Tag Archives: Scriptural Insights
Do We Need To Follow The Commandments For Salvation?
Do We Need To Follow The Commandments For Salvation?
Revelation 18 Daily Bible Reading with Paul Nison
The Fall of Babylon
18 After all this I saw another angel come down from heaven with great authority, and the earth grew bright with his splendor. 2 He gave a mighty shout:
“Babylon is fallen—that great city is fallen!
She has become a home for demons.
She is a hideout for every foul[a] spirit,
a hideout for every foul vulture
and every foul and dreadful animal.[b]
3 For all the nations have fallen[c]
because of the wine of her passionate immorality.
The kings of the world
have committed adultery with her.
Because of her desires for extravagant luxury,
the merchants of the world have grown rich.”
4 Then I heard another voice calling from heaven,
“Come away from her, my people.
Do not take part in her sins,
or you will be punished with her.
5 For her sins are piled as high as heaven,
and God remembers her evil deeds.
6 Do to her as she has done to others.
Double her penalty[d] for all her evil deeds.
She brewed a cup of terror for others,
so brew twice as much[e] for her.
7 She glorified herself and lived in luxury,
so match it now with torment and sorrow.
She boasted in her heart,
‘I am queen on my throne.
I am no helpless widow,
and I have no reason to mourn.’
8 Therefore, these plagues will overtake her in a single day—
death and mourning and famine.
She will be completely consumed by fire,
for the Lord God who judges her is mighty.”
9 And the kings of the world who committed adultery with her and enjoyed her great luxury will mourn for her as they see the smoke rising from her charred remains. 10 They will stand at a distance, terrified by her great torment. They will cry out,
“How terrible, how terrible for you,
O Babylon, you great city!
In a single moment
God’s judgment came on you.”
11 The merchants of the world will weep and mourn for her, for there is no one left to buy their goods. 12 She bought great quantities of gold, silver, jewels, and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet cloth; things made of fragrant thyine wood, ivory goods, and objects made of expensive wood; and bronze, iron, and marble. 13 She also bought cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, wagons, and bodies—that is, human slaves.
14 “The fancy things you loved so much
are gone,” they cry.
“All your luxuries and splendor
are gone forever,
never to be yours again.”
15 The merchants who became wealthy by selling her these things will stand at a distance, terrified by her great torment. They will weep and cry out,
16 “How terrible, how terrible for that great city!
She was clothed in finest purple and scarlet linens,
decked out with gold and precious stones and pearls!
17 In a single moment
all the wealth of the city is gone!”
And all the captains of the merchant ships and their passengers and sailors and crews will stand at a distance. 18 They will cry out as they watch the smoke ascend, and they will say, “Where is there another city as great as this?” 19 And they will weep and throw dust on their heads to show their grief. And they will cry out,
“How terrible, how terrible for that great city!
The shipowners became wealthy
by transporting her great wealth on the seas.
In a single moment it is all gone.”
20 Rejoice over her fate, O heaven
and people of God and apostles and prophets!
For at last God has judged her
for your sakes.
21 Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a huge millstone. He threw it into the ocean and shouted,
“Just like this, the great city Babylon
will be thrown down with violence
and will never be found again.
22 The sound of harps, singers, flutes, and trumpets
will never be heard in you again.
No craftsmen and no trades
will ever be found in you again.
The sound of the mill
will never be heard in you again.
23 The light of a lamp
will never shine in you again.
The happy voices of brides and grooms
will never be heard in you again.
For your merchants were the greatest in the world,
and you deceived the nations with your sorceries.
24 In your[f] streets flowed the blood of the prophets and of God’s holy people
and the blood of people slaughtered all over the world.”
Footnotes
Suffer with Joy for YESHUA!
The Father’s Best
(#049 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
Read chart first!
www.sufferwell.org
And prayerfully, this is ultimately you! “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of the Almighty and have the testimony of Yahshua the Messiah.” (Revelation 12:17)
And, so it is with those called to acknowledge that suffering is the key element in their quest for perfection (Hebrews 2:10; 5:8). From the scriptural pattern of being persecuted (sentenced) for righteousness sake (Matthew 5:10), you can easily presume that a lack of suffering is attributed to a lack of spiritual growth, maybe even the failure to risk stepping into the greatness of your heavenly calling. Why would you avoid the risk? “Self” preservation is the reason; and quite frankly, it is a sin.
And imprisonment does not only exist as physical incarceration loved one; it starts in the mind. So ask your-self, “Am I in prison? And is it making me more Holy?” If not, then perhaps a shift in perspective is warranted. If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:36) But, how can you be set free lest you had first known the utter depths of your bondage? It is from that valley we rise!
Who Made These Things?
Who Made These Things?
