiah hoped and prayed for mercy from God for Judah, but also trusted that God was good, just, and righteous. We too must obey God, even when it is difficult, recognize God’s will as more important than our own desires, and trust that God, in His infinite wisdom and perfect plan, will bring about the best for His children. Now Jerimiah prophesied that Jerusalem would be destroyed, but he also said it would be rebuilt again but next time it would be built in the hearts of man. Jerimiah is referred to as the weeping prophet, because he truly suffered on behalf of the people. He constantly tried to keep on top of the people and let them know that if they did not turn their ways that it would be awful for them. He just didn’t have much positive news to pass along and people didn’t like him for it. Must have been terribly hard for him to pass along the message that no one wanted to hear.. oh well.. another prophet I should say, that no one listened to.. Jeremiah was attacked by his own brothers, beaten and put into jail by a priest and a false prophet, imprisoned by the king, threatened with death, thrown down a cistern to die.. the man went through some serious stuff.. just to warn the people..sometimes you just wonder eh..

34 Ezekiel

God's presence remained with the people of Judah who began calling themselves Jews.
Ezekiel was sent by God to tell the Jews that God was still in control, even though Jerusalem was destroyed and they would be under Babylonian rule for a long time. You see the people thought they were special, God’s favorites,nothing would happen to them. Blah blah blah, even if they still did wrong. Big mistake to take all they had for granted.

God didn’t exile the Israelites primarily to punish them. God never has been, nor is He now, interested in punishment for punishment’s sake. Rather, He intended the punishment or judgment in Ezekiel’s day as a means to an end—to bring His people to a state of repentance and humility before the one true God. They had lived for so long in sin and rebellion, confident in their own strength and that of the neighboring nations, that they needed God to remind them of His holy nature and their humble identity in a most dramatic way. After centuries of warnings, prophetic messages, and invasions, God decided that more significant action was required—He had to remove the people from their promised land. Ezekiel ministered to his generation who were both exceedingly sinful and thoroughly hopeless. By means of his prophetic ministry he attempted to bring them to immediate repentance and to confidence in the distant future. Ezekiel communicated in a unique way, dramatizing God's message by using signs, symbols and parables. During the first part of his ministry, he graphically communicated that God's judgment falls as a result of human sin. Now after Babylon took the Jews into exile, Ezekiel spoke words of hope and comfort. Finally Ezekiel describes the millennial temple to which the glory of the Lord will return. God indeed has a future plan for His People.

Ezekiel taught that:

(1) God works through human messengers;
(2) Even in defeat and despair God's people need to affirm God's sovereignty of having supreme power or authority, and that He is the Almighty!;
(3) God's Word never fails;
(4) God is present and can be worshiped anywhere;
(5) People must obey God if they expect to receive blessings; and
(6) God's Kingdom will come.

The major divisions within the book of Ezekiel reveal the purpose of this ministry. In the first half of the book of Ezekiel, Judah is accused of breaking all of God's commandments, and they are warned by God that they will be destroyed if they persist in their sins. After Ezekiel's announcement of Jerusalem's destruction, Ezekiel focuses on an entirely different subject, which is one of comfort and encouragement to the heartbroken Jews. Ezekiel 16 in the bible is probably the most remarkable chapter concerning the love of God for his people in spite of their continuing idolatry and mess ups. He had many predictions.. check out this one.. I will put it into what it would be like today ok.. he Predicted fate of numerous cities and nations.. and here is what it was like.. think about this.

What if I were to give you the following predictions: I could use New York City and Long Island as an example, but instead I will use Nova Scotia

1. Joe Blow (Iran) will destroy all but the island portion of Nova Scotia (Cape Breton).
2. Many nations will fight against Nova Scotia.
3. The debris from the buildings in Nova Scotia will be thrown in the water to access Cape Breton Island.
4. Nova Scotia will be made a bare and flat like the top of a rock.
5. Fishermen will spread their nets over the heap that was once Nova Scotia.
6. Nova Scotia will never be re-built.
7. Nova Scotia's glory will never be restored.
8. I will be laughed at and mocked, and disregarded as a lunatic.

I'm sure the last one is about the only one I would get right! I would certainly have earned my rightful place in the heap of ridicule. What is amazing is that the prophet Ezekiel made these same predictions (except for 8, of course), with Nebuchadnezzar replacing Joe Blow, and Tyre replacing Cape Breton Island - his prophecy was fulfilled to the last detail!

At the time Ezekiel made this prophecy, Tyre was a powerful city holding a stature much like that of Nova Scotia today. Three years after the prophecy Nebuchadnezzar indeed laid siege to the city. The inhabitants all but abandoned the city and moved off-shore to a nearby island, where they fortified themselves and remained a powerful city for several hundred more years. During this time it must have seemed that Ezekiel's prophecy was not wholly correct, but then came Alexander the Great, who eventually built a causeway to the island using debris from the old mainland city of Tyre! More conquerors were to follow. It wasn't until the 12th century A.D. before the final prophetic chapter was closed on the once great city of Tyre. Its fitting that a secular historian would eventually write the following:

...[Tyre] never regained the place she had previously held in the world. The larger part of the site of the once great city is now bare as the top of a rock - a place where the fishermen that still frequent the spot spread their nets to dry.

Let's see how well the previous description of present-day Tyre matches what the Bible had to say:

"And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock. It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD: and it shall become a spoil to the nations."

That is right out of the bible .. amazing how that all came true.. that is what the prophets were all about.. predicting what God wanted them to tell the world and then, them all coming true.. You will find hundreds of predictions in the bible, and if they came from Prophets, they all came true. Hundreds I tell ya.. it is amazing.

Now Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel and Ezekiel are the big guns in the bible.. they told a lot of the future and warned the people through God.

35 Daniel

Daniel - There are some striking similarities between the life of Daniel and that of Jacob’s son Joseph. Both of them prospered in foreign lands after interpreting dreams for their rulers, and both were elevated to high office as a result of their faithfulness to God. It will be hard to summarize Daniel.

Daniel was well trained.. along with three friends of his, after three years of training they are put into the Kings service.

Daniel’s first sign of faithfulness to God was when he and his friends rejected the rich food and wine from the king’s table, because they deemed it a defilement, and became vegetarians. As their health improved, they were permitted to continue with their chosen diet. In their education, the four men from Judah became knowledgeable in all Babylonian matters, and Daniel was given by God the ability to understand dreams and visions of all kinds just like Joseph.

The king at the time was, Nebuchadnezzar, and he was troubled with a dream that he could not interpret. His magicians and astrologers were unable to interpret his dream, much less to know what the dream was. The king decreed that all the wise men, including Daniel and his companions, must be put to death. However, after Daniel sought God in prayer, the mystery of the king’s dream was revealed to Daniel, and he was taken to the king to interpret it. Daniel immediately attributed his ability to interpret dreams to the one true God. The key feature of the dream, as Daniel told it to the king, was that one day there will be a kingdom set up by God that will last forever, and that it will destroy all previous kingdoms known to man. Daniel and his three friends were placed in positions of high authority. Just like Joseph..

In time, King Nebuchadnezzar built a huge golden statue and decreed that all his people bow down and worship it at the given signal. His decree went on to say that whoever refused to bow down to it would be thrown into a blazing furnace. Word reached the king that Daniels three friends were not worshiping his gods or the statue, and so they were summoned to Nebuchadnezzar’s court. Faced with being thrown into a blazing furnace, the three faithfully announced that their God could rescue them from the fire, but even if He did not, they would not bow down to the image. The furnace was so hot, seven times its normal heat, that the king’s soldiers were killed while putting the three into it. Then Nebuchadnezzar saw that there were four men in the furnace, completely unbound and walking about and that the fourth figure looked like he was a son of a God . When the king called them out of the furnace, he and his governors were amazed to find that not a single hair of their heads had been scorched, nor was there even the merest smell of fire about them. God protected them, God has a plan.

King Nebuchadnezzar had a second dream, and, not for the first time, he acknowledged that Daniel had the spirit of his holy God within him and was able to interpret his dream. Daniel’s interpretation of the dream was fulfilled, and, after a period of insanity, Nebuchadnezzar was restored to his kingdom, and he praised and honored Daniel’s God as the most High.

Daniel excelled in his duties as one of the administrators to such a degree that the King was contemplating making him head over all the kingdom. This infuriated the other administrators so much that they looked for a way to bring Daniel down. They encouraged the King to issue a decree forbidding his subjects from praying to any of their gods for the next thirty days. The penalty for disobeying was to be thrown into a den of lions. Daniel, however, continued to pray so openly to God that he could be seen at his bedroom window doing so. With much regret the king gave the order for Daniel to be thrown into the lions’ den, but not without a prayer that Daniel’s God would rescue him. The next day when Daniel was found alive and well, he told the king that God had sent an angel to shut the lions’ mouths and so he remained unharmed. This resulted in the King sending out a decree that all his subjects were to worship the God of Daniel. And Daniel continued to prosper throughout the King’s reign.

