MEM

Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, 'My counsel shall stand…' (NKJV unless noted)

Till there is No remedy? (Do not take lightly God’s revelation/word from His prophets)

But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a distressing spirit from the LORD troubled him… 23 And so it was, whenever the spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him.

Isaiah 22:14

Remember: we too can be used, by the power of the His Spirit, to prophesy for the benefit of His Church. (See MEM issue 224)

YHVH’s providence

Jer 1:4 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: 5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations."

Jeremiah’s concern

Jer 1:6 Then said I: "Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth."

YHVH’s promise

Jer 1:7 But the LORD said to me: "Do not say, 'I am a youth,' For you shall go to all to whom I send you, And whatever I command you, you shall speak. 8 Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you," says the LORD.

YHVH provides Jeremiah’s authority (Future?)

Jer 1:9 Then the LORD put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me: "Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. 10 See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, To root out and to pull down, To destroy and to throw down, To build and to plant."

Ezekiel’s calling and empowerment

Ezek 2:1 And He said to me, "Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak to you." 2 Then the Spirit entered me when He spoke to me, and set me on my feet; and I heard Him who spoke to me. 3 And He said to me: "Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day. 4 For they are impudent and stubborn children. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD.' 5 As for them, whether they hear or whether they refuse -- for they are a rebellious house -- yet they will know that a prophet has been among them.

A tough commission / assignment

Ezek 3:7 "But the house of Israel will not listen to you, because they will not listen to Me; for all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-hearted. 8 Behold, I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead strong against their foreheads. 9 Like adamant stone, harder than flint, I have made your forehead; do not be afraid of them, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house."

Speak YHVH’s words with His authority

Ezek 3:10 Moreover He said to me: "Son of man, receive into your heart all My words that I speak to you, and hear with your ears. 11 And go, get to the captives, to the children of your people, and speak to them and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD,' whether they hear, or whether they refuse."

Elijah, as a witness, to King Ahab and the northern tribes; with YHVH’s authority

1Kgs 18:19 "Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table." 20 So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel. …22 Then Elijah said to the people, "I alone am left a prophet of the LORD; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.… 25 Now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it." … 36 And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, "LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. … 40 And Elijah said to them, "Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let one of them escape!" So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon and executed them there.

Ahab tells wicked Jezebel

1Kgs 19:1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword.

Elijah flees to Mount Horeb because of Jezebel’s threat

1Kgs 19:10 So he said, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life."

YHVH is not finished with Elijah and sends him on another mission

1Kgs 19:16 "Also you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha … you shall anoint as prophet in your place.

These ‘sons of the prophets’ at Bethel knew what was going to happen

2Kgs 2:3 Now the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, "Do you know that the LORD will take away your master from over you today?" And he said, "Yes, I know; keep silent!"

These ‘sons of the prophets’ knew…

2Kgs 2:15 Now when the sons of the prophets who were from Jericho saw him, they said, "The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha." And they came to meet him, and bowed to the ground before him.

These ‘sons of the prophets’ could appeal to Elisha

2Kgs 6:1 And the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, "See now, the place where we dwell with you is too small for us.

Here we see them serving and performing at Elisha command

2Kgs 9:1 And Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets, and said to him, "Get yourself ready, take this flask of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth Gilead. … 4 So the young man, the servant of the prophet, went to Ramoth Gilead.

Elisha, carrying on with a double portion of Elijah’s spirit

2Kgs 5:3 Then she said to her mistress, "If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy." …8 So it was, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, "Why have you torn your clothes? Please let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel." .. 13 And his servants came near and spoke to him, and said, "My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, 'Wash, and be clean'?" (He did and was healed)

God will avenge His prophets for how they are treated (so heed His prophets)

2Kgs 9:7 'You shall strike down the house of Ahab your master, that I may avenge the blood of My servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel.

2Kgs 10:19 "Now therefore, call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests. Let no one be missing, for I have a great sacrifice for Baal. Whoever is missing shall not live." But Jehu acted deceptively, with the intent of destroying the worshipers of Baal.

