• Chuck Smith

    Posted on November 24th, 2013

    Written by B.P.U Contributor

    Tags

    ,

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 16-17

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 16-17

    Now, again we have that phrase, “The word of the LORD came also unto me saying,” And all the way through the book of Jeremiah, the word of the LORD came unto me saying. We are going to read over and over again. It brings up again the issue of how did God speak to Jeremiah. Now, I would imagine that it had to be pretty clear for him to remain unmarried. You have to pretty well know that this is God speaking to me when he says don’t take a wife and don’t have children in this place. Did God speak audibly to Jeremiah? How did God speak to him? It is an interesting, thought provoking idea and something to consider. And we are to get to that as we get down the road in Jeremiah. We are going to discover a little bit of how the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah

  • 365 Prophecies, Fulfilled Prophecy, Is Jesus the Messiah?, Rob Robinson

    Posted on November 23rd, 2013

    Written by Rob Robinson

    Tags

    , ,

    Prophecy of the Messiah’s Dwelling Place

    Prophecy of the Messiah’s Dwelling Place

    It is well known in the study of antiquity that the Jews kept impeccable records for the genealogies of their citizens. Unless a man could prove by his lineage that he was of pure Jewish descent, he forfeited his right to be called a Jew and a member of God’s chosen people. We see an indication of this importance in the autobiography of Flavius Josephus, the most famous of all Jewish historians. In establishing himself as an authority in the history of the Jews, Josephus first confirms his genealogy.

    “Thus have I set down the genealogy of my family as I have found in the public records.”1

    In matters of the priesthood, before any man could be approved to serve in the Temple, he had to provide proof of his genealogy all the way back to Aaron. If he was married, his wife would also have to prove that she was a Jew by genealogy, back five generations.

    When the Jews were released from Babylon to return to Jerusalem, Ezra records that upon a search of the genealogies of the Jews, there were certain men who were unable to prove their descendancy from Aaron and were therefore, excluded from serving as priests in the Temple

    Ezra 2:1 Now these are the people of the province who came back from the captivity, of those who had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon, and who returned to Jerusalem and Judah, everyone to his own city.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on November 23rd, 2013

    Written by B.P.U Contributor

    Tags

    ,

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 14-15

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 14-15

    Now, going back into Leviticus 26 the LORD is talking when He gave the Law to the people of the blessings if they would obey the Law of God. But then He speaks of their disobedience and the curses that would come. There are certain inevitable consequences of certain behavior and we need to know that. If you stick your finger in an open socket and the juice is on you are going to get shocked. Now, in training your child, and there is a socket there, you say, “Don’t put your finger in there because it will shock you.” And that is just basic laws of electricity. You can say that with certainty. That kind of action is going to provoke that kind of response. What is true in the natural physical laws is also true in the spiritual laws. There are certain actions that will provoke a certain response. And God knows what actions will provoke what responses.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on November 22nd, 2013

    Written by B.P.U Contributor

    Tags

    ,

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 13

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 13

    Jesus often used parables in teaching to illustrate a point with a story. This is an excellent way of teaching. Telling a story that gets the point across. In the Old Testament the prophets used parables but they also used actual experiences to illustrate truth to get people’s attention. They caused the people to wonder what he is doing, what is going on? Then they make their point. In chapter 13 is one of these cases where the LORD is directing Jeremiah to rather odd kind of behavior. Through it all God is going to speak His message to the nation. When the point comes across it will be very powerful.

    Thus saith the LORD unto me,

    This is interesting, I bring it up now and I want you to observe how many times Jeremiah says, “Thus saith the LORD unto me.” And how the LORD was speaking to Jeremiah. Verse 9, “Thus saith the LORD.” In verse 15, “Hear ye, give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken.” And all the way through Jeremiah is talking about the word of the LORD that came to me. Verse 3, “And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying,” Verse 5, “So I went, and hit it by the Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me.”

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on November 21st, 2013

    Written by B.P.U Contributor

    Tags

    ,

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 11-12

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 11-12

    We now enter another section of the book of Jeremiah. The message at the gate of the temple has been completed. Now Josiah, the good king, has died. He, in disobedience, took the army to fight against the Egyptians and he was killed in battle. His son, Jehoiachin, took over the throne and was an evil man. All of the good that his father had done was undone by the son or begun to be undone. He only reigned for a couple of months and then he was replaced by Jehoiachin. He was an evil king and thus that nation has now begun its final plunge into sin, into moral decay and ultimately into defeat before their enemies.