The lesson from the life of Daniel is that he exercised great integrity and, in doing so, received the respect and affection of the powerful rulers he served. However, his honesty and loyalty to his masters never led him to compromise his faith in the one true God. Rather than it being an obstacle to his success, Daniel’s continual devotion to God brought him the admiration of the unbelievers in his circle. When delivering his interpretations, he was quick to give God the credit for his ability to do so. It is always God’s credit.. never mans.

Daniel’s integrity as a man of God gained him favor with the secular world, yet he refused to compromise his faith in God. Even under the intimidation of kings and rulers, Daniel remained steadfast in his commitment to God. Daniel also teaches us that, no matter who we are dealing with, no matter what their status is, we are to treat them with compassion. As Christians, we are called to obey the rulers and authorities that God has put in place, treating them with respect and compassion; however, as we see from Daniel’s example, obeying God’s law must always take precedence over obeying men. As a result of his devotion, Daniel not only found favor with those around him, but above all he found favor with God and was held in high esteem by Him. Daniel’s strength lay in his devotion to prayer and is a lesson for us all. It is not just in the bad times but on a daily basis that we must come to God in prayer.

The book of Daniel stands as a unique mix in the Old Testament, for while it begins with history, it makes a strong transition at chapter 7, where it contains visions of future events significant to the Jews. In particular, Daniel 9:24–27 gives a meticulous timeline of when Israel’s Messiah would appear and the events that would follow.

Daniel and his God-fearing friends were forced to live in Babylon, far from home and far from the land their Lord had promised them. Later in the book, Daniel prophesied of terrible trials still to come in the Promised Land (Daniel 11:31). Whatever the trial was, though, it was always the result of sin. Daniel is huge in the bible ...Daniel sees various visions, all of them symbolizing future events that are going to take place. Daniel is clearly seen as the Empire predicting prophet. He was an interpreter of dreams, and God revealed through his interpretations his plans for the kingdoms that would rise to power in world history.

There were the Major Prophets and the Minor Prophets. The Major Prophets ( just because they are longer in the bible, and God revealed more to them) are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations (which was written by Jeremiah), Ezekiel, and Daniel. The Minor Prophets ( cause they are shorter stories and chapters) are Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. The Minor Prophets are also sometimes called The Twelve. So we got through the Major prophets and the Minors we can fly through too.. then we will be into the New Testament.. excited?

Most people don’t like reading the sections with the prophets in the bible because it just seems like constant warnings to smarten up!.. I love reading this part tho.. it is here that you read about Christ’s birth, in Isaiah and Micah. You learn about Christ’s return in Ezekiel, Daniel and Zechariah, and in all of them we learn about God’s holiness, wrath, grace and mercy. I think they are extremely important myself.. so read um.. when you get a chance.

36 Hosea

The start of the minor prophets. I will fly through these. so to start…… here is one.. and I know they all seem to have the same message…… repent and change or else.. but that is the way it was back then.. people were so bad, then needed to hear it.. but sadly.. ignored it..

Hosea’s message is also one of warning to those who would turn their backs on God’s love.

God commands Hosea to marry Gomer (who was a prostitute), but after bearing him three children, she walks away from Hosea to her lovers. The symbolic emphasis can be seen clearly in the first chapter as Hosea compares Israel’s actions to turning from a marriage to life as a prostitute. The second section contains Hosea’s denunciation (A denunciation is a public reprimand in which you are told that you've done wrong) of the Israelites, but followed by the promises and the mercies of God. Everyone was back to idolatry, and messing up and doing wrong, at this point, everyone had forgotten about God and what he had done for them. Gomer, his wife, included, she left her husband and went out to find excitement within the evil world with other men. Hosea loved her, but she wouldn’t stay, hmmm same as the world today.. God loves us, but people reject him. This gave Hosea a deep insight into the way God feels when His own people are unfaithful to Him. Well God has a loving forgiving heart. In this story you will see that Gomer is going downhill fast. She is now at the point of no return, washed up and used, she has been sold as a slave at this point and as bad as she was, Hosea goes and finds her because he still loves her, brings her back into his life - with a few new rules I would say. So he takes her back and life goes on. I’m thinking at this point Gomer is thankful and realizes that what Hosea is preaching is something she should adhere to too! Forgiveness.. and Love.. that is what God is all about too. Of course punishment for wrongdoing is indeed necessary, but when you read this you will understand that the purpose of punishment is not to meet the demands of justice, but rather to restore the ones who have done wrong. This can be achieved with everyone, wrongdoers themselves can recognize the error of their ways and then repent and turn from their evil paths or way.. Then God forgives, pretty simple. Hosea preached this day in and day out, that was his purpose as a prophet.

The Book of Hosea assures us of God’s unconditional love for His people. But it is also a picture of how God is dishonored and angered by the actions of His children. How can a child who is given an abundance of love, mercy, and grace treat a Father with so much disrespect? Yet, we have done just that for centuries. As we consider how the Israelites turned their backs on God, we need to look no further than the mirror in front of us to see a reflection of those same Israelites.

Only by remembering how much God has done for each us will we be able to avoid rejecting the One who can give us eternal life in Glory instead of the Hell we deserve. It is essential that we learn to respect our Creator. Hosea has shown us that when we do make a mistake, if we have a sorrowful heart and a promise of repentance then God will again show His never-ending love to us. Read it someday.. you will see..

37 Joel

Joel.. hmmmm It was hard being a prophet in the days......... Joel called these events 'the Day of God'. A terrible army would attack Jerusalem. They would destroy everything. Nobody could escape from this army. So, the people must confess their evil deeds to God. Even when these terrible things happen, they must ask God to save them. Then, God will be kind to his people. He will hear their prayers. He will cause this terrible army to leave. He will provide food for his people. And he will send his Spirit on all people. God will also punish the nations that attack Jerusalem . Believe that God will protect his own people always.

The prophet Joel showed up in Israel during a time of the most terrible plague of locusts in the nation's history. Joel came and prophesied to the land of Judah before the plague came. He warned the people of Judah that the devastation was going to sweep across the land very soon. He called for a season of fasting, mourning, and repentance. He warned them of God's judgment in the imagery of the impending invasion of locusts.

He called the people of Judah and Jerusalem to weep over the sins, and to fast and repent because the day of the Lord is approaching. Soon the plague came and devastated the whole land and its effects were clearly seen and felt. The locusts came like a storm, they darkened the skies and every green thing, was left barren. There was no hope of escape and they left utter destruction in their path. Joel seized upon the imagery of the locusts as a type of the greater judgement that would come on "the Day of the Lord" in the last days: For the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as destruction from the Almighty . . . The LORD gives voice before His army, for His camp is very great; for strong is the One who executes His word. For the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; who can endure it? Scarry stuff, but he got his point across for sure. Joel also gave a message of hope and prophesied of great blessings that would follow and the glories of the Messiah's kingdom.

I guess the point to understand is God didn't send prophets to yell at the Israelites or anyone for that fact. He sent prophets to warn people about the consequences of sin, and to give us a chance to ask for forgiveness. He was being merciful, not angry. Can you just imagine the sky blackened with locusts… and then them eating up all the food for miles…….. musta freaked them all out, then they turned from their evil ways and changed.

38 Amos

Amos was just a shephard.. no one special.. he was an ordinary guy that had visions..

He was a vigorous spokesman for God's justice and righteousness, whereas Hosea emphasized God's love, grace, mercy and forgiveness. Amos declared that God was going to judge his unfaithful, disobedient, covenant-breaking people. More than almost any other book of Scripture, the book of Amos holds God’s people accountable for their ill-treatment of others. It repeatedly points out the failure of the people to fully embrace God’s idea of justice. They were selling off needy people for goods, taking advantage of the helpless, oppressing the poor, and the men were using women immorally . Drunk on their own economic success and intent on strengthening their financial position, the people had lost the concept of caring for one another; Amos rebuked them because he saw in that lifestyle evidence that Israel had forgotten God. Everything couldn’t have been better for them - except.. Amos knew that many nations were evil, and because of these evil deeds or ways, God would punish the nations. Amos was just an ordinary man with a message for his nation. Amos’s nation which was Israel, was also evil, they were cruel to the poor people. The judges they had were not fair in court and they served evil gods.

