Sozo Bible Study for Youth OT- Part 2

Sozo Bible Study for Youth, OT, Part 2

Bringing Encouragement For Our Youth

By G. Evan Newmyer

Let’s continue…

Samuel and Saul

Before we get to David we have to learn something about two other people, Samuel and Saul. First Samuel, and he has two books named after him. There was this nice lady named Hannah, and she didn’t have any children, but she sure loved them, and wanted one. One day she went to the temple and began to pray to God for a child. She promised God that if He would give her a child, she would have that child grow up serving the Lord. God granted her, her prayer and she named her child Samuel. Now Samuel loved the Lord too, and he wanted to be a priest, and serve the Lord. His boss was a priest named Eli, and Eli had two sons, but they were very bad boys. Both boys worked in the temple with their dad, but they didn’t love the Lord, and to them it was just a “I have to do it” job (I Sam 2:1-12). Eli knew his boys were bad, but he didn’t do a thing about it, and the boys got worse.

In the mean time Samuel was growing, and living in the temple too. One night Samuel was sleeping in a place that was holy inside of the temple (I Sam 3:3), and he heard a voice say, “Samuel”. Samuel looked around and said, “here I am”, but he thought the voice was Eli’s, so he ran to Eli. When Samuel got to Eli he found out Eli didn’t call him, and he wondered. He went back to that holy place again, and again he heard “Samuel”. Again he ran to Eli, and again Eli said “that’s not me”. Again Samuel went back, and again he heard “Samuel”, and again he ran to Eli. This time Eli said, It must be the Lord calling you, next time say, “Speak Lord, for your servant hears” (I Sam 3:9).

Samuel laid back down and again the voice came to him, only this time he said, “Speak, for your servant hears”. The Lord told Samuel how the Lord knew how bad Eli’s boys were, and how Eli refused to do anything about it, and since those boys were workers in the Temple, the Lord had to act. The next morning Eli called Samuel, and said, “what did the Lord tell you?”. Eli heard the news, and said, “the Lord will do what seems good to Him”. That wasn’t the problem was it? Eli could have taken the warning and sat his boys down and explained how important their jobs were. It wasn’t what was “good” to God, but what God had to do, because the boys refused to be good. Don’t blame God when He is forced to do what He must do.

Samuel grew up, and the Lord was with him. However, the Lord wasn’t always the rest of the people in the land. God is holy, and worthy to be praise, but the “things” of God should never take the place of God. The Ark was holy, it was the only thing in the Holy of Holies, but it wasn’t God, yet God would use it to show the people how they have slipped from Him. The Philistines were not Godly people, they worshipped idols, and were all in to witchcraft. The people of Israel fought the Philistines, but the Philistines won the battle. The people of Israel thought if they had the Ark they would have Power, so they sent for the Ark. The people of Israel began to shout and make all sorts of noise when the Ark came into their camp. The Philistines heard the noise, and got real scared. The leader of the Philistines told his mean to stand up like men, and fight. They did, and Israel was beaten again, so the Ark was of God, but it wasn’t God. The people of Israel ran after the things of God, but they should have run after God.

Well, sure enough, the Philistines not only beat up the people of Israel, they came and stole the Ark, but they could never take it, unless God allowed it. Not only that but the two sons of Eli who carried the Ark were also killed. God had a plan in this, He warned them about the two sons of Eli, and the Ark may have been holy, but in the hands of the unholy it had no power to protect.

Eli trusted in the Ark as well, and when Eli heard the Ark was stolen, and his sons were dead, he didn’t run to God, no, he got so scared he fell down and died at the age of 98. Death is not a pleasant thing, but it comes, and we must go to God and be like Samuel, and have ears to hear, the Lord will explain all things to us. The Lord told one prophet how people forget to think on the Lord, and when death comes they get mad, or angry, but even God takes the young at an early age to protect them from things lay ahead in their future (Isa 57:9). Faith in God is not easy, but it is possible when we have Jesus in our hearts.

Eli being dead, means Samuel is now the boss priest. Things change real quick, and God moves against the Philistines now. Things were in Order, the right man in the right job, and God was being honored in the land again. The Philistines had a big old idol named Dagon, and they were dumb enough to put the Ark in front of their idol. Boy, oh boy the next day they saw their idol on the ground bowing before the Ark, and its head, and both hands were cut off. All the people in that area started to get real sick, and things started to happen to them, so they knew they had to return the Ark back to the people it belonged to. The Philistines returned the Ark to Israel, and they knew there was a God in Israel Who was greater than all the idols in the world (I Sam 6:1-6).

Time went on and the people of Israel wanted a king, and there was a guy named Saul, who the people liked. Samuel was told by God to anoint Saul as a Captain over Israel, and God would train Saul to be a king (I Sam 9:1-27). The people called Saul king, but he was in training, and later we find David is called the “first king of Israel”. God knew Saul was going to blow it, but the people wanted Saul. God allowed Saul the chance to be king, but the real man for the job was David.

There were some tests for Saul, but the real one came when there was a very, very bad town called Gilgal, with very, very bad people. God knew that town and those people would never repent, and He also knew they were like a terrible cancer, and would cause much harm to the land. Saul was told to kill all the people, and all the bad things there (I Sam 15:1-8). However, Saul had his own idea, and it may have seemed like a “neat thing to do”, but it wasn’t. Saul took the animals and sacrificed them to God, but God said they were bad, and were to be killed, not sacrificed. Saul didn’t obey God, and he did what he wanted, and his test was before him, did he love God enough to obey Him? See, if Saul didn’t obey God, then the people would think it was okay not to.

Saul came to Samuel, and said, “I have done all the Lord has told me to” (I Sam 15:20). Samuel told Saul, “rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as failure (iniquity) and idol worship” (I Sam 15:23). Saul did things, but not the things the Lord told him to. It would be like our parents saying, “clean up your room”, and we mow the lawn. We did something, even something that seemed good, but it wasn’t what we were told to do. Witchcraft is like that, we do one thing thinking we’re really good, but it wasn’t the thing we were told to do. A real tricky one is when God tells us to study Samuel in our Bible, but we run to some other area we like in the Bible and read it, so did we do good? After all what could be wrong with reading your Bible? If God told us to do one thing, we do something else just to avoid doing what God told us, we’re bad. We think, “Gee what can God say, I’m reading my Bible, just like He told me?”. No we’re not, and that would be witchcraft, a mind game to avoid doing what God told us to do.

David

Well, Saul may have been called king by the people, but God still called him a captain, or a “king in the making”, so God was sorry for the people and Saul for offering the job as king to Saul, but God will offer a job to anyone who says they want it (I Sam 15:35).

There was another, a young boy by the name of David, a red haired teenager, who no one thought would ever be king (I Sam 16:12). Samuel knew that David was the one, and he anointed David, and called him king, so was he? Sure, but Saul was still sitting on the throne, and although God said Saul was out, and David was in, there was Saul sitting as ruler over Israel. So, why didn’t God just knock him off the throne? It was up to Saul to move over and make room for David. So what happens when Saul doesn’t? He gets weird, and then really weird. Saul was sitting on as a ruler, but God’s hand was moving from him to David, more and more each day. When God removes His hand, the real nature of the person comes to the surface.

David was also a very honorable person, and he would not hurt anyone who had the anointing of God, or who had the anointing of God. David respected the things of God, and David will make mistakes, but his heart was always seeking God, and seeking to please God.

David was a shepherd, a person who watched over and protected sheep. One day a bear came to steal one of those sheep, but David knew God had made him a shepherd, and God gave him the power to protect the sheep. David made the bear go away, but then came a lion, and the lion wanted to steal a sheep, but David knew God wouldn’t like that, so David made the lion go away. These two things were things of God in the life of David to give David confidence. There are many things that happen in our lives to give us confidence in God. Some people give their own selves the glory, and build what is called, “self-confidence”. Others, like us, know it was God, and we gain what is called “faith in God”. Which do you think God likes the most? Faith in God? Sure, a thief takes things that don’t belong to them, and when God does something, yet man takes the glory, then man is a thief, and no one likes a thief.

There was a bully by the name of Goliath (I Sam 17:1-58), and Goliath was a Philistine. Not only was he a bully but he was very big, he stood as tall as a basketball hoop. His shield weighed so much it took a couple of guys to carry it, even the head of this spear was heavy, it weighed almost 50 pounds. One day there was a battle about to begin, the people of Israel were following Saul, and they were coming against the Philistines, the same people who stole the Ark.

The battle was almost ready to start, but then came Goliath the Philistine, and all the soldiers of Israel ran to the ditches and hid. Goliath mocked them, like all bullies, but it looked like it was working. No one, not even Saul who was well over six feet tall would fact Goliath. Every day Goliath would come out and mock the army of Saul, and every day the army of Saul would remain in the ditches scared.

