King Jesus, the new King of Israel, came to set free His wife from all bondages in this world (review Baptized in His Name, Given Power and Protection), redeeming her by making her new, whole, and healthy.
Behold, the LORD has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to the daughter of Zion, "Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him." And they shall be called The Holy People, The Redeemed of the LORD; and you shall be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken. (Isa 62:11-12 ESV)
Let Israel find joy in their creator. Let the people of Zion rejoice over their king.
(Psa 149:2 GW)
For there shall be peace for the seed: the vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these. And it shall be, as you were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you, and you shall be a blessing. Do not fear; let your hands be made strong. (Zec 8:12-13 LITV)
He is now preparing a new home for her, but just like Israel, the city of Jerusalem has once again been divided into two - heavenly and earthly. One is a house of freedom and the other is a house of bondage.
"Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great." (Luk 6:47-49 ESV)
It was the same way with us. While we were children, we were slaves to the basic principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as his children. Now because you are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts to cry out, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if you are a child, then you are also an heir through God. (Gal 4:3-7 ISV)
For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and the other by a free woman. Now the son of the slave woman was conceived according to the flesh, but the son of the free woman was conceived through a promise. This is being said as an allegory, for these women represent two covenants. The one woman, Hagar, is from Mount Sinai, and her children are born into slavery. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to present-day Jerusalem, because she is in slavery along with her children. But the heavenly Jerusalem is the free woman, and she is our mother. For it is written, "Rejoice, you childless woman, who cannot give birth to any children! Break into song and shout, you who feel no pains of childbirth! For the children of the deserted woman are more numerous than the children of the woman who has a husband." So you, brothers, are children of the promise, like Isaac. But just as then the son who was conceived according to the flesh persecuted the son who was conceived according to the Spirit, so it is now. But what does the Scripture say? "Drive out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman must never share the inheritance with the son of the free woman." So then, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman but of the free woman. (Gal 4:22-31 ISV)
The New Testament clearly states in Galatians that there are two Jerusalem’s – one here on Earth and one above in Heaven. The one here on Earth is in bondage according to the flesh and the one in Heaven is free according to the Spirit. The Spiritual Jerusalem, or New Jerusalem, is in the process of being built in Heaven, and pieces of it are growing inside of believers. So, believers in Jesus should be citizens of the free Jerusalem, not the Jerusalem on Earth that is in bondage. Believers are also to rebuild their part of the New Jerusalem in their bodies while here on Earth with the power of the Holy Spirit. Citizens of New Jerusalem, the Bride of the King, have the task of rebuilding the house of the Lord on His holy mountain, Mount Zion.
And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah one who inherits My mountains; and My elect will inherit it, and My servants will dwell there. (Isa 65:9 MKJV)
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first-born who are written in Heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. (Heb 12:22-24 MKJV)
That is why you are no longer strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises into a holy sanctuary in the Lord. You, too, are being built in him along with the others into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. (Eph 2:19-22 ISV)
Monday, February 26, 2007
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
The Parable of the Two Sisters - Part 2
Jerusalem was under the control of the house of Judah and Samaria was under the control of the house of Israel. Both cities and their kings were unfaithful and eventually were besieged and destroyed. The people of Samaria were brought into bondage under the king of Assyria, and the people of Jerusalem were brought into bondage under the king of Babylon.
In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it, and at the end of three years he took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. The king of Assyria carried the Israelites away to Assyria and put them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, because they did not obey the voice of the LORD their God but transgressed his covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded. They neither listened nor obeyed. (2Ki 18:9-12 ESV)
Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of the LORD: Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the LORD. And some of your own sons, who shall be born to you, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon." (2Ki 20:16-18 ESV)
But because our fathers had angered the God of heaven, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house and carried away the people to Babylonia. (Ezr 5:12 ESV)
And the king of Egypt did not come again out of his land, for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the Brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates. Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done. At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it, and Jehoiachin the king of Judah gave himself up to the king of Babylon, himself and his mother and his servants and his officials and his palace officials. The king of Babylon took him prisoner in the eighth year of his reign and carried off all the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold in the temple of the LORD, which Solomon king of Israel had made, as the LORD had foretold. He carried away all Jerusalem and all the officials and all the mighty men of valor, 10,000 captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained, except the poorest people of the land. And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon. The king's mother, the king's wives, his officials, and the chief men of the land he took into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. And the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon all the men of valor, 7,000, and the craftsmen and the metal workers, 1,000, all of them strong and fit for war. (2Ki 24:7-16 ESV)
All who pass along the way clap their hands at you; they hiss and wag their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem; "Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?" (Lam 2:15 ESV)
Both daughters of Israel eventually became the captives of the king of Babylon, but the prophets foretold of a new King of Israel that would come to save and redeem them, uniting them together again.
