The Seed of David and his everlasting kingdom

Friday 2021.02.26
Reading from 2 Samuel Chapter 7

The Seed of David and his everlasting kingdom.

David wants to build a house of cedar for God, but God tells David,

" . . . and Jehovah telleth thee that Jehovah will make thee a house."
(2 Samuel 7:11b JND).

He goes on to tell David that He will establish His everlasting kingdom through the Seed of David, telling him that He will set up David's Seed after him, a seed who will proceed out of his bowels. The Seed will build a house for the Name of God, and God will establish the Seed's throne for ever.

2 Samuel 7:5 - 7 JND
5 Go and say to my servant, to David, Thus saith Jehovah: Wilt thou build me a house for me to dwell in?
6 For I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but I went about in a tent and in a tabernacle.
7 In all my going about with all the children of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye me not a house of cedars?

2 Samuel 7:12 - 17 JND
12 When thy days are fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
13 It is he who shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever.
14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the sons of men;
15 but my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before thee.
16 And thy house and thy kingdom shall be made firm for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.
17 According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak to David.

What Peter learnt from his vision at Jaffa

Thursday 2020.02.18
Reading from Acts Chapter 10

What did Peter learn from his vision at Jaffa?

Peter saw a disturbing vision one day while praying at the house-top in Jaffa. A large sail cloth full of unclean animals was lowered from the sky by ropes tied to its four corners.

"Rise, Peter, kill and eat." a voice told him (Acts 10:13).

Peter refused to do so, saying that he had never eaten anything unholy and impure in his life, to which the voice said, "What God has purified, you must not regard as unholy". This was repeated three times (Acts 10:16) before the large cloth was drawn up.

Peter subsequently told Cornelius at Caesarea, that the vision he saw back in Jaffa the day before taught him that no one is to be called unholy or unclean. Most probably, the words, "What God has purified, you must not regard as unholy" were still ringing in his ears.

Perhaps we can say that from that day onwards, Peter, in his ministry of the gospel, stopped looking at the Gentiles as unclean or impure people.

Acts 10:28 WNT
He said to them, "You know better than most that a Jew is strictly forbidden to associate with a Gentile or visit him; but God has taught me to call no one unholy or unclean.

Further on, in verses 34 and 35, Peter elaborated that God makes no distinction between one man and another, that in every nation anyone who lives a good life and fear God is acceptable to Him.

Acts 10:34 - 35 WNT
Then Peter began to speak. "I clearly see," he said, "that God makes no distinctions between one man and another;
but that in every nation those who fear Him and live good lives are acceptable to Him.

The meaning of asking in Iesou's Name

Tuesday 2021.02.02
Reading from John Chapter 14 ASV

The meaning of asking in the Name of Iesous.

In John 14:13, the Lord Iesou told his disciples that whatever they would ask in Iesou's name would be done. What does asking in Iesou's Name mean?

John 14:12 - 14 ASV
12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father.
13 And whatsoever ye shall *ask in my name*, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If ye shall *ask anything in my name*, that will I do.

We can understand this better by looking at an example from the Old Testament.

In 1 Samuel 25:1 - 11, we read that David sent ten of his men to Nabal, a wealthy owner of large flocks of sheep and goats, to ask for food supplies. The ten men were ordered to greet Nabal "in David's name" (verse 5). However, Nabal, being an evil man, had no respect for the name of David son of Jesse and refused to give any bread, water or meat to David's men.

We can learn from this passage that when the ten men asked Nabal for food in their master's name, were asking by their master's authority. Their request for supplies was equivalent to David's request.

Similarly, we can think of asking our Heavenly Father for supplies in our Master's Name, the Name of Iesou. When we go to the Father in the Lord Iesou's Name, we go in the authority of our Master. Our supplication is equivalent to our Master's supplication. In John 14:14, the Lord Iesou told his disciples that if they would ask anything in His Name, "that will I do".