    Jeremiah is called now to preach to the people in the next two chapters on the broken covenant. Now when God called the nation of Israel out of Egypt He established the basis upon which they would have fellowship with Him and enjoy all of the benefits that fellowship entails. He would be their God. He would watch over them. He would defend them. He would bless them. He would defeat their enemies. He would establish them and they could enjoy all of the blessings of God reigning and ruling over them. Provided, they would keep the rules that God established. Now the rules are not odious. And as you read the rules you find that they are very fair for God is very fair.

    Now, God said if you keep these rules than this is what I will do for you. But if you break these rules than this is what is going to happen to you. They broke the rules and thus the things that God declared what would happen with the broken covenant are about to happen to them. In the thirtieth chapter of Deuteronomy:

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on November 20th, 2013

    Written by B.P.U Contributor

    Tags

    ,

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 10

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 10

    Turn to Jeremiah 10 as we continue our journey through the whole Bible. In chapter 7 the word that came from Jeremiah from the LORD saying, “Stand in the gate of the LORD’S house and proclaim there this word.” And so chapter 7-10 are the words that the LORD gave to Jeremiah to speak to the people as they were going into the temple to worship. As we have noted before, Josiah, who was the king of Israel at this time, had initiated wonderful spiritual reforms. But from the context they were only surface reforms. They really did not get down into the heart of the national life. People were going to church or to the temple because it was sort of the in thing or the popular thing to do. It had been become popularized by the king. And in order to curry the favor of the king there was just movement back to the temple.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on November 19th, 2013

    Written by B.P.U Contributor

    Tags

    ,

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 9

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 9

    Turn to Jeremiah 9 as we continue our study through the Bible. Chapter 9 is a continuation of the message of Jeremiah that was given at the gate of the temple as the Lord told him to go down to the gate and cry out to those people who were coming into the temple to not trust in the lying vanities or lying words saying, “the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.” That the fact that they were observing worship again was not sufficient for national salvation. Religious observances will not save, it takes true repentance and a true turning to God. And God was requiring that they thoroughly amend their ways and to be fair in their dealings with their neighbors. The society had broken down. The morals were almost nonexistent. Ethics were a thing that was unknown. There was lying, cheating, deception in all of there practices as we will find in the text tonight.

    When a society breaks down morally, has a total moral breakdown where you have preying on everyone else, no one’s word can be trusted, there is lying, stealing and cheating; those kind of things will destroy any society. And it is hard to see a society that is turned over, become reprobate and is on its way out. It is being eroded within and the society is collapsing. These things bring natural inevitable results. We call them judgments but they are just the result of the total moral breakdown. It always leads to the total collapse of that society and that leads next to tyranny and dictatorship and you start all over again.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on November 18th, 2013

    Written by B.P.U Contributor

    Tags

    ,

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 8

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 8

    As we remember this message of Jeremiah began in chapter 7. The background for it is the reinstituting of the temple worship. Under the reign of Manasseh the temple had been neglected, it had come into a state of disrepair. It was really just filled with rubble and trash and they had stopped having the prayers and sacrifices. So when Josiah came to the throne in his eighth year of his reign he began a spiritual reformation. It began with ridding the land of its idols and the places of worship of the pagan gods. He then collected money and ordered that the temple should be refurbished, it should be cleaned up and remodeled and just spiffed up again. So they hired the workman to do this job of remodeling the temple.

    During this remodeling project Hilkiah the high priest found a copy of the Law. So he sent it by Shaphan the scribe to king Josiah, who when Shaphan was reading in the Law of God he saw in the Law how that God had promised a blessing if the people would worship Him and keep His commandments but the curse that would come upon them if they turned to other gods and worshipped other gods. So he realized that the trespass of Judah the nation was much greater than what he originally thought it to be. He ordered even further spiritual reforms.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on November 17th, 2013

    Written by B.P.U Contributor

    Tags

    ,

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 7

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 7

    The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Stand in the gate of the LORD’S house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the LORD (7:1–2).