So what Amos did was set out to warn his people that they must confess their evil ways to God. And get over it and start doing right things. While in the cities, Amos was deeply troubled not only by the contrast between the rich and the poor but by the way in which the political and religious leaders tried to justify this great difference. Ironically, the rich people of Amos' day thought they were blessed with such great wealth because they were so religious...These leaders insisted that God materially rewards those who are faithful in the performance of their ritualistic obligations to him. Hence they interpreted their own prosperity and that of the nation as a whole, as evidence that the divine favor rests on them and will continue to do so for all time to come.

At the same time, they reasoned that poor people deserve their hard lot in life because they do not regularly participate in the sacrifices and other religious activities practiced at the established places of worship. Amos was not impressed by this kind of argument. He was raised in an environment where it was understood that loyalty to God involves fair dealings among people rather than observance of religious rites and ceremonies. Amos tried to teach his people they could solve their problems by returning to the commandments and God, but they refused to do so. Rather than seeking out opportunities to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly, they embraced their arrogance, idolatry, self-righteousness, and materialism. To be spiritually rich is to be full of the personal knowledge of God. This can only happen when your spirit is made new through faith in God. Sin has marred us, but God wants to restore us. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

God’s word through Amos was directed against the privileged people of Israel, a people who had no love for their neighbor, who took advantage of others, and who only looked out for their own concerns.

39 Obadiah

Now Obadiah is the shortest book in the Old Testament, it only has 21 verses. What he was told was going to happened did happen though, same as what others predicted. What God says he will do, he does. Now you remember the brothers I told you about before, the twin brothers that were born to Isaac and Rebekka, And they have been at odds with each other their whole lives. So of course the people that hang around with them and follow them would be at odds with each other too. The people that hung with Esau, Jacobs brother were called the Edomites. They walked around with their chests stuck out thinking they were the greatest thing since sliced bread, well you know what I mean. This rivalry went on for over 1,000 years. God was not happy with these people and the way they were leading their lives….. They laughed at Jacob and his people all the time.. God said to them through Obadiah, "You should not look down on your brother in the day of his misfortune, nor rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction, nor boast so much in the day of their trouble." So otherwords he was saying, smarten up and stop doing what you are doing.. or else.. you will be destroyed.

Obadiah's message is final and it is sure: the kingdom of Edom, where all the Edomites lived, will be destroyed completely. Edom has been arrogant, gloating over Israel's misfortunes, and when enemy armies attack Israel, and the Israelites ask for help, the Edomites refuse and choose to fight against them, not for them. These sins of pride can be overlooked no longer. The book ends with the promise of the fulfillment and deliverance of Zion (Jesus) in the Last Days when the land will be restored to God's people as He rules over them.

The prophecy of Obadiah reveals the sins of Edom and God's denunciation of their actions against Jerusalem. In 582 BC, only four years after the destruction of Jerusalem Edom was conquered by the Babylonians, the same army that they helped in defeating Jerusalem. In New Testament times the Herodian Dynasty was an Edomite family but after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD the Edomites disappeared from history. The prophet Obadiah said that the Edomites would be "cut off forever" and "be as though they had not been. And guess what……. They where literally whipped off the face of the earth and never to be seen again. So what is being told in this very short book is: God will overcome on our behalf if we will stay true to Him. Unlike Edom, we must be willing to help others in times of need. Pride is sin. We have nothing to be proud of except Jesus Christ and what He has done for us.

40 Jonah

Now Jonah… Think about the person you have the hardest time getting along with, now imagine God telling you, and under no uncertain terms, that you have to go and tell that person they have to repent and they have to turn to the Lord.. How do you feel about that? Now multiply that by 120,000 and that is how Jonah felt when God told him to go to a town called Nineveh, and preach that to those people. Hey for the most part it is easy for us to generate feelings of compassion for people we like. Usually these are people we find ourselves wanting to help. But what about someone that has hurt you, or has been imprisoned for hurting others? The people Jonah was to preach to were brutal, evil people, and enemies of Jonah’s. Jonah was not too happy about doing that, so guess what. Jonah's fear and pride cause him to run from God, take off in the opposite direction, he was outta there! He was a little rebel I would say… He does not wish to go to Nineveh to preach repentance to the people, as God has commanded, because he feels they are his enemies and not worth the effort, and he is convinced that God will not carry out his threat to destroy the city.

Instead he boards a ship for Tarshish, which is in the opposite direction. See ya.. Im running away from this assignment lol. Soon a raging storm causes the crew to wonder who is causing all this, and they cast lots and determine that Jonah is the problem. They throw him overboard, he actually would rather die than go and tell those people to change their lives.. blah.. So overboard he goes... and he is swallowed by a great fish. In its belly for 3 days and 3 nights, Jonah repents of his sin to God and prays and prays, and the fish vomits him up on dry land (we wonder what took him so long to repent). Jonah then makes the 500-mile trip to Nineveh and leads the city in a great revival. But the prophet is not too happy (actually pouts) instead of being thankful when Nineveh repents and is saved. Hmmmm, He wanted to see them fry… not very nice. We cannot hide from God. What He wishes to accomplish through us will come to pass, despite all our objections and foot-dragging. Reading the bible reminds us that He has plans for us and will see to it that we conform to those plans. How much easier it would be if we, unlike Jonah, would submit to Him without delay!

God’s love shows itself in His accessibility to all, regardless of our reputation, nationality or race. The free offer of the Bible or the Gospel is for all people in all times, even today. We all have the ability to read it. Our task as Christians is to be the means by which God tells the world of this offer and to be happy in the salvation of others. This is an experience God wants us to share with Him, not being jealous or resentful of those who come to Christ in “last-minute conversions” or who come through circumstances dissimilar to our own. Now when we get into the New testament, Jesus even uses Jonah’s experience to proclaim His coming death, burial and resurrection. It is recorded in Matthew.. read it sometime... In Matthew 12:40-41, Jesus declares that He will be in the grave the same amount of time Jonah was in the whale’s belly. He goes on to say that while the Ninevites repented in the face of Jonah’s preaching, the Pharisees and teachers of the Law who rejected Jesus were rejecting One who is far greater than Jonah. Just as Jonah brought the truth of God regarding repentance and salvation to the Ninevites, so too does Jesus bring the same message of salvation of and through God alone. Read it.. its amazing..

It is necessary for us believers to say that it is quite obvious that the events which happened to the Prophet Jonah were undoubtedly the work of the power of God. Who, as Creator of the very laws of nature, has a free will to control them, when He finds it necessary, according to His all-powerful timely action. With God you really don’t need to prove a thing, you just have to believe. But if you don’t, here is something that might make you think anyways.

Can you imagine what it would be like to live in the belly of a whale for three days? There are whales of the size that could have a man inside their stomach. One of them is the Rhinodon Typicus or the whale shark. They can go through the water at high speeds, catch their prey, strain out the water from their mouths, and swallow whatever is left. In 1933 one was found off of Cape Cod. His mouth was 10 or 12 feet wide; he was over 100 feet long; his mouth was so big he could have swallowed a horse. They have four to six compartments in their stomachs. A colony of men could find lodging there. They could have a choice of rooms, for in the head of this whale there is an air storage chamber, which is an enlargement of its nasal sinus, that can measure 7 feet high, 7 feet wide, and 14 feet long. Note: A dog was once found alive in a whale’s belly after being there for six days. He was alive and barking when found. Some whales have been found with other sea creatures in them as big as an ox.
Men have been found alive in whales. A man by the name of James Bartley, was thought to have been drowned at sea. Two days after he disappeared, some sailors made a catch of a whale. When they cut it up, they found the man alive but unconscious inside of the whale. He revived and had good health afterwards. So he lived to prove it.. but I don’t need proof.. I just know and believe.. You see I always feel I have to prove something to people.. I don’t even think twice if it is in the bible.. I know in my heart anything is possible with God.. look at this earth.. its an amazing place with many many amazing incredible things happening all the time.. think about it.. If it is in the Bible, it is true!

Now what can you learn from Jonah? To really understand what I wrote well, it would be very helpful if you would sit down, open your bible and read the book of Jonah first. It is a very short book which only has 4 chapters, or about 1,344 words. A person can sit down and easily read it in about 10-15 minutes. So here is something you can learn from Jonah.

First off. It is never too late to pray. We might tend to think that circumstances have gone too far. If you were out in the ocean, thrown out of a boat and then swallowed by a great fish you might tend to think that your fate had been sealed. We need to remember that nothing is too hard for the Lord. This happened to Jonah and it was not the end for him.

