THE THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Who is so wise as to know everything?
“2 Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man. 3 I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy.”
Proverbs 30:2-3 (KJV)
Matthew 2
Those who studied the stars (astrologers) knew what to look for, based on prophecy
Matthew 2:1 (KJV), “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem.”
Wise men [ Magi]
Strong’s Concordance (3097) – magos: a Magian, i.e. an (Oriental) astrologer, by impl. a magician.
Thayer’s Greek Lexicon – 1. to the oriental wise men (astrologers) who, having discovered by the rising of a remarkable star.
Balaam was a soothsayer who believed in God to a point where he was influenced by the Holy Spirit talking to Balak
Numbers 24:14-17 (KJV), “14 And now, behold, I go unto my people: come therefore, and I will advertise thee what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days. 15 And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said: 16 He hath said, which heard the words of God, and knew the knowledge of the most High, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open. 17 I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.”
Isaiah’s prophecy
Isaiah 60:3 (KJV), “And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.”
Matthew’s account
Matthew 2:2 (KJV), “Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.”
The name ‘King Herod’ is notorious with Christians. King Herod ‘The Great’ tried to have Jesus killed and, in the process, had many children killed. King Herod ‘The Greats’ son, King Herod Antipas, was the king that had Jesus crucified.
Matthew 2:3 (KJV), “When Herod [the Great] the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.”
King Herod ‘The Great’ was pretty sure, based on prophecies, that Jesus was the King of the Jews
Matthew 2:5-6 (KJV), “5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet [Micah]. 6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel. ”
Micah 5:2 (KJV), “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”
King Herod ‘The Great’, just to prove his theory, asked the wise men ‘what time the star appeared’
Matthew 2:7 (KJV), “Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.”
Based on prophecy
Numbers 24:17 (KJV), “I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.”
Think of the hundreds of years that have passed while Jewish faithful believed in prophecy
Matthew 2:10-11 (KJV), “10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. 11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.”
Hundreds of years prior, Job reasoned to believe that God speaks to mankind in dreams
Job 33:15-16 (KJV), “15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; 16 Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction.”
The wise men as well
Matthew 2:12 (KJV), “And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.”
And then Joseph
Matthew 2:13 (KJV), “And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.”
Joseph knew the importance of going to Egypt and returning when King Herod had died
Hosea 11:1 (KJV), “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.”
Again, Herod knew of prophecy
Jeremiah 31:15 (KJV), “Thus saith the Lord; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.”
Though Herod was dead, Joseph was warned by God not to return to Judea since Herod’s son, Archelaus, was now king, and then went to Nazareth
Judges 13:5 (KJV), “For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.”
Revelation 2 (cont.)
The Compromising Church – Pergamos
Revelation 2:14-15 (KJV), “14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. 15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate.”
The Corrupt Church – Thyatira
Revelation 2:20 (KJV), “Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.”
From the following verse, we know that the great tribulation had not occurred as of yet because God gave them time to repent
Revelation 2:21-22 (KJV), “21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. 22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.”
Poor Jeremiah was faithfully communicating with both Israel and Judah the words given to him from God. God wanted so much to heal them and likened them to a potter and His clay, they would have none of that. They threatened Jeremiah, because of what he told them. Jeremiah spoke to God in his defense.
Jeremiah 18:21-23 (KJV), “21 Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle. 22 Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them: for they have digged a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet. 23 Yet, Lord, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thus with them in the time of thine anger.”
Jeremiah 19 – The Sign of the Broken Flask
God had previously told Jeremiah that He was the Potter and Israel and Judah were the clay. He pronounced onto both that He wanted to mold and shapen them back from evil. Both countries denied that so, God essentially gave them a second chance through the sign of the Flask.
Jeremiah 19:1 (KJV), “Thus saith the Lord, Go and get a potter’s earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests.”
God proceeded then to pronounce judgement on Israel and Judah through Jeremiah
Jeremiah 19:6 (KJV), “Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter.”
Jeremiah 19:11 (KJV), “And shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter’s vessel, that cannot be made whole again: and they shall bury them in Tophet, till there be no place to bury.”
Jeremiah 19:15 (KJV), “Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have hardened their necks, that they might not hear my words.”
Proverbs 30 Read
Ezekiel 17 The Eagles and the Vine
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