1 Samuel 23:1 - 11 JND
1 And Samuel died; and all Israel were gathered together, and lamented him; and they buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose and went down to the wilderness of Paran.
2 And there was a man at Maon, whose business was at Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats; and he was shearing his sheep at Carmel.
3 And the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail; and the woman was of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance; but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was a Calebite.
4 And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep.
5 Then David sent out ten young men; and David said to the young men, Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him *in my name*.
6 And thus shall ye say: Long life to thee! and peace be to thee, and peace be to thy house, and peace be to all that thou hast!
7 And now I have heard that thou hast shearers; now thy shepherds who were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there aught missed by them, all the while they were in Carmel.
8 Ask thy young men, and they will tell thee. Therefore let the young men find favour in thine eyes; for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, what thy hand may find to thy servants, and to thy son David.
9 And David`s young men came, and spoke to Nabal according to all those words *in the name of David*, and ceased.
10 And Nabal answered David`s servants and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there are many servants now-a-days that break away every man from his master.
11 And shall I take my bread, and my water, and my flesh which I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men whom I know not whence they are?

The High Priesthood of Abiathar

Sunday 2021.02.14
Reading from 1 Samuel Chapter 22 WNT

Abiathar son of Ahimelech son of Ahitub

When king Saul ordered the slaughter of Ahimelech and all the priests who were with him, including a massacre on the priestly city of Nob, one of Ahimelech's sons escaped and managed to flee to David. Abiathar was virtually the only surviving priest at that time. In a way, Abiathar was carrying on the office of his late father Ahimelech, and the high priesthood of Ahimelech became the high priesthood of Abiathar.

The death of Ahimelech, and the continuation of his office by his son Abiathar, may be the reason why in the gospel account in Mark chapter2, the Lord Iesou referred to the account of David being given the shew bread by the priest Ahimelech in as happening during the "High Priesthood of Abiathar" instead of Ahimelech.

Mark 2:25 - 26 WNT
"Have you never read," Jesus replied, "what David did when the necessity arose and he and his men were hungry:
how he entered the house of God in the High-priesthood of Abiathar, and ate the Presented Loaves--which none but the priests are allowed to eat--and gave some to his men also?"

1 Samuel 22:20 - 23 WNT
And one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David.
And Abiathar informed David that Saul had slain Jehovah`s priests.
And David said to Abiathar, I knew it that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would certainly tell Saul: I am accountable for all the lives of thy father`s house.
Abide with me, fear not; for he that seeks my life seeks thy life; for with me thou art in safe keeping.

When did the Crucifixion take place?

Sunday 2021.02.14
Reading from John Chapter 19

When did the Crucifixion take place?

We learn from John 19:14 that it was the "Preparation of the Passover", at about the sixth hour that Pontius Pilate, after having taken his seat at the judgment place Gabbatha, gave in to the demands of the angry mob and delivered the Lord Iesou to be crucified.

Is preparation day of the passover the 14th day of the 1st month when the passover lamb, which had been taken from the flock and kept since the tenth day, would be slaughtered and roasted in fire at twilight in the evening and be eaten before sunrise the next day, the 15th day of the 1st month, a special sabbath day when no work is to be done? Or was it already the 15th day of 1st month, when the feast of unleavened bread had already begun?

What preparation day was it? What does "passover" mean in this passage? (The synoptic gospel accounts, however, place the trial and crucifixion of Iesous on 15th day 1st month instead, i.e. the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which fell on a Friday, the next day being a weekly Sabbath. See Luke chapter 22 and Matthew chapter 26, to be discussed in another post, coming soon.)

John 19:14 - 19 ASV
14 Now it was the Preparation of the passover: it was about the sixth hour. And he saith unto the Jews, Behold, your King!
15 They therefore cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him! Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.
16 Then therefore he delivered him unto them to be crucified.

The word "preparation" is mentioned again in verses 31 and 42. In particular, verse 31 says that the next day was a "high sabbath", implying that it was both a weekly seventh day sabbath as well as a special sabbath day, the 15th day of the 1st month, the beginning of the feast of unleavened bread.

If so, the crucifixion would have taken place on the afternoon of the 14th day of 1st month, and the Lord Iesou was buried that day, before the Passover meal was to be taken that evening at twilight. The next day, the 15th day of 1st month, was a special day of rest to mark the beginning of the week-long feast of unleavened bread. It coincided with the weekly 7th day sabbath, and was thus referred to as a "high sabbath" in John 19:31.

In other words, our Lord was crucified on the day when the Jews were preparing for their passover meal. It was "Preparation Day".

John 19:31 ASV
The Jews therefore, because it was the Preparation, that the bodies should not remain on the cross upon the sabbath (for the day of that sabbath was a *high day*), asked of Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

John 19:42 ASV
There then because of the Jews` Preparation (for the tomb was nigh at hand) they laid Jesus.