Secondly - You cannot run away from God. Jonah ran in the opposite direction of which he was told to go and ran right into God. Even when he was confronted by the sailors on the boat he did not repent or pray for help, but rather he told the sailors to throw him overboard. Did his stubbornness save him from going to Nineveh? No he thought he would rather die and told the sailors to throw him overboard. Then apparently after being thrown overboard and swallowed by a great fish he had a change of heart and repented and prayed for help.. finally! Jonah could have saved himself a lot of trouble by being obedient to God. This is a good lesson for us, we cannot run away from God. The Lord is everywhere that we may choose to flee. It would be much easier for us to be obedient in the first place. We may not encounter anything as drastic as what Jonah went through, but we are told that whom the Lord loves He disciplines. God loves us all!

Thirdly… God has control of circumstances even over nature. God caused the storm which tossed the ship about that Jonah was on. God told the fish to swallow Jonah as well as had him vomit him up on shore And lastly, God is gracious and compassionate. God is slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness. God could have easily just killed Jonah when he took off for Tarshish instead of going to Nineveh like he was told. Instead God dealt with him through a process of circumstances until he was willing to go. Not only that, but we know that God hates sin. Nineveh would have been destroyed then if they did not repent and change. Sodom and Gomorrah serve as a good example of what the Lord could have done, like burn it down. Instead God sent Jonah to warn them so that they would repent instead. This is because the Lord would much rather have people turn from their wicked ways and repent than destroy them . From our perspective we might tend to side with Jonah. There are reasons why Jonah would not want to go to Nineveh. He was afraid that they would repent and God would forgive them. Jonah wanted them destroyed not forgiven. There are many reasons why perhaps Jonah would not want them to be forgiven. We can only speculate as to what exactly those reasons were since the bible does not tell us. Put yourself in Jonah's place, suppose you disliked someone enough that you wanted them destroyed. Would you want to be the messenger telling them to repent, if you thought they might repent, and God would forgive them? We need to remember that we are told to love our enemies, do good to those who hate us, bless those who curse us and pray for those who mistreat us. This can certainly be easier said than done. Until we do this we are in the same boat as Jonah being disobedient to the Lord.

41 Micah

Micah, was a country boy, who saw what was going on in the big city, and directed much of his prophecy toward the powerful leaders of Samaria and Jerusalem, the capital cities of Israel - who were in the north, and Judah - who was in the south of Israel. Now, let me give you a comparison to the size of Isreal. With us here in Nova Scotia. and Israel.. well its amazing how this tiny little place holds its ground. That is because its God’s country and he won't let anything happen to them, seriously think about it. Israel is 470 km long and 135 kms wide.. Now Nova Scotia is 580 km long and no more than 130 kms wide.. So Nova Scotia is bigger than Isreal and look at all that is happening in that part of the world. amazes me really..

With Micah, Most of what his story revolves around is two things. One, the judgment of Israel and Judah, and then the restoration of God’s people in the millennial kingdom. He tells them, come on.. get with the program, and if you do.. there is hope.. big time. He explains to them God’s good works on their behalf, how He cared for them while they only cared for themselves. He goes on to tell them that rather than leave God’s people in fear and with the sting of judgment for how they have been, he concludes that the Lord is the only source of salvation and mercy on us little no goods. This points people towards an everlasting hope in their everlasting God. Its all good I tell ya.

Reading the book of Micah, is amazing when you think about it and read it. The book of Micah provides one of the most significant prophecies of Jesus Christ’s birth in all the Old Testament, pointing some seven hundred years before Christ’s birth to His birthplace of Bethlehem and to His eternal nature. Surrounding Micah’s prophecy of Jesus’s birth is one of the most straight forward pictures of the world’s future under the reign of the Prince of Peace. This future kingdom, which we call the millennial kingdom, will be characterized by the presence of many nations living with one another in peace and security and coming to Jerusalem to worship the reigning king, that is, Jesus Himself. Because these events have not yet occurred, we look forward to the millennial kingdom at some undetermined time in the future. It will come, and it will be a great time for all us believers!!

Most of Micahs prophecy involves injustice toward the ordinary people of that time —unjust business dealings, robbery, mistreatment of women and children, and a government that lived in luxury off the hard work of its nation’s people. (Sound familiar? Still going on today) So where does the injustice dwell in your own life? Who are the ordinary or plain ol people in your life? Do you need a call toward repentance, like the people of Israel and Judah did? We all do. Micah’s impassioned plea for God’s chosen people to repent will cut many of us to the quick. Most of us don’t decide daily to cut people down or find ways to carry out injustice. Instead, we do it out of habit. Let’s allow the words of Micah to break us out of our lack of concern about extending justice and kindness to others and press on toward a world that better resembles the harmonious millennial kingdom to come. Let’s determine to live as God desires— “to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God” I pray for this.

42 Nahum

Nahum did not write this book as a warning or “call to repentance” for the people of Nineveh. God had already sent them the prophet Jonah 150 years earlier with His promise of what would happen if they continued in their evil ways. The people at that time had repented and changed their lives, remember.. to Jonah’s dismay.. he wasn’t impressed, but they did change their ways and saved themselves from doom. But now lived just as bad, if not worse than they did before. Now Nahum was telling the people of Judah to not despair, because God had pronounced judgment and the Assyrians (what is now Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon) would soon be getting just what they deserved. Everyone was feeling their endless cruelty. It was bad. So, the people of Nineveh, which was the capital of Assyria, who once, had responded to the preaching of Jonah and turned from their evil ways to serve the Lord God. But then 150 years later, Nineveh returned to idolatry, violence, and arrogance. Can you believe they did not learn from their ancestors! Once again God sends one of His prophets to Nineveh warning of judgment in the form of the destruction of their city and exhorting them to repentance. Sadly, the Ninevites did not heed’s Nahum’s warning, and the city was brought under the dominion of Babylon. Now, Babylon was the capital of a small city state of Mesopotamia, named Babylonia. Which today is now Iraq. Babylon is mentioned many many times in the bible. Always in a negative content. Babylon is not good. Babylon, Babylonia, Babel.. all bad to me.

Here is a fact.

Babylon is mentioned 260 times in the bible, and is second in importance only to Jerusalem. It is viewed as the Devil’s city. While Jerusalem is viewed as God’s city. They are always in opposition to each other, so whenever I see Babylon. I know its trouble.

Back to Nahum

The apostle Paul, repeats what Nahum says in regard to the Messiah, and His ministry, as well as the apostles of Christ in His time. It may also be understood of any minister of the Gospel whose business it is to "preach the Gospel of peace." God has made peace with sinners by the blood of Christ, and has given to His people the peace that “transcends all understanding”. The preacher’s work is also to "bring glad tidings of good things" , such as reconciliation, righteousness, pardon, life, and eternal salvation by a crucified Christ. The preaching of such a Gospel, brings such news. The imagery here is of one who runs to others, eager and joyful to proclaim the Good News. That being me, I wish I could talk to others about all this, but people just don’t want to listen.. same as back in the day eh.

Think about it this way. God is patient and slow to anger. He gives every country time to proclaim Him as their Lord. But He is not to be mocked, or made fun of in any way. Any time a country turns away from Him to serve its own motives, He steps in with judgment. Almost 220 years ago, the United States was formed as a nation guided by principles found in the Bible. And Canada.. 147 years ago, Canada being the second largest country in the world. Same deal tho, founded by the principlas found in the Bible. In the last 50 years that has changed, and we are turning daily in the opposite direction. As Christians it is our duty to stand up for biblical principles and scriptural truth, for Truth is our country’s only hope. Or guess what, judgement will come one day, and it will come! If these countries in the past were founded by guidelines and principals found in the bible. Then what is going on today? Look around, The churches are closing, there are more cults today than ever, do you ever see the ten commandments hung anywhere like they used to be in court houses and schools. What about the bible being taught in the schools? Same sex marriage, divorce, sex changes, death with dignity.. like what is up with that? You can’t say Merry Christmas anymore, cause you might offend someone.. hmmm There is a long list of what was, and is no longer, so we are no longer following the bible these days. Which was also predicted in the bible.. sad.. ok Im rambling.
Next............

