Isaiah 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
Matthew 24:12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many (some translations say, “most”) will grow cold.
As we continue to inspect our hearts and take spiritual inventory of our lives during this month of Elul in preparation for the fall feasts, we should stay particularly aware of Yeshua’s prediction in Matthew 24:12, “The love of many will grow cold.” He warned that a sign of the last days would be abounding lawlessness and that callousness and hardness of heart would characterize the end times. The evidence of this is everywhere.
Mass looting, street violence, and robbery are commonly reported in thousands of mobile phone videos and mainstream news to an alarming degree unheard of even a few years ago. Meanwhile, much legislation has been perverted and manipulated to persecute Christians for their beliefs. Isaiah plainly described this present social and moral catastrophe, “Woe to them that call evil good, and good evil!”
In the midst of this, we have to ask ourselves, “Are our hearts becoming calloused? Are we losing our love to the increase of wickedness?” The atmosphere itself breathes strong temptation to be isolated, self-protective, and loveless, even toward our brothers and sisters, much less the multitude of lost and wayward souls around us. If the day is looming when “no man can work” [John 9:4] have we already begun to decide that loving for Christ’s sake is hardly a worthy cause any longer?
D.L. Moody once said, “(If) we have got the true love of God shed abroad in our hearts, we will show it in our lives. We will not have to go up and down the earth proclaiming it. We will show it in everything we say or do. “He also said, “Out of 100 men, one will read the Bible, the other 99 will read the Christian.”
How are you being read today? Are you gradually becoming stoic and isolated like your neighbor? Is your heart slowly but surely growing tough skin? “The love of many (or most) will grow cold.” Such a terrible expectation; God forbid that environmental and reactive fear, anger, and manipulation steal the fruit and character you’ve spent years cultivating in the Lord. God is love. There is no fear in love; perfect love casts out fear. [1 John 4:18] Allow yourself to be consumed by the love of God — and in doing so, you’ll be more than a conqueror through Him [Romans 8:35-39] in these last days!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]When David was anointed king over Israel, he didn’t take his place at the throne immediately. He had to wait, and bide his time, until Saul was removed from power, before arriving at his destined place as King. Like His father David, Yeshua (Jesus) was received as Israel’s king/messiah at the triumphal entry, (often called “Palm Sunday”), and then, “anointed” King of the Jews, ironically receiving His true title from the Romans, while hanging on a cross. But He is still waiting to reveal His identity as King on earth, during the Millennial reign when His kingdom will replace the kingdoms of this world at His second advent. [Rev. 11:15].
In today’s world of Smart Phones, tablets and instant Internet access, there are many things that we can “know.” “How long is the Golden Gate Bridge?” Pop out your iPhone, ask “Siri”, the golden-voiced digital encyclopedic genius, and you’ll have the factual answer in seconds.
The Jewish leaders of His time rejected Yeshua (Jesus) when He first came. He didn’t meet their expectations. They were expecting a Messiah who would bring relief from the Romans, restore the Kingdom of David, and usher in an era of tranquility throughout the world. It is probable that their intense jealousy of Yeshua blinded them to the numerous passages in the Tenach (OT) which describe Messiah as a suffering servant, since they were certainly aware of those passages.
As thousands of believers around the world will celebrate Palm Sunday, I thought I’d offer some additional historical insight into the day Yeshua (Jesus) entered Jerusalem. Most people associate Palm Sunday with the fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9, “Behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass”. But there is another significant detail associated with this beautiful fulfillment…
I could tell you about countless difficult and drawn out circumstances over which we have tried to stand firmly in faith until they finally came to pass. Sometimes we made it and sometimes we were weak and began to doubt. But God mercifully came through for us on most of these things, despite our lack of strength to stay faith-ful.
New Testament genealogies of Yeshua Ha Mashiach (Jesus the Christ) all identify Him as the son of king David. It was universally understood from the Tenach (OT) that the messiah would be descended from David and that he would restore the Davidic monarchy to its ultimate and most universal expression, even that this king would reign and sit on the throne forever.
This weekend, the Jewish people will celebrate the festival of Purim. This holiday commemorates Israel’s amazing reversal in Persia during the reign of King Xerxes (Ahasuerus) when Queen Esther and her uncle Mordecai gained victory for the Jews and protected them from annihilation at the hands of the evil Haman.