Obadiah (has one chapter)
1The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning Edom; We have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle.
2Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen: thou art greatly despised.
If you remember our readings during the times of Elijah, you may remember the name of Obadiah, who hid a number of prophets that Jezebel was attempting to kill. The Lord was speaking to him and this single book prophecy is concerning Edom, the twin brother to Jacob. Today, we do not hear of such a nation; but they are out there hiding and have done an awesome job in being invisible to the world. The Lord said they are small among the nations and are greatly despised. Nations and people do not like these people generally speaking.
These people have a lot of pride and arrogance and are very rich people; but the Lord said He will bring them down.
10For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever.
11In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them.
Eventually, the Lord is going to uncover their ways and show people who they are. Nations that these people believe are with them will suddenly be against them. Shame will be with the children of Esau because of their violence against Jacob, his brother. When the children of Israel were being taken out by Nebuchadnezzar; Edom stood by and caught anyone escaping of the children of Israel and delivered them to the Gentile. Not only with Nebuchadnezzar; but also with Titus the Roman general who tore Jerusalem down in 70 AD.
15For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.
16For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been.
The Lord told us in Proverbs not to cheer over our enemies when He is taking them down; and Edom should not have rejoiced over Israel when their destruction came upon them. Edom should not have gone into the gates of Israel during their calamity, and should not have taken their belongings.
All the pictures of the high ranking officials, and all the temple artifacts and other things did the Edomites take out of Jerusalem during the siege of Jerusalem (v12-14). As verse 15 says, the Lord will do to all the nations as they have done to Jerusalem and other people.
21And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD's.
For all this the Lord will visit Edom and make their mountains plain and restore Israel in the north (Samaria) and the cities of the south (Judah); and at that time, not just a savior will come; but saviors will come up on mount Zion to judge Esau and other nations also. This is speaking of the first resurrection where all those who make it will be given judgment and will not stand in judgment.
Now we're all probably familiar with the book of Jonah or at least heard the story. Jonah was a prophet like Paul who was told to go prophesy to another nation, in his case the citizens of Nineveh, the great city in Assyria. They started to become a Sodom and Gomorrah in behavior and the Lord saw it. Instead of Jonah going to the city and giving the warning; he took off attempting to run from the Lord.
So the Lord brought calamity on the ship; and Jonah was there sleeping when the ship master woke him up to call on his God. Apparently everyone else had and their gods of course were not answering them.
They cast lot to see who is responsible for the storm and it fell on Jonah, and after telling the men who he was and where he was from; he told them to throw him over board in order to stop the storm (v7-12).
17Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
The men didn't want to do that, being sure he would die so they tried to out maneuver the storm but they couldn't fight against God. They didn't want to cross God because they thought they'd be in trouble with Him; so they prayed for innocent hands and tossed Jonah in the sea and the storm calmed. The men feared God "exceedingly." On Jonah's foolishness to run from God, men were converted.
In Jonah's captivity, other men saw the power of God and delivered themselves. There is a message in this. The Lord had a whale waiting for Jonah and he was swallowed up and in the belly of the whale for 3 days and 3 nights. This 3 days AND 3 nights is important as Jesus made a crucial reference to this in the New Testament.
Now Jonah is in the belly of the whale and he knows why he's there so he begins to pray for mercy and confess to God why he disobeyed. Verses two through seven, is Jonah praying but it sounds like Jesus on the cross praying to the Father.
The Lord answered and had the fish vomit Jonah out on the earth. The Lord spoke to the fish; the Lord knows all languages.
10And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
Now why he is on shore, probably happy to be alive, the Lord spoke to him again and told him go speak with the people of Nineveh. What do you think he did this time?
He got his butt up and went to Nineveh as the Lord commanded. What the Lord did with Jonah is what He is doing with the entire nation of Israel. They are the priest of the Lord and are suppose to teach other nations the ways of the Lord. What happened along the way is that they thought they were chosen because they were great or because they had great fore fathers and they refuse to teach people about the Lord.
Therefore the Lord sent them in captivity and roughed them up; and will ask them again, go be my priest. What do you think they will answer this time? Yes sir Lord, my God!
Jonah went and told the people of Nineveh that in forty days the Lord is going to throw this city down; and he taught them what God wanted. The people believed and fasted unto the Lord, even the animals fasted.
God saw they humbled themselves and repented and He also repented of the evil He was going to do to them. Verse ten tells us that God saw their works; they had to believe because their works showed it. It's like a man knows his wife loves him by her works. She prepares food, provides support, takes care of his children, her works shows him that. This is why faith without works is dead.
11And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?
