Jeremiah 23:5

Verse of the Day Devotion: Jeremiah 23:5

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land.” –  Jeremiah 23:5 

This verse speaks of the coming of the promised Messiah.  Isaiah speaks similarly when he said, “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.” Isaiah 9:6-7

Both Jeremiah and Isaiah are telling those who will listen that the righteous one will be coming, from God, who will ultimately establish the eternal kingdom, bringing righteousness and justice to the land.  Daniel gave specifics regarding the timing here, “So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.” Daniel 9:25. I will not go into the mathematics regarding His coming except to say that these are weeks of years; one week being 7 years. Therefore, it was not a secret, for the Lord made it clear to the Jews when, how and why He was coming.  When? Sixty-nine weeks of years after the decree to rebuild the Jerusalem. How? Through the Son of God, the Messiah. Why? To bring about the atonement for our sins through the death of the Messiah.

Unfortunately, most of the Jews at the time of Christ’s coming did not understand these prophecies.  It laid out the time of His coming, but they looked for what they expected, and not what the prophets said.  It was laid out so clearly here, “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.” Daniel 9:24. My guess is that either they lost the initiative to continue counting the days, or they had their own idea of what the Messiah would do, and Jesus did not meet their expectations. What a shame. So, this is what we celebrate during the Christmas season.  It has to do with the gift God gave us in His Son, the promised Messiah, who would sacrifice Himself for us all.  Let us not forget this when we celebrate Christmas, because this is the true meaning of this blessed holiday season.  There is nothing wrong with sharing gifts or decorating with lights and trees.  However, let’s make these secondary and remind our children, friends and family of what Christ did for us and the eternal rewards He made available to us, if we simply believe and live it out.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries, Inc.

Judges 21:25

Verse of the Day Devotion.  Judges 21:25  

“In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” – Judges 21:25  

After Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, Joshua led them into the promised land conquering as much as ninety percent of the land given to them by God, dividing it among the tribes and disbanding the great army he had assembled. Each person went back to his own tribe. The center point of Jewish life began to dissipate. Instead of one Jewish people there were twelve tribes who had a loose allegiance to each other. And when Joshua and his generation died, so did the Israelites’ knowledge of God. “And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel.” Judges 2:10. They began worshipping other gods, the gods of the neighboring nations. “And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals. And they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them and bowed down to them. And they provoked the LORD to anger.” Judges 2:11-12.

So the Lord handed them over to their enemies, “I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died, in order to test Israel by them, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the LORD as their fathers did, or not.  So the LORD left those nations, not driving them out quickly, and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua.” Judges 2:21-23. God did not destroy the nations around them but used them in order that they may see their own response. And every time one of the judges died, Israel went astray, returning to their sinful practices and idolatry. It was a constant cycle of sin and deliverance. Israel rebels. God disciplines them. Israel repents. God delivers them.

Now, during this time, there was no king to rule over all of Israel, there were the Judges which lead the people. Yet the people would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. Unlike their fathers, they quickly turned from the way in which their fathers had walked, the way of obedience to the LORD’s commands. Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the LORD had compassion on them as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them. But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.

Throughout the Book of Judges, we see a repeated pattern. Using chapter three as an example, “And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth. Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. And the people of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. But when the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.” Judges 3:7-9. Essentially, the people of Israel sinned in the sight of God, God sent a nation against them to serve them, then the people cried out to God to help them, and then the Lord raises a deliverer to save them from their enemy. “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the heart. To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.” Proverbs 21:2-3.

We need to be careful that we do not fall into the same pattern as the Israelites; when we are doing good we fall into sin, then when we cry out to God and He delivers us, then we do it all again. We must not have times where we do what we consider right in our own eyes but are sin in His. “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the heart. To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.” Proverbs 21:2-3. We must set our eyes on what God deems right, not necessarily what we deem right, for His view is far more important and accurate than ours. As the writer of Proverbs wrote, “Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and turn away from evil.” Proverbs 3:7. 

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries.

1 Peter 2:13

Verse of the Day Devotion.  1 Peter 2:13

“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority,” –  1 Peter 2:13

One of the main things we need to understand in this verse is the first word, ‘submit’. The idea of this word in the Greek is closer to subordinate then submit or obey. It means to find our proper place in this relationship and then to act accordingly, which is counter to being called upon to obey unquestionably to whatever anyone, including governing authorities, command. While its intention is as much to counter any tendency of Christians to withdraw from contact with secular society and to calm revolutionary desire, it is intended to warn the readers against assuming that as Christians they are free from normal political and moral restraints.

Looking at our focus verse we see, “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men.” 1 Peter 2:13-15. And as we see here, those go beyond just the king. Civil government is necessary for the well-being of mankind, and those who delight in the law of the Lord are among the last to wish to see its power weakened or its executive despised. We would sooner suffer wrong than see our country the prey of lawless mobs. Look at what we are seeing today. What Peter is saying is that Christians are to subject ourselves to civil authorities. True religion is always the friend of order as well as liberty. The gospel is not a doctrine of anarchy; therefore Christians are no fomenter of strife. And besides, God allowed and instituted it. “Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.” Romans 13:1-2.

