God will restore Israel after their judgment. They will be brought back after exile and rebuild the citeis, never to be uprooted again.
13a)“I will restore David’s fallen shelter—I will repair its broken walls and will rebuild it as it used to be. The land will be fruitful again and the people will come back from exile. “They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted”
b) verse 12
14a) God will restore his people and Christ will return and help rebuild the fallen city.
b) Jesus comes to give life to the fullest (John 10:10). He will give us eternal life and no one will snatch us out of his hand (John 10:28-29). I have hope that eternal life is right around the corner.
Out of all the gloom and doom, we finally have hope!
The tabernacle of David refers to Jesus. God will repair the ruins. Note that the Gentiles are included here, which James quotes at the Council of Jerusalem.
God will restore his people to prosperity in him and never remove them from his land again.
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The Lord tells Elijah to go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord for the Lord is about to pass by. Wind, an earthquake, and fire passed by without the Lord in them. Finally, the Lord came in a gentle whisper. Elijah pulled his cloak over his face and stood at the mouth of the cave. The Lord repeated his question to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” Elijah repeats his answer from before.
The Lord then give Elijah instructions: Go to the desert of Damascus. Anoint Hazael king over Aram. Anoint Jehu king over Israel. Anoint Elisha to succeed you as prophet. The Lord will spare 7,000 in Israel who have not worshipped Baal.
Elijah calls Elisha to be a prophet. Elisha slaughters his oxen and fed the meat to the people.
7a) The Lord tells Elijah to go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord for the Lord is about to pass by. Wind, an earthquake, and fire passed by without the Lord in them. Finally, the Lord came in a gentle whisper. I love how the Lord comes gently in a whisper so as not to startle us or make us afraid. The Lord is kind and good, indeed!
b) To feel God’s peace and love and to learn God is gentle and wants the best for His people.
8a) God gave Elijah direct and specific instructions. God told Elijah to: Go to the desert of Damascus. Anoint Hazael king over Aram. Anoint Jehu king over Israel. Anoint Elisha to succeed you as prophet.
b) Elijah’s main complaint was that he was alone. Not anymore. God gives Elijah a companion, a friend, to help him in this desperate time he’s in. Plus, Elijah could now know someone would come after him to take on God’s work. God gives Elijah hope, too.
9) God has given me the drive and perseverance to work for Him each and every day with the goals He has given me to obtain.
I love the gentle whisper of the Lord. This will stick with me for a long time.
God know Elijah needed to encounter God, and in His goodness, God provides us with what we need.
God first shows what where he was not. Then he shows us where He is. So comforting God is gentle. God’s small voice is all we need in our desperate moments.
Elijah humbled himself when he wrapped himself in a cloak.
God gave Elijah work to do like he gives all of us. Sometimes, the best healing is in action.
God is going to punish idolaters, another complaint of Elijah’s. This encourages Elijah that punishment for sin was coming.
Elijah was not alone; there were 7,000 Israelites loyal to God still.
The cloak was a symbolic gesture that Elijah was calling Elisha to be God’s servant. Prophets were distinguishable by their cloaks.
Elijah gives us everything he owns (his plows and his oxen) as he says good-bye to his old live and enters into a new life as God’s servant.
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I love the lesson of fighting with prayer!
We’d all be better off is we trusted God to fight for us, rather than us trying to do it ourselves, especially in situations where we have no individual power, such as world events and overwhelming problems like human trafficking and poverty. We have no power in and of ourselves.
So, my prayer is to remember to pray! In every situation, no matter how small we may think it is. If it’s important to us, then it’s important to God. To set my eyes on God first.
Try not to sin, but if you do, we have Jesus, who will atone for our sins and the sin’s of the world.
12) Jesus is righteous, holy, sinless, and just. Jesus can be our advocate because his sacrificial blood cleanses us, so we can stand before God.
13) We are sinners, and we will always be sinners. But with the sacrificial blood of Jesus, we can spend eternity with God who is sinless. Unsure who He is calling me to share this with. I don’t have contact with a lot of people, so probably a stranger.
14) Trying not to sin. I do believe we can sin less if we have God as our center. My prayer is to grow closer to God and ask Him to be my center.
Another great reminder of what Jesus did for us on the cross. Because he was human and sinless, he is the best and only one who can advocate on our behalf. Jesus is with us via the Holy Spirit every moment of every day, even in our sins. We can turn from sin with God’s help. We are better today than yesterday. We can trust God with all of our hearts, souls, and minds. We can do this all through the power of Christ. In Christ, there is hope. He is risen, indeed!
If we confess our sins, He is faithful, just, and will forgive us and purify us. If we claim we never sin, then God’s word is not in us.
9) If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth and God’s word is not in us. Plus, we claim God to be a liar. When we deny we’ve sinned, we are putting ourselves on par with God, at His level. Plus, we are ignoring God and His word.