2Kgs 17:23 until the LORD removed Israel out of His sight, as He had said by all His servants the prophets…

2Kgs 24:2 And the LORD sent against him raiding bands of Chaldeans, bands of Syrians, bands of Moabites, and bands of the people of Ammon; He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD which He had spoken by His servants the prophets.

Yet to Come (next issue)

Mal 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.

Rev 22:6 Then he said to me, "These words are faithful and true." And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place.

God’s Prophets have divine Revelation

That we May Know

Proverbs 1:2 To know wisdom and instruction, To perceive the words of understanding,

Proverbs 1:4 To give prudence to the simple, To the young man knowledge and discretion --

Proverbs 2:6 For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;

Proverbs 22:21 That I may make you know the certainty of the words of truth, That you may answer words of truth To those who send to you?

Psalm 93:1 The LORD reigns, He is clothed with majesty; The LORD is clothed, He has girded Himself with strength. Surely the world is established, so that it cannot be moved.

Psalm 96:10 Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns; The world also is firmly established, It shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples righteously."

Psalm 97:1 The LORD reigns; Let the earth rejoice; Let the multitude of isles be glad!

Psalm 146:10 The LORD shall reign forever -- Your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the LORD!

Do you consider empathy to be an essential component of intelligence? These things are not normally thought of together, but considering the viewpoints of others will improve your own understanding. For you are called to be meek and lowly in heart, in honor preferring one another, and kind and tenderhearted toward one another. The more knowledgeable you are on any subject, the greater the temptation to dismiss the viewpoints of those less informed. Yet they too are entitled to their point of view. You will enlarge your understanding even more if you can see the world as they do. Empathy and compassion are kingdom values that will enable you to do this.

Are you reluctant to accept things you don't understand, and is this particularly true for matters of faith and doctrine, since they are so important? Do you think that Yeshua (Jesus) is not involved in anything that doesn't make sense to you? Yet what would you expect, knowing what you do about Him? For you know that He is infinite and omniscient, and you know that you are not. Doesn't simple logic make you suspicious of the first premise above? Wouldn't you expect that the Eternal One is involved in things beyond your comprehension, and not involved in things you understand? Yet He will reveal them to you by His Spirit. Ask Messiah and He will show you the mysteries of His Kingdom.

(Adapted from a Dale Cresap blog)

"A barrage of words does not make the soul happy, but a good life gladdens the mind and a pure conscience generates a bountiful confidence in God."
― Thomas ΰ Kempis

This is a most remarkable puzzle. Someone found it in the seat pocket on a flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu, keeping himself occupied for hours. One man from Illinois worked on this while fishing from his john boat. Roy Clark studied it while playing his banjo. Elaine Victs mentioned it in her column once. One woman judges the job to be so involving, she brews a cup of tea to help calm her nerves. There will be some names that are really easy to spot...that's a fact. Some people will soon find themselves in a jam, especially since the book names are not necessarily capitalized. The truth is, from answers we get, we are forced to admit it usually takes a minister or scholar to see some of them at the worst. Something in our genes is responsible for the difficulty we have. Those able to find all of them will hear great lamentations from those who have to be shown. One revelation may help, books like! Timothy and Samuel may occur without their numbers. And punctuation or spaces in the middle are normal. A chipper attitude will help you compete. Remember, there are 25 books of the Bible lurking somewhere in this paragraph.

The wonder of it all

Those of you who worry about Democrats versus Republicans -- relax, here is our real problem.

In a Purdue University classroom, they were discussing the qualifications to be President of the United States.  It was pretty simple. The candidate must be a natural born citizen of at least 35 years of age.

However, one girl in the class immediately started in on how unfair it was of the requirement to be a natural born citizen.  In short, her opinion was that this requirement prevented many capable individuals from becoming president.

The class was taking it in and letting her rant, and not many jaws hit the floor when she wrapped up her argument by stating, "What makes a natural born citizen any more qualified to lead this country than one born by C-section?"  

Yep, these are the same kinds of 18-year-olds that are now voting in our elections!  They breed, and they walk among us.

And then eventually they become members of Congress!