Jonah was unhappy that the Lord would not destroy this city; and probably with fair reason. Here is Jonah a Hebrew captive and the Assyrians were very mean and vicious towards Israel and He knew the Lord was merciful and gracious and would deliver the people if he preached to them. We must put our personal differences down and do the Lord's will together. The Lord is God to all people, rather He created all people for His will; and it is not up to us to make a decision to give up on a person for things they have done to us or others.
Then the Lord performed a parable for Jonah for him to see how his thinking was off. He had more mercy for a gourd than he had on a people that have not known the Lord's ways and needed to be taught it. In other words, if you know better and someone else does not; have mercy in your heart for them until they know better.
An example I will never forget is when I was in grammar school; I came to class 3 minutes late and the teacher came down on me hard. I was upset. I was a good student; so she corrected me. Twenty minutes later, another student, known in school as a bad student, came in and the teacher didn't utter a word. I got upset with the student and started a fight with him right there in the class.
The fact of the matter is that I knew better, I had good parenting, many coaches, teachers, and administrators that knew me and expected well of me. This other student may not have had that, I am sure he didn't have faculty adoring him. So with Israel the Lord will be harder with his punishments for them than He would with a nation He hasn't taught.
Micah was a prophet of the Lord during the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings over Judah and he preached concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. Although he spoke to Israel, Micah begins by addressing the entire earth; that the Lord is going to come down and deal with everyone accordingly.
Starting with Jerusalem, will the Lord hurt the earth. I've noticed, perhaps you have too; that when the Lord punishes, He always begins in the church. The church is suppose to teach the people; so if the people are wicked in the earth; it began in the church!
Warnings to the people of Jerusalem and the earth that devise iniquity and work evil on their beds. This is not just committing adultery; but just laying in bed thinking of evil things. You do not want to the Lord to sit around and devise evil against you; because that will be straight 100 percent evil.
11If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people.
The people are so bad the Lord said depart because the land is too polluted. The children of Israel listen to a man who comes with wine and whiskey in his breath to preach to them. Their prophets they want are drunk and give false doctrine.
The Lord is going to straighten all this mess that was started in the Garden of Eden; but again in Jerusalem when He brings back the captivity of Israel.
Micah in this chapter is asking the rich and the "higher-ups" of the children of Israel who oppress the poor, shouldn't you know judgment? They should know and do better. And to the prophets that teach lies to the people about peace and there is no peace; the Lord is going to put their eyes out and make darkness their covering. They won't get any visions; nor have any answers from God. It's rough to be the answer man and have no answers.
If you're suppose to be a computer whiz; and people ask you what's a monitor and you have no answer; that rough. That's what Israel's preachers are like today. Ask them if you can find one; a simple question like "is my deceased mother in heaven" and they will tell you "yes; smiling down on you brother" or sister. However, we've read that the dead are in the ground resting. You ask is Jesus taking us to heaven in a rapture; and they will answer yes, beyond the sky. But the bible as we've read over the past sixty days indicates Jesus will reign out of Jerusalem, here on the earth. This is what having no answers from God has done to these seers and prophets.
11The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us.
12Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.
Look at this that went on then and privately think about this in your mind, student and preacher together, does this still go on today? Do people judge for reward? Do priest and preachers, preach and teach for a salary? Do prophets divine for money (they call them psychics now days)? They do this but lean on the Lord; put it all in Jesus name and actually fool the people. For this, Jerusalem will be plowed like snow in a parking lot in the dead of a winter snow storm.
This chapter sounds like Isaiah chapter 2; in the last days the government of the Lord will be established on top of all other governments and all people will flow towards it. People will be going to Jerusalem asking to the Lord to teach them His ways because the law is going to go out from Jerusalem.
Jesus will correct strong nations and they will get rid of nuclear weapons of war go back to farming and social programs and forget warring. People will be at ease and at peace because everyone will walk in the way of God; keeping His commandments. Right there we have people honoring their parents, not killing, not stealing, not lying, not sleeping with another man's wife and vice versa, and not jealous of any other person and their belongings. I can see the world at ease right now if every one did just that.
It's at this time the Lord will gather all that He has scattered and afflicted, that is Israel and bring them back to their land. This will happen in the last days; what are the last days of the week? Day six and seven, we call those Friday and Saturday; on the Lord's day of rest is when all this peace will occur.
Micah now gives the prophesy of the coming Messiah, the coming of Jesus Christ. Micah tells us that they are going to hit the judge of Israel (Jesus) with a rod on His cheek. Do you see how they treated the Lord? Are you doing the same mentally?