    So this is the message that Jeremiah was to give while he was standing in the gates of the Lord’s house. He was to preach this message to those people that were gathering to worship the Lord. Now in the Jeremiah 26 we have again Jeremiah during the reign of King Jehoiakim and he does date this for us. At the beginning of the reign of King Jehoiakim the Lord said, “Go and stand in the court of the Lord’s house and speak to all the cities of Judah.” Again later on he was commanded to go to the Lord’s house and this time they wanted to kill him. They rebelled against what he was saying. The priests and the prophets that were there said, “This fellow deserves to die,” They were determined to put him to death but he was saved by the intervention of some of the princes of the land.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on November 16th, 2013

    Written by B.P.U Contributor

    Tags

    ,

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 6

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 6

    Shall we turn now to Jeremiah 6 as we continue our journey through Jeremiah as we are journeying through the Bible. The southern kingdom was comprised of two tribes: Judah and Benjamin. So the call in verse one is to the children of Benjamin.

    O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire in Bethhaccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north, and great destruction (6:1).

    God is about to judge the nation of Judah for turning their backs upon God and worshipping and turning themselves to worship idols. Tekoa is south of Bethlehem, sort of the border of the land from the Judean wilderness. Just where Bethhaccerem was is questionable. The word means the house of the vineyard in Hebrew. The blowing of the trumpet was always the sound of the alarm. At the approach of the enemy, at the beginning of the battle there would be the blowing of the trumpet.

  • 365 Prophecies, Is Jesus God?, Is Jesus the Messiah?, Rob Robinson, The Wrath of God

    Posted on November 15th, 2013

    Written by Rob Robinson

    Tags

    , ,

    The Lamb of God and the Warrior King

    The Lamb of God and the Warrior King

    The term “Lord” in the phrase, The Lord is at Your right hand, is the Hebrew word Adonay (Adonai) and is only used in reference to God. The King who is the subject of Psalm 110 is most certainly the Messiah. He is described as a conquering king at God’s right hand.

    When Paul wrote to Timothy, he spoke of Jesus being our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords, dwelling in unapproachable light. These are terms that can only be ascribed to God and the Adonay of Psalms 110:5-7, as well as the Messiah.

    1 Timothy 6:13-16 I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.

    It is clear from Paul’s description of Jesus Christ that he believed Him to be the object of all the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah, such as Psalm 110, where Adonay is spoken of as executing His wrath in the day of Judgment. The Book of Revelation gives us further disclosure of Jesus’ identity in regards to His future judgment during and after the seven-year Tribulation period.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on November 15th, 2013

    Written by B.P.U Contributor

    Tags

    ,

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 5

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 5

    Let’s turn to Jeremiah 5. Jesus was talking about his day and the religious leaders of that time. He spoke of their blindness. He said if the blind lead the blind that they will both fall in a ditch. Probably the saddest time in a nations history is when that nation is enshrouded in blindness and those people who are to be and known to be the spiritual leaders of the nation are also blind. That was the condition of Judah at the time that Jeremiah was writing here in chapter 5.

    There was a surface kind of honoring of God. The problem was that it was only surface. As we studied a couple of weeks ago God said that they had returned but not with all of their heart. It was kind of a surface movement. In their hearts there was still that darkness.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on November 14th, 2013

    Written by B.P.U Contributor

    Tags

    ,

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 4

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 4

    Let’s turn to Jeremiah 4 and continue our study through the Bible. In 3:22 the LORD called for backsliding children to return. “Return ye backsliding children and I will heal your backslidings.” Now the judgment of God that is coming has been prophesied.

    If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove (4:1).

    The idea behind it is that you must really return. If you will return, really return. Return with your whole heart. You remember that the LORD had complained of the fact that they had not turned to Him with their heart but only feigned and that was not acceptable to the LORD. If you will return, return and the promise of God, I will put away your sin and your abominations out of My sight and you will not be removed.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on November 13th, 2013

    Written by B.P.U Contributor

    Tags

    ,

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 3

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 3

    Let’s turn now to Jeremiah 3 as we continue our journey through the Bible. The first five verses of Chapter 3 really belong with Chapter 2 in that it is a part of Jeremiah’s first message to backslidden Judah and it begins with 2:1 and continues to 3:5. Chapter 3, verse 6, begins his second message to backslidden Judah. Here he is concluding the first message. It is tied together to the second message as we will see. Some of the commentators say that “they say” is a contraction of the phrase that Jeremiah so often used, “the word of the LORD came to me saying” and they believe that in the copying they just put “they say” rather than “the word of the LORD came to me saying” which is a very common phrase for Jeremiah.

