Last week, I did a series of devotionals on the Dead Sea scrolls. As I’ve been pointing out the archaeological discoveries as well as their prophetic significance, I’ve saved the best for last! Recently discovered fragments of the Bible in the Dead Sea region containing two passages of Scripture are incredibly relevant. I spoke of the passage in Zechariah last week. The second was found in Nahum:
“The mountains quake because of Him, And the hills melt. The earth heaves before Him, The world and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before His wrath? Who can resist His fury? His anger pours out like fire, and rocks are shattered because of Him.” Nahum 1:5-6
Wow! God is now providentially warning that the day of the Lord is at hand… and who will be able to stand? The passage continues:
Nahum 1:7-9 The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him. But with an overflowing flood he will make a complete end of the adversaries, and will pursue his enemies into darkness. What do you plot against the LORD? He will make a complete end; trouble will not rise up a second time.
God will bring judgment and justice. And those of us who are in Him, who take refuge in Him … He knows! While the world goes berserk and wickedness abounds we may begin to wonder…. where are you Lord? But for those who are watching, He has just made an apocalyptic announcement — JUDGMENT IS COMING!
The Dead Sea scrolls, whose messages for our age have been spot on since 1947, have been unearthed, and are publishing the most important news in history. The Lord of Creation is true to His word, absolutely good for His promises, and He is coming soon. Will you be ready?
While judgment is coming, a peace that passes all understanding waits for those who take refuge in Yeshua (Jesus)! Our rescue will not come from government, leaders, or finances … Jesus will return to take His own and judge the world! Those who stand will stand in Him.
I love that HE KNOWS all who take refuge in Him; and that He will deal thoroughly with evil and wickedness, very soon. His words, written long ago, and recently rediscovered, will abide; and we, who abide in Him, can rest assured, be encouraged, be actually thrilled, that our Savior and King is coming so soon… He is even at the door…
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]The Lord (YHVH) commanded the grain offering on Shavuot, (known as Pentecost among Christians), to be made of the finest flour, baked with yeast, that is, leaven. Leaven, in the Bible, is almost universally, a symbol for “sin”, and in the OT is strictly forbidden on the altar of YHVH., yet here, in the Feast of Weeks it is commanded as part of the offering. Just six weeks prior to this festival, Israel had spent a week eating unleavened bread, a clear picture of the connection between the Passover Lamb and the removal of sin from our lives. Now the grain offering for Shavuot contains yeast; two loaves with it. Why? A common interpretation of this for NT believers is that the loaves represent Jews and Gentiles, the two types of redeemed people, who, of course, still contain sin in our lives.
We've just returned to Israel and the region seems to be nothing but a boiling cauldron ready to erupt. In just a few days, we will celebrate the Feast of Weeks, or Shavuot, in Hebrew. Most Christians recognize this holiday as the Feast of Pentecost -- the time when the Holy Spirit descended and empowered His saints to accomplish the mission of global witness to Yeshua (Jesus).
Three thousand years ago, when Solomon dedicated the Temple to God, the priests offered up thousands of sacrifices. After the sacrifices were offered up — then the glory of God fell! The glory of God was so thick and heavy that the priests could no longer minister! Do you see the connection? First the offerings — THEN the glory fell!
In the beginning of Psalm 2, David points out that the kings of the earth are against the Lord and his "anointed" [Mashiach "Messiah" in Hebrew]. David recognized the true authority of God and advises the kings and rulers of the world, as well as their subjects, to "kiss the Son, lest he be angry." The act of "kissing the Son" would be one of homage to a king, and would indicate submission to the kingship of the Son. Those who are wise will do so before the Son, the Messiah, comes to judge the world!
When the twelve spies were sent into Canaan to spy out the land, ten returned with a bad report. Their assessment was that it was impossible to conquer the land that God had promised them. Forgetting how God had led them with a pillar of fire by night, and fed them manna from heaven during the day, brought forth water out of a rock, and parted the Red Sea, they saw the situation with only their natural eyes, failed to walk by faith, and succumbed to fear.
When we moved into this place five months ago, the bushes in front looked terrible. The yard hadn't been cared for in so long that the bushes had grown into the trees, pulling down the branches, creating a thick wall of dry, dusty and intertwined shrubbery and blocking out the sunlight. Almost everything in the front yard was dead from lack of sun and sometimes even rain.
Since we returned to our home in the Negev Desert in Israel, we've noticed that the usual "desert scene" we are so accustomed to, has completely blossomed with grass and flowers -- what an amazing difference! It suddenly occured to me, as we were delighting in the beauty of it all, that the seed was already there! No one planted it. All the hills, now rolling endlessly with green -- they are not owned by anyone. Miles and miles of grass and wild flowers suddenly shoot forth where there was nothing but brown before! It was just waiting for someone to water it! And God brought the rains.