David’s brothers were in the army of Saul, and in those days the soldiers would fight during the day, then come home at night. When the brothers of David didn’t come home, their father, Jesse sent David with some food, and to find out what was going on. David found his brothers, and then he saw Goliath, and then he heard Goliath. Well, David asked his brothers, “hey are we not the people of God? Go knock that guy out”. His brothers of course had been hiding like the rest of the soldiers, and they got mad. People get mad when they are exposed, and the brothers were suppose to be “brave”, but they knew they were scared. David knew God was on the side of God’s people, and he remembered the bear and the lion, and he knew people were like sheep in the eyes of God. God watches, protects, and guides His sheep, and here Goliath was mocking the sheep of God.

First David thought he needed some armor, so he tried on Saul’s. About six sizes too big, so he said to himself, “I didn’t need Saul’s armor with that bear”, so he used the same weapon and armor he has always used. A sling shot, and the anointing of the Lord. David knew Goliath had four brothers, and like their brothers the bully, they were bullies too, so David figured they would get messed in this thing too. Figuring that he went to a stream and picked up five rocks, one for Goliath, and one for each of Goliath’s four brothers if they got involved.

David wasn’t fighting for himself, he said this was God’s fight, he was merely the tool God was going to use. That’s important, because any of us can say we’re fighting for God, but we better make sure. In America they had a war called the Civil War, you know the North and South fighting each other. Well, the North said, “God, our country and liberty”, but the South said, “God save the south”. They both claimed God, but only one side could win, so just saying “God is on my side” doesn’t mean a thing, we better find out whose side God is on. David knew whose side God was on, God is not a bully, God will not side with bullies, liars, or thieves.

David was ready, and when Goliath saw him he laughed the more (I Sam 17:42). This ruddy (red headed) kid, with no armor, who does he think he is? David may not have known who he was yet, but he knew who God was, and that was all that mattered. David let go with a stone, and it hit Goliath in the only place that could win the battle, right between the eyes. Have you ever tossed a rock, or a ball at a target that was fifty feet away? Was the target the size of a quarter? No, well that is what David did, so guess who guided that rock? God? You bet, God was on David’s side. So how come Saul, or one of his soldiers do the same thing? They were afraid, and they were afraid because their leader was afraid, and their leader was afraid because God was removing His hand from Saul, and putting it on David.

David also picked up five stones, so does that mean he was a bad shot? Perhaps he lacked faith? No, Goliath had four older brothers, and since Goliath was a bully, David felt his brothers may be as well, so he was prepared. Not that David would go after them, but Goliath mocked God, and God’s people and David was ready to stand for God, even if he had to face five giants.

It should have been clear to Saul, David was now God’s man, but Saul allowed the old man to rule, and he got jealous. Jealousy is getting mad because someone else has what we want, and we can’t get it, or we won’t do what it takes to get it. In this case, the people cheered for David, and Saul got mad.

David was the king God picked, Saul the king the people picked. Saul was a good looking, big man, David a little goofy looking kid. God is never impressed by our outward signs and abilities, God looks inside of us. God began the process to make Saul king, but we know Saul blew it. Saul could not be trusted with the people of God, or with the anointing of God. David could, and David would prove it. Saul knew David had an anointing, when David played music the peace of God would come. David knew Saul was anointed at one time, but the difference came in how each man treated the anointing on the other. Saul tried to kill David, David had the chance to kill Saul, but won’t (I Sam 24:1-15). Saul was a jerk, but at one time God anointed him. David respected that, and a man who respects the anointing of God is respected by God.

Samuel the priest would die, and then the priesthood would be divided between two men (I Sam 25:1). Later in history one side of that priesthood would become the group called the Pharisees, the other called the Sadducees. The Pharisees believed in angels, and the resurrection, the Sadducees didn’t believe in either. The Sadducees would be the ones who would attack Paul all the time, the Pharisees thought Paul was cool. Anyway that is where the two groups came from, and one was “believing” the other “unbelieving”, and today in the Body of Christ we find the same division. Some believe there is a Rapture, some don’t. Some believe in the things of the Holy Spirit, some don’t. However, unlike the people of Israel we are called “Believers”, so don’t you think it would be nice if we stayed on the “believing side”? Sure, so let us work on believing, and not on unbelief.

Saul would die as well, and David would take the throne of Israel, and in God’s eyes David would be the first king of Israel (II Sam 1:1). From David would come many sons, one was Solomon, another Nathan. Some people read the book of Matthew, and the one of Luke and get confused over all the people’s names who are related to Jesus. We know Joseph and Mary, and later we will learn the story better, but for here we want to know why Matthew has one group, and Luke has another. We have a mother and a dad, the mother of our dad is not the mother of our mother. The mother of our mother, is not the mother of our dad, so we have a grandma on mom’s side, and a grandma no dad’s side. If we were Jew that would be very important, since in order to be a Jew our mother has to be a Jew, and her mother has to be a Jew, and so on. Since the Jews had a system like a code, they would not write down the mother’s name, but they would write down the husband of the mother, and they called this, “as was supposed” (Luke 3:23). Luke shows us the side of Mary, beginning with Mary’s dad’s name, which just so happened to be Joseph, then we follow it to Nathan, a son of David, who did marry a Jewish woman. This is important, since in order to be a king over Israel one need not be Jewish, since Solomon’s mother was a woman named Bathsheba, who was not a Jew. In order for one to be a king their father, or step-father had to have a line that went back to Solomon, and then David. Matthew uses Joseph, Mary’s husband (not her dad), and goes back to Solomon to show Jesus has a right to be King of Israel, and to sit in the seat of David. Luke shows Jesus is Jewish, and has a right to enter any Covenant God made with the Jews, and has a right to complete any Covenant God made with the Jews.

Remember the Ark? Well after the Philistines gave it back the people of Israel were bringing it back, when the cart hit a rock in the road, and a soldier reached up to hold the Ark, and when he touched it, he died. Oh my, how can that be? God gave them a special plan for carrying the Ark, and the way they were doing it, was not the way God wanted. David found out the priests were the only ones who could carry the Ark, so he got the priests and finished bringing the Ark back to Jerusalem (II Sam 6:1).

David wanted to build a house for God, one that would be great. God didn’t ask him for one, and really God only asked for the Tabernacle, He never has asked for another house. Anyway David really wanted to build one, but David was a warrior, and God said David had blood on his sword, and God could not allow a house to be built for Him based on the blood of men. How would it be built? God had the plan, David desired it, but Solomon would build it. If God didn’t ask for it, why let Solomon build it? Because David wanted it, and God loved David. That’s why it was so important to bring the Ark back, David wanted a place to put the Ark.

Jesus told us the Church is really people, not buildings. The Bible never calls a building a church, but over the years we have. Some adults mistake the building for the Church, and they end making an idol out of a building. That’s not a good thing, and from that they think the building is the most important thing in their life. Jesus is always the most important one in our life, anything else becomes an idol. Idols have caused the people of God more trouble than anything else, and these people are no different.

Solomon

David died, and Solomon became king, and he would be the one to build the Temple. However, Solomon had to rule the people, and God never looks for someone who rules with violence, or anger, or by force, He looks for someone who is willing to rule by serving the people. God wanted Solomon to be wise, and so did Solomon, so Solomon asked God for Wisdom. Wisdom is not the same as brains, brains or knowledge is different. Wisdom is how we deal with people and events, and Solomon needed wisdom in order to deal with the people of God (I Kings 3:3).

Solomon’s wisdom would be tested, there were two women, both just had babies, but during the night one of them rolled over and killed her baby. She then stole the baby of the other woman, and then put her dead baby by that woman. When the other woman woke up she saw the dead baby and knew it wasn’t hers. She then saw the other baby and said, “That is my baby”. They argued over the baby and ended up before Solomon. Solomon had to “judge” as God would, but Solomon said something really strange, he said, “well, let’s see, two women, one baby, and they both say they are the mother, hum, okay, let’s cut the baby in half, and give half to each woman”. Yikes! That really seems dumb, but it’s wisdom, the woman who stole the baby said, “okay, that’s okay with me”, but the real mother said, “No, don’t harm the baby, go ahead give it to her, but please don’t harm the baby”. When she said that Solomon knew who the real mother was, a real mother would never allow her child to be harmed, so Solomon gave her the baby (I Kings 3:16-28).

