Tag: Prophecy

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Episode #11- Isaiah Study- Isaiah 53

On By Ben JenningsIn Leadership, PodcastLeave a comment
Enjoy this discussion of Isaiah 53 with Ben Jennings and Brian Berry as they look into the text for Session 11 of the Explore the Bible Study in Isaiah.

Every person can recognize Christ as Messiah by understanding 5 predictions about His first coming.

  • Prediction #1- He will be shunned. (v.1-3)
  • Prediction #2- He will be sacrificed. (v.4-6)
  • Prediction #3- He will be silent. (v.7-9)
  • Prediction #4- He will be satisfied. (v.10-12)
  • Prediction #5- He will be successful. (52:13-15)

Isaiah 52:13-53:12  Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.  (14)  As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:  (15)  So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.  (53:1)  Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?  (2)  For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.  (3)  He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  (4)  Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  (5)  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.  (6)  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.  (7)  He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.  (8)  He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.  (9)  And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.  (10)  Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.  (11)  He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.  (12)  Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

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Week 11: Day 5- Deuteronomy 18:21-22

On By Ben JenningsIn DevotionalLeave a comment

(21) And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken? (22) When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.

Deuteronomy 18:21-22

Explanation:

God raises the question that many of the children of Israel were probably thinking. How can we discern which prophets are from God and which ones are speaking on their own authority? How can we know which one to believe? “How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken?”

God answers the question with this answer. The prophet that speaks on behalf of the Lord will have their foretelling come to pass. When God tells of something that will happen through His prophet it will happen.

This makes sense, because man being finite and bound by time and space would not have a capacity to truly foretell the future. Being an infinite, eternal, timeless, space-less, immaterial Being, God knows what will happen, and can substantiate His message through the prophet being affirmed by the supernatural foretelling of events that will come to pass.

Since the prophet that is false should be rejected, this would serve as a sufficient means for identifying people bold enough to try to fake speaking for God. It would also substantiate those who God wanted to speak as His representatives, saying what He wanted them to say.

Application

God is not speaking directly to mankind in the same authoritative way, giving new revelation to mankind in the way that He did with Moses, Isaiah, Paul or Peter. God has already spoken. He substantiated His Word in several ways.

In Old Testament Prophecies fulfilled in the Old Testament.

In the first coming of His Son. The Old Testament foretells of Jesus’ birth, death, burial and ressurection in a way that is undeniable in the New Testament.

By the external evidence of God working through the authors of scripture.

People like Paul, John, Peter, and the other authors of the New Testament were substantiated by having walked and been dicipled by Jesus, having performed supernatural signs and miracles in the name of Jesus, and giving their lives as martyrs by not denying Jesus as the Resurrected Lord and Savior.

By the internal evidence of God working through the pages of scripture.

The Bible testifies to itself of its authority. It is its own validation.

(12) For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12

(3) According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

2 Peter 1:3

There are other evidences that could be mentioned, but it is enough to say this. Today we substantiate the messengers of God by the alignment of what they preach and teach with what the Bible says, and how they live this message out in their own lives.
When we speak, we must speak what God’s Word says. When we listen to someone teach us, the question on our hearts must be “is this consistent with what God’s Word says?”

Response:

  1. Do you treasure the miracle that is the written Word of God that you have in your posession? Do your actions and words substantiate this in your life?
  2. When you speak on behalf of God, are you diligently trying to say what God says in His Word?
  3. Are you listenting to people who are not speaking in accordance with His Word?
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Week 11: Day 3- Deuteronomy 8:18-19

On By Ben JenningsIn AnnouncementLeave a comment

This Weeks Passage: Deuteronomy 8:15-22

18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.

19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.

Deuteronomy 18:18-19

Explanation:

Their are two facts that the children of Isreal would have understood from this text.
Fact #1- The prophet would speak God’s Words.
The original readers of this text would have understood that God was raising up a prophet, beyond Moses to act as a revealer and a mediator between them and God. God was telling them through Moses that this coming prophet would say what God wanted Him to say (“…and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.”
Fact #2- The people would be responsible to obey God’s Words spoken by the prophet.
There will be times where the Old Testament prophet would speak on his own, and there would be times He would speak God’s Words. The authority wasn’t his own authority, but Gods. When “…he shall speak in my (God’s) name, I will require it of him”. Of course, when the prophet is Jesus Christ, the prophet that would come, He would speak on His own Authority. Why? Because He was God in the flesh. He was the Word. He came to reveal God to us. If people do not believe in Jesus God will hold them responsible for their sin!

Application:

We have the sufficient Word of God written down for us. We are so privileged in that we know what these people don’t know. The prophet that was to come for them was unfulfilled prophecy. For us it is written down and preserved revelation. It is substantiated by History. We have the Holy Spirit that wrote it down indwelling us helping to illuminate what He wrote. We are privileged.
We have a responsibility to obey. We will be held accountable for this revelation that we’ve been given. We must study to show ourselves approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.

Response:

  1. How are you showing an understanding of the privilege you have in possessing the Word of God? What should a person with this privilege do?
  2. How is it going in the area of obedience in your life?
  3. What implications are there to knowing that God will hold those who do not “hearken unto His Words” responsible? What does that mean for you? For those around you?