The Old Testament records, like the book of Jeremiah that Ive been in for weeks now, are not given to us so that we can critique the bad behaviors of the Israeli people. They serve for us as an example, so that we will not invite false idols into our own relationship with God. We are like those Israeli people of old. We lie to ourselves and sin on top of sins. And we reject the commands of God all the time. The Old Testament prophets teach us to no longer follow after our own evil passions like many did before us. The lessons we pick up are for our own help and our children's children.
We're not given these OT books of the prophets so that most people who have short attention spans can skim over the words and pretty much ignore them altogether. It's like the law, it doesn't cure the sin, it exposes it. Jeremiah for instance spent his life prophesing against the evil the Hebrews were committing. And time after time the people would repent and then turn right back around and head back into their old sinful ways.
The prophets show us the spiritual battle that we are all engaged in. They show us how this battle can infect an entire nation and spread throughtout many generations of the people.
Let's look at how the gospel writers looked at the value of following the Old Testament prophets.
Mark 1:1-8
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way. A voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
Prepare the way for the Lord;
make his paths straight!
John came baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. John wore a camel-hair garment with a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.
He proclaimed, “One who is more powerful than I am is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the strap of his sandals. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
The gospel of the Lord.
Praise be to God.
The gospel writer John Mark explores the connection between the prophecy of Isaiah and John the baptist at Jesus' times. Immediately following this amazing prophetic event, an event that hadn't happened for 400 years since the OT prophets, Mark dives right into the real-time spiritual battle between Jesus and Satan.
Mark 1:10-13
As soon as he (Jesus) came up out of the water, he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well-pleased.”
Immediately the Spirit drove him into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels were serving him.
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Friends,
All these lessons, both the Old and New Testaments , I read and study, and dig deep into these witnessing stories about faith struggles of okd, so that we all can learn from them and build up our own faith in these end times struggles.
Friends,
The demons are hard at work and soon these interdimentional monsters will be coming out from behind the veils and they'll be more and more obvious for those who have the eyes of The Spirit. That's what all this study is about...it's an eye and hearing test.
I promise anyone listening or seeing these studies that I will NEVER quit with these devotions. I hope you'll continue to read and study on your own and share that with others as well. In this way we overcome the tests of this age.
God bless and I'll see you again tomorrow.