Solomon did build the temple, and then put the Ark in it (I Kings 8:1), and the temple was kind of like the tabernacle, but not the same. The temple was a big building, it couldn’t move, the tabernacle was a tent, it could move with the people. The tabernacle had two rooms, one was called the Holy Place, it had a golden candlestick, a table with twelve loaves of bread, one loaf for each of the twelve tribes, and a small altar that had incense burning in it. Each of these stood for something, the candlestick stood for the Light of God, the bread for the Life of God, and the incense for the prayers of the saints. When the priests were working in the Holy Place they had those three things to remind them why they were there. They were there to serve God, and the people of God, they were not there to be masters over the people. The next room was called the Holiest of All, or the Holy of Holies, and the Ark was placed inside of it. The strange thing is the tent didn’t have windows, and the candlestick was the light for the Holy Place, but the Holy of Holies was different, God was the Light in there. That place was so special only the high priest could go in there and at only once a year.

The temple had many rooms and they wanted the place to be real special, so them made it fancy. Fancy doesn’t impress God, obedience does. Don’t try to impress God with fancy things, or works, God loves us so much the works only get in the way. So, does that mean we do nothing? No, it means we work because we love God. Some people work and work just to get the attention of someone, but God gave us His attention when we accepted Jesus. Ever do something for someone just because you love them? Well, think of how much more God wants to do for us. The temple didn’t impress God, all those people loving the Lord enough to build it pleased Him.

Elijah

Solomon died, and the kings still remained in power over the years, but the real power changed from the kings to the prophets (I Kings 11:41-43). The first real prophet we see is Elijah, and the funny thing about this guy is where he came from, who he was, and how come he doesn’t have his own book. Elijah was used by God as a symbol of all the prophets, and of course Moses as a symbol of the Law of Moses, but isn’t interesting that we don’t have a “book of Elijah”? Or a “book of Moses”? Both Elijah and Moses will be seen later by Peter, John and James in a vision standing next to Jesus, and now we know they stand for the Prophets and Law. God told Peter, James and John to listen to Jesus, or better to follow Jesus, not the Law of the Prophets. So, then why even study these prophets and the Law? To find out what God was doing with the people, and how we can learn not to make the same mistakes they did.

In the days of Elijah Ahab was the king of Israel, and he was not a good ruler. He really didn’t care if he sinned or not (I Kings 16:31), he took a wife by the name of Jezebel who was the daughter of the king of the Ziodians, and they all served idols. See, we said idols have the problem. Ahab even built altars to the idols, and God was going to bring correction to the land. Before God does correct, He warns, and so the reason for the prophets.

God sent Elijah to warn Ahab of a drought, which means it wasn’t going to rain in the land for a long time. The drought was because idols had been in the land, and idols didn’t force their way in, the king brought them in. Idols are “things”, and things are not evil, it’s what we do with them that can make them evil. A credit card isn’t evil, in the greedy hands of man it becomes a tool for the evil in man.

Since there was going to be drought God made sure Elijah had food, and water, just as God made sure all those who loved Him were taken care of (I Kings 17:1-14). God told Elijah the birds would bring him food, and they did. Then God told Elijah a certain widow woman would take care of his food. Elijah found this woman, and told her to fix him a piece of cake. Well, this woman didn’t know who Elijah was, and she told him there was just enough for her and her son, and after that, they would die. Elijah told her to fix him something first, and the Lord would make sure she was cared for. She was obedient, but we see it was in her heart to care for Elijah. She didn’t know this guy was a prophet, nor did she know what would happen, she just gave. What happened? She had a jar in her house and it filled with oil, and oil was very expense back then, not the kind of oil we put in cars, but olive oil. Olive oil was used for cooking, for lighting fires, and as a kind of cream to keep the sun from burning them. She kept pouring the oil from the one jar into others, and the silly thing didn’t empty. God was faithful, because Elijah did as God told him, the woman did as her heart told her, and all of them were kept alive in the hard times.

Elijah then traveled back to the land, to a place called Mount Carmel. Why there? That was the place king Ahab built that altar to idols. Jezebel was a very bad woman, she was so power hungry she brought her own evil religion to take the place of God. She didn’t want to be like God, she was even more tricky, she wanted her husband, king Ahab to think he was God, and she would pull the strings behind him. She had her priests who worshiped idols, and those priests were at Mount Carmel, when Elijah showed up, and told the people, “If God by God, then worship Him, but if this idol is your god, then go to it”. Then Elijah told the priests, “Hey guys what’s up? Making idols again huh? You guys kill me, tell you what, I will make an altar to God, you got that dumb thing over there, let’s see which one works”. They took him up on it, and they built an altar, and Elijah built his, and told the priests of the idols, “go first”. They did, and they danced like idiots, cut themselves and let their blood fall on their idol, and did all sorts of things, but nothing happened. Elijah told them, “Hey, maybe it got too hot, and your god took off”. Then Elijah took a bunch of water and poured it all over his sacrifice, and took more water and poured it on his sacrifice. You would think he would need about fifty gallons of gas to make it burn, but no, he didn’t even use a match, he prayed and God sent lightening down and fire consumed all of Elijah’s sacrifice. The people saw how powerful God was, and they ran all the priests of Jezebel away. God gives us Signs to show us His power, and how He is always able. Before the sign here the people were divided between God and the idols, but after the sign, they were not longer divided, they were God’s people again.

Then came the news, Jezebel sent a note to Elijah, and she told him she was going to kill him. Wow! Look out, Elijah headed out, quickly. What do you think of that? This same guy who stood in the face of all those idol priests, now running like a rabbit. Oh, wait, Jezebel was the queen of the land, and as bad as she was, she was still queen. The woman wasn’t respected by Elijah, but her position of queen was. Just like David respected the anointing of Saul, Elijah respected the position of Jezebel. God allows or puts whom He wants as kings, or presidents, to punish the evil doers. So, what happens if the king or president is evil? They are setting up their own judgment, but they are also a test for the rest of us. Will we keep faith in God?

Elijah had his faith in God, and he ran, sometimes running is better. A brave man knows when to stand, and when not to. A jerk stands when he should run, and gets run over.

One day Elijah was praying and knew the drought was over, he told king Ahab to head for high ground, the sounds of rain were coming (I Kings 18:41).

Then Elijah found a guy by the name of Elisha, and Elisha was going to be the disciple, or student, and Elijah the teacher. We won’t hear about Elisha until II Kings 2:2, so the student learns, they don’t teach.

What about Jezebel? Before she dies she would use her power to kill an innocent man, and in so doing she seals her own death. A man by the name of Naboth had a small vineyard, it was nice, clean, and king Ahab really liked it. Jezebel was so power hungry she had Naboth killed, and gave the vineyard to Ahab, thinking it would give her more power with him (I Kings 21:1). Jezebel would die, and the dogs would lick up her blood, and Ahab would die as well. Jezebel has become a name to mean One who appoints their self to a position. Jesus warns us about allowing Jezebel or her children into positions, they will destroy people just to get power. They hold meetings to get rid of pastors, or people they don’t like, they steal, lie and cheat to get what they want. They are not good people at all.

Elisha

Elijah knew he would be an example of something yet to come, and the Lord told him he would be taken off the earth. Elisha didn’t want that, but it was to be, what about Elisha? What would happen to him? He asked Elijah for double portion of the spirit of Elijah, or as we know it, twice as much of the energy, power and ability of Elijah. Don’t know about you, but most of us can only give what we have. If all we have is a nickel, we can’t give a dime. Elijah told Elisha if he saw Elijah go, then Elisha would get double the spirit (II Kings 2:9-10). As they walked on there came a chariot of fire from heaven, and Elisha saw that okay, but he didn’t see Elijah go, and Elisha got mad (II Kings 2:12-14). Elijah had a “mantle” or a coat that told everyone who he was, and that Elisha did get. Elisha walked into the nearest town and some boys made fun of him, and said, “you bald man, why don’t you go?”, which is saying, “you don’t have a covering anymore, you are without the boss, so go up you silly man”, which was not only wrong, but it lacked respect, and they were the ones who lost their protection by what they said, and a bear came out of the woods and killed them (II Kings 2:23-25).

Elisha learned a lot from Elijah, and he had all the sons of the prophets, and young prophets gather together with him, and he trained them. So what would you teach a prophet? To talk? No, to listen to the Lord? Yes, to understand when the Lord is talking, and when their own minds are talking.

Elisha did many things, there was a man named Naaman who had a real bad skin disease, and his servant told him about Elisha, so they went to see the prophet (II Kings 5:1). Elisha told Naaman to go and dip seven times in the Jordan river, and he would be healed. Naaman said, “that’s stupid, no way”, but Naaman’s servant said, “sir, stupid or not, if you don’t do it you will still have that skin stuff, what do you have to lose?”. Naaman said, “you’re right”, so he dipped himself seven times, and on the seventh time he came up clean. Was that faith? No, it was obedience, we know he didn’t really think it would work, but he obeyed.