David ate the Shew Bread and took the sword of Goliath

Saturday 2021.02.13
Reading from 1 Samuel Chapter 21 JND

David ate the Shew Bread and armed himself with the sword of Goliath.

After David managed to flee from King Saul with the help of intelligence provided by Jonathan, David came to the city of Nob to meet Ahimelech the priest. He was hungry and he also needed a weapon. At his request, Ahimelech gave him the Shew Bread in the Tabernacle which was consecrated and was not to be taken by anyone. However the bread was due to be replaced by new bread on that day, and David reasoned that it was in a way "common" because new bread was being consecrated that day (1 Samuel 21:5).

It is noteworthy that David asked for five loaves of bread from Ahimelech (1 Samuel 21:3), for himself and also his men whom he had directed to another place (1 Samuel 21:2).

This event is also mentioned in Mark 2:25 - 26 where, in reply to the Pharisees who insisted that it was unlawful for his disciples to pluck and eat the ears of corn as they passed through a cornfield on a Sabbath day, the Lord Iesou pointed out that it was NOT unlawful for David to eat the consecrated Shew Bread when the priest had no other food available.

Mark 2:25 - 26 KJV
But He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him:
how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?”

1 Samuel 21:5 - 6 JND And David answered the priest and said to him, Yes indeed, women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, and the more so, because to-day new is hallowed in the vessels.
And the priest gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the shew-loaves that were taken from before Jehovah, to put on hot bread in the day when they were taken away.

David also asked Ahimelech for a weapon to defend himself as he had to continue his journey alone to flee to the city of Gath. The only weapon that Ahimelech had with him that day was the huge sword of Goliath, the Philistine giant whom David had killed earlier in the valley of the terebinths. The sword was wrapped in a cloth and kept behind the ephod (in the Tabernacle?).

1 Samuel 21:8 - 10 JND And David said to Ahimelech, And is there not here under thy hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, for the king`s business was urgent.
And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of terebinths, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod; if thou wilt take that, take it; for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that: give it me.
And David arose, and fled that day from before Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.

The Hope of Israel

Tuesday 2021.02.09
Reading from 1 Samuel Chapter 15

God is called the Hope of Israel.

The prophet Samuel, in his prophecy about the downfall of King Saul after Saul had sinned by taking the spoils of the best livestock from his conquest of the Amalekites, referred to God as the Hope of Israel, describing God as One who is not like Man, who should repent.

1 Samuel 15:27 - 29 JND
27 And as Samuel turned to go away, Saul laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.
28 Then Samuel said to him, Jehovah has rent the kingdom of Israel from thee to-day, and has given it to thy neighbour, who is better than thou.
29 And also the Hope of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent.

Self-will versus the voice of the LORD

Tuesday 2021.02.09
Reading from 1 Samuel Chapter 15

Selfwill versus hearkening to the voice of the LORD.

Doing what we like in defiance of God's commands is akin to practising divination and idolatry. In the battle against the Amalekites, conquering the land Havilah to Shur, King Saul did not destroy everything as commanded by the Lord, but instead took King Agag alive as prisoner, along with the best of the livestock.
When confronted by the prophet Samuel about his disobedience, Saul gave the excuse in 1 Samuel 15:15 that:

• it was the people who took the spoils
• they wanted the livestock to sacrifice to the LORD.

To which Samuel replied with the words in verses 22 and 23:

1 Samuel 15:22 - 23 JND
22 And Samuel said, Has Jehovah delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, As in hearkening to the voice of Jehovah? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, Attention than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is as the sin of divination, And selfwill is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of Jehovah, He hath also rejected thee from being king.

The first Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread in the Promised Land

Sunday 2021.02.07
Reading from Joshua Chapters 4 and 5

The first Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread in the Promised Land.

The children of Israel crossed the Jordan and entered the promised land at the city of Gilgal on 1m 10d.
Then, they kept the Passover on 1m 14d, and had their first-fruits of the land the following day 1m 15d, eating unleavened cakes and dry grain. From that day onwards, manna stopped appearing on the ground.

Joshua 4:19 - 20 BBE
So on the tenth day of the first month the people came up out of Jordan, and put up their tents in Gilgal, on the east side of Jericho.
And the twelve stones which they took out of Jordan, Joshua put up in Gilgal.

