Tag Archive for 'prophecy'

The Gentiles

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bcg
on 20 August 2008
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In Jeremiah, there's a lot of judgement, of Israel and the surrounding nations.  The final few chapters basically comprise a long series of judgements on the surrounding nations.

So I was surprised when I noticed that God promises to restore some of them.  For example, in 49.6 God says, 'But afterwards I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites.'  And in 49.39 he says, 'I will restore the fortunes of Elam.'  And so on.

While the language of judgement is common to all nations (not just Israel), normally the language of restoration is reserved only for Israel.  They are God's chosen people; the surrounding nations are not.  Therefore, although they are judged, they are never completely destroyed.

So what is going on here?

I wonder if we have here a prefiguring of the mission to the Gentiles that comes in the New Testament.  The fact that God doesn't simply punish, but also restores the Gentile nations suggests that his salvation is not limited to (although he may primarily be for) Israel.

Of course, the verses only have this significance once the mission to the Gentiles is made explicit.  But they are maybe one of the reasons why the early disciples accepted Peter's vision and Paul's mission.  For I hope that they used the Scriptures to test the words of prophecy and visions, as Paul tells us to do.  If they did, they would have found verses like these (and of course many others, even more explicit) to support the visions.

New prophecy?

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Published
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bcg
on 10 August 2008
in Church
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We had an interesting comment by the preacher in church today.  He was saying that whenever he preaches, he tries to have something fresh, something new and prophetic to say.

Now I whole-heartedly agree that preaching should be prophetic.  It should challenge people, show them what God is saying to them through the Bible, feed them with truth, and encourage them in their day-to-day lives.  And above all, it should point to Jesus.

Now, my understanding of 'prophetic' is not that it is all about predicting the future (although it often does include that).  Much of the prophecy in the Old Testament consists of the the prophets reminding the people of God's promises, to bless them if they are faithful, and to punish them if they are not.  Granted, that included predicting the consequences of their disobedience, but essentially they were calling the people to remember God's word and his promises, and to be obedient.

Now that will sometimes include something 'new'.  That is, a fresh way of putting something, or teaching people something they didn't already know.  However, my reflections on the Old Testament prophets is that very often the people did know what they were being told, they were simply choosing to ignore it.  Or, they needed to be shown or told something they already knew in a different way.

I think that preachers should not be too worried about having something 'new' to say, but having something faithful to say - faithful to God's word.  The challenge comes not from what the preacher comes up with that is new or fresh, but from the word of God itself.

All this, the preacher tonight would agree with - his comment simply set me off on a train of thought!

Zechariah

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Published
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bcg
on 14 December 2007
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(12.10) "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. (11) On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. (12) The land shall mourn, each family by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; (13) the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the Shimeites by itself, and their wives by themselves; (14) and all the families that are left, each by itself, and their wives by themselves.
(13.1) "On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness."

Zechariah 12:10 - 13.1 (ESV)

This was written more than 500 years before Jesus was born, yet is so accurate it could have been written by one of the apostles after Jesus' death and resurrection.

Zechariah had some other astonishing visions and messages, including:

  • 1-6 - a series of rather obscure visions, including a woman in a basket and a flying scroll
  • 8.3 - 'I have returned to Zion and will dwell in the midst of them'
  • 9.9 - the coming of the king on a donkey
  • 11.4-17 - a bizarre prophetic act, as Zechariah becomes a shepherd and is paid thirty pieces of silver

It would be a great challenge, but one day I'd like to preach through the book of Zechariah. Some of its gems are more obvious than others, but if you spend the time working on it there is huge reward.