43 Habakkuk

Now Habakkuk - Habakkuk was wondering why God was allowing His chosen people to go through the current suffering at the hands of their enemies. He wrestled with the question of why innocent people suffer while evil people so often seem to prosper. God replied that His people must trust Him, for the wicked will be judged in the end. God answers and Habakkuk’s faith is restored. I guess this is where you learn you can question Gods motives and ask why.. with respect of course. Sometimes it is not always clear to us what is going on, especially if we are thrown into suffering for a period of time or if it seems like everyone else is prospering while we are just barely getting by. Habakkuk affirms that, God is the Almighty God, who has all things under control. We just need to be still and know He is at work. He is who He says He is and does keep His promises. He will punish the wicked. Even when we cannot see it, He is still there! We need to stay focused on this: Sometimes the way we have to go to get us there, is through suffering and sorrow, but if we rest in Him and trust Him, we come out where he wants us. It is all good I tell ya. You will see

What's the big idea? As the prophet Habakkuk stood in Jerusalem and pondered the state of his nation, Judah, he must have been dumbfounded. So much evil thrived, completely in the open, but God remained strangely silent. Where was He? How long would He allow this mess to continue? Not long, according to the Lord. Another nation, the Babylonians, would come and execute justice on the Lord’s behalf. The wicked in Judah, those who thought they would get away with their evil deeds forever, were soon to be punished. The book of Habakkuk offers us a picture of a prideful people being humbled, while the righteous live by faith in God. It reminds us that while God may seem silent and uninvolved in our world, He always has a plan to deal with evil and always works out justice . . . eventually. The example of the prophet Habakkuk encourages believers to wait on the Lord, expecting that He will indeed work out all things for our good

Habakkuk asked God the kind of question that so many of us have pondered, “Why do you force me to look at evil, stare trouble in the face day after day?”. We have all seen the evidence of evil in our lives. We’ve all been touched by it. And we bear scars at various stages of healing. Surrounded by evil as if we are trapped in a dark prison cell of our own making, we are often downtrodden by our poor choices and our fallen world. However, the book of Habakkuk reminds us that no place is too dark and no wall too thick for God’s grace to penetrate in a powerful and life-affirming way. He is there, always there, watching what is going on, and in time.. will save us all from this messed up world, and bring us into a better place. Honest, it will happen, you must believe.

44 Zaphaniah

Zephaniah.. Zephaniah had the courage to speak bluntly, because he knew he was proclaiming the Word of the Lord. His book begins with "The word of the Lord" and ends with "says the Lord." He knew that neither the many gods the people worshiped, nor even the might of the Assyrian army could save them. God is gracious and compassionate, but when all His warnings are ignored, judgment is to be expected. God's day of judgment is frequently mentioned in the Scriptures. The prophets called it the "Day of the Lord." They referred to various events such as the fall of Jerusalem, as manifestations or an event of God's Day, each of which pointed toward the ultimate Day of the Lord. Its short, but they pretty much are telling you the same thing.. smarten up and get your life in order or else..

so now.. Haggai is next and he draws attention to common problems most people face even today. Haggai asks us 1) to examine our priorities to see if we are more interested in our own pleasures than doing the work of God; 2) to reject a defeatist attitude when we run into opposition or discouraging circumstances; 3) to confess our failures and seek to live pure lives before God; 4) to act courageously for God because we have the assurance that He is with us always and is in full control of our circumstances; and 5) to rest secure in God's hands knowing that He will abundantly bless us as we faithfully serve Him.

45 Haggi

so now.. Haggai is next and he draws attention to common problems most people face even today. Haggai asks us 1) to examine our priorities to see if we are more interested in our own pleasures than doing the work of God; 2) to reject a defeatist expecting failure attitude when we run into opposition or discouraging circumstances; 3) to confess our failures and seek to live pure lives before God; 4) to act courageously for God because we have the assurance that He is with us always and is in full control of our circumstances; and 5) to rest secure in God's hands knowing that He will abundantly bless us as we faithfully serve Him.

Haggai's words were addressed to the people in Judah and Jerusalem who had returned from exile. He sought to shake them out of their dependency and rejuvenate their spiritual commitment. He urged them to dispel their apathy - lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern, and to set their priorities straight, and rebuild the temple. Blessings would follow.

46 Zechariah

Zechariah emphasized that God has used His prophets to teach, warn and correct His people. Unfortunately, they refused to listen. Their sin brought God's punishment. The book also bears evidence that even prophecy could be corrupted. History shows that in this period, prophecy fell into disfavor among the Jews. Leading to the period between the Testaments when no lasting prophetic voice spoke to God's people.

The Book of Zechariah teaches that salvation may be obtained by all. The last chapter depicts peoples from all over the world coming to worship God, who desires that all people follow Him. This is not the doctrine of universalism, i.e., that all people would be saved because it is God's nature to save. Rather, the book teaches that God desires that all people worship Him and accepts those who do, regardless of their national or political expressions, as in the freeing of Judah and Jerusalem from their political enemies. Finally, Zechariah preached that God is totally it! over this world, any appearance to the contrary notwithstanding. His visions of the future indicate that God sees all that will happen. The depictions of God's intervention in the world teach that ultimately He will bring human events to the end He chooses. He does not eliminate the individual's freedom to follow God or rebel, but holds people responsible for the choices they make. In the last chapter, even the forces of nature respond to God's control. These prophets amaze me when they predict what is to come and they come true….

Prophecies about Jesus Christ and the messianic era are discussed big time in Zechariah. From the promise that Messiah would come and dwell in our midst, to the symbolism of the Branch and the Stone, to the promise of His Second Coming where they who pierced Him will look upon Him and mourn, that all came true like 400 years later!! Christ is the theme of the Book of Zechariah. Jesus is the Savior of Israel, a fountain whose blood covers the sins of all who come to Him for salvation. Ya just gotta believe it. God expects sincere worship and moral living of us today. Zechariah's example of breaking through national prejudice reminds us to reach out into all areas of our society. We must extend God's invitation of salvation to people of all national origins, languages, races and cultures. That salvation is only available through the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross, who died in our place to atone for sin. But if we reject that sacrifice, there is no other sacrifice through which we can be reconciled to God. There is no other name under heaven by which men are saved. There is no time to lose; today is the day of salvation. Stick with God and you will win too.. promise..

47 Malichi

You may be surprised to discover that the subject matter in the Old Testament book of Malachi has significant implications for your life now and for your future.

Where does Malachi fit into the Bible?

Malachi is the final book of the 12 Minor Prophets. The Bible shows that because of their sins, the tribe of Judah was taken into captivity by the Babylonians, with Jerusalem and the temple was destroyed. A remnant of the Jews returned from that captivity and, during the time of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, finished rebuilding the temple. After another 60 years Ezra arrived to further advance the nation. He was followed 13 years later by Nehemiah who rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem. In 52 days!!!
By Malachi’s time, the Jews had been back in their homeland for more than 100 years. The temple had been rebuilt and the city of Jerusalem had been restored.
Malachi means “messenger,” and it is translated as “My messenger” in Malachi 3:1. The obvious implication is that Malachi is God’s messenger with a message from Him. Nothing else is mentioned or known about the author.

Malachi is a book of messengers, and five can be identified:

1. First, the prophet Malachi was one of the messengers.
2. The priests were supposed to be God’s messengers, but were chided for failing to perform their priestly office according to God’s instructions (2:7).
3. John the Baptist was to prepare the way for Jesus Christ’s first coming (3:1).
4. Jesus Christ is the Messenger of the covenant who would return to His spiritual temple, the Church (3:1).
5. An end-time Elijah is prophesied to appear on the scene before “the great and dreadful day of the LORD” (4:5-6) to prepare the way for Christ’s second coming.

At the time of Malachi’s writing, the spiritual condition of the people was deplorable and wretched. Some had wanted to scale back on their worship of God. Others were highly skeptical of the worth of worshiping at all.

As you read through Malachi, you will be struck by the common sins of the day: adultery, lying, oppression of the poor, ungodly marriages, stealing God’s tithes and offerings, sacrifices that were inferior, a lax priesthood and so on. Malachi prophesied to a nation that had reached a low spiritual condition. They had a casual approach to the worship of God, and the priests were responsible for not giving proper spiritual direction and guidance.

An important aspect of the book is the people’s failure to recognize God’s love for them . Instead they became indifferent and didn't care about seeking God, and they were unwilling to heed the dire warnings and predictions. There was a spirit of confrontation and argumentation between the people and God, including God’s messengers. Their spiritual laxity bred a defiant, contentious attitude that would lead to their destruction unless repented.

We have to ask ourselves if these conditions characterize the prevalent or common spiritual condition of the Christian world today. It should not stretch our imagination to see similar behavioral trends in vogue, especially among people of the Western world. We claim to be “Christian,” but are indifferent and calloused toward God and His inspired Word—His revelation to man. Few take notice of biblical teachings and how they apply to their daily lives.

Malachi was inspired to carry his message forward to the end of the age, and he makes reference to the return of Christ. He calls it “the day” Out of love, God calls for us to repent; and He gives a stern warning to all, including those living at the end time.

