What Does the FUTURE Hold?

There is a coming Kingdom and it can happen at any time.  I long for the Father to say to His Son, "It is now time My Son, go and get My children!"  Jesus tells us no one knows the day or the time when this Kingdom will come, but we can be certain that 1. it IS coming and SOON, and 2. there are certain events that will usher in this glorious event.  In Amos the LORD says He does nothing without revealing it to His prophets (see Amos 3:7), therefore we can KNOW what will come.  In fact in Daniel, Daniel consults the scrolls of Jeremiah the prophet to know just how long his people (the Jews) will be exiled in Babylon (Jer. 25 and 29).   I will post reviews of our lessons in Daniel on the Daniel Inductive Study page.

(photo courtesy of theopenscroll.com)

My Tears In Your Bottle

דִּמְעָה

TEARS...TEARS.  In times of suffering, the psalmist David asked God to keep a remembrance of all his sufferings in a bottle...

"You have taken account of my wanderings; Put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book?"  (Psalm 56:8)

Tear‐bottles were small urns of glass or pottery, made to contain the tears of mourners at funerals, and placed in the sepulchres at Rome and in Palestine. In some ancient tombs they are found in great numbers. Ps. 56:8 refers to this custom. (taken from Smith's Bible Dictionary)

In John 11:35 we have one short verse "Jesus wept".  We have a Savior who knows our pains and our trials.  Put your faith in Him today to take care of all your hurts.  See more of God's character here through my inductive bible study of the psalms.

IN THAT DAY

 In that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, "HOLY TO THE LORD."  And the cooking pots in the LORD's house will be like the bowls before the altar.  Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the LORD of hosts; and all who sacrifice will come and take of them and boil in them.  And there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts in that day.

These are the last two verses of Zechariah.  My study comes to a close on this book and it was the richest experience of my life!  I mean REALLY--these last two verses say that during Jesus's Millenial Kingdom in that day everything--EVEN THE COOKING POTS will be HOLY TO THE LORD!!! 

In Zech. 14:10 the Word says "All the land will be changed into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site from Benjamin's Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king's wine presses."  IN THAT DAY, Jerusalem will be the in the spotlight, so to speak, and will be given supreme victory over her enemies for they are as the stones of a crown, sparkling in His land.  For what comeliness and beauty will be theirs (taken from Zech. 9:16 and 17). 

Psalm 50:2 says Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God has shone forth. AMEN! and AMEN!  As Revelation 22 says, and we say COME, LORD JESUS!

The Shepherd and His Flock

In my Zechariah Precept Study, especially in the last chapters--I'm learning much about shepherds and flocks.  We already know that Jesus is our Shepherd and we are His flock.  There is a very close bond between a shepherd and his flock.  In John 10 it says the sheep know the Shepherd's voice.  The shepherd is also very protective of his flock.  In Zechariah 11 God tells the prophet to pasture the flock because they are doomed to slaughter. 

God also speaks of a worthless shepherd: this is reminiscent of an anti-christ.  This worthless shepherd will not care for the perishing, will not seek the scattered, will not heal the broken, and will devour the flesh of the fat sheep and tear off their hoofs (see Zechariah 11).

In the last days God will whistle for His people to gather them together for He has redeemed them (see Zechariah 10:8).  This verb for the word whistle is used with the signification of  a "pipe", alluding to the signal a shepherd gives with a reed or bamboo pipe to gather his flock.  What a loving Shepherd we have!  For more, go to the Zechariah Precept Study page.  There's also more to my list of God's Character here.

Living Stones

photo credit goes to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_stone

As I was studying scripture over the last few weeks I came across some verses that I can't get out of my mind.  They speak of "living stones" and The Living Stone (Jesus Christ).  Born again believers and followers of Jesus Christ are to also be living stones and our foundation is to be The Living Stone.  I've put the verses in their entirety here on the Sitting At His Feet page. 

As "living stones":

--we will not be disturbed because we believe;

--we are being tested;

--we are firmly placed;

--we are choice and precious in the sight of God.

So, speaking of a solid foundation--my precept study of Zechariah is getting more and more exciting every week!  My insights come from what will happen in the last days as the nation of Israel and the Jews will be "front and center"!  Find out more here (don't miss it!) on the Zechariah Precept Study page.  You will have to scroll to the bottom for the most recent entry.  Also I've been keeping up my list of God's Character here from my study of Psalms.

"KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS"

Revelation 19:16 says And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS".  The Greek noun for KINGS in this verse basileus is a sovereign term meaning Christ will reign for ever and ever and is now a "King" Priest after the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 5:6).  We have a righteous, sovereign God who will make His begotten Son, Jesus a King forever and ever!  This is exciting!!   Zechariah 6:12-13 refers to Jesus as "Branch".  I've elaborated a little bit on the Zechariah Precept Study page.  Also, I'm still adding to my God's Character list here.

He Has Called Me "Friend"

Wow! Really??! The Lord has called me His F R I E N D??!!  I learned in my Precept class that the word for "friend" in John 15:15 is a covenant term.  The Greek noun or adjective is philos meaning loved, dear.  To view the complete scripture of John 15:15 click on the Sitting At His Feet page.  Also, my list is growing on the Character of God through my study of Psalms.  Under the Zechariah Precept Study page, I added Week Three's insights about the first three visions Zechariah received from God.  This is getting more exciting every week!