Out of Bethlehem of Judah, will come to the Lord a ruler over Israel, Jesus was born in Bethlehem and was a Jew. And it is Jesus that will feed the people of the Lord and He will be great from the ends of the earth.
13Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands.
14And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee: so will I destroy thy cities.
15And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard.
When the Lord recovers Israel; He will pluck a lot of evil out of their hands so they do no more wickedness, and will execute much vengeance to the nations; so bad it has not been heard of of what He will do in that day.
Micah is doing what every other prophet of the Lord did; tell the people the Lord has a problem with them; that they need to fix quick. He gave Israel years, much more than 40 days to fix their sinful ways.
All the Lord ever wanted from man is to be just, have mercy, and walk humbly with your God. The Lord never asked for one cow as a sacrifice.
8He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
Because people do not walk humbly with God; He will have them eat but not be satisfied. That is the worse feeling to eat a 3 course dinner; and get up and look in the refridgerator for more food because you're not satisfied. Israel is getting this because they walked in the way of horrible kings (v16).
Micah warns that things will be bad for Jerusalem and the earth. There is no good man in the earth any longer. Everyone is set on evil, judges ask for reward, great men are constantly caught in scandals. So the Lord admonishes us, through Micah, to not put any trust even in our friends. We are not to even put confidence in our guides (preachers, parents, teachers, etc.).
We should not share much with people because they will lie; and there will be a day where the son will dishonor his father and vice versa, and your main enemies in life will be the people in your own household, and mainly over the word of God will this come.
8Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.
This is what the children of Edom and other neighboring countries failed to remember when Israel was being sieged.
9I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.
When the Lord is upset and punishing you; you have the bear with it and get through the chastisement of the Lord. He will shine light on you again; just as He did with the children of Israel coming out of Egypt; He showed them marvelous things.
16The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf.
20Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.
The nations will see the works of the Lord and be afraid; they will be astonished at the return of Israel. This is something the Lord will do as a promise He made with the fathers.
7The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.
Nahum was a prophet of Judah and spoke against Nineveh. His message was stern, disobey the Lord and be punished, obey Him and be saved.
The Lord takes revenge even though He is slow to anger. You know how a man is slow to anger; but once he is angry there is no stopping Him. That's how man is; God has that in the Godly realm.
1He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face: keep the munition, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily.
2For the LORD hath turned away the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel: for the emptiers have emptied them out, and marred their vine branches.
By the hand of Assyria has the Lord taken away the excellency of Israel.
8But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water: yet they shall flee away. Stand, stand, shall they cry; but none shall look back.
The Lord has something for Nineveh for their treachery against Judah.
13Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions: and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard.
4Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.
5Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts; and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame.
6And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazingstock.
This is against Nineveh; they were doing a lot of wickedness, witchcraft, whoring, and paganism. The Lord is always going to find that out and cast it aside. The day is coming when their great city will be laid waste.
8Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them.
19There is no healing of thy bruise; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the bruit of thee shall clap the hands over thee: for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?
Every nation that suffers, suffers at the hand of their shepherds or pastors. This is universal because if they sought the Lord, He would deliver them. A chaotic world is born out of chaotic religions; even in nations without the true and living God.
This concludes the reading for today; recharge and we'll be back at it tomorrow.
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Peace & Grace
2Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen: thou art greatly despised.
If you remember our readings during the times of Elijah, you may remember the name of Obadiah, who hid a number of prophets that Jezebel was attempting to kill. The Lord was speaking to him and this single book prophecy is concerning Edom, the twin brother to Jacob. Today, we do not hear of such a nation; but they are out there hiding and have done an awesome job in being invisible to the world. The Lord said they are small among the nations and are greatly despised. Nations and people do not like these people generally speaking.
These people have a lot of pride and arrogance and are very rich people; but the Lord said He will bring them down.
10For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever.
11In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them.
Eventually, the Lord is going to uncover their ways and show people who they are. Nations that these people believe are with them will suddenly be against them. Shame will be with the children of Esau because of their violence against Jacob, his brother. When the children of Israel were being taken out by Nebuchadnezzar; Edom stood by and caught anyone escaping of the children of Israel and delivered them to the Gentile. Not only with Nebuchadnezzar; but also with Titus the Roman general who tore Jerusalem down in 70 AD.
15For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.
16For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been.
The Lord told us in Proverbs not to cheer over our enemies when He is taking them down; and Edom should not have rejoiced over Israel when their destruction came upon them. Edom should not have gone into the gates of Israel during their calamity, and should not have taken their belongings.
All the pictures of the high ranking officials, and all the temple artifacts and other things did the Edomites take out of Jerusalem during the siege of Jerusalem (v12-14). As verse 15 says, the Lord will do to all the nations as they have done to Jerusalem and other people.