We should do something because it is the right thing to do, all people should heed the warnings so that they will be “worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man”. Unless Christ intervenes in the affairs of humanity, the world would end “with a curse” or utter destruction. The whole process that eventually leads to the lake of fire begins with the people not responding to the love of God.
Yet some do respond to God. “A book of remembrance” is written for those God calls “My jewels,” and He promises to spare them as His own children. Why this special category of people as opposed to the many who reject Him?

The book of Malachi lists several reasons :

1. They “feared the LORD”—honored, esteemed, respected and obeyed Him.
2. They “spoke to one another,” showing the importance of fellowshipping with people of like mind.
3. They “meditate on His name” study and think about the Bible to come to a greater understanding of God and His purpose for mankind. Their lives took on a different purpose and meaning. Hope replaced despair, and truth replaced error.
4. They served Him, showing a willingness to obey God and to seek His Kingdom and righteousness as a first priority in their lives.

The book of remembrance is mentioned as an encouragement to those faithful to God, since He needs no book of records to remember or recollect names.

In the last chapter of Malachi there is a description of what will occur to the incorrigibly wicked in their day of judgment. These are the people who deliberately persist in rejecting God’s laws and His way of life. Notice they are ashes under the feet of the righteous, and not in perpetual torment in a fire that never goes out . The righteous who have remained faithful and endured to the end will be given blessings beyond imagination.

As a last warning, God calls upon all to “remember the Law of Moses, My servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments” . This is the final instruction in the last book in the English arrangement of the Old Testament books. It ties in with the first book in the New Testament and Christ’s teachings that He did not come to destroy the law, but to make it more complete. It is a direct contrast to many who teach that the law is irrelevant and has no bearing on the life of a Christian. Each book of the Old Testament shows the development of God’s plan of redemption through the Ages right up to the time of the final redemption accomplished on the Cross. Take away the Old Testament and we cannot maintain a true understanding of the prophesied Saviour.


In verses 5-6 there is a reference to an Elijah who would come to prepare the way before Christ’s second coming at the time of “the great and dreadful day of the LORD.” John the Baptist partially fulfilled this prophecy, preparing the way for Christ’s first coming.

The instruction in Malachi is clear. God pleads with people to consider their ways and to respond to His love and to accept His offer of everlasting life. Look it up.

48 Old and New.. whats the Dif?

First, despite what you have heard, you may want to search and study the bible for yourself on everything, than going by what you have heard or even what you read here.

So, that is the Old Testament, so what is the difference between the old and the new? Well we are just getting into the New Testament, and this might make it a little easier to understand. While the Bible is a complete book, there are differences between the Old Testament and the New Testament. In many ways they are complementary to each other. I flip back and forth all the time. The Old Testament is foundational; the New Testament builds on that foundation with further revelation from God. The Old Testament establishes principles that are seen to be really illustrated by the New Testament truths. The Old Testament contains many prophecies that are fulfilled in the New. The Old Testament provides the history of a people; the New Testament focus is on a Person. The Old Testament shows the wrath of God against sin (with glimpses of His grace); the New Testament shows the grace of God toward sinners (with glimpses of His wrath).

The Old Testament predicts a Messiah in Isaiah, and the New Testament reveals who the Messiah is by John. The Old Testament records the giving of God’s Law, and the New Testament shows how Jesus the Messiah fulfilled that Law, you can read that in Matthew and Hebrew. In the Old Testament, God’s dealings are mainly with His chosen people, the Jews; in the New Testament, God’s dealings are mainly with His church which is of course the people - Us. Physical blessings promised under the Old Covenant give way to spiritual blessings under the New Covenant.

The Old Testament prophecies related to the coming of Christ, although incredibly detailed, contain a certain amount of uncertainty that is cleared up in the New Testament. For example, the prophet Isaiah spoke of the death of the Messiah and the establishing of the Messiah’s kingdom with no clues concerning, the chronology of the two events,—no hints that the suffering and the kingdom-building, might be separated by millennia. In the New Testament, it becomes clear that the Messiah would have two advents: in the first He suffered and died (and rose again), and in the second He will establish His kingdom.

Because God’s revelation in Scripture is progressive, the New Testament brings into sharper focus principles that were introduced in the Old Testament. The book of Hebrews describes how Jesus is the true High Priest and how His one sacrifice replaces all previous sacrifices, which were mere foreshadowings. The Passover lamb of the Old Testament becomes the Lamb of God in the New Testament. The Old Testament gives the Law. The New Testament clarifies that the Law was meant to show men their need of salvation and was never intended to be the means of salvation. Paul preaches that big time in the New Testament.

The Old Testament saw paradise lost for Adam; the New Testament shows how paradise is regained through the second Adam (Christ). The Old Testament declares that man was separated from God through sin, that bad ol apple, and the New Testament declares that man can be restored in his relationship to God. The Old Testament predicted the Messiah’s life. The Gospels record Jesus’ life, and the Epistles interpret His life and how we are to respond to all He has done.

In summary, the Old Testament lays the foundation for the coming of the Messiah who would sacrifice Himself for the sins of the world. The New Testament records the ministry of Jesus Christ and then looks back on what He did and how we are to respond. Both testaments reveal the same holy, merciful, and righteous God who condemns sin but desires to save sinners through an atoning sacrifice. In both testaments, God reveals Himself to us and shows us how we are to come to Him through faith.

· One out of every 30 verses in the Bible mentions the subject of Christ's return or the end of time.
· Of the 216 chapters in the New Testament, there are well over 300 references to the return of Christ.
· 23 of the 27 New Testament books mention Christ's return.
· In the Old Testament, such well-known and reliable men of God as Job, Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, as well as most of the minor prophets mention Christ's return in their writings.

49 New Testament

NEW TESTAMENT

I just want to continue and tell you that the New Testament is a collection of 27 books and epistles (letters). Composed over a 50 year period, that is it, all the words that were written in the New Testament and that are read today, are and were lived for 50 years. People were so amazed at everything that was going on, they wrote it down. Of course with the help of God. That was the plan, and to this day that is what we are reading. Its amazing how this word has been tried, many times to be destroyed, and here it still is today. Many, many people tried over the many years and it was always impossible, that is what always amazed me. It was composed by different authors. Of course the primary personality in the New Testament is Jesus. The primary theme is salvation in Jesus Christ. Based on the New Covenant. Its an agreement with God. So that we can learn what we are entitled to. The Old Covenant was an agreement between God and the Isrealites and it was a law. The new covenant is now and focuses on grace, and the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ.

The first four books of the New Testament are the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Each one contains an account of the life of Christ. None of them portray all the details of His life, but when we consider them together we can reconstruct a fairly good account of what was going on at that time.

Matthew was a disciple, and so was John.. but Luke and Mark were not one of the twelve. Luke was a hangaround of Peters, and was actually a doctor, and Mark was another hangaround, but he hung with the apostle Paul.

Acts follows the Gospels. This then gets into how Christianity spread following the death and resurrection of Jesus. Following Acts are the Epistles (Letters) and Paul wrote 13 of them. The rest were written by followers of Jesus. What Paul wrote then to the churches, or I should say the people, cause its not really a church. A church was a group of people that were Christians.. so they could have been getting together at a house or anywhere actually, and what Paul was trying to do was help them and guide them. That was his journey in life.. and you know what.. those epistles that he wrote, when I read them.. they are pretty relevant to us today because many of the problems that existed in the early days, are still issues that we struggle with today.

The last book of the New Testament is the book of Revelation, jam packed with prophecies. This was written for the purpose of giving its readers hope, inspiration and comfort in the face of severe persecution. Read it you will see, in it, it demonstrates that in the end God wins..... Eternal life forever in a new heaven and a new earth.. its comin. We will see it all.... We use the word “see” to mean that we finally understand and discern the beauty and glory of God after being blind to it. Like when we say: Oh, now I see. Our soul is tuned in to the glory so that the glory of God that shines through the gospel is seen as glorious, and we are no longer spiritually blind to it.

So the first Gospel is from Matthew who is also known as Levi. He was one of the 12 apostles. And he was also a Jew. He wrote the Gospel to try and convince the Jewish people that Jesus was the Messiah. Tough job actually. But he doesn’t only confine all this good news just to the Jewish people. He actually emphasizes that the gospel is for all people. God’s qualities are consistent throughout the Bible. In both testaments, God is a God of incredible love and compassion; however, God is equally a God of justice and righteous wrath against sin throughout Scripture.


Here is one of my paintings

50 Matthew

Im going to try to summarize Matthew. There is a lot in that one gospel tho. The gospel of Matthew was written as a message of encouragement and strength for Jewish Christians. Despite Jesus being killed by Jews, Matthew's first message is to strengthen Jewish Christian's faith in the knowledge that Jesus was the Messiah. To prove that Jesus was the promised Messiah of the Old Testament, Matthew quotes the Old Testament more than any other writer of the Gospels.