(#023 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
www.sufferwell.org
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. (James 1:17)
Love, peace, joy, contentment, patience, goodness, faithfulness, humility, wisdom, integrity, tenderness, and all other good things come down from Me, the Father of lights. You might be tempted to apprehend these things through your own selfish desires (James 1:14), but do not be deceived (v. 15); do not be enticed to believe they come from anywhere but Me.
What exactly are these things that your soul longs for? Yes My child, ask yourself. And in a sober moment you will realize that they all belong to Me. Each one was created to entice My children to enter My domain, to be as I Am. In other words, to search for the Kingdom of Heaven that is in you. (Luke 17:21) It is very risky to think you can gain access to any of these apart from Me? If you could, if anyone could partake apart from Me, then what did My Son die for, and how are your desires different from the pagans? No My child! These things are only for My children and obedience is the key that releases access to them within you.
Can a wicked man enjoy peace? Never! I will not allow that man to experience real peace (Isaiah 48:22). Can an adulterer have love? Never! I will not allow that perversion to stain My love. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with [Me]? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of [Mine]. (James 4:4) Can a greedy man know contentment? How could he when greed takes the life of its owners (Proverbs 1:19)? Only the one who prospers in Me will know true contentment. Can a contentious woman know tenderness? It can never be, as she is like a continuous dripping that cannot be contained (Proverbs 27:15-16). My tenderness is for the contrite, which is a blessing reserved for My obedient children.
All things were made through [My Son], and without Him nothing was made that was made. (John 1:3) And He has become the open door that you might attain them. Those who do not know Him, and therefore Me, will never experience these spiritual blessings. They are reserved for My children only. But you cannot stand at the doorway; you must walk through it.
Do you need help? Ask and you shall receive. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. (Luke 11:10)
Ruth 2
Ruth 2
Ruth Works in Boaz’s Field
1 Now there was a wealthy and influential man in Bethlehem named Boaz, who was a relative of Naomi’s husband, Elimelech.
2 One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go out into the harvest fields to pick up the stalks of grain left behind by anyone who is kind enough to let me do it.”
Naomi replied, “All right, my daughter, go ahead.” 3 So Ruth went out to gather grain behind the harvesters. And as it happened, she found herself working in a field that belonged to Boaz, the relative of her father-in-law, Elimelech.
4 While she was there, Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters. “The Lord be with you!” he said.
“The Lord bless you!” the harvesters replied.
5 Then Boaz asked his foreman, “Who is that young woman over there? Who does she belong to?”
6 And the foreman replied, “She is the young woman from Moab who came back with Naomi. 7 She asked me this morning if she could gather grain behind the harvesters. She has been hard at work ever since, except for a few minutes’ rest in the shelter.”
8 Boaz went over and said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Stay right here with us when you gather grain; don’t go to any other fields. Stay right behind the young women working in my field. 9 See which part of the field they are harvesting, and then follow them. I have warned the young men not to treat you roughly. And when you are thirsty, help yourself to the water they have drawn from the well.”
10 Ruth fell at his feet and thanked him warmly. “What have I done to deserve such kindness?” she asked. “I am only a foreigner.”
11 “Yes, I know,” Boaz replied. “But I also know about everything you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband. I have heard how you left your father and mother and your own land to live here among complete strangers. 12 May the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge, reward you fully for what you have done.”
13 “I hope I continue to please you, sir,” she replied. “You have comforted me by speaking so kindly to me, even though I am not one of your workers.”
14 At mealtime Boaz called to her, “Come over here, and help yourself to some food. You can dip your bread in the sour wine.” So she sat with his harvesters, and Boaz gave her some roasted grain to eat. She ate all she wanted and still had some left over.
15 When Ruth went back to work again, Boaz ordered his young men, “Let her gather grain right among the sheaves without stopping her. 16 And pull out some heads of barley from the bundles and drop them on purpose for her. Let her pick them up, and don’t give her a hard time!”
17 So Ruth gathered barley there all day, and when she beat out the grain that evening, it filled an entire basket.[a] 18 She carried it back into town and showed it to her mother-in-law. Ruth also gave her the roasted grain that was left over from her meal.
19 “Where did you gather all this grain today?” Naomi asked. “Where did you work? May the Lord bless the one who helped you!”
So Ruth told her mother-in-law about the man in whose field she had worked. She said, “The man I worked with today is named Boaz.”
20 “May the Lord bless him!” Naomi told her daughter-in-law. “He is showing his kindness to us as well as to your dead husband.[b] That man is one of our closest relatives, one of our family redeemers.”
21 Then Ruth[c] said, “What’s more, Boaz even told me to come back and stay with his harvesters until the entire harvest is completed.”
22 “Good!” Naomi exclaimed. “Do as he said, my daughter. Stay with his young women right through the whole harvest. You might be harassed in other fields, but you’ll be safe with him.”