21And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD's.
For all this the Lord will visit Edom and make their mountains plain and restore Israel in the north (Samaria) and the cities of the south (Judah); and at that time, not just a savior will come; but saviors will come up on mount Zion to judge Esau and other nations also. This is speaking of the first resurrection where all those who make it will be given judgment and will not stand in judgment.
Jonah 1
So the Lord brought calamity on the ship; and Jonah was there sleeping when the ship master woke him up to call on his God. Apparently everyone else had and their gods of course were not answering them.
They cast lot to see who is responsible for the storm and it fell on Jonah, and after telling the men who he was and where he was from; he told them to throw him over board in order to stop the storm (v7-12).
17Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
The men didn't want to do that, being sure he would die so they tried to out maneuver the storm but they couldn't fight against God. They didn't want to cross God because they thought they'd be in trouble with Him; so they prayed for innocent hands and tossed Jonah in the sea and the storm calmed. The men feared God "exceedingly." On Jonah's foolishness to run from God, men were converted.
In Jonah's captivity, other men saw the power of God and delivered themselves. There is a message in this. The Lord had a whale waiting for Jonah and he was swallowed up and in the belly of the whale for 3 days and 3 nights. This 3 days AND 3 nights is important as Jesus made a crucial reference to this in the New Testament.
Jonah Chapter 2
The Lord answered and had the fish vomit Jonah out on the earth. The Lord spoke to the fish; the Lord knows all languages.
Jonah 3
Now why he is on shore, probably happy to be alive, the Lord spoke to him again and told him go speak with the people of Nineveh. What do you think he did this time?
He got his butt up and went to Nineveh as the Lord commanded. What the Lord did with Jonah is what He is doing with the entire nation of Israel. They are the priest of the Lord and are suppose to teach other nations the ways of the Lord. What happened along the way is that they thought they were chosen because they were great or because they had great fore fathers and they refuse to teach people about the Lord.
Therefore the Lord sent them in captivity and roughed them up; and will ask them again, go be my priest. What do you think they will answer this time? Yes sir Lord, my God!
Jonah went and told the people of Nineveh that in forty days the Lord is going to throw this city down; and he taught them what God wanted. The people believed and fasted unto the Lord, even the animals fasted.
God saw they humbled themselves and repented and He also repented of the evil He was going to do to them. Verse ten tells us that God saw their works; they had to believe because their works showed it. It's like a man knows his wife loves him by her works. She prepares food, provides support, takes care of his children, her works shows him that. This is why faith without works is dead.
Jonah 4 1But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.
2And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.11And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?
Jonah was unhappy that the Lord would not destroy this city; and probably with fair reason. Here is Jonah a Hebrew captive and the Assyrians were very mean and vicious towards Israel and He knew the Lord was merciful and gracious and would deliver the people if he preached to them. We must put our personal differences down and do the Lord's will together. The Lord is God to all people, rather He created all people for His will; and it is not up to us to make a decision to give up on a person for things they have done to us or others.
Then the Lord performed a parable for Jonah for him to see how his thinking was off. He had more mercy for a gourd than he had on a people that have not known the Lord's ways and needed to be taught it. In other words, if you know better and someone else does not; have mercy in your heart for them until they know better.
An example I will never forget is when I was in grammar school; I came to class 3 minutes late and the teacher came down on me hard. I was upset. I was a good student; so she corrected me. Twenty minutes later, another student, known in school as a bad student, came in and the teacher didn't utter a word. I got upset with the student and started a fight with him right there in the class.
The fact of the matter is that I knew better, I had good parenting, many coaches, teachers, and administrators that knew me and expected well of me. This other student may not have had that, I am sure he didn't have faculty adoring him. So with Israel the Lord will be harder with his punishments for them than He would with a nation He hasn't taught.
Micah chapter 1
Starting with Jerusalem, will the Lord hurt the earth. I've noticed, perhaps you have too; that when the Lord punishes, He always begins in the church. The church is suppose to teach the people; so if the people are wicked in the earth; it began in the church!
Micah 2
11If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people.
The people are so bad the Lord said depart because the land is too polluted. The children of Israel listen to a man who comes with wine and whiskey in his breath to preach to them. Their prophets they want are drunk and give false doctrine.
The Lord is going to straighten all this mess that was started in the Garden of Eden; but again in Jerusalem when He brings back the captivity of Israel.
Micah 3 7Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.
8But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.Micah in this chapter is asking the rich and the "higher-ups" of the children of Israel who oppress the poor, shouldn't you know judgment? They should know and do better. And to the prophets that teach lies to the people about peace and there is no peace; the Lord is going to put their eyes out and make darkness their covering. They won't get any visions; nor have any answers from God. It's rough to be the answer man and have no answers.