First off he taught us the geneology of Jesus and where he came from. Right from Adam and Eve down to John the Baptist being his cousin. John the Baptist was older than Jesus and his main purpose in life was to prepare the way for Jesus. Matthew tells of Jesus going on to have this big sermon on the Mount. He addresses the blessed life we have, the law, prayer, the Golden Rule, living righteously, true versus false teaching, entering the kingdom and the importance of people listening to his words.

Matthew then goes on to tell us about the Miracles that Jesus performed like healing a leper, a hot shots servant, one of his disciples (Peter), well he healed his mother in law. He also calmed the sea, forgave and healed a paralytic, healed a rulers daughter, healed two blind men and delivered a man who was a mute and demon possessed. these are the some of many, that Jesus performed. Matthew also talks about how Jesus chose and trained 12 disciples (A disciple is a believer, a learning pupil, and a faithful follower of Christ), their job would be to spread the good news and tell everyone about the kingdom. He then gave them healing powers and warned them about the kind of reception they would likely receive.

At this point John the Baptist is being rejected, Jesus is being rejected, mostly from the Pharisees. They just plain ol didn’t like his interference in there lives, so Jesus delayed His kingdom program until the second coming, which will come. Jesus speaks in parables to help people understand what is coming. Some understand, most don’t. Of course just like the Old Testament, they just don’t get it. Matthew then goes on to tell his disciples things they need to know following his death. He taught them about the church (the people) total commitment, the second coming, faith, humility, evangelism, offence, forgiveness, rich people, how the last will be first and the danger of ambition. Read it.. its all there.. how we are suppose to be living in this world.

Jesus then enters Jerusalem as people shout Hosanna. He cleans out the temple of all the wrong that was going on there, condemns fruitless living and noted how Israel’s religious leaders had all gone astray. They just plain ol don’t like this man interfering with their control! So they plot to kill him and you know the story. Judas betrays him big time. So Jesus celebrates Passover with His disciples and that is where the last supper was. He leaves them to pray and he goes to the garden of Gethsemane to prepare for his end. Its there that he is arrested and falsely accused, denied by Peter and delivered to Pilate, tried, scorged and led to Golgotha were He was crucified and died. Gloriously, three days later, Jesus is resurrected from the dead. The tomb is empty and then Jesus appears to the women who come there to prepare him. He also appears to the disciples. Before Jesus ascends to heaven he gave His disciples the Great Commission. Which was this in the bible.

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Jesus gave this command to the apostles shortly before He ascended into heaven, and it essentially outlines what Jesus expected the apostles, and those who followed them, to do in His absence. So the way I look at it is .. I'm a disciple, which is a believer, I want to learn and I want to faithfully follow what Jesus taught us. Teaching someone is telling someone that wants to listen and learn. And in the process gain the true knowledge of the Word of God.. yeah.. that is me..

So, in the scriptures, an apostle is someone sent out on a mission-specifically to start churches in other cultures. A disciple, on the other hand, is someone who chooses to be a follower or a student of Jesus. Matthew was a disciple, he saw everything first hand.. he is a witness to it all.

Ok.. enough here.. that is Matthew and how I feel about things in the bible..

51 Mark

Mark.. he was a close companion to Peter, and he never changed his name. He hung out a lot with Peter and Barnabus on part of their first mission tour. Now near the end of Paul’s life, he requested that Mark come and help him out. so Mark has a lot of first hand information since he hung out with the two most powerful apostles in the bible. That is why there was a gospel of Mark, he was the IN guy. Mark focuses on the idea that Jesus was a servant. This can be seen by his lack of geneology of Jesus throughout his gospel.

Mark's work is meant to encourage Christians throughout Rome, despite being persecuted for their faith. He goes on to say that persecution is the price that Christian's must pay for following Jesus. His Gospel was the shortest of the four tho, fast packed and action packed. About one third of Mark’s Gospel focuses on the last week of Jesus’s life on earth, concluding with his death and resurrection. When you read it you will sense he was writing it for the Gentiles, the non Jews, cause he explains Jewish customs. and he wouldn’t have to do that if he was writing to Jews.

So with Mark, he starts off his Gospel with John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus, after which Jesus was baptized and then off to be tempted by the devil. Jesus is gone for 40 days and after he comes back he ministers to Capernaum and Galilee. He commissioned 12 disciples to be with Him and to preach and drive out demons. They were with him all the time. He taught in Parables like I told you before, to reveal the spiritual nature of the kingdom.

A parable is “A simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus in the Gospels”. He performed many miracles to demonstrate to them his authority and power, sometimes they got it, sometimes they didn’t. When Jesus returned to his hometown He was confronted with unbelief, of course, so he didn’t do much there. He sent out the disciples to heal the sick and tell them they must repent. Still same ol thing as the Old Testament. Repent people! but with Jesus, he had the power to show them by doing miracles, so people did repent when they saw what he could do.

John the Baptist at this point had been beheaded. and Jesus withdrew to a quiet place to get away from the crowds. But people couldn’t get enough of him and they followed Him and grew to a large size crowd. At this point there were about 5000 people just waiting to hear his word, all hungry. Jesus miraculously feed 5000 men, in addition to women and children with a mere five loaves of bread and two fish. You can just image how many followers he got after that! Mark goes on to tell us that Jesus walks on water, healed many, continued to rebuke the Pharisees and perform miracle after miracle. Then Mark tells us that Jesus explains that He had to go to Jerusalem, where He would be put to death. They were upset! They hoped this would be their saviour now, not later. They didn’t get it. Peter tried to stop Him, and Jesus at this point detected the Devil was behind Peter’s words.

Jesus reveled His glory to the disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration. Of course they were in awe. But still had some disbelief. This is where Jesus rebuked His disciples for their unbelief and again spoke of his upcoming death and resurrection. They were confused to say the least. Jesus instructed the disciples on many matters including humility, hell, marriage, having childlike faith, the dangers of riches, and the difficulty entering God’s kingdom. He spoke again about His death and resurrection and urged His followers to remain humble.

He leaves and Mark tells of Him healing a blind man on route to Jerusalem. Now in the old testament it is mentioned how the Messiah will ride into Jerusalem on a donkey, this happens now,so that prophecy is fulfilled. The Jewish people still rejected Him tho. And all the hot shot priests questioned His authority. At this point Jesus prophesied about the destruction of the temple, as well as His second coming in glory in the end times. Then Jesus celebrated the Passover meal with Mark and the rest with the last supper. He tells all the disciples at this point that Peter will deny him three times.

In the meantime of course the plot to kill Jesus is being put in place and he prays in Gethsemane as He awaited the end. He was arrested, tried, taken before Pilate, crucified and buried in a tomb. Meanwhile Peter is off repenting for his denial towards Jesus. All predicted. Now Gloriously Jesus was resurrected from the dead three days later and made many appearances to His followers. He proved beyond a doubt that He was alive forevermore. Now I know it repeats itself, but in a different light. All the Gospels of each one.. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John say the same thing, but in a different way because that is what they saw and wrote down.. so hang in there.. I will try to pinpoint out the difference for you and I will elaborate with the Gospel of John.

52 Luke

Now about Luke.. who is the third one to write the Gospel. Luke was a well educated and cultured man. He was careful to emphasize that he wrote his Gospel based on reliable, first hand sources. Luke hangs out with Paul. Paul being someone I would have loved to have hung out with too.. cept he was in jail a lot, and only had the means of writing to people because of his faith. But man, did he have strong faith.. I admire that.. so anyways..

Luke.. He was a doctor and he totally believed every single thing that came from Jesus. And when it was his turn to write a gospel you can be sure that he based his gospel on reliable firsthand info. Luke was known to be an accurate historian, and as a result he carefully researched everything. Luke approaches his work by making Jesus the Son of man. He shows how Jesus was a real person and how He showed a genuine interest in people from all walks of life. Luke begins his gospel with the ancestry of Jesus, His birth and early years and information on John the Baptist too.

Luke went on to tell about Jesus s preparation for ministry, and he gives full detail on when Jesus got baptized and at that point the Holy Spirit descended upon Him and the Father gave a verbal affirmation of Him. God was happy..... Look here everyone .. this is my son.. Luke goes on to tell how Jesus loves to demonstrate his authority over demonic spirits, diseases of every kind, etc. He also tells his side of the story on how Jesus was rejected by many including the Samaritians, a lawyer, Jewish leaders, the Pharisees and more lawyers. The Jewish leaders even accused him of being demonized, which is ridiculous. Luke gives a good Gospel with good information on hypocrisy, faithfulness, repentance, the kingdom, relating to people, God’s love, wealth, forgiveness, gratitude and prayer.. read it you will like it.