"The people of Israel are like scattered sheep that lions have chased. The first to devour them was the king of Assyria. The last to gnaw at their bones was King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. (Jer 50:17 GW)
Ever since they were young, the people of Israel and Judah have done what I consider evil. The people of Israel have made me furious by what they've done," declares the LORD. "The people in this city have made me so angry and furious from the day they built it to this day. So now I must remove this city from my presence. "The people of Israel and Judah have made me furious because they are evil. The people, their kings and officials, their priests and prophets, and the Judeans and those who live in Jerusalem have turned their backs, not their faces to me. I taught them again and again, but they refused to listen and learn. They set up their detestable idols in the temple that is called by my name, and they dishonored it. In the valley of Ben Hinnom they built worship sites for Baal to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molech. I didn't ask them to do this. It never entered my mind. I didn't make Judah sin. "You have said this about the city, 'Because of wars, famines, and plagues it will be handed over to the king of Babylon.'" (Jer 32:30-36 GW)
They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD. (Jer 3:1 KJV)
"This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon." (Jer 28:2 GW)
Go and proclaim these things to the north: "'Come back, unfaithful Israel. It is the LORD speaking. I will no longer frown on you because I'm merciful,' declares the LORD. 'I will no longer be angry with you. Admit that you've done wrong! You have rebelled against the LORD your God. You have given yourself to strangers under every large tree. You have not obeyed me,' declares the LORD. "Come back, you rebellious people," declares the LORD. "I'm your husband. I will take you, one from every city and two from every family, and bring you to Zion." (Jer 3:12-14 GW)
But now listen, my servant Jacob, Israel, whom I have chosen. The LORD made you, formed you in the womb, and will help you. This is what the LORD says: Don't be afraid, my servant Jacob, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. I will pour water on thirsty ground and rain on dry land. I will pour my Spirit on your offspring and my blessing on your descendants. They will spring up with the grass as poplars spring up by streams. One person will say, "I belong to the LORD." Another will call on the name of Jacob. Another will write on his hand, "The LORD'S," and he will adopt the name of Israel. The LORD is Israel's king and defender. He is the LORD of Armies. This is what the LORD says: I am the first and the last, and there is no God except me. (Isa 44:1-6 GW)
That's why the Lord, the LORD of Armies, the Mighty One of Israel, says, "How horrible it will be when I take revenge on my opponents! I will avenge myself against my enemies. I will turn my power against you. I will remove your impurities with bleach. I will get rid of all your impurities. I will give you judges like you had long ago, advisers like you had in the beginning. After that you will be called the Righteous City, the Faithful Town." Zion will be pardoned by the LORD'S justice, and those who return will be pardoned by the LORD'S righteousness.
(Isa 1:24-27 GW)
I am going to gather the people from all the lands where I scattered them in my anger, fury, and terrifying wrath. I will bring them back to this place and make them live here securely. They will be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them the same attitude and the same purpose so that they will fear me as long as they live. This will be for their own good and for the good of their children. I will make an eternal promise to them that I will never stop blessing them. I will make them fear me so that they will never turn away from me. I will enjoy blessing them. With all my heart and soul I will faithfully plant them in this land. "This is what the LORD says: As I brought all these disasters on these people, so I will bring on them all these blessings that I have promised them. You have said that this land is a wasteland, without people or animals living in it. You have also said that it has been handed over to the Babylonians. But people will once again buy fields in this land. They will buy fields for money, sign deeds, seal them, and have people witness the signing of the deeds. This will happen in the territory of Benjamin, in the region of Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities on the mountains, in the hill country, and in the Negev because I will bring them back from their captivity," declares the LORD. (Jer 32:37-44 GW)
In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it, and at the end of three years he took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. The king of Assyria carried the Israelites away to Assyria and put them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, because they did not obey the voice of the LORD their God but transgressed his covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded. They neither listened nor obeyed. (2Ki 18:9-12 ESV)
Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of the LORD: Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the LORD. And some of your own sons, who shall be born to you, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon." (2Ki 20:16-18 ESV)
But because our fathers had angered the God of heaven, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house and carried away the people to Babylonia. (Ezr 5:12 ESV)
And the king of Egypt did not come again out of his land, for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the Brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates. Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done. At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it, and Jehoiachin the king of Judah gave himself up to the king of Babylon, himself and his mother and his servants and his officials and his palace officials. The king of Babylon took him prisoner in the eighth year of his reign and carried off all the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold in the temple of the LORD, which Solomon king of Israel had made, as the LORD had foretold. He carried away all Jerusalem and all the officials and all the mighty men of valor, 10,000 captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained, except the poorest people of the land. And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon. The king's mother, the king's wives, his officials, and the chief men of the land he took into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. And the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon all the men of valor, 7,000, and the craftsmen and the metal workers, 1,000, all of them strong and fit for war. (2Ki 24:7-16 ESV)
All who pass along the way clap their hands at you; they hiss and wag their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem; "Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?" (Lam 2:15 ESV)
Both daughters of Israel eventually became the captives of the king of Babylon, but the prophets foretold of a new King of Israel that would come to save and redeem them, uniting them together again.