Then one day when the sons of the prophets were working cutting wood, which was part of their training, one of them took a big swing and Bang, the steel head of the ax took off and landed in the river. He yelled to Elisha, “Master, it is borrowed”. We might say “so what?”, but to these guys that was a big deal. He would have to replace it, but their training didn’t pay them, and they had no money. Elisha then took a stick and stirred the water and the metal ax head came to the surface, and the guy grabbed it.

Then other prophets would come along to warn the people of God of things, mostly of things that would happen if they kept bowing to idols. Many of the prophets would talk about things to come many years from their time, mostly about Jesus. The reason was to tell the people Jesus would come, and to be ready when He did. So were they? We will see.

Isaiah

One of those prophets was a guy named Isaiah, and he was around in the days of king Hezekiah (II Kings 18:1). Isaiah like the rest of the prophets were used by God to warn the children of God. When a grown up says, “don’t do that again or I will send you to your room”, that is a warning, God is no different, only God warned them for 490 years, and still they didn’t listen. God then used Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon as the “army of God” to correct the children of God. It seems strange that God would use an idol worshiping king to punish His children for idol worshiping, but really it’s not. God used the very thing His children were doing to show them how wrong they were. However, God did not send them away or punish them all at once. Nebuchadnezzar came one time, and some of the false prophets thought since they had the Temple in the land, God would never allow a idol worshipping king to invade them. They were wrong, God did. The children of God were doing things they thought were okay, but were so very wrong. They would go to the Temple and praise the Lord, then run to the hills to worship idols. It got so bad some of the women were offering their babies to the idols as sacrifices, and they thought it was okay. If God would have allowed it to continue then all the world would have thought God allowed idol worship.

Nebuchadnezzar came again and again, and nearly all the people of Israel were taken captive. Nebuchadnezzar had a son, who would be king after Nebuchadnezzar died, and that son was very bad, and mean. His land was taken over by the Persians and after the 70 years was up some of the Jews came to the king of the Persians and asked to be released. God put them in captivity by using an idol worshiping king, and God would have them released by an idol worshiping king, never limit God to what God can and cannot do. After the 70 years the children were seeking God, and following only God, so the captivity worked, it brought them back to God.

One of the those men who asked the king of Persia to be released was a man by the name of Ezra, another was Nehemiah. Both wanted to go back and rebuild the Temple, and bring the people back to the land. The people were back, the temple was built, and the captivity showed them several things. God loved them enough to make sure they didn’t end up as idol worshipers, sure it took correction, and punishment, but Godly and correct punishment keeps us from sin, and makes sure we stay on the right path with God. Next the children found out no nation could destroy them, they had a purpose in the Plan of God, and that purpose would be complete. Really they had two purposes, one was to be a nation from which Jesus would come, and the next would be the very tool God would use to bring judgment.

Another proof of how these people could not be destroyed was a woman by the name of Esther, and her uncle a man named Mordecai will be the first person in the Bible called a “Jew”. Abraham was called a “Hebrew”, or one who wanders around looking for a promised land, but hasn’t gotten it yet. A Jew is one who has standing with God to enter covenant with God. Someone who is an Israeli is from the land of Israel. There is no such thing in the Bible as “true Israel”, there is a “true Jew”, one who has standing to enter the New Covenant that Jesus gave us. We are True Jews, but Mordecai was still the first person in the Bible called a Jew of any type. There are two types of Jew, one is a person who can enter the covenant God made with Abraham, the other is what we are, Christian.

Esther

Well, Esther’s book shows up after the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, but the story happened about thirty years before them. Esther was not among the same people as Ezra and Nehemiah she was in the land where India is today. In that land was king Ahasuerus, and his wife Vashti. One day the king called for Queen Vashti, but she said, “nay, I’m too busy”. Well, the men who helped the king make decisions said, “this is not good, if the people find out, they will mock you” (Esther 1:1-14). Well, the king got mad, real mad, and Vashti was out as Queen, and there was a search for a new one, a type of beauty contest.

Esther was beautiful, very beautiful, and her uncle Mordecai knew God had something planned in all this. Mordecai had faith in God, and knew God’s plan may not always be known at first, but if we’re in the hand of God, then all things are of God. The king selected Esther as Queen, but there was a bad guy in this, Haman, a man who loved power.

Haman was a very proud man, and Haman always wanted people to bow to him, well Mordecai only bowed to God. When Haman found out Mordecai refused to bow, and then found out he was a Jew, he made up his mind to wipe out the Jews.

Mordecai knew this was the plan of God, to use Esther to save the Jews, so he went to Esther, who was now Queen. Esther held a banquet, and asked both the king and Haman to the banquet. Haman thought he was going to be a big shot, and be the big guess of honor at the banquet. Instead of Esther telling the king what a great man Haman was, she brought up Mordecai, and the king honored Mordecai, but hanged Haman for his rebellion.

The Jews had a holiday for this act of God using Esther to save the children of Israel, and the holiday is called Purim, which is held in our months of March and February. Mordecai also gained a position with the king, and was a wise man. This proved when God has a plan for a people, the plan will be done.

Job

Then there was the lesson of Job, the man who loved his children, but refused to correct them. Job was a man who didn’t sin with his lips, but his lips weren’t his problem. Job lived in fear of God finding out that his children refused to live according to God’s ways. When we pray it’s important to pray to God, and pray in a manner of faith, knowing God is always working of the good of His children. We never pray against people, we never pray to see someone hurt, but Job prayed out of fear, and Satan was able to come in the prayer of Job before God. God asked Satan, “how did you get here?” (Job 1:7). Satan said from going through the earth looking for someone to devour, and the Lord asked, “Have you considered my servant Job?”. Satan said, “Job only serves you for what he can get out of it, take away his blessing and he will curse you to your face”. The Lord allowed Satan to test Job, not to show Satan, but to show Job something about Job. Testings come to show us things about ourselves, remember how the children went to the Temple, then they bowed before idols? They thought is was okay, but it wasn’t, so God had to punish them. Testings come so we won’t be punished, so we can see the things that are good and bad. Some testings come to show us how much we really do love the Lord, we thought we knew, but after the testing we know we know. Some testings come to show some pride we refused to see, some rebellion, or something that is stopping us from enjoying God, and so it was with Job.

After all the testing Job knew the Lord better, Job knew Job better, and Job ended being more blessed in the end, then he was in the beginning (Job 42:10-15).

Psalms

The Psalms are songs of praise, and praise and worship are not the same. Praise is when we thank God for what He has done, what He is going, and What He will do. Worship is when we enter God’s presence, or the area around God that shows God is God. God is Light, but God is love, and peace as well, so His presence is Light, Love and Peace.

Some of the Psalms tell of the future, some tell of things that were, and how God works with His children. There are some Psalms known better than others, for instance there is the 23rd Psalm, you know, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want”. This Psalm was written by David, who was a shepherd, but he says the Lord is his shepherd. David being a shepherd knew what duties a shepherd had over the flock. A good shepherd doesn’t beat the sheep, he protects them, he loves them, he guides them in safe places, and keeps them from danger. David understood that, and he knew God is fully able to provide, if we trust in God to provide. God won’t give us things to hurt us, and He won’t give us things to make us mean, but He does make sure we have what we “need”.

God guides us to the place where He can talk to us in a gentle voice, and God will talk to us, if we ask Him to, and if we listen. When we walk with God, the goodness and mercy follow us.

Psalm 37 is called “God takes care of His own”, and it’s about how the Lord will do good to those who dwell with Him, and we dwell with Him, when He is in our hearts.

Proverbs

Then there are the Proverbs, and a Proverb is a story about real things, or things like other things. We can talk about a bird flying, and say, “see, that is like an airplane, they fly too”. Do airplanes use birds to fly? No, but airplanes fly, just like the birds. Proverbs are like that, they talk about one thing, to show us something else. Proverbs 9 is just like that, it tells us how Wisdom and the Foolish Woman compare, so is there some guy named “Wisdom”? Or does this mean all women are foolish? No, not at all, remember Wisdom is how we deal with people and events, so we find something interesting in the voices we hear in our minds. One voice is Wisdom, the other is Foolish. Wisdom tells us “Come eat of my bread, and drink of my wine” (Prov 9:5). Wait, what does that sound like? Communion? Sure, see here in the Old Testament we find things pointing to the New. God wants us to sit with Him, talk about the things going on, and what we can do about them. Foolishness on the other hand thinks its all a big joke, and says, “stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant” (Prov 9:17). Foolishness thinks taking from others is okay, and hiding from God is fooling God.