Now Luke also tells us that Jesus talks about the Kingdom of God and that it would not appear immediately and that His followers would need to faithfully carry out the work given to them in His absence. He said He would one day return with the authority to judge every man. Luke goes on to talk about Jesus’s death and resurrection the same as Matthew and Mark This gospel of Luke's is very well written, same story, just different perspective.. I don’t want to get too into detail because I want to do John’s gospel with huge detail. then we will be over the Gospels.

53 John

Hey there.. when I suggest to people to read the bible I always suggest they start with The Gospel of John. It is easy to read and follow through with the rest of the New Testament. What you will learn is, He has come to this earth to be a light to everyone and He is going to destroy the evil of darkness.. simple as that.. All in a days work for the savior of this world. You know the story somewhat cause I have briefly given you the first three Gospels from Matthew, Mark and Luke... read it so you will know.. John's message was a personal account of his following closely with Jesus. Therefore, John's message is for all ethnic groups and his whole purpose for writing is to bring evidence to prove that Jesus is Christ and truly the Son of God.. ….so from the beginning of John, The beloved disciple, here we go.. this will be the longest one, fully explained ok.

When Jesus appears on the scene, he starts to gather a nice little entourage of disciples. He travels with them around Judea bringing God's truth and racking up an impressive list of miracles. Turning water into wine.... Healing a blind man.... Raising a guy from the dead.... Seeing this, tons of people are now starting to put their faith in Him. Which I hope you have too.. you will I'm sure. But not everyone is so thrilled with the coming of the messiah. The religious authorities in Judea are fuming at the idea that there's a man walking around who can raise people from the dead. They hatch an evil plot to have Jesus killed and then, we assume, they start rubbing their hands together for when that day would come. They don't have to wait long. The next time Jesus is in Jerusalem, one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, conspires with the religious authorities to have Jesus arrested. He's taken to the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, and sentenced to death by crucifixion.
So, that's the end, right? Not a chance. Three days after he dies, Jesus comes back to life. He appears to some of his disciples and even gives out some pretty good advice. Jesus tells them to keep spreading his story around. The disciples oblige and the rest is the history. The history of the western world, that is.

This is the Gospel according to John.. and it starts like this…….. Make Way for Jesus ………… In the beginning, there's Jesus. Jesus is God's Son. He's always been with God and always will be. Everything in the world is made through God. He's the light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness can't do anything to stop him. This is huge! John the Baptist is around, too, but he's just been sent by God to tell everyone about the light (Jesus). He is like the messenger. If you might be thinking that John the Baptist is the light sent from God, John's gospel wants you to know that he is not. The light is Jesus, and people are about to get hit with that info—hard.
Yes, it's true Jesus is already here, living in the world, but the people of the world don't know about him—yet. Some of them don't like or won't accept him either, but the ones who do accept him will be VIPs in God's book. That's a pretty good incentive, wouldn't you say? You have to get into that book!!! If that weren't enough, we're told that Jesus is also everything God says and thinks, He is the Son of God! He lives among us and we get to see how glorious He is. He will show us all God's grace and truth. Well, then. Again, John the Baptist stresses to everyone that Jesus is the important one we should be paying attention to. John is not the light. Why does Jesus rank above John? Because he's eternal and divine. Moses might have given the people their laws, but Jesus will show all of us what God is really about.

John the Baptist is in Bethany, baptizing people by the Jordan River. The religious authorities there ask him who on earth he is. John quickly explains that he is not the messiah or one of the big-time Jewish prophets. John quotes Isaiah. Turns out, he's just there to announce the coming of the Lord. The religious authorities want to know why John is baptizing people by the Jordan River if he isn't really important enough to be doing so.…John's answer? He's only baptizing people with water, but Jesus is going to do a whole lot more. In fact, Jesus is going to be so much more amazing than John, that John won't even be fit to stoop down and untie his shoes. The next day, John sees Jesus walking around and tells everyone: There! That's the guy I've been talking about!. John explains that he saw a spirit come down to Jesus like a dove. John didn't even know who Jesus was before this. But when he saw it, he remembered that God had told him that the person to whom the spirit comes is the messiah—the one he had been looking for. Oh, God also told him that this person is the Son of God.
Jesus Gathers His Entourage …...Another day passes, and John is standing around again with some of his disciples. He sees Jesus walk by and again tells his disciples that Jesus is the VIP sent by God. Two of John's disciples decide that maybe they've been following the wrong guy, so they go to see what this Jesus person is all about. When Jesus asks them what they want from him, they call him "Teacher" and ask where he's staying. Jesus tells them to come and see his place. The two guys follow him back home and stay with him for the day. One of the guys who stays with Jesus is Andrew, the brother of someone named Simon. After meeting with Jesus, Andrew goes to find his brother and tells him that he has found the messiah. Andrew takes Simon to meet Jesus and Jesus gives him a new name, Peter, which means "Rock." The next day, Jesus decides to head to Galilee. There, he meets a guy named Philip and invites him to join their group. Philip then tries to recruit a friend named Nathanael. When Phillip tells him that Jesus is from Nazareth, Nathanael is skeptical, but Philip asks him to come see for himself. Jesus says a few things that reveal that Jesus already knows who Nathanael is. Nathanael is majorly confused, but Jesus tells him that he saw him under a fig tree. Apparently, this is proof enough for Nathanael, and he decides Jesus is the messiah. Jesus jokes with him: if he believes based just on the fig tree story, he's about to get schooled with amazing things. Want an example? Well, for one, heaven will open up and all the angels will come down to hang with Jesus.

So Jesus and the disciples go to a wedding in Canaan. Unfortunately, the wine runs out. Jesus's mother is there with him and she lets him know that the party is starting to die down. Jesus knows that she wants him to make more wine, but he explains that he can't just go around performing miracles. He doesn't think it's the right time to out himself as the messiah just yet. But his mom doesn't really listen (typical mom eh.. they know what is right) and tells the servants at the wedding that they need to follow Jesus' instructions. Jesus relents and tells them to take six giant jars and fill them up to the brim with water. When the head waiter (who doesn't know what Jesus has done) drinks some water out of the jars, it has miraculously turned into wine. The wine is so good, that the waiter runs up and congratulates the groom on serving such excellent wine. See, usually hosts would bring out the best wine first; then, when the guests were less, um, discerning, out would come the so-so beverages. Needless to say, the waiter is very impressed. People actually do that today.. bring out the good stuff first and save the so so stuff for last.. not in this case tho.. And there you have it: miracle #1. All of Jesus's disciples are sure of him now.

Next Jesus Trashes the Temple Soon it's time for Passover, so Jesus and the disciples head down toward Jerusalem. When they get there, they visit the temple in Jerusalem, but Jesus gets pretty annoyed when he goes inside. In the temple, there are merchants selling all kinds of stuff, instead of doing what you might expect people in a temple to be doing—worshipping God. Jesus makes a whip out of some cords and comes after the merchants. He throws their money on the floor, turns over the tables with their goodies on them, and yells at them all to get out because they're turning a holy place into a marketplace. People are not happy about what happened. They demand that Jesus explain why he has rained on their parade. Jesus tells them that even if the whole temple were destroyed, it could be built up again in three days..... That comes later. The people have no clue what he's talking about. They know the temple has been under construction for forty-six years, but somehow this guy is going to build a whole new one in three days? Of course, the Gospel explains, they don't understand that Jesus is really talking about himself. He means that his body will be destroyed and raised up in three days. The whole time Jesus is in Jerusalem for Passover, loads of people see the things he can do and start to believe in him. But Jesus isn't too thrilled: the people are just amazed by his miracles, but don't really get who he is.

Jesus is so misunderstood.

Jesus then chats with Nicodemus ….. Nicodemus, one of the religious leaders in the Jewish community, comes to see Jesus at nighttime. He tells Jesus that he knows he's a great teacher and is clearly very important to God because of all the miraculous and amazing things he can do. Jesus tells him that no one can really be one with God unless they are born again. Huh? Not surprisingly, Nicodemus is confused. He wonders how someone could be born twice. Would you have to get back in your mother's womb? No, Jesus tells him, but you do have to be reborn in water (through baptism) and also receive God's spirit. But Nicodemus still doesn't get it and wonders how all of this could be true. Jesus agrees—it is pretty mysterious. No worries, though. Jesus totally knows how God works. But since he's the only one who does, you'll just have to take his word for it.