"The people of Israel are like scattered sheep that lions have chased. The first to devour them was the king of Assyria. The last to gnaw at their bones was King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. (Jer 50:17 GW)
Ever since they were young, the people of Israel and Judah have done what I consider evil. The people of Israel have made me furious by what they've done," declares the LORD. "The people in this city have made me so angry and furious from the day they built it to this day. So now I must remove this city from my presence. "The people of Israel and Judah have made me furious because they are evil. The people, their kings and officials, their priests and prophets, and the Judeans and those who live in Jerusalem have turned their backs, not their faces to me. I taught them again and again, but they refused to listen and learn. They set up their detestable idols in the temple that is called by my name, and they dishonored it. In the valley of Ben Hinnom they built worship sites for Baal to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molech. I didn't ask them to do this. It never entered my mind. I didn't make Judah sin. "You have said this about the city, 'Because of wars, famines, and plagues it will be handed over to the king of Babylon.'" (Jer 32:30-36 GW)
They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD. (Jer 3:1 KJV)
"This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon." (Jer 28:2 GW)
Go and proclaim these things to the north: "'Come back, unfaithful Israel. It is the LORD speaking. I will no longer frown on you because I'm merciful,' declares the LORD. 'I will no longer be angry with you. Admit that you've done wrong! You have rebelled against the LORD your God. You have given yourself to strangers under every large tree. You have not obeyed me,' declares the LORD. "Come back, you rebellious people," declares the LORD. "I'm your husband. I will take you, one from every city and two from every family, and bring you to Zion." (Jer 3:12-14 GW)
But now listen, my servant Jacob, Israel, whom I have chosen. The LORD made you, formed you in the womb, and will help you. This is what the LORD says: Don't be afraid, my servant Jacob, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. I will pour water on thirsty ground and rain on dry land. I will pour my Spirit on your offspring and my blessing on your descendants. They will spring up with the grass as poplars spring up by streams. One person will say, "I belong to the LORD." Another will call on the name of Jacob. Another will write on his hand, "The LORD'S," and he will adopt the name of Israel. The LORD is Israel's king and defender. He is the LORD of Armies. This is what the LORD says: I am the first and the last, and there is no God except me. (Isa 44:1-6 GW)
That's why the Lord, the LORD of Armies, the Mighty One of Israel, says, "How horrible it will be when I take revenge on my opponents! I will avenge myself against my enemies. I will turn my power against you. I will remove your impurities with bleach. I will get rid of all your impurities. I will give you judges like you had long ago, advisers like you had in the beginning. After that you will be called the Righteous City, the Faithful Town." Zion will be pardoned by the LORD'S justice, and those who return will be pardoned by the LORD'S righteousness.
(Isa 1:24-27 GW)
I am going to gather the people from all the lands where I scattered them in my anger, fury, and terrifying wrath. I will bring them back to this place and make them live here securely. They will be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them the same attitude and the same purpose so that they will fear me as long as they live. This will be for their own good and for the good of their children. I will make an eternal promise to them that I will never stop blessing them. I will make them fear me so that they will never turn away from me. I will enjoy blessing them. With all my heart and soul I will faithfully plant them in this land. "This is what the LORD says: As I brought all these disasters on these people, so I will bring on them all these blessings that I have promised them. You have said that this land is a wasteland, without people or animals living in it. You have also said that it has been handed over to the Babylonians. But people will once again buy fields in this land. They will buy fields for money, sign deeds, seal them, and have people witness the signing of the deeds. This will happen in the territory of Benjamin, in the region of Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities on the mountains, in the hill country, and in the Negev because I will bring them back from their captivity," declares the LORD. (Jer 32:37-44 GW)
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