Major Prophets

Remember Isaiah? Well we find there are four prophets, Isaiah is one of them, these four are called “major prophets”, not because they were in the army, but because they were prophets for a long time. Isaiah was around before the children were taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar, and then we will look at Jeremiah, who was around when the children were taken into captivity, but he stayed in the land of Israel. Then Ezekiel who was a priest and taken in the captivity, and then Daniel who was a young man who was also taken in the captivity.

The name Isaiah means “the Lord saves”, which shows how God knew the children were doing wrong, but all they had to do was repent, and the Lord would save them. Isaiah had a word for the kings in his time, and a vision for the future. The Vision is a kind of outline for the end times, and all end time teaching has to fit that outline somehow. The Word of warning the Lord gave the prophet was for those people in those days, but there are lessons for us. Without knowing the difference between the Word and the Vision we would end mixing one time into another, and find ourselves confused. God wants His children to know just how much He has all this in hand, and faith is not something we use to escape things we don’t like, it’s something that keeps our eyes on the Lord in all times, good, bad or indifferent.

Isaiah was sent by God to the sinful nation, the same nation called of God. Think about it, all the nations in the world, and God called only one. Prophets tell us many things, in our day they tell us where God is taking His Children, and they also warn us of the dangers of mixing the ways of the world into the ways of God. So, if God is so much in control, why doesn’t He just kill the devil and get it over with? The devil is a “spirit”, and no spirit can die. We might thing, “gee, that’s dumb, now we’re stuck with the devil”, but it’s good as well. When God gives us the Spirit of Christ that means we will live forever as well. Not in the same flesh we have now, but in a new, perfect and holy flesh Jesus has for us. The devil is cast into the lake of fire in the end, where he remains forever. Two things remain forever, our souls, and the Spirit. When we receive the Spirit of Christ our souls are then being saved, cleaned and made like the soul of Christ. We’re still different, we’re not all going to look the same, talk the same, that is weird. God loves us as individuals, if not, why make us individuals? There is something called “character”, the thing behind the way we act and think. The Spirit of Christ gives us a character like God’s, and we think the good thoughts. So then, what happens if we think a bad thought? We tell God we’re sorry, and allow Him to clean us. Isaiah is going to tell the people If they repent, God will not correct them, but if they continue to be bad, God will have to correct them. God is not going to lie to us, if He says “change”, we better turn toward Him and allow Him to bring the change, then we accept it, and go on with God.

These people were not paying attention to the things of God, they had their idols, and they had the Temple. They would go to Temple (church), and then to worship idols. They thought as long as the Temple was in their land, they were okay, but a building is just that, a building. It was the people God was interested in, and the Temple wasn’t going to save them. Why would God correct them? Because if they continued on, they would become so evil, they would be just like the devil. Don’t forget God picked Israel for the birth of Jesus, and then to show the world what God is like. Does God worship idols? No, of course not, but these people were. The world would look at them, and figure, “hey they are like God, so God must worship idols, I told you it was okay”. Wrong, and because God picked them, and because they said they would do as God told them, God would punish them, to save them. If we wanted to play in the street, and mom said, “don’t do that”, and we thought, “what’s the big deal, no cars are coming, it’s okay”. We would be wrong, why? The street was made for cars, and a car would come by, sure as shooting. Mom knows that, because mom has knowledge. When we think  it’s “okay” when it’s not, we’re listening to the wrong voice. These people of God were listening to the wrong voice, so God sent them prophets with a “Word” of correction. They played with the devils toys for so long, they couldn’t tell the difference between the voice of the devil, and the voice of God.

Four prophets were called of God to warn His people of the danger they were in, yet the people would not hear. First was Isaiah, then Jeremiah, then Ezekiel and finally Daniel. Isaiah was before God was forced to send the people into captivity, or better into a “time out”. Jeremiah was in the land, and Ezekiel was a priest who was taken captive, and Daniel was young man in training who was taken captive. These four prophets show us something about God, and how His love reaches and reaches and reaches before He is forced to correct us. The first sign of danger God sent Isaiah, then when the land was in sure danger He brought Jeremiah, and to the people in captivity He sent Ezekiel and Daniel. All the time God was saying, “Please, oh please turn from your wicked ways, and come back to Me”. So, if God is God, why not force them to return to Him? Because God is Love, and true Love will reach out to us, but it will not abuse us. We have love, we love people, and we love God, but God is love. Is that different? Sure, if you a male you are a boy, and if you are a female you are a girl, that is what you are, but God is love, and that is what He is.

Jeremiah

Jeremiah was a youth when he was called, and he found out how God knows all things. Before Jeremiah was born, before Jeremiah even knew there was a God, God had a plan for him. The same is true with us; before we were born God had a plan for us, but God is love, and He will not force us to fit the plan. Jeremiah remained in the land, and God told him something strange, something most people would have a hard time with. We hear about the “army of the Lord”, but do we know what that means? God will use those who will yield to Him, and the heart of the king of Babylon was one of violence, the people of God were protected by God, but they kept bowing to idols, and playing with devils, and soon the protection of God was removed, and God allowed the king of Babylon to invade the land of Israel. First, the king of Babylon took a few people, and the false prophets in the land kept saying, “the temple is here, God will not allow anything to happen to the temple”. But they were wrong, the temple was a building, it was the people God was interested in. The people of God continued to worship idols, and God allowed the king of Babylon to raid the land again. The people continued to worship idols, and God again allowed the king to invade the land, and the third time Daniel as taken captive.

God had told Jeremiah the people would be placed in captivity for 70 years, one year for each year they owed the land. What land? Oh, God set a plan for the land, and He said they could plant for six years, but in the seventh year they were to give the land a rest. They robbed the land of it’s rest for 490 years, which means they owed the land 70 years. The time of their “time out” was seventy years, and Jeremiah wrote it down. Daniel knew it would be seventy years, so he remained in the land of Babylon, and also remained loyal to God.

Daniel

Daniel had three friends, perhaps you have heard of them, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. When they were taken captive the king of Babylon wanted to feed them the same food the people of Babylon ate. Daniel being a Jew and under the Law of Moses knew he shouldn’t eat that kind of food, so he made a deal with the captain of the guard. If the captain allows Daniel and his friends to eat what they want, and they look as healthy of healthier than the other people in ten days, then Daniel and his friends would not be forced to eat the food of Babylon, but if Daniel and his friends looked puny, then they would eat the food of Babylon. The captain said, Sure, why not. In ten days Daniel and his friends look better than all the captives, and the people in the land. What did that prove? First Daniel didn’t do a thing wrong, the nation he lived in did, yet the lad was taken captive. Some of us would have said, “not fair God, I’ll show you, give me that Babylon food”, but Daniel loved the Lord, and knew God had a purpose in all this. Daniel knew there are times when even the innocent are caught in bad things, but he also knew God had a plan in all this, and it would all work out. It did, Daniel had a gift from God, he could interpret dreams. Not all dreams are God-given, some come from our own minds, some from food, but God does give us dreams.

Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had a dream, and it really bugged him. He called all his witchdoctors, but they had no idea what the meaning of the dream was. One reason was Nebuchadnezzar couldn’t remember the dream, he only knew it scared him. Anyway, one thing led to another and Daniel ended up telling the Nebuchadnezzar the dream, and it had to do the king. As Daniel began to tell Nebuchadnezzar about the dream, Nebuchadnezzar started to remember. “Yeah Daniel, that’s it, sure, now I remember”. The king was impressed and rewarded Daniel by giving him a special job in the government of Babylon.

God gave the king the dream, God took the memory of the dream away from the king, God gave Daniel the gift of interpreting dreams, and God made sure the king knew Daniel could interpret dreams, and Daniel was obedient, helped the king, and God made sure Daniel was rewarded. What do you think would have happened if Daniel would have said, “You know what, I didn’t do anything wrong and here I am, I’m not telling that king anything, I don’t care if he ever knows what that dream means”? Daniel would still be in jail, and the king would still be wondering about the dream, but the king would be walking around free. It’s much better to obey God, then get mad because we don’t like what’s going on.

Remember the three friends of Daniel? They loved the Lord too, and Daniel was out of the country on business for the king of Babylon, and the three friends of Daniel, who were also known as the Three Hebrew Children were still in Babylon. Jealousy is when someone else has something and we want it, but we don’t want to go through what they went through to get it, so we set out to destroy them and it. So it was in the land of Babylon, the three Hebrew children were doing great, the king liked them, yet they were still loyal to God. Some of the bad guys in the land got jealous and came to the king with a plan. First, they had to butter up the king, and tell him what a big shot he was, and then they told the king he should build an image of himself and have all the people bow to it. What is an image? An idol, the very thing the children were put into captive for. The king made a big image, it was about 90 feet tall, and made of gold, but it was still an idol. The plan was in motion, the bad guys had the king fooled, and they knew the three Hebrew children would not bow to any image, 9 inches tall or 90 feet tall. When the time came for all to bow down to the image, the three Hebrew children would not. So, how come they did all those other things for the king, but not this? Because this was not obedience, it was rebellion against God. Like all laws, there was an “if”, if they did not bow down, then they would be tossed into the furnaces alive. Yikes!!! Bow man, bow. No, they said No, they knew it would be better to face the furnace, then the fires of hell.

