THE THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Matthew 16 The Pharisees and Sadducees Seek a Sign
Do not be so deceived or tricked by the world if we do not know God and fear Him
“The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. 3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather today: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? 4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.”
Matthew 16:1-4 (KJV)
All it takes is just 1% of false doctrine or teaching to discredit all of it, BEWARE
Matthew 16:5-6 (KJV), “5 And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. 6 Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.”
Galatians 5:9 (KJV), “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.”
Jesus was telling Peter that he, Peter, would oversee the building (the bodies) of the living church (bodies) by reason of his firmness and strength of soul
Matthew 16:18 (KJV), “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
Strong’s Concordance (4073) – a (large mass of) rock. Brown-Driver-Briggs – c. metaphorically, a man like a rock, by reason of his firmness and strength of soul.
Satan entered upon Peter when Jesus told His disciples that He must die
Matthew 16:21-23 (KJV), “21 From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. 22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. 23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.”
Strong words by Jesus to a man He just spoke highly of. Jesus spoke out of anger in the moment as He did previously in the dessert
Matthew 4:10 (KJV), “Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”
Daniel 9 Daniel’s Prayer for the People
Jeremiah had prophesized that Israel would suffer its captivity in Babylon for 70 years
Jeremiah 25:11 (KJV), “And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.”
Daniel knew of this prophecy
Daniel 9:1-2 (KJV), “In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; 2 In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.”
Daniel pled all of the sins of Israel before God prior to asking for forgiveness
Daniel understood the wrath of The Holy God for breaking the covenant they had established
Daniel 9:11 (KJV), “Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.”
Daniel 9:14 (KJV), “Therefore hath the Lord watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the Lord our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.”
The cry from Daniel
Daniel 9:19 (KJV), “O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.”
Try to understand the timetable God had given to Gabriel to tell Daniel
Daniel 9:24 (KJV), “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.”
There is almost universal agreement among Bible scholars and commentators that this refers to seventy sets of seven years, or weeks of years (or 490 years)
The Jews had Sabbatic years, by which their years were divided into weeks of years, as in this important prophecy, each week containing seven years
I encourage you to read Genesis 29:15-28 to see an example of using this ancient Hebrew word (shabuwa)
Prophecy of the Messiah
Daniel 9:25 (KJV), “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore [60] and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.”
Daniel 9:25 (NASB1995), “So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a [a]decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until [b]Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with [c]plaza and moat, even in times of distress.”
Gabriel’s message to Daniel was simple and striking. 483 years – that is, 69 units of seven years – would pass from the time of the command recorded in Nehemiah 2:1-8 until the appearance of Messiah the Prince
[1] The 483 years were completed at the triumphal entry of Jesus (if dated at A.D. 32). Using a 360-day year (which Israel used in Daniel’s day), calculated 173,880 days from the decree to the triumphal entry, fulfilling the prophecy to the day. “It is customary for the Jews to have twelve months of 360 days each and then to insert a thirteenth month occasionally when necessary to correct the calendar. (Sir Robert Anderson)
Daniel 9:26 (KJV), “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.”
Some chronologists have shown that the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ occurred immediately after the expiration of 483 prophetic years, of 360 days each, from the time of Artaxerxes’ order
Daniel 9:27 (KJV), “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.”
For one week
The coming prince will make a covenant with Israel for the final unit of seven years, completing the seventy weeks prophesied for the Jewish people and Jerusalem
Abomination
Jesus called this the abomination of desolation (Matthew 24:15) and indicated that it would be a pivotal sign in the Great Tribulation. Paul referred to the idolatry of the coming prince in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
Matthew 24:15 (KJV), “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)”
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 (KJV), “3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.”
Jeremiah 31
After the Babylon captivity Israel will be restored
Jeremiah 31:4 (KJV), “Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.”
God promises Israel a New Covenant [Jesus The Christ] of which Israel would not comprehend
Jeremiah 31:31-34 (KJV), “31 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: 33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
Proverbs 11 Please read
Understand what the words ‘prosperity’ or ‘riches’ mean in their respective content
Proverbs 11:25 (KJV), “The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.”
Proverbs 11:25 (NASB1995), “The [a]generous man will be [b]prosperous, And he who waters will himself be watered.”
[a] Soul of blessing
[b] made fat
PROSPERITY
Strong’s Concordance (1878) – dashen: to be fat, grow fat. Brown-Driver-Briggs – verb be fat, grow fat.
Proverbs 11:28 (KJV), “He that trusteth in his riches shall fall; but the righteous shall flourish as a branch.”
Proverbs 11:28 (NASB1995), “He who trusts in his riches will fall, But the righteous will flourish like the green leaf.”
RICHES
Strong’s Concordance (6239) – osher: riches. Brown-Driver-Briggs – compare English ‘make money.’
Ezekiel 29
In Scripture, the number “40” signifies new life, new growth, transformation, a change from one great task to another great task
Ezekiel 29:12 (KJV), “And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be desolate forty years: and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.”
The horn of Israel is symbolic of the leaders
Ezekiel 29:21 (KJV), “In that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth, and I will give thee the opening of the mouth in the midst of them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.”
Psalm 148:14 (KJV), “He also exalteth the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints; even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise ye the Lord.”
Strong’s Concordance (7161) – qeren: a horn. Brown-Driver-Briggs – 4. especially as lifted up; is apparently of restoration of might (as Psalm 148:14).
[1] Sir Robert Anderson
Genesis 29:15-28 (KJV), “15 And Laban said unto Jacob, Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought? tell me, what shall thy wages be? 16 And Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17 Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured. 18 And Jacob loved Rachel; and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter. 19 And Laban said, It is better that I give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man: abide with me. 20 And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her. 21 And Jacob said unto Laban, Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her. 22 And Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast. 23 And it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him; and he went in unto her. 24 And Laban gave unto his daughter Leah Zilpah his maid for an handmaid. 25 And it came to pass, that in the morning, behold, it was Leah: and he said to Laban, What is this thou hast done unto me? did not I serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then hast thou beguiled me? 26 And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. 27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years. 28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.” [return]
Grow in the Word of the Lord 