If you're suppose to be a computer whiz; and people ask you what's a monitor and you have no answer; that rough. That's what Israel's preachers are like today. Ask them if you can find one; a simple question like "is my deceased mother in heaven" and they will tell you "yes; smiling down on you brother" or sister. However, we've read that the dead are in the ground resting. You ask is Jesus taking us to heaven in a rapture; and they will answer yes, beyond the sky. But the bible as we've read over the past sixty days indicates Jesus will reign out of Jerusalem, here on the earth. This is what having no answers from God has done to these seers and prophets.
11The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us.
12Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.
Look at this that went on then and privately think about this in your mind, student and preacher together, does this still go on today? Do people judge for reward? Do priest and preachers, preach and teach for a salary? Do prophets divine for money (they call them psychics now days)? They do this but lean on the Lord; put it all in Jesus name and actually fool the people. For this, Jerusalem will be plowed like snow in a parking lot in the dead of a winter snow storm.
Micah 4 1But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.
Jesus will correct strong nations and they will get rid of nuclear weapons of war go back to farming and social programs and forget warring. People will be at ease and at peace because everyone will walk in the way of God; keeping His commandments. Right there we have people honoring their parents, not killing, not stealing, not lying, not sleeping with another man's wife and vice versa, and not jealous of any other person and their belongings. I can see the world at ease right now if every one did just that.
It's at this time the Lord will gather all that He has scattered and afflicted, that is Israel and bring them back to their land. This will happen in the last days; what are the last days of the week? Day six and seven, we call those Friday and Saturday; on the Lord's day of rest is when all this peace will occur.
Micah 5 2But 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.
Out of Bethlehem of Judah, will come to the Lord a ruler over Israel, Jesus was born in Bethlehem and was a Jew. And it is Jesus that will feed the people of the Lord and He will be great from the ends of the earth.
13Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands.
14And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee: so will I destroy thy cities.
15And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard.
When the Lord recovers Israel; He will pluck a lot of evil out of their hands so they do no more wickedness, and will execute much vengeance to the nations; so bad it has not been heard of of what He will do in that day.
Micah 6
All the Lord ever wanted from man is to be just, have mercy, and walk humbly with your God. The Lord never asked for one cow as a sacrifice.
8He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
Because people do not walk humbly with God; He will have them eat but not be satisfied. That is the worse feeling to eat a 3 course dinner; and get up and look in the refridgerator for more food because you're not satisfied. Israel is getting this because they walked in the way of horrible kings (v16).
Micah Chapter Seven (7)
We should not share much with people because they will lie; and there will be a day where the son will dishonor his father and vice versa, and your main enemies in life will be the people in your own household, and mainly over the word of God will this come.
8Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.
This is what the children of Edom and other neighboring countries failed to remember when Israel was being sieged.
9I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.
When the Lord is upset and punishing you; you have the bear with it and get through the chastisement of the Lord. He will shine light on you again; just as He did with the children of Israel coming out of Egypt; He showed them marvelous things.
16The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf.
20Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.
The nations will see the works of the Lord and be afraid; they will be astonished at the return of Israel. This is something the Lord will do as a promise He made with the fathers.
Nahum 1
Nahum was a prophet of Judah and spoke against Nineveh. His message was stern, disobey the Lord and be punished, obey Him and be saved.
The Lord takes revenge even though He is slow to anger. You know how a man is slow to anger; but once he is angry there is no stopping Him. That's how man is; God has that in the Godly realm.
Nahum 2
2For the LORD hath turned away the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel: for the emptiers have emptied them out, and marred their vine branches.
By the hand of Assyria has the Lord taken away the excellency of Israel.
8But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water: yet they shall flee away. Stand, stand, shall they cry; but none shall look back.
The Lord has something for Nineveh for their treachery against Judah.
13Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions: and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard.
Nahum 3
1Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not;4Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.
5Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts; and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame.
6And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazingstock.
This is against Nineveh; they were doing a lot of wickedness, witchcraft, whoring, and paganism. The Lord is always going to find that out and cast it aside. The day is coming when their great city will be laid waste.
8Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them.
19There is no healing of thy bruise; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the bruit of thee shall clap the hands over thee: for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?
Every nation that suffers, suffers at the hand of their shepherds or pastors. This is universal because if they sought the Lord, He would deliver them. A chaotic world is born out of chaotic religions; even in nations without the true and living God.
This concludes the reading for today; recharge and we'll be back at it tomorrow.
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Peace & Grace
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