Joshua 5:10 - 12 BBE
So the children of Israel put up their tents in Gilgal; and they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, in the lowlands of Jericho.
And on the day after the Passover, they had for their food the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and dry grain on the same day.
And there was no more manna from the day after they had for their food the produce of the land; the children of Israel had manna no longer, but that year the produce of the land of Canaan was their food.

From Last Supper to Crucifixion: A chronology

These notes were written in my old diary seven years ago on Sun 27Apr2014. There were also some notes made a day earlier and written in a separate note which I cannot locate at this time of writing.

They are a collection of observations I have made mainly from the gospel accounts in Luke chapter 22 and Matthew chapter 26, in which chapters are mentioned particular days of the ancient Biblical week and the observance of the annual Passover in the First month of the Biblical year.

About two years later in March 2016, I surveyed and made notes of my observations of the commandments given in Exodus 12, Leviticus 23 and Deuteronomy 16 regarding the keeping of the Passover Meal and its subsequent Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Observations from Luke 22: 7-23

• Luke 22:7 - describes the Day of Unleavened Bread as the day when the Passover Lamb was killed, i.e. 1m14d.
• Luke 22:11 - The Lord Iesou wanted to eat the Passover meal with his disciples that evening, after sunset.
• Luke 22:13 - they prepared the Passover meal
• Luke 22:15 - Iesou desired fervently to have the Passover meal on that evening, after sunset of 1m14d.

Assuming that the term Passover as used in Luke 22 refers to the Pesach commanded in the OT, this means that the Bread and Cup mentioned in the account of Luke 22:17 - 20 is PART of the Passover meal then.

Observations from a shorter account in Matthew 26: 17 - 30

Matthew 26: 17 - on the "First" Day of Unleavened Bread (1m14d), they were looking for a place to prepare the Passover. This is consistent with Luke 22:7.

Matthew 26: 18 - 20 further corroborates this interpretation. In verse 18 the Lord Iesou instructed his disciples to say to the owner of a certain house in the city that he would keep the Passover at his house. Then in verse v19 the disciples went ahead to prepared Passover in that house. Finally in verse 20, they had their Passover meal "when evening had come", i.e. after sunset of 1m14d.

Matthew's account reveals a starting fact: that the Passover meal was held at sunset at the END of what he calls the "First" Day of Unleavened Bread, which day was 1m14d. It also means that the next day, the day of Crucifixion, would be 1m15d which would then be called the "Second" Day of Unleavened Bread by Matthew . . .(see the discrepancy compared to the commandments in Exodus 12:16, 18).

Notwithstanding the above issue, the partaking of Bread and Wine in Matthew 26: 21 - 30, as in the account of Luke 22, is again part of the Passover Meal. Note Matthew 26:26, "as they were eating . . ."

(The following are further observations from Luke Chapters 23 and 24, made on Sunday, 20May2018)

Luke 23:54 tells us that the Crucifixion (1m15d) took place on "Preparation Day" (the 6th Day of the Week). The weekly Sabbath drew near towards that evening. Further on in Luke 23:55-56, we read that after the Lord's body was laid in the tomb, the disciples rested on the Sabbath (the 7th day of the week), according to the Fourth Commandment.

How did those three days described in Luke 23:54 - 24:7 fit in with the Passover and Feast of ULB? I drew the following timeline in my diary in an attempt to make sense of the chronology.

Next: to compare with the account in Matthew Chapters 26ff.

(To be continued with notes written in my diary on Sun 20Mar2016:
Commandments about the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, as given in Exodus 12, Leviticus 23 and Deuteronomy 16.)

Last Updated: Sunday 18April2021 22:25 hrs

Twelve Exhortations

Saturday 2021.02.06
Reading from 1 Thessalonians Chapter 5 KJV

Twelve Exhortations

Towards the end of this chapter, the Apostle exhorted the Thessalonian brethren with twelve exhortations for their behaviour as disciples of the Lord Iesou, concluding with a benediction for their sanctification and preservation for the day of the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 5:14 - 23 KJV
Now we exhort you, brethren,

• warn them that are unruly
• comfort the feebleminded
• support the weak
• be patient toward all men
• see that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.
• rejoice evermore
• pray without ceasing
• in every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you
• quench not the Spirit
• despise not prophesyings
• prove all things; hold fast that which is good
• abstain from all appearance of evil

And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Lyrics of the Song that Moses wrote down

Friday 2021.01.29

Reading from Deuteronomy Chapter 32 LXX Brenton

In the previous chapter, in Deuteronomy 31:19 - 22, the LORD commanded Moses to write down a song and to teach it to the people of Israel. This song was to warn the people of Israel against their eventual downfall and turning away from the LORD. 