23 So Ruth worked alongside the women in Boaz’s fields and gathered grain with them until the end of the barley harvest. Then she continued working with them through the wheat harvest in early summer. And all the while she lived with her mother-in-law.
Footnotes:
Song of Songs 6
Song of Solomon 6
Young Women of Jerusalem
1 Where has your lover gone,
O woman of rare beauty?
Which way did he turn
so we can help you find him?
Young Woman
2 My lover has gone down to his garden,
to his spice beds,
to browse in the gardens
and gather the lilies.
3 I am my lover’s, and my lover is mine.
He browses among the lilies.
Young Man
4 You are beautiful, my darling,
like the lovely city of Tirzah.
Yes, as beautiful as Jerusalem,
as majestic as an army with billowing banners.
5 Turn your eyes away,
for they overpower me.
Your hair falls in waves,
like a flock of goats winding down the slopes of Gilead.
6 Your teeth are as white as sheep
that are freshly washed.
Your smile is flawless,
each tooth matched with its twin.[a]
7 Your cheeks are like rosy pomegranates
behind your veil.
8 Even among sixty queens
and eighty concubines
and countless young women,
9 I would still choose my dove, my perfect one—
the favorite of her mother,
dearly loved by the one who bore her.
The young women see her and praise her;
even queens and royal concubines sing her praises:
10 “Who is this, arising like the dawn,
as fair as the moon,
as bright as the sun,
as majestic as an army with billowing banners?”
Young Woman
11 I went down to the grove of walnut trees
and out to the valley to see the new spring growth,
to see whether the grapevines had budded
or the pomegranates were in bloom.
12 Before I realized it,
my strong desires had taken me to the chariot of a noble man.[b]
Young Women of Jerusalem
13 [c]Return, return to us, O maid of Shulam.
Come back, come back, that we may see you again.
Young Man
Why do you stare at this young woman of Shulam,
as she moves so gracefully between two lines of dancers?[d]
Footnotes:
- 6:6 Hebrew Not one is missing; each has a twin.
- 6:12 Or to the royal chariots of my people, or to the chariots of Amminadab. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
- 6:13a Verse 6:13 is numbered 7:1 in Hebrew text.
- 6:13b Or as you would at the movements of two armies? or as you would at the dance of Mahanaim? The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
God Says Eating Animals Is Okay But…
God Says Eating Animals Is Okay But…
Sabbath Fellowship Friday October 4th, 2019 @ 10pm est.
Sabbath Fellowship Friday October 4th, 2019 @ 10pm est.
Single Dad Teaches Daughter Yahweh’s Word
Single Dad Teaches Daughter Yahweh’s Word
Job 5
Eliphaz’s Response Continues
1 “Cry for help, but will anyone answer you?
Which of the angels[a] will help you?
2 Surely resentment destroys the fool,
and jealousy kills the simple.
3 I have seen that fools may be successful for the moment,
but then comes sudden disaster.
4 Their children are abandoned far from help;
they are crushed in court with no one to defend them.
5 The hungry devour their harvest,
even when it is guarded by brambles.[b]
The thirsty pant after their wealth.[c]
6 But evil does not spring from the soil,
and trouble does not sprout from the earth.
7 People are born for trouble
as readily as sparks fly up from a fire.
8 “If I were you, I would go to God
and present my case to him.
9 He does great things too marvelous to understand.
He performs countless miracles.
10 He gives rain for the earth
and water for the fields.
11 He gives prosperity to the poor
and protects those who suffer.
12 He frustrates the plans of schemers
so the work of their hands will not succeed.
13 He traps the wise in their own cleverness
so their cunning schemes are thwarted.
14 They find it is dark in the daytime,
and they grope at noon as if it were night.
15 He rescues the poor from the cutting words of the strong,
and rescues them from the clutches of the powerful.
16 And so at last the poor have hope,
and the snapping jaws of the wicked are shut.
17 “But consider the joy of those corrected by God!
Do not despise the discipline of the Almighty when you sin.
18 For though he wounds, he also bandages.
He strikes, but his hands also heal.
19 From six disasters he will rescue you;
even in the seventh, he will keep you from evil.
20 He will save you from death in time of famine,
from the power of the sword in time of war.
21 You will be safe from slander
and have no fear when destruction comes.
22 You will laugh at destruction and famine;
wild animals will not terrify you.
23 You will be at peace with the stones of the field,
and its wild animals will be at peace with you.
24 You will know that your home is safe.
When you survey your possessions, nothing will be missing.
25 You will have many children;
your descendants will be as plentiful as grass!
26 You will go to the grave at a ripe old age,
like a sheaf of grain harvested at the proper time!
27 “We have studied life and found all this to be true.
Listen to my counsel, and apply it to yourself.”