The king stood the three Hebrew children up before all the land, and told them to bow to the image. They didn’t spit at the king, they told him in a nice way, “no”, by saying, “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto you O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship your golden image which you set up” (Dan 3:17-18). They said they knew God could deliver them, but even if God didn’t, even if God turned from them, that didn’t matter, they were not going to serve any idols. Didn’t they serve the king of Babylon anyway? No, they were serving God, and God wanted them to serve the king, and that is much different than just serving the king alone.

Well the king got real mad, and had the three Hebrew children tossed into one of the furnaces. The fire was so hot the soldiers who tossed the three children in were burned up. The king looked and said, “Wait, didn’t we toss three into the fire? Who is that fourth man, and what is this? They all look like they are dancing?”. They were, the Lord was in the fire waiting for them, just as He is in the fire of trouble we find ourselves in from time to time. Did the three Hebrew children know the Lord was there? No, they didn’t toss themselves into the fire, they didn’t say, “watch it king, the Lord is in there”. As far as they knew, they were going to die. They didn’t jump in, they were tossed in, and they also got all dressed up in their best Jewish clothes. If they were going to meet the Lord, they wanted to look their best, but then they told the king they wouldn’t bow, they gave God their best. Being loyal to God is always giving our best.

Anyway they came out of the fire, and they didn’t even smell like smoke. The king knew they served a mighty God, so God used what appeared to be terrible to show the king the Hebrews served a mighty God. It ended good, and it’s the end of the story that tells us if it’s good or not. Never judge the event, but by the event, a furnace is not a furnace if the Lord is there.

The Lord had plans for Babylon as well, you see if the Lord allows another country to take His children, they better treat His children right. Nebuchadnezzar did just that, look at how he treated Daniel? However, Nebuchadnezzar had a son, named Nebuchadnezzar II, then came the grand-son Belshazzar. Nebuchadnezzar died, Nebuchadnezzar II went off to war, and left his son Belshazzar in charge, which was a big mistake. The 70 years wasn’t up yet, but Belshazzar was using the things of God in a wicked manner, and as a result he was also misusing the people of God. One night there was some handwriting on the wall, and we get the saying, “well the handwriting is on the wall” from this very happening. The handwriting was in a foreign language and read, “MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN” (Dan 5:24). No one understood it, so they sent for Daniel. By the time Daniel got there things were all ready happening, Daniel looked at the writing and said, “MENE, God has numbered your kingdom and finished it”; “TEKEL; you are weighed in the scales, and come up way short”; “PERES; your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians”. Now wait, the writing was MENE twice, and UPHARSIN, not PERES. It’s okay, from that we can see God gave Belshazzar a chance, the use of the word MENE twice means God numbered the kingdom for many days, then when the writing came the word UPHARSIN was correct, since it means “will be divided”, but when Daniel saw the writing he knew it was happening, and sure enough when Daniel finished the saying, the door busted open, and Bang, Babylon was out, the Medes and Persians were in.

Daniel found favor in the eyes of the Medes and Persians, God made Daniel a nice guy, everyone liked him; except for the jealous ones, they don’t like anyone. These jealous ones knew when a Persian made a law, not even a Persian could erase it. Darius was a Persian over the captured Babylon empire, and some of the jealous started to spy on Daniel to find something, anything so they could accuse him. Daniel was faithful to God, so he was also faithful to Darius, and they could find no fault in him. They did notice that everyday he would pray, so they laid a trap. They went to Darius and said, “you know you’re the man, and we think for thirty days no one should pray or ask any god for anything but you, and if they do, you should feed them to the lions”. Darius was impressed with himself, and these jealous ones were able to fool him, so he made the law. The wicked ones went out and saw Daniel praying, and immediately took him to the king and said, “there he is, one who violated your law, feed him to the lions”. Oh my, this was not good, since Darius really liked Daniel. Darius was very sad, and knew he couldn’t change the law, and knew Daniel was a Godly man, and told Daniel, “Your God whom you serve continually, He will deliver you” (Dan 6:16). This king knew Daniel was a servant of God, and knew God would watch over Daniel. The king was tricked, and that is different than if he had planned to hurt Daniel. Some times we get tricked into things, and when we find out they are bad, we must repent, and pray for God to make things right again. The king knew since he was tricked, and since Daniel was innocent, and since Daniel prayed and loved God, that God would watch over Daniel.

They put Daniel in the lions den, and then they put a big stone over the opening of the den. Daniel was caught there, and would have to spend the night. The king returned to the lion’s den in the morning and yelled, “O Daniel, servant of the Living God, is your God, whom you serve continually, able to deliver you from the lions?” (Dan 6:20). Then they all heard Daniel say, “O, king, live forever”. Daniel was alive, God put an angel in the den to keep the lions at peace, and still, and they left Daniel alone all the night. The king was very glad, but those wicked men who set the trap were not. The king put them in the lion’s den, and they didn’t believe in God, so no angel came to save them.

Then the king wrote another law that couldn’t be erased either, and it said, “to all the people, and to all the nations, and to all languages, Peace be multiplied unto you. I make this law, that in every place of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for He is a Living God, and steadfast forever, and His kingdom will not be destroyed, and His dominion (heaven and earth) shall be even unto the end. He delivers, and rescues and He works signs and wonders in heaven and earth, Who has delivered Daniel from the mouth of the lions” (Dan 6:25-27). This is important since this is a kind of prophecy, we are in the Kingdom of heaven, and the Kingdom of God is in us, if we have Jesus in us. We know God delivers, God rescues, and He rewards those who seek Him. How did Daniel seek Him? By trusting in God no matter what the king of the land did to him. Like his three friends, Daniel was going to stand with God, because he knew God would stand with him.

Daniel had many visions of things concerning the end times, or the time of the very end. Those times are not to be afraid of, God has given us the Harbor of Safety in Jesus. The purpose of all this is Jesus, and the purpose of Jesus is to save us from the things to come. Faith is not something we use to ignore events, it will get us through the tough times, and faith always knows God is with us, God is for us, and God is saving us. Daniel’s visions give us hope, there are three groups of people on the earth, the Jew, the non-Jew called the Gentile, and those who are of Jesus, who are neither Jew or Gentile, who are called Christian. Daniel’s visions show us there will come a time when the Christian will not be on this earth, a time when the Plan of God calls for a time when those who love God will no longer know of evil.

End Times

The End Times are divided into two areas, one is called the Day, the other is called the Night. The Day is now, it’s a time of Salvation, a time when God is not going to be angry at anyone, a time when God will not punish, judge or condemn anyone. The Night is when God begins the Judgment of mankind, and like many things of God, what we see is not what is going on. During the Day there are wars, rumors of wars, pestilence and famine in the world, but Peace with us in the Kingdom of God. During the Night there will be Peace and Safety in the world, but violence in the Kingdom. The world sees all the wars, rumors of wars, pestilence and famine and says, “how can that be God?”. They are right, that is not God, the Kingdom is God, the world is the evil. If we take the word “evil”, and add the letter “d” for destruction to the front of it, we come up with the word “devil”. Being a Christian gives us a special place with God, a place that God gives us freely. All we have to do is ask, and walk the way the Lord desires. We know we can’t walk that path alone, so God gives us His Spirit to help us. Through the Spirit of God in us we can do all the things of Christ, and by that same Spirit we know we will be with God in the true and everlasting Paradise in heaven. Our confidence is in God’s ability to get us through all this, much better than trusting in our own ability. Right?

Minor Prophets

Isaiah gave us the Outlines for the End Times, Daniel the Visions, and the Old Testament ends with 12 prophets all confirming the End Times. These 12 prophets are called “minor prophets”, and that doesn’t mean they dug holes in mountains, or hunted gold, it means their job as prophet was not as long as the jobs of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. Some of the minor prophets gave two or three prophecies, or were in the job of prophet for a couple of months, but what they said is still important. They were Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi. Like Isaiah they all spoke to the people in their day, and to the future. So, when God uses the prophet to speak of the future, is God guessing? Or does God know? God knows, and God is not limited to time like we are. We have our yesterday, our today and our tomorrow, but God is always Now. Hard for us to think on the Now, but for God it’s easy. God can look at something in the future, then tell a prophet about it, and the prophet tell us what God is seeing. Like a big telephone, God calls from the future, and the prophet answers the phone, and gives us the message.

