Light and Darkness (Part 2 of 5) by Kenneth E. Thomas
(http://www.gospelanchor.com/)
The Contrast Between Light and Darkness (continued)
Bible students will recall also that Jesus said, "And other
sheep I have, which are not of this (Jewish ket) fold: them also
I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be
one fold, and one shepherd" (John 10:16). Later in this chapter
Jesus identified those who are His sheep, by saying, "My
sheep hear My voice..." (John 10:27). God often spoke of
things that were not (as yet), as if they were, because He knows
the end view of all things. Regarding God's promises to Abraham,
Romans 4:17-18 reads thus: "(as it is written, I have made
you a father of many nations") in the presence of Him whom
he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls those
things which do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to
hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations,
according to what was spoken, "So shall thy descendants be."
When God makes a promise, that settles the matter. God who "cannot
lie" (Titus 1:2), not only promised to bruise the head of
the serpent, He promised to raise up a virgin born seed to accomplish
this task. When God called Abram and made a promise to him that
this would be fulfilled through his seed (Genesis 12:1-4), that
settled it; The promise would not fail. God could swear by no
greater so He swore by Himself that he would eventually bring
this about. "For when God made a promise to Abraham, because
He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying,
"Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will
multiply you." And so, after he had patiently endured, he
obtained the promise." (Hebrews 6:13-15). From our vantage
point today, as a Christian, having become the recipients of those
great blessing in our dispensation, we simply turn and read the
fulfillment in the New Testament as above cited and as Paul argued
in the Galatian letter when he said, "Now to Abraham and
to his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, "And
to seeds," as of many, but as of one, "And to your seed,"
who is Christ" (Galatians 3:16).
Christ is indeed the promised seed and "the light of the
world." John records Him as saying "I am the light of
the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness"
(John 8:12). Jesus spoke of the fact that even though He had come
as the light, still some men loved darkness more than light and
consequently would shun the light lest their deeds which were
evil should be exposed (John 3:19-20). John the immerser, being
the harbinger to prepare the Jewish nation for their Messiah,
spoke in plain language, indicating that Jesus was indeed the
one who would light their way back to God from whom they had departed
so often. I would like to call your attention to the beginning
of the gospel according to John:
"In the beginning was the word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things
were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was
made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And
the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend
it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man
came for a witness to bear witness of that Light, that all through
him might believe. He (John ket) was not that Light, but was sent
to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which comes
into the world. He (Christ ket) was in the world and the world
was made through Him and the world did not know Him. He came to
His own (the Jews ket), and His own did not receive Him. But as
many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children
of God, even those who believe on His name" (John 1:1-12).
Why would the Jewish nation, for the greater part, reject their
own Messiah after God had been preparing them for His coming and
for His kingdom for so many hundreds of years? Well, many answers
could be given. One was because they expected a Messiah to liberate
them from Roman rule and to set up an earthly kingdom in which
they would participate, being over other nations around them.
You see, as the great and mighty nation of Israel, God had fought
their battles and made them victorious over any nation who sought
to destroy them in the past. Why would He not do so again when
Messiah came? If they would only have understood their own history
and their own prophets, they would not have made such a huge mistake
for after their second restoration it was prophesied that as a
result of their unfaithfulness they would be destroyed as a nation
never again to be rebuilt (Deuteronomy 28:1-68).
The prophet Jeremiah demonstrated what would happen to the nation
of Israel because of their sins in Jeremiah 19:1-12. They would
be destroyed as a nation never to be put together again. Interestingly,
when Titus the Roman emperor destroyed Jerusalem in AD 70, they
were starved until women ate their own children attempting to
survive and then they were burned and all of the nation's records
were destroyed. This is why even if every Jew should return to
Palestine, they can never again be the nation as before, they
have no genealogies to determine who is from which tribe etc.
This is what the LORD says:
1. "Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. Take along some
of the elders of the people and of the priests 2. and go out to
the Valley of Ben Hinnom, near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate.
There proclaim the words I tell you, 3. and say, `Hear the word
of the LORD, O kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem. This is
what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Listen! I am
going to bring a disaster on this place that will make the ears
of everyone who hears of it tingle. 4. For they have forsaken
me and made this a place of foreign gods; they have burned sacrifices
in it to gods that neither they nor their fathers nor the kings
of Judah ever knew, and they have filled this place with the blood
of the innocent. 5. They have built the high places of Baal to
burn their sons in the fire as offerings to Baal--something I
did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind. 6. So beware,
the days are coming, declares the LORD, when people will no longer
call this place Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley
of Slaughter. 7. And I will make void the counsel of Judah and
Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the
sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek
their lives: and their carcasses will I give to be meat for the
fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth. 8. I will
devastate this city and make it an object of scorn; all who pass
by will be appalled and will scoff because of all its wounds.
9. I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters,
and they will eat one another's flesh during the stress of the
siege imposed on them by the enemies who seek their lives. 10.
"Then break the jar while those who go with you are watching,
11. and say to them, `This is what the LORD Almighty says: I will
smash this nation and this city just as this potter's jar is smashed
and cannot be repaired. They will bury the dead in Topheth until
there is no more room. 12. This is what I will do to this place
and to those who live here, declares the LORD. I will make this
city like Topheth."
PSALM 119
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
NUN. (Ps 119:105-112).
[105. Not only does the Word of God inform us of His will, but,
as a light on a path in darkness, it shows us how to follow the
right and avoid the wrong way. The lamp of the Word is not the
sun. He would blind our eyes in our present fallen state; but
we may bless God for the light shining as in a dark place, to
guide us until the Sun of Righteousness shall come, and we shall
be made capable of seeing Him (2Pe 1:19; Re 22:4). The lamp is
fed with the oil of the Spirit. The allusion is to the lamps and
torches carried at night before an Eastern caravan.]
105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
[106-108. Such was the national covenant at Sinai and in the fields
of Moab.]
106 I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy
righteous judgments.
107 I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O Lord, according unto
thy word.
108 Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings [the spontaneous
expressions of his gratitude, as contrasted with the appointed
"offerings" of the temple (Ho 14:2; Heb 13:15). He determines
to pursue this way, relying on God's quickening power (Ps 119:50)
in affliction, and a gracious acceptance of his "spiritual
sacrifices of prayer and praise" (Ps 50:5, 14, 23).] of my
mouth, O Lord, and teach me thy judgments.
[109, 110. In the midst of deadly perils (the phrase is drawn
from the fact that what we carry in our hands may easily slip
from them, Jud 12:3; 1Sa 28:21; Job 13:14; compare 1Sa 19:5),
and exposed to crafty enemies, his safety and guidance is in the
truth and promises of God.]
109 My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy
law.
110 The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from
thy precepts.
[111, 112. These he joyfully takes as his perpetual heritage,
to perform the duties and receive the comforts they teach, evermore.]
111 Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for
they are the rejoicing of my heart.
112 I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes alway,
even unto the end.
Short Exhort - Written and/or Compiled by David J. Riggs
(http://www.public.usit.net/driggs/)
"For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment." (James 2:13)
A mother sought the pardon of her son from the Emperor Napoleon. Napoleon said that it was the boy's second offense, and justice demanded his death. "I don't ask for justice, but plead for mercy," the mother responded. "But he does not deserve mercy" said the Emperor. "It would not be mercy if he deserved it," cried the mother. "Well, then, I will have mercy," said the Emperor, and he gave full pardon to the son.
Let us show mercy to others because we will receive judgment without mercy if we show no mercy.
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