Deuteronomy 31:19 - 22 ASV

19 Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach thou it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel. 20 For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, flowing with milk and honey, and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxed fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and despise me, and break my covenant. 21 And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are come upon them, that this song shall testify before them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they frame this day, before I have brought them into the land which I sware. 22 So Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel. 

The song that the LORD commanded Moses to write down, and to teach the children of Israel, are contained in the first forty-three verses of Deuteronomy chapter 32. This song had a three-fold purpose:

1. It was a song of persuasion - to persuade the people of Israel to remain faithful to the LORD
2. It was a song of prophecy - to prophesy against their subsequent unfaithfulness, falling away and turning to idols
3. It was a song of penitence - to give the people of Israel a song to sing when they repent from their idolatry and return to the LORD with remorse.

The last verse of the previous chapter, Deuteronomy 31:30 should be read as the first verse of this chapter:

"And Moses spoke all the *words of this song* even to the end, in the ears of the whole assembly."

Here are the lyrics of the song, recorded in Deuteronomy 32:1 - 43 LXX. I have removed all the verse numbers and arranged the verses in the form of a poem, to reflect the parallelism found in Hebrew poetry, and to bring out the meaning of the song.

The Song that Moses Wrote

Attend, O heaven, and I will speak; 
    and let the earth hear the words out of my mouth. 
Let my speech be looked for as the rain, 
    and my words come down as dew,
as the shower upon the herbage,
    and as snow upon the grass. 

For I have called on the name of the Lord:
    assign ye greatness to our God.   
As for God, his works are true,
    and all his ways are *judgment:
God is faithful, and there is no unrighteousness in him;
    just and holy is the Lord.  

They have sinned, not pleasing him;
    spotted children, a froward and perverse generation. 
Do ye thus recompense the Lord?
    is the people thus foolish and unwise?
did not he himself thy father purchase thee,
    and make thee, and form thee? 
Remember the days of old,
    consider the years †for past ages:
ask thy father, and he shall relate to thee,
    thine elders, and they shall tell thee.

When the Most High divided the nations,
    when he separated the sons of Adam,
he set the bounds of the nations
    according to the number of the angels of God. 
And his people Jacob became the portion of the Lord,
    Israel was the line of his inheritance.  

He maintained him in the wilderness,
    in burning thirst and a dry land:
he led him about and instructed him,
    and kept him as the apple of an eye. 
As an eagle would watch over his brood,
    and yearns over his young,
receives them having spread his wings,
    and takes them up on his back: 
the Lord alone led them,
    there was no strange god with them. 

He brought them up on the strength of the land;
    he fed them with the fruits of the fields;
they sucked honey out of the rock,
    and oil out of the solid rock. 
Butter of cows, and milk of sheep,
    with the fat of lambs and rams, of calves and kids,
with fat of kidneys of wheat;
    and he drank wine, the blood of the grape.  

So Jacob ate and was filled,
    and the beloved one kicked;
he grew fat,
    he became thick and broad:
then he forsook the God that made him,
    and departed from God his Saviour.

They provoked me to anger with strange gods;
    with their abominations they bitterly angered me. 
They sacrificed to devils, and not to God;
    to gods whom they knew not:
new and fresh gods came in,
    whom their fathers knew not. 
Thou hast forsaken God that begot thee,
    and forgotten God who feeds thee.

 And the Lord saw, and was jealous;
    and was provoked by the anger of his sons and daughters, 
and said, I will turn away my face from them,
    and will show what shall happen to them in the last days;
 for it is a perverse generation,
    sons in whom is no faith.

They have provoked me to jealousy with that which is not God,
    they have exasperated me with their idols;
and I will provoke them to jealousy with them that are no nation,
    I will anger them with a nation void of understanding.  

For a fire has been kindled out of my wrath,
    it shall burn to hell below;
it shall devour the land, and the fruits of it;
    it shall set on fire the foundations of the mountains.  

I will gather evils upon them,
    and will fight with my weapons against them.   
They shall be consumed with hunger and the devouring of birds,
    and there shall be irremediable destruction:
I will send forth against them the teeth of wild beasts,
    with the rage of serpents creeping on the ground. 
Without, the sword shall bereave them of children,
    and terror shall issue out of the secret chambers;
the young man shall perish with the virgin,
    the suckling with him who has grown old.  