So, as we see above we are called to obey officials that are over us. For example, speed limits, payment of taxes, etc. But what happens if what they require goes against God’s laws? Peter and the apostles ran into this situation found in the Book of Acts. “But someone came and reported to them, Behold, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people! Then the captain went along with the officers and proceeded to bring them back without violence (for they were afraid of the people, lest they should be stoned). And when they had brought them, they stood them before the Council. And the high priest questioned them, saying, We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us. But Peter and the apostles answered and said, We must obey God rather than men.” Acts 5:25-29. Some of the apostles were put in prison by the high priest because of the success of their teachings which were in opposition to the priests. While there an angel came and opened the prison gates letting them out, telling them “Go your way, stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this Life.” Acts 5:20. When the priests saw them preaching what they gave strict orders for them not to, Peter said “We must obey God rather than men.” 

God wants us to obey all authorities over us. If we do not then we may suffer the consequences put in place for those who dis-obey. However, if what they require goes against what God says, then we are not to obey it. We should obey those over us, but not when they contradict God. And this may be difficult, but it is what is called for. For God is our ultimate ruler. He has told us to obey our rulers here, however, being our God and supreme ruler, we are called to obey Him over all else.  

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries.

Matthew 22:2

Verse of the Day Devotion Matthew 22:2 

“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king, who gave a wedding feast for his son.” – Matthew 22:2  

Today we will look at the Parable of the Wedding Feast, the last of three parables, in sequence, that depict God’s indictment and sentence of the present Jewish Leadership, unless they realize their errors and turn to the truth. Jesus does not reject Israel as a whole, only the current leadership, which has rejected him. The contrast is not between Jews and Gentiles but rather between those who reject and those who accept Jesus.  Here is this parable as found in Matthew’s gospel.

“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king, who gave a wedding feast for his son. And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. Again he sent out other slaves saying, Tell those who have been invited, Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.  But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them. But the king was enraged and sent his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and set their city on fire.  Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.  And those slaves went out into the streets, and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests. But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw there a man not dressed in wedding clothes, and he *said to him, Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes? And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen.” Matthew 22:2-14.

This parable regarding the Wedding Feast was given to a smaller audience than the others, but not because this was Jesus’ choice.  In Mark, just after the Parable of the Tenants, we read “And they were seeking to seize Him; and yet they feared the multitude; for they understood that He spoke the parable against them. And so, they left Him, and went away.” Mark 12:12.  Now, just because the audience shrunk does not mean Jesus changed the overall topic. 

As in most rabbinical parables, the king is an illustration of God.  It starts off by stating that a king was preparing to give a wedding feast for His son.  He sends out some slaves to tell those invited to come to the wedding feast.  When they get back, they tell him they were not going to come.  Then a second time, he sends out another set of slaves to tell the invited to come, for there would be a great feast, including his oxen and fattened livestock and that everything is ready. However, they refused to come and went about their business, with some of them mistreating the slaves and ultimately killing them.  Now this ticked off the King, so he sent his armies out to kill those who had done this and then destroyed their cities with fire.

“Then he said to his slaves, The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.” Matthew 22:8-9. The King cannot have a wedding feast with no guests; therefore, he tells his slaves to go out and invite all who would come to the feast. They were to go to places where the main highways go out from the city to the country, which was normally where the poorer people tended to get together.  These people could never have thought they would be invited to a banquet of this type.  But the wedding feast must go forward, so all from these regions were invited. 

But what of the man who came in his own clothes?  This requires God’s righteousness imparted on us and not our own.  This is the meaning of the man who was not dressed in wedding clothes.  He came in whatever clothes he chose to wear.  “But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw there a man not dressed in wedding clothes,  and he said to him, Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes? And he was speechless.  Then the king said to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 22:11-13. The imagery here reflects the custom of a king providing festive dress for those he invites to a banquet. So, the king is understandably amazed and he rebukes this man, asking him why he has behaved as he has. The man offers no excuse. Only imprisonment and punishment—eternal judgment—remain in store for such people who rely on their own righteousness rather than the righteousness provided by Christ.

Again, as in the prior two parables, this is a picture of Jews, especially the leadership, rejecting Christ and His gift of righteousness.  To summarize the point of the Parable of the Wedding Feast, God sent His Son into the world, and the very people who should have celebrated His coming, the Jews, for they understood that the Messiah was coming, refused to accept it was Jesus.  Therefore, they rejected Him, bringing judgment upon themselves. As a result, the kingdom of heaven was opened up to anyone who will set aside his own righteousness and by faith accept the righteousness God provides in Christ. Those who spurn the gift of salvation and cling instead to their own good works will spend eternity separated from Christ.  Jesus desires His people, the Jews to come, but unfortunately they cling to the law and refuse to see He is the way, the truth, and the life.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries.