Marching Forth!

After years of warfare and a siege, the city of Jerusalem was finally broken up during the reign of king Zedekiah.  Instead of surrendering to Nebuchadnezzar and serving him as directed by God, he tried to flee by night by way of the plain.   Jeremiah 52:8-11 details what followed, and it is not at all pleasant:  " But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and they overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. All his army was scattered from him.  9 So they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he pronounced judgment on him.  10  Then the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. And he killed all the princes of Judah in Riblah.  11  He also put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in bronze fetters, took him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death ."  Zedekiah's army was scattered and could not save him, and ...

Today in New South Wales has been deemed a public holiday to mourn the passing of Queen Elizabeth, the longest serving monarch in British history.  During a recent drive I heard an ABC radio presenter ask a British guest and royal expert if there was a special place in heaven for those who reigned as kings and queens on earth.  After a brief explanation from a general Christian worldview, the guest replied there was not a special place for royals in heaven.  He hinted the only recognised king in heaven is the LORD Jesus Christ, the KING OF KINGS, whom Queen Elizabeth worshipped as His loyal subject.  Those who are faithful in service and honour God in their duties as Queen Elizabeth did embrace virtues intrinsic to Jesus Christ Himself. As I viewed clips of the royals singing hymns and the national anthem "God Save the King," it struck me members of the British royal family sing these songs to God and these words are not a petition to themselves.  In the simple ...

In a single statement speaking to the Sadducees, Jesus connected man's tendency of error with ignorance of what God has said in the the Bible and the knowledge of God's power.  The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection, and thus presented Jesus a contrived question they thought was a real stumper.  The problem was, in their attempt to expose Jesus and His doctrine as false their own folly was exposed in unbelief.  Their ignorance of the scriptures led to great error as  Mark 12:24 shows:  " Jesus answered and said to them, "Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God ?" The word "mistaken" or "err" in the KJV has the sense in the original Greek, " to cause to wander, to lead astray ."  When we say a person "made a mistake" it could be synonymous with saying someone accidentally said the wrong thing or misspoke.  Jesus said this was more than than, for the Sadducees w...

God tested Abraham by directing him to offer his only and beloved son Isaac as a burnt offering, and Abraham obeyed God without question.  Three days later after the altar had been fashioned, the wood placed in order, Isaac willingly bound and laid thereon, Abraham picked up the knife to slay his son.  The Angel of the LORD cried out from heaven and said in  Genesis 22:12 :  " And He said, "Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me ."  I was quite struck by what God said and how He said it. God did not say in so many words, "Now I now you fear God since you offered your only son to Me."  One reason why this is significant is because it is common for people to point to the things they do to justify themselves as righteous or being "God-fearing."  They go to church, read the Bible, give generously to people in need.  They could be like Kin...