Hidden (Krypto) Treasures

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Tag: Temple of the living God

Nahum 2:2 – God’s Excellency and God The Excellency

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On August 20, 2013

In Nahum, Through the Bible

Nahum 2:2 reads “For the Lord hath turned away the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel: for the emptiers have emptied them out, and marred their vine branches.”

What is the excellency of Jacob (who was rechristened Israel (Genesis 32:28))? Physically, the temple (santuary) in Jerusalem, which the descendants of Jacob a.k.a Israel (Jews) desired, was the excellency according to God (Ezekiel 24:21; Psalms 47:4). Spiritually, the excellency of Jacob refers to God himself for God is A excellent Spirit (Daniel 6:3; John 4:24).

The emptiers who have emptied refer to the wicked people of Nineveh that plundered and spoiled (emptied) the lands they captured, depriving the lands of their wealth and worship (Psalm 80:15-16). This included the Jews (the people of Judah) – the Israelites, who are referred to as vine branches (Hosea 10:1, Psalm 80:8-16) that the Assyrians marred.

Prophetically this verse meant that the Assyrian oppressors of Judah (and Israel) will now be destroyed completely (dashed into pieces) by the Babylonians whom the Lord was raising and that God will restore (turn away) the excellency of Jacob (i.e. Israel) for the Assyrians who spoiled Israel and the Jews shall be utterly destroyed (Nahum 1:8,9,15).

By assuring that the Lord has turned away (restored) the excellency of Jacob, God was stating that he shall afflict (chastise) his people no more (Nahum 1:9) and avenge them against their oppressors (Nahum 1:2) and that his people would once again be able to worship God by performing their vows and keeping their feasts of tabernacles (Nahum 1:15), for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb (Jesus) The Excellency will himself be the temple (Revelation 21:22).

Points to ponder:
Jesus is the Excellency of God (2 Corinthians 4:7). He is God The Excellency. He spoke of himself to be the temple of the living God (John 2:19) and when we believe in him, we become the temple of the living God (1 Corinthians 3:17). God restores his excellency in us when we acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus and when we believe in his name, confessing our sins, which his blood cleanses, for the Bible records that we have this treasure (Jesus Christ) in earthen vessels (bodies of ours fashioned from the dust in the earth), that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us (2 Corinthians 4:7). No matter who our oppressors are, we need not fret, for God is an excellent God in us – whom do we need to fear? No one! Can it be said of each of us, as it was said of Daniel, that we have A “Excellent” Spirit of God in us?

Nahum 2:2 (KJV)
2 For the Lord hath turned away the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel: for the emptiers have emptied them out, and marred their vine branches.

2 Corinthians 4:7 (KJV)
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

1 Corinthians 3:17 (KJV)
17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

Revelation 21:22 (KJV)
22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

Nahum 1:15 – Keep thy solemn feasts

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On August 14, 2013

In Christian, Nahum, Through the Bible

When a pagan and vile nation that boasts in its own strength, blasphemes against God and afflicts you, the commanded practices of worshipping God gets hindered and this was the case with Judah as the Assyrians were oppressing them. In this midst of this affliction, the prophet Nahum counsels the people of Judah to keep their solemn feasts, which may seem absurd at first glance, since feasts are usually associated with rejoicing and victory, and not oppression and/or affliction. So why would God ask the people to do such a thing through his prophet? To understand this, we need to first know what the solemn feast is and why it was commanded? Deuteronomy 16:13-17 gives us the answer.

Deuteronomy 16:13-17 speaks of the feast of tabernacles that should be observed for seven days, and during this time, the people are commanded to rejoice. They are to keep this solemn feast in a place which the Lord shall choose, because the Lord God shall bless them in all their increase and works. Herein lies the answer – the solemn feasts are to be kept in a place which the Lord God shall choose, meaning that while the Assyrians and their vile king Sennacherib, thought that the land of Judah was their place to conquer, this land was chosen by God, for only in the land which the Lord God chooses, were the people commanded to keep their solemn feasts. Additionally, God would bless them in spite of their affliction which gives all the reason to rejoice and hence the prophet Nahum brings not just the message of comfort to God’s people, but a message of choosing – of God’s choosing.

Points to ponder:
We did not choose God first, but God chose us first and loved us (1 John 4:19). Many are called but few are chosen (Matthew 22:14). We are a chosen generation (1 Peter 2:9). A tabernacle is a place of sanctuary or temple and we are the temple (tabernacle) of the Holy Spirit of God (2 Corinthians 6:16). When we believe in Jesus, the Holy Spirit of God comes into our life to in dwell in us, God’s tabernacle, and that gives us all the reason to rejoice and keep the solemn feast, in spite of any affliction we may be facing or shall face. People of God, rejoice and keep your solemn feast for God has chosen you.

Nahum 1:15 (KJV)
15 Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.

Deuteronomy 16:13-17 (KJV)
13 Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine:
14 And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates.
15 Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord shall choose: because the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely rejoice.
16 Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the Lord empty:
17 Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee.

Total Surrender :: Father, into thy hands, I commend my spirit

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On March 31, 2013

In Christian, Good Friday, Seven Sayings

Jesus’ seventh saying from the Cross is recorded in the gospel according to apostle Luke in chapter 23 verse 46. It reads, “And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.”

Jesus’ body and blood was given for mankind (1 Corinthians 11:24-25). Jesus’ Holy Spirit was presented to God for approval (which is what commend means) and upon God’s acceptance and approval of Jesus’ sacrifice, of which the Holy Spirit who was surrendered is a witness (Hebrews 10:14-15), God could now send the Holy Spirit of Jesus to dwell within men for we are now the temple of the living God (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

Points to ponder:
Jesus totally surrendered his life and spirit for you and me. He totally surrendered his living Spirit to God so that the living Spirit of God could be sent to dwell within our lives, when we totally surrender ourselves to God. Have you told God, “Father, into your hands, I commend my spirit” as I totally surrender? Have you totally surrendered?

Luke 23:46 (KJV)
46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (KJV)
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of [received from] God, and ye are not your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Fables Rewritten :: The Charcoal-burner and the Fuller

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On May 31, 2012

In Christian, Fables Rewritten

There was once a Charcoal-burner who lived and worked by himself. A Fuller, however, happened to come and settle in the same neighbourhood; and the Charcoal-burner, having made his acquaintance and finding he was an agreeable sort of fellow, asked him if he would come and share his house. “We shall get to know one another better that way,” he said, “and, beside, our household expenses will be diminished.” The Fuller thanked him, but replied, “I couldn’t think of it, sir: why, everything I take such pains to whiten would be blackened in no time by your charcoal.” (Reference: Aesop’s Fables)

The Bible informs us that light can have no communion with darkness (2 Corinthians 6:14). In other words, holiness can have no communion with sin or that Christ Jesus can have no concord with the devil. We cannot be unequally yoked in our lives. Let us learn to recognize that as the sanctified blood-bought saints of God, we can have nothing to do with evil (sin), for in doing so, we darken our washed lives and place ourselves into the judgment of God, for there remains no more sacrifice for our sins, if we continue to willfully sin, after having received the knowledge of Salvation, found in Christ Jesus alone.(Hebrews 10:26)

Ephesians 5:7-11 (KJV)
7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them.
8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.
11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

2 Corinthians 6:14-17 (KJV)
14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.

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