    They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lover; yet return again to me, saith the LORD (3:1).

  • Bantayan Island, Outreach, Philippines, Rob Robinson, Typhoon Haiyan

    Posted on November 12th, 2013

    Written by Rob Robinson

    Tags

    , ,

    Help the Desperate People of the Philippines

    Help the Desperate People of the Philippines

    A heart for those who have lost everything

    On November 8, 2013, a massive category 5 Typhoon that some experts are now describing as so massive there is no existing category for such a storm (Category 7?), struck the Philippines with a force unknown at any time in the history of the world. The eye wall of this monster Typhoon was just offshore from Bantayan Island. The government of this Island estimates that 95 percent of the homes were completely destroyed. The number of dead and suffering mounts daily.

    At just 6 by 10 miles in size, this tiny Pacific atoll is home to over 130,000 peacefull fishermen. Living in Nipa huts made from the natural coconut trees from the island, the 195 mile per hour peak winds of Super Typhoon Yolanda, also known as “Haiyan,” decimated every native structure on the island.

    For the past three years, we have conducted a ministry to the poor of Bantayan Island, Philippines.

    Today is Tuesday, November 12, 2013. On Sunday, November 17, we depart for Bantayan Island to truck in food and supplies for the desperate people of the island. Cut off from the world, no electricity will be available for up to 4 months. We received reports two days ago that in the neighborhood where we conduct our outreach to the inhabitants of the island, over 28,000 people are homeless, wandering the streets searching for food and water.

  • 365 Prophecies, Is Jesus God?, Is Jesus the Messiah?, Rob Robinson

    Posted on November 12th, 2013

    Written by Rob Robinson

    Tags

    , ,

    The Prophecy of the Messiah’s Suffering

    The Prophecy of the Messiah’s Suffering

    Psalms 88:14-18 speaks of the Messiah being ready to die from my youth. It was the purpose of Jesus’ birth that He should die for the sins of the world. He suffered the terrors of God’s fierce wrath for all of us, as He took upon Himself the punishment and death that we deserved.

    A difficult principle for the world to understand is the wrath of God. How can a God of love be reconciled with a God of wrath? The two seem to be incompatible. What we learn from the Bible is that God’s love is closely connected to His Righteousness. Because God is always good, He can do nothing else but what is right and just.

    We should understand that our Great God of Love is also a Great God of Justice.

    The Lord could not possibly be Righteous if He did not punish sin. It is morally wrong to allow the guilty to go unpunished. At the Cross, the Lord showed to us the ultimate example of Love and Justice together at the same time: We were guilty; God judged our sin by punishing His own Son. In doing this, He maintained His righteousness by carrying out a just punishment for our sins while at the same time, showing us His Great Love.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on November 12th, 2013

    Written by B.P.U Contributor

    Tags

    ,

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 2

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 2

    A phrase that we are going to be hearing or reading a lot in Jeremiah is the word of the LORD saying. God spoke to Jeremiah. Over and over the word of LORD came to Jeremiah directing him, guiding him, giving him the word of God to give to the people. Now Jeremiah is living in Anathoth up to this point.
    Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying (2:1-2),
    So he will move from Anathoth to Jerusalem where he will exercise his prophetic ministry. It is there in Jerusalem that most of the prophecies of Jeremiah are uttered. Usually they are uttered around the temple grounds. Jeremiah was not popular with the priests because many of the things that the LORD had to say were against the corrupted priesthood. Jeremiah was not at all popular with the religious people because again many of the things that he had to say were against the false prophets that were there in Jerusalem. The word of the LORD is directing Jeremiah to go to Jerusalem with the message for the people.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on November 11th, 2013

    Written by B.P.U Contributor

    Tags

    ,

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 1

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 1

      Jeremiah 1 7274-7309 Jeremiah Chuck Smith Let’s turn now in our Bibles to Jeremiah 1 as we continue our journey through the scripture. The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin (1:1): Anathoth was about three miles to the north-east north of [...]

  • Older Posts Yeah! There are more posts, check them out.