Hosea

The name Hosea means “Salvation”, and there is very little known about him, other than the information contained in his prophecy. There was a time of great prosperity in the land of Israel under king Jeroboam, but the people were also avoiding God, who gave them the prosperity. When man thinks his wealth is of his own hand, he is stealing the glory from God. God makes the rich, rich, no one makes their self rich. The leaders allowed the people to get involved in idol worship, after all the land was rich, the people were doing fine, why not? Why not indeed. God was about to take away the wealth, but God being God would warn the people, and call out for them to repent, and put away their idols. So, then, isn’t God greater than the idols? Why didn’t God send a big wind and destroy the idols in the land? Choice, those people, like you and I have choice. God directs us, He doesn’t force us.

The real problem came when the people not only worshiped idols, but they began to thank the idols for the prosperity. Today we could see this as someone thanking a government, or a government leader taking credit for the prosperity of a nation. To God that is idol worship, not very wise. If God knew these people would give the credit to the idols, why even give them the prosperity? Choice, and testing, without them we would never know our own heart. God won’t step in and clean us, unless we ask Him to. Did God force us to accept Jesus? No, we had to make the choice. God didn’t grab us by the nose and drag us down to the altar, we made a decision, and accepted Jesus. The entire process of God in our lives is based on our choice. God knows all things, it’s we who don’t know, and to think “well if God wants me, He will have to force me” isn’t going to make it. That is how the devil thinks, the devil goes about seeking whom He may devour. God reaches out to those who seek God in order to be saved.

Hosea had a wife who left him, and God used that to show the people even if they leave God, God will not leave them. Hosea prayed for his wife, and God put a invisible hedge around her, no matter where she went, or where she turned her mind would see Hosea. God still didn’t force her to return, He merely gave her the vision of her heart. She really loved Hosea, but her pains and sorrow got in the way of her heart. Hosea’s story is one of hope, just as his wife returned and was greeted with joy by Hosea, the people could return and be greeted by the joy of  the Lord.

Hosea tells us even if we make a mistake, even if we blow it, that doesn’t mean we’re going to hell, it means God is waiting to receive us back, just as soon as we repent.

Joel

The Name Joel means “Jehovah is God”, and he lived in the southern kingdom of Judah, whereas Hosea was in the northern kingdom. Joel was around during the time of king Joash, and Joel speaks about a time to come in future, a time called “the Day of the Lord”. On the Day of Pentecost Peter spoke of the words of Joel, and said, “this is that day”. The Day of the Lord is divided into two parts, the Day first, then the Night. In the Book of Genesis God created all the things needed for the Night, so there is no work to be done when the Night comes. However, the New Birth is for the Day, it’s a New Creation, showing the Day has its own time of Creation. We are of the Day, we are not of the Night, and we are no longer of the Darkness.

Joel talks about both the Day and the Night, and it could get a little confusing if we didn’t know of the division between the Day and Night. Joel tells us about the Spirit of the Lord, and how we will prophesy, and have visions, but then he talks about darkness and sorrow. The Judgment of the Lord comes at the end of the Night, by that time we are in heaven with the Lord, where we will remain with Him forever.

Amos

The name Amos means “A burden”, and a burden is like a big bag we have to carry. Amos was from the town of Tekoa in Judah, but he was sent to the Northern kingdom to prophesy. Amos gives us some help on the end time thinking, and again if we didn’t know about the division between Day and Night, we would get confused. We as Christians are excited about seeing the Lord, that time is a time of rejoicing, but Amos tells us, “woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! To what end is it for you? The day of the Lord is darkness, and not light” (Amos 5:18). Wow, are we in sin waiting for Jesus? No, there are some who wait for Jesus to punish their enemies, to bring justice on the heads of people, and for them that time will be more darkness on them, then on their enemies. We desire to see the Lord because we love Him, not because we want to see a bunch of people punished. Amos is speaking of the time of Judgment, not the time when we are caught up to be with the Lord.

Obadiah

The name Obadiah means “Servant or worshiper of God”, and his is the shortest book in the Old Testament. Obadiah must have been around during the time when Jerusalem was being beaten up by the Philistines and Arabians, and his time would have been before Jeremiah. Obadiah speaks about Edom, and Edom the nation is named after Edom the person (make sense). Edom was the brother of Jacob, and we remember that Jacob was also known as Israel. When Moses and the children were in the wilderness they came to the land of Edom and wanted to pass through to get to the Promised Land, but Edom wouldn’t allow them to pass. The people of Edom were trouble to Israel, but they had a special protection based on the Law of Moses, being the people of the brother of Jacob. They took advantage of that protection, and they become an example of those who have Christian parents but refuse to become Christian. They trust in the protection over their parents, and they take advantage of that protection, but Obadiah tells us that time comes to an end. Each of us must make our own decision, and each of us stand on that decision.

Jonah

Jonah is one of our favorite stories because it explains how God will not force us to make the decision, but once we make it, He will hold us to it. The name Jonah means “dove”, and the dove is a sign of Peace, and the Holy Spirit. Jonah was sent to warn a nation, but he was more afraid of the nation, then of God. There is a “fear of God”, and Jonah will show us what that fear is. We can have a fear of falling, or a fear of some bully beating us up, or a fear of getting sick, or a fear of failing, and none of those are the same as our “fear of God”. We know God is all powerful, and we know if we come against God, we are in for it, so our fear is knowing when we walk with God, God walks with us, but when we walk against God, God will be against us. The Cross of Jesus brought two things, one is the Day of Salvation, the other the Night of Judgment. It would be wrong to speak of the Salvation alone, and ignore the Judgment. It would also be wrong to speak so much on the Judgment, we forget the Salvation.

Jonah’s story gives us many things to consider; first, we can run, but we can’t hide from God. Next, we find Jonah missed the point, God sent him to say something, but Jonah thought he was going to die. Jonah was a prophet before this event took place (II Kings 14:25), so he had made the decision to “speak whatever the Lord gives me to say”, which is what any prophet is supposed to do. At the time there was a city called Nineveh, which was in the land of Assyria, and Assyria was like Babylon. The people of Assyria knew of the God of Israel, and the story shows God is willing to give mercy to whomever asks for it.

One day the Lord came to Jonah and said, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me” (Jonah 1:2). It’s one thing to tell someone, “The Lord loves you, and has called you to a place with Him, a place of peace and comfort”, it’s another to say, “The Lord is not happy with you, you must repent, for your wicked ways have come before Him”. A prophet is not suppose to tell the Lord, “well, I tell you what Jesus, I will only speak the sweet good words, but I won’t give those words of warning”. No sir, a prophet speaks the words given, no more, no less, and never refusing to speak.

Now Jonah allowed his mind to run wild, and his “fear” was not a Fear of God, but a fear of Nineveh, so he ran. He got to a place called Tarshish, a sea port with ships. He paid some guys to ride on their boat, and he went below deck, and was hiding among the cargo.

When the boat was out to sea a great storm came up, and Jonah not only ran, he picked a bunch of idol worshipers to save him. The storm became greater and greater and the men of the boat did their idol worshiping thing, and each cried unto their god(s). Then Jonah was asleep with the cargo, thinking he was safe, but he wasn’t, and the captain came down and yelled at him, “O sleeper, arise, call upon your God, if so be that God will think kindly upon us, and we be saved”. Whenever we trust in man to save us, we will find man cannot, only God can save.

The men then found the trouble was Jonah, the runaway prophet. In order to save themselves they tossed Jonah overboard. That has to tell us something about running to man for salvation, they will toss us overboard to save their own neck.

A big fish came along and swallowed Jonah whole. The strange sign was how the idol worshippers aboard the ship were converted, and not only accepted the God of Jonah, but they gave sacrifices and vows unto the Lord. Even in his efforts to run from the calling, he was still bringing people to God.

This fish was not any fish, it was prepared by the Lord, or a special fish that could keep Jonah inside without causing his skin to rot, or causing him to drown. There are several stories of people being swallowed by whales and sharks, and coming out alive. Whether one believes this or not doesn’t matter, whether we believe God is still reaching out to Jonah, and not allowing him to be killed does. God could have allowed the boat to sink, and all to die, but He didn’t, all were saved. God could have sent many sharks to eat Jonah, but He didn’t, He wanted Jonah to finish the job, and speak to the people.

Jonah sat in the big fish and found his “fear of God”, he also found that if he can repent, so can the people of Nineveh. Jonah prayed, and Jonah knew he was about as close to hell as he wanted to get, and God heard him, and saved him from the belly of the fish. Jonah knew he made the decision to serve God, and running like a rabbit was not serving God. He had a task to do, and he would do it. The fish spit Jonah out on the shore, and Jonah found a donkey, and rode like the wind to Nineveh.

Jonah didn’t waste time, he rode through the city and “preached” “yet forty days and Nineveh shall be destroyed”. They he sat on a hill and waited, but the king of the city repented, and so did the people, and the city was spared. Well, gee, Jonah said it would be destroyed, so is Jonah a false prophet? No, the Bible says he “preached”, and preaching is often saying what can happen, prophecy is saying what will happen. If they had not repented then the city would be destroyed, but they repented and lived. Of course Jonah was not real happy with this, after all he spent time in the belly of the fish for simply running, here these idol worshipers repent, and Bang all is forgiven.

God came to Jonah and gave him some good advice, did God forgive Jonah? Sure, did Jonah make the fish? No, did Jonah make the people in Nineveh? No, God did, and it was God who saved Jonah, and God who forgave the people. Jonah’s job was to preach, not save. Sometimes we think our job is to save the world, it’s not, we preach, God saves.

Micah

The name Micah manes “who is like Jehovah?”, and the answer is of course, “no one”. Micah was around during the time Isaiah, and both ministered in the southern kingdom of Judah. Micah was sent to rebuke the leaders of Judah because they had fallen from mercy. They had fallen into immorality, or failed to act right in the sight of God, they failed to take care of the poor, and needy, and they acted like nasty rulers. Micah’s message was for the leaders to “hear” what was said. Later Jesus will tell us, “those with ears to hear”, which means we not only hear the words spoken, but we hear them wanting to do them.

Idol worship was everywhere, and Micah was simply telling the leaders to “look” and “hear” his words, is idol worship right? Is it right for the people of God? Not hardly, so why do it? The leaders were listening to the wrong voice, and they needed to tone their ears to the voice of the Lord.

Naham

Next is Nahum, and the name Nahum means “comfort”, and his message concerns the destruction of Nineveh. Wait, didn’t Jonah preach to the people of Nineveh, and the city was spared? Yes, those people in the city were, but then the next generation went right back to the evil ways, and rejected the warning. Jonah was right, the city would be destroyed, he just missed the timing. The lesson in Nahum is we can’t trust in the past repentance of others to save us, we have to repent, and seek the Lord.

Habakkuk

The name Habakkuk means “the embracer”, and his message answers the question, “why would God allow evil to go unpunished?”. Habakkuk lived at a time when the people of Israel were up to their necks in idol worship, and refused to listen to the prophets of God, and refused to repent, so God used the heathen army of Babylon to correct the children. Habakkuk had a real hard time understanding why God would use Babylon, and why God would remain silent in the face of His children being taken captive, and some even killed. God told Habakkuk how the people forced God into using Babylon, and how God’s purpose was far greater than the people’s desire to worship idols. God was going to bring the Christ (Messiah) from these people, and how would it look to the heathen if the people of God were worshiping idols like the heathen?  Habakkuk considered the answer, and agreed with God, even to the point of praying a real prayer of faith. Even if God allows the wicked to overrun the righteous, even if God allows the people of Israel to fade as the night sky, even if God shall allow the fruit of the land to disappear, even if God should allow the fields to go barren, even if God should allow all the prosperity to fall into the hands of the heathen, even if God turns His back on the people of God, Habakkuk will still rejoice in the Lord, and his joy  will be in the God of his Salvation (Hab 3:15-18). Habakkuk introduces us to faith and the purpose of faith. Faith is not something we use to avoid events with, it’s something that keeps us giving God the glory regardless of the event. Faith is a trust in God’s wisdom and purpose, and a knowledge that we may not understand, but God does.

Zephaniah

The name Zephaniah means “The Lord hides”, and he speaks more of the protection over the saints who stand in the Night, rather than those of us assigned to the Day. The purpose is not so much to show us how God will operate in the Night, but to show us there will be a Night. When we are able to divide the Day from the Night as God did, we will always rejoice in the knowledge that we are children of the Day, not children of the Night. The Night is for judgment, so the Day is for salvation, what does that mean? There is no wrath of God in the Day, God is continually seeking to save during the Day, but when the Night comes there will be no Salvation, only the stage set for the Judgment. God speaks through Zephaniah and says, “I will utterly consume all things from off the land – I will consume man and beast; I will consume fowls of the heaven, and the fish of the sea”. So how is that a loving God? That statement is directed to Judgment, not Salvation.

God’s manner of Judgment is separate the good from the evil, and to grant the good the things of God, and give the evil that which they have been doing, evil. God doesn’t send anyone to hell, He allows those who play with hell to go there. The world is the world, it’s the place where man can see evil, and make a decision to either remain with the evil, or leave it and join God. Zephaniah shows how God will divide, then allow them who turn from the Lord to travel the road of destruction. Gee, couldn’t God force them to come to Him? He sure could, but He won’t. The Cross is not forced on any of us, it’s presented, which means God has done the work, and has offered the reward to us. We can take it, or reject it. If we accept it, we gain the reward, but like taking a bath, the cleaning is not all at once, it takes time.

Zephaniah also talks about “Jerusalem”, but not so much Jerusalem of the earth, but a place called New Jerusalem, the heavenly city, and shows no matter what happens on earth, or in heaven, New Jerusalem will be saved. So how do we join this New Jerusalem? Receive the Cross of Jesus, allow the Holy Spirit to come into us, and clean us, and work with us. Not a bad deal all in all.

Haggai

The name Haggai means “festive”, and we remember how God allowed the king of Babylon to take the children captive, and how Daniel was among those taken, as was Ezekiel, well Haggai was the first prophet to speak to those taken by the king of Babylon. Haggai had four messages for the people, one was the call that the time had ended, and it was time to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. This as a sign to the children, and one of the reasons they were taken captive was their trust in the temple, rather than trusting in God. God allowed the temple to be destroyed because it had become an idol. Anything, other than God that we trust in to deliver us is an idol.

There were some still in the land who were so self-centered they didn’t want the temple rebuilt, they liked things the way they were. Haggai tells them it’s God’s will to rebuild the temple, and to stand in the way of God is a big mistake.

Haggai gives us some neat sayings, one is “consider your ways” (Haggai 1:5). From time to time we have to “consider” what we’re doing, are we treating people the way God would? Are we holding to faith? Are we allowing God to love others through us?

Zechariah

The name Zechariah means “the Lord remembers”, and he too was around during the time when the children were in captivity. Zechariah shows us the Day and the Night, but he doesn’t mix them. Later we will see how Jesus will go to a mount and on the mount there will be Moses and Elijah, and the Father will tell the disciples “hear you Him”, meaning hear Jesus. So was it really Moses? And Elijah? Or did they stand for something? They stood for something, Moses for the Law of Moses, and Elijah for the Prophets, showing us in the Night they will not have Jesus, and will not be able to “hear you Him”, but they will have the Two Witnesses of the Law and Prophets. This again shows the Night is for Judgment, not Salvation, since neither the Law or the Prophets can save anyone.

Malachi

The last Old Testament book is Malachi, and Malachi means “my messenger”, and he points to John the Baptist as the messenger to announce the coming of Jesus. Malachi has some real interesting things to say, one is a warning to us of the Day, the other is to those who are only in this for gain. We do not want to “pollute” the Table of the Lord, we take Communion to be open before the Lord, to allow the Lord to examine us, forgive us, and clean us.

John will tell us the way to heaven is through what he calls “the door”, and Jesus will talk about the time of the “doors”, and we know we enter a house by the door. So who would enter by a window? A thief, and there are those who only seek the gain, they are only looking for what they can get, and Malachi addresses them. If that is all they want, fine, pay their tithe under the Law of Moses, and the windows of heaven will open, but the door will close. So what is the tithe? The tithe is what we give God from the things God has given us. The tithe under the Law of Moses is based on those who seek the blessing, the tithe under Jesus is for those who are blessed. We give because we love to, it’s in us to give, we love to see people when they receive. However, there are those who could care less, as long as they get back more than they give. Those are the ones Malachi talks to, they say, “So, what’s in this for me? What profit can I get from serving God?”, and God says, Pay your tithe, and I will reward you by opening the windows of heaven (Malachi 3:6-14). The only reason they serve God is to get (Malachi 3:14), on the other hand we serve God because we love Him.

God then warns those who seek the “widow” of heaven how the day of the Lord is coming, a day when the proud will do wickedly, and they will become wicked since all they look for is self-gain. We have to “consider our ways”, and if we’re only doing our service for what we can get, we need to repent, and allow God to clean us. We have to “prepare the way” for the Lord in our hearts, and Malachi will end telling the people to prepare for day when a man like Elijah will come with the message of Elijah, saying, “repent”. That’s the place we’re headed to next – the New Testament.