10) If we confess our sins, He is faithful, just, and will forgive us and purify us from all unrighteousness. I think we all deny our sins outloud occasionally when we know we have sinned even though our hearts tell us otherwise. In these moments, we should pray and ask for forgiveness.
11) God is faithful (keeps His promises) and just and He forgives and purifies us (clothes us in righteousness) when we confess our sins. I am thankful for His forgiveness each and every day.
I love examining God’s character in the Bible. It’s a great reminder of how Great He truly is. The fact that we can walk with God via the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus, is grace defined. Reflect on God’s faithfulness, justness, and righteousness today.
The heavens and earth proclaim God’s glory to the world. The sun is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber. God’s law is perfect and trustworthy. It brings joy and are more precious than gold and sweeter than honey. By keeping God’s law, there is great reward. Keep me from sinning.
1 ) The law refreshes the soul, is trustworhty, and makes us wise. The law gives us joy and light. His decrees are frim and righteous. They are more precious than gold and sweeter than honey. There is great reward in keeping them.
2 ) God’s Word is good and guides us. It keeps us from sinning. It comforts and commands. It is good. My experience is indescribable because all that I have is from Him and all that I do is for Him.
Great Scripture! I love how we are reminded that God speaks to us through His creation. We often think we have to “hear” an audible sound from God. Instead, all we have to do is look around, and He is there. God’s law is perfect, even when we don’t like what it says. His Word is more precious that gold. We need to cling to that in our darkest moments of life. Contact me today!
On Sunday after Jesus’s death, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to Jesus’s tomb. There was an earthquake and and angel of the Lord came down from heaven and rolled away the stone. He looked like lightning and wore white clothes. The guards were afraid, shook, and became like dead men.
The angel addressed the women, telling them that Jesus has risen like he said he would. He is not there. He tells them to come inside and see the empty tomb then to go and tell the disciples that Jesus has risen and is going to Galilee.
The women did as they were told, afraid but full of joy. Jesus met them on their way to the disciples. They clasped his feet and worshipped him. They he told them to go to his brothers and go to Galilee where they will see him.
The women went to report to the disciples. Some of the guards went to report to the chief priests what had happened. The chief priests, wanting to hide this news, bribed the soldiers to lie and say that during the night, the disciples came and took the body. They offered to protect the soldiers from consequences of falling asleep.
Paul is telling the Corinthians that they are saved by the Gospel. Christ died for our sins. He was raised on the third day. He appeared before the disciples, 500 people at the same time, James, and him. The dead rise again because Christ rose from the grave. If Christ had not risen, they you are still in sin.
9) The argument that Paul makes that if Jesus did not rise from the grave, then our faith is worthless. Jesus’s resurrection is the crux of our religion, and Paul makes a great logical argument here.
10)
John 10:17-18: Jesus willingly laid down his life for us, and he rose with his own authority.
Acts 2:31 with Psalm 16:10: Christ’s body did not decay nor was it in the grave.
Acts 17:30-31: There will be a judgment day with the proof being Jesus’s resurrection.
Romans 6:4: With Christ’s resurrection, we live a new life, as we were baptized with Christ in death.
Ephesians 1:18-23: We have God’s power because he rose Christ from the grave and placed him ruler over everything.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-14: Those who have died believing Jesus will rise again.
1 Peter 1:3-6: God has given us birth through a living hope and an eternal inheritance because of the resurrection of Christ.
11a) Jesus’s willingness to die for us. Unfathomable to me.
b) It’s helpful when times are tough and the world is turbulent to have hope in him.
If you get nothing else from the study of Matthew, get this: Christ died for you, and with faith, you will have eternal life.
Great read!
The women were headed to properly prepare Jesus’s body for burial since Jewish law forbade people from touching dead bodies.
Matthew is the only Gospel to record the earthquake. Bible scholars think the angel prompted the earthquake as he rolled the stone.
Jesus was the first one to be resurrected. Elijah 1 Kings 17:17-24) and Lazarus (John 11:38-44) were brought back from the dead in their old bodies. Resurrection entails getting a new body.
Jesus is risen. He reigns in heaven. There is no tomb of Jesus to go and visit here on earth.
The women should not have been surprised as Jesus said this is what would happen.
Note that Jesus had passed through the stone barrier John 20:19. The stone was only rolled away so others could see and testify to Jesus’s resurrection.
These women saw Jesus’s body go into the tomb and now they say it missing.
Jesus’s resurrection proves God accepted Jesus as a substitute for us.
Note that women were chosen to be the first to tell of Jesus’s resurrection.
King James has “rejoice” as “all hail,” which was a normal Greek greeting.
Fun Fact: this is the first time Jesus calls his disciples “brothers.”
If the guards were asleep, how would they know it was the disciples who stole the body? Obviously, the chief priests aren’t as smart as they think they are. It would have been a loud noise to roll away the stone. There’s no way all those guards would have slept through that.