I said, I will scatter them,
    and I will cause their memorial to cease from among men. 
Were it not for the wrath of the enemy,
    lest they should live long,
lest their enemies should combine against them;
    lest they should say, Our own high arm, and not the Lord, has done all these things.

It is a nation that has lost counsel,
    neither is there understanding in them. 
They had not sense to understand:
    let them reserve these things against the time to come.  

How should one pursue a thousand,
    and two rout tens of thousands,
if God had not sold them,
    and the Lord delivered them up? 
For their gods are not as our God,
    but our enemies are void of understanding. 
 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom,
    and their vine-branch of Gomorrha:
their grape is a grape of gall,
    their cluster is one of bitterness. 
Their wine is the rage of serpents,
    and the incurable rage of asps.  

Lo! are not these things stored up by me,
    and sealed among my treasures? 
In the day of vengeance? I will recompense,
    whensoever their foot shall be tripped up;
for the day of their destruction is near to them,
    and the judgments at hand are close upon you.

 
For the Lord shall judge his people,
    and shall be comforted over his servants;
for he saw that they were utterly weakened,
    and failed in the hostile invasion, and were become feeble:
and the Lord said,
    Where are their gods on whom they trusted? 
the fat of whose sacrifices ye ate,
    and ye drank the wine of their drink-offerings?
let them arise and help you,
    and be your protectors.  

Behold, behold that I am he,
    and there is no god beside me:
I kill, and I will make to live:
    I will smite, and I will heal;
and there is none
    who shall deliver out of my hands.  

For I will lift up my hand to heaven, and swear by my right hand,
    and I will say, I live for ever. 
For I will sharpen my sword like lightning,
    and my hand shall take hold of judgment;
and I will render judgment to my enemies,
    and will recompense them that hate me. 
I will make my weapons drunk with blood,
    and my sword shall devour flesh,
it shall glut itself with the blood of the wounded,
    and from the captivity of the heads of their enemies that rule over them.

Rejoice, ye heavens, with him,
    and let all the angels of God worship him;
rejoice ye Gentiles, with his people,
    and let all the sons of God strengthen themselves in him; 

for he will avenge the blood of his sons,
    and he will render vengeance, and recompense justice to his enemies,
and will reward them that hate him;
    and the Lord shall purge the land of his people."

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From Deuteronomy 32:44, it can be seen that this song was taught to the children of Israel along with all the *words of this law*.

44 And Moses wrote this song in that day, and taught it to the children of Israel; and Moses went in and spoke all the words of this law in the ears of the people, he and Joshua the son of Naue.

In what way is Iesou ONE with God?

Tuesday 2021.02.02
Reading from John Chapter 14 ASV

In what way is our Lord Iesou ONE with God?

Earlier, in John 10:30 ASV, we read "I and the Father are one."
Today, in John 14 we encounter a verse that gives us understanding on John 10:30,

John 14:20 ASV
In that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

Also further on in John 17, we read

John 17:20, 21 ASV
Neither for these only do I pray, but for them also that believe on me through their word; that they may all be one; *even as* thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us: that the world may believe that thou didst send me.

From the John 14:20 and 17:21, we can see that our Lord Iesou is ONE with God, his Father and our Father, in the SAME way that we are ONE with him.

The Magnificent One of the Firmament

Monday 2021.02.01
Reading from Deuteronomy Chapter 33 LXX Brenton

The Magnificent One of the Firmament.

Deuteronomy 33:26 LXX tells us that there is no other god such as the "God of the beloved", that this God "who rides upon the heaven" is our helper, and that He is the "Magnificent One of the Firmament". The title given to God here is similar to the title "Huang Tian Shang Di - The Supreme Lord of the Great Heaven", found in an inscription in the ancient Temple of Heaven of the Forbidden City, Beijing, China, in the Prayer Hall for Good Harvest.(Chan K.T., 2007).

The ancient Chinese have the same understanding about the One God, Creator of Heaven and Earth, whom they call Shang Di (Supreme Lord), and whom they often refer to simply as Tian (Heaven).

Deuteronomy 33:26 LXX
26 There is not any such as the God of the beloved; he who rides upon the heaven is thy helper, and the magnificent One of the firmament.

Reference:
Chan Kei Thong (2007), "Faith of Our Fathers", Campus Crusade Asia Ltd, IMprint Edition, p111, 116, 140.