All of the lies about the denial of Jesus’s resurrection is just that — lies.
You must receive the gospel (“good news”) that Paul received from Christ himself.
“According to the Scriptures”, meaning Jesus’s death fulfilled prophesy.
Paul calls himself the least, and by the grace of God, he is a new man who labored for Christ.
The first-century Corinthians denied our/their resurrection, not Jesus’s.
If Christ did not die, then we are without hope.
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Jesus hung for three hours in this darkness. At the ninth hour, Jesus cries out to God, asking why He has forsaken him. Some who were there thought Jesus was crying for Elijah. They immediately ran to get a sponge and put wine vinegar on it. These people offered it to Jesus to drink. They waited to see if Elijah would come and save him. Jesus cried out again and then died. At that moment, the curtain in the temple was torn in two, the earth shook and the rocks split. Tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who were dead came to life. They came out of their tombs and appeared to many people after Jesus’s resurrection.
Those who were there with Jesus when he died, including the Roman centurion believed he was the Son of God. Many women were there who had followed Jesus from Galilee. These included Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zedebee’s sons.
8 ) Isaiah 13:9-10 tells us that the day of the Lord is coming to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within. Acts 2:20 says the darkness will foreshadow the coming of the Lord.
9) This was the first time God had ever been separated from Jesus as he bore our sins on the cross. It must have been agonizing for both. Plus, Jesus is in physical pain and spiritual pain.
10a) At that moment, the curtain in the temple was torn in two, the earth shook and the rocks split. Tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who were dead came to life. They came out of their tombs and appeared to many people after Jesus’s resurrection.
b) When the curtain tore upon Jesus’s death, we all immediately had access to God. There would be no need for a priest to be the only one who could be with God. The earth shook and the rocks split signify Jesus will come again. Those were were raised signify their ascension to heaven and Jesus’s power to conquer death.
11a) Fear
b) Many women were there who had followed Jesus from Galilee. These included Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zedebee’s sons. God’s inclusion of everyone in his plan for redemption.
12) Every action has a price we must pay and the cost can be severe. We are to try to walk like Jesus, repent of our sins, and be truly grateful Christ stood in our place.
So many people sugar coat Christ’s death, not thinking about the reality of death — the pain, the agony, the suffering that Christ endured for us. If we had any idea how much Christ suffered for our sins, we’d all be on our knees.
Just for fun!
An unusual darkness descended from noon to 3 pm. It is estimated that Jesus hung on the cross for 9 hours, beginning around 9 am. This showed how the entire world was in agony as Jesus was dying.
People come out of the darkness into light. In this moment, the entire world was black as Jesus was dying.
Fun Fact: This is the only time it is recorded that Jesus cried out to God without calling him “Father.”
Jesus quotes Psalm 22, as his fulfillment of the prophecy.
For the first time, Jesus is separate from God. You get the sense that that’s all that truly matters. Is that what truly matters to you, too? Yet, God was still with Jesus since they are irrevocably tied together.
Jesus was separated from God so we never have to be.
Jesus dreaded the spiritual suffering of the cross, when he took upon his own shoulders the sin of the world. This cup was what Jesus had a hard time bearing (Luke 22:39-46, Psalm 75:8, Isaiah 51:17, Jeremiah 25:15) or God’s righteous wrath.
Those who heard Jesus mistakenly thought he was calling down Elijah.
With one word, “telelestai” meaning “it is finished” in Greek, Jesus paid the price for our sin and saved us for all of eternity.
Note that Jesus had to choose to give up his life. Since he was not a sinner, he could not die like the rest of us. (John 10:17-18)
When the curtain tore upon Jesus’s death, we all immediately had access to God. There would be no need for a priest to be the only one who could be with God.
The earth cried out in agony at Jesus’s death even if man did not.
Jesus was the only person who willingly gave up his life. Humans have no choice; we all die.
Earthquakes frequently represent God’s judgment in the Bible. Note that those who came out of the grave did so on the day Jesus was resurrected, not at this moment. This is the only Gospel that records this event so this is all that we know about it.
The Roman centurion noted the uniqueness of Jesus’s death. Women came, as did all social classes and faiths. All sinners were there; all sinners were saved.
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12) We need to be prepared for Jesus’s return at any time. We do that by continually pursuing God’s will for our lives and spreading the love of Jesus, too.
13) The things we do for others is really things we do for Jesus. This is profound for me. I just hadn’t thought of it before. It helps me to be more generous and helpful when needed.
14) Matthew 24:13 “he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” This gives me strength in the bad times to stand firm. Matthew 25:21: “You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.” This offers me hope that I will continue to be blessed in my life. Matthew 25:29: “Everyone who has will be given more.” Again, encouraging me when I want things in life.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading these chapters of Matthew. Jesus teaching the disciples is like him teaching me. It reminds me to use my talents for the greater good.
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