Messiah in Isaiah

Per my Bulk Bible Reading discovery, I read all of Isaiah yesterday. It was a little challenging to keep reading, instead of slowing down and meditating, but I made it. And I only took a few pages of notes. 😉 One of the things that stood out was how many passages in Isaiah refer to Jesus the Messiah.

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:14 NKJV

For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
Isaiah 9:6-7 NKJV

There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse,
And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.
The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and might,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

His delight is in the fear of the Lord,
And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes,
Nor decide by the hearing of His ears;
But with righteousness He shall judge the poor,
And decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins,
And faithfulness the belt of His waist.
Isaiah 11:1-5 NKJV

In mercy the throne will be established;
And One will sit on it in truth, in the tabernacle of David,
Judging and seeking justice and hastening righteousness.”
Isaiah 16:5 NKJV

19 In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord at its border. 20 And it will be for a sign and for a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the Lord because of the oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a Mighty One, and He will deliver them. 21 Then the Lord will be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day, and will make sacrifice and offering; yes, they will make a vow to the Lord and perform it. 22 And the Lord will strike Egypt, He will strike and heal it; they will return to the Lord, and He will be entreated by them and heal them.
Isaiah 19:19-22 NKJV

“Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation,
A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;
Whoever believes will not act hastily.
Isaiah 28:16 NKJV

This one refers to John the Baptist.

The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make straight in the desert
A highway for our God.
Every valley shall be exalted
And every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made straight
And the rough places smooth;
The glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
And all flesh shall see it together;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Isaiah 40:3-5 NKJV

Back to Scripture about Jesus.

“Behold! My Servant whom I uphold,
My Elect One in whom My soul delights!
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.
He will not cry out, nor raise His voice,
Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.
A bruised reed He will not break,
And smoking flax He will not quench;
He will bring forth justice for truth.
He will not fail nor be discouraged,
Till He has established justice in the earth;
And the coastlands shall wait for His law.”
Isaiah 42:1-4 NKJV

“I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness,
And will hold Your hand;
I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people,
As a light to the Gentiles,
To open blind eyes,
To bring out prisoners from the prison,
Those who sit in darkness from the prison house.
Isaiah 42:6-7 NKJV

The first third of Isaiah 49 is about Jesus.

“Listen, O coastlands, to Me,
And take heed, you peoples from afar!
The Lord has called Me from the womb;
From the matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name.
And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword;
In the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me,
And made Me a polished shaft;
In His quiver He has hidden Me.”

“And He said to me,
‘You are My servant, O Israel,
In whom I will be glorified.’
Then I said, ‘I have labored in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain;
Yet surely my just reward is with the Lord,
And my work with my God.’ ”

“And now the Lord says,
Who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,
To bring Jacob back to Him,
So that Israel is gathered to Him
(For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord,
And My God shall be My strength),
Indeed He says,
‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob,
And to restore the preserved ones of Israel;
I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles,
That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”

Thus says the Lord,
The Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One,
To Him whom man despises,
To Him whom the nation abhors,
To the Servant of rulers:
“Kings shall see and arise,
Princes also shall worship,
Because of the Lord who is faithful,
The Holy One of Israel;
And He has chosen You.”

Thus says the Lord:

“In an acceptable time I have heard You,
And in the day of salvation I have helped You;
I will preserve You and give You
As a covenant to the people,
To restore the earth,
To cause them to inherit the desolate heritages;
That You may say to the prisoners, ‘Go forth,’
To those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’
Isaiah 49:1-9 NKJV

About half of Isaiah 50 is about Messiah.

“The Lord God has given Me
The tongue of the learned,
That I should know how to speak
A word in season to him who is weary.
He awakens Me morning by morning,
He awakens My ear
To hear as the learned.
The Lord God has opened My ear;
And I was not rebellious,
Nor did I turn away.
I gave My back to those who struck Me,
And My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard;
I did not hide My face from shame and spitting.

“For the Lord God will help Me;
Therefore I will not be disgraced;
Therefore I have set My face like a flint,
And I know that I will not be ashamed.
He is near who justifies Me;
Who will contend with Me?
Let us stand together.
Who is My adversary?
Let him come near Me.
Surely the Lord God will help Me;
Who is he who will condemn Me?
Indeed they will all grow old like a garment;
The moth will eat them up.”
Isaiah 50:4-9 NKJV

13 Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently;
He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high.
14 Just as many were astonished at you,
So His visage was marred more than any man,
And His form more than the sons of men;
15 So shall He sprinkle many nations.
Kings shall shut their mouths at Him;
For what had not been told them they shall see,
And what they had not heard they shall consider.
Isaiah 52:13-15 NKJV

All of Isaiah 53 is about Jesus.

Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
He was taken from prison and from judgment,
And who will declare His generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
And they made His grave with the wicked—
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any deceit in His mouth.

10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
11 He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,
Because He poured out His soul unto death,
And He was numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors.
Isaiah 53 NKJV

“The Redeemer will come to Zion,
And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,”
Says the Lord.
Isaiah 59:20 NKJV

The first part of this Scripture is fulfilled per Luke 4:16-22. Yet to come is, And the day of vengeance of our God;

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”
Isaiah 61:1-3 NKJV

And the last Messiah reference I noted in my rapid read.

I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,
And from Judah an heir of My mountains;
My elect shall inherit it,
And My servants shall dwell there.
Isaiah 65:9 NKJV

I knew Isaiah has many Scriptures about Messiah, but I hadn’t listed them all before. Jesus is indeed coming back!

Has the rapture happened?
   You can still be saved and go to heaven!
---
Are you following God's plan for your life?    
   You should.
     Your plan is not going to work. 
     It is a really, really bad plan. 
     Please come to Jesus to escape your plan! 

Most people are WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

Jesus is coming.
   Are you ready to meet Him?
   Give your life to Jesus Christ.
   Time is running out.

The Revelation 12 Eagle

In Revelation 12 the woman Israel escapes the devil by eagle’s wings. Some people believe the eagle is the USA.

13 Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. 14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.
Revelation 12:13-14 NKJV

But consider this conversation between God and Moses, after God had led the children of Israel out of Egypt.

And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
Exodus 19:3-6 NKJV

God Himself is the eagles’ wings!

Consider: Would God use the filthy instrument of the USA, which now in some states allows full-term abortions, to carry out His holy will? Or, like the exodus from Egypt, would it be obvious to those delivered that God Himself was the deliverer?

Has the rapture happened?
   You can still be saved and go to heaven!
---
Are you following God's plan for your life?    
   You should.
     Your plan is not going to work. 
     It is a really, really bad plan. 
     Please come to Jesus to escape your plan! 

Most people are WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

Jesus is coming.
   Are you ready to meet Him?
   Give your life to Jesus Christ.
   Time is running out.

Bulk Bible Reading

In the past I have written about two methods of soaking in the Bible: Bible study and Bible reading. In Bible study I may spend a very long time on a handful of verses, or even one verse, looking into the original languages to understand the meaning. But in Bible reading my goal is to read everything I intend to, such as reading the Bible cover to cover in a year.

I now think there is a third method of Bible reading: Bulk Bible reading. On January first I started a program to read the book of Psalms every month. This has been very enlightening. Then, towards the end of the end of the first week of January I started increasing the amount I read every day from the Old and New Testaments. Pretty soon I was reading whole books in each. I read from my TS2009, but per the plan in my One Year Bible I’m up to September 2nd. My lazy flesh doesn’t want to read this much, but I tell it it has to. The increased reading time came from other things – I spend much less time on social media!

In six days I read the six books 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, and 1 & 2 Chronicles. I was able to notice similarities among the books I have never seen before. The earlier books were still fresh in my memory. This made them seem exciting. I have to confess that in my prior readings of the Bible cover-to-cover, these books seemed rather dull. 😉

Yesterday I read Job. By reading quickly, with the goal of completing the book, I noticed things I had never seen before. The most important of these is Job’s primary motivation.

For destruction from God is a terror to me,
And because of His magnificence I cannot endure.”
Job 31:23 NKJV

It reminds me of these words of Jesus.

“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Matthew 10:28 ESV

I have discovered that reading whole books of the Bible is a different experience. It is as if I were getting a 30,000-foot view of the Scripture. You may want to try it. 🙂

Are you following God's plan for your life? 
   You should.
      Your plan sucks.
      It really, really sucks.
      Suckage Maximus.

Most people are WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

Jesus is coming.
   Are you ready to meet Him?
   Give your life to Jesus Christ.
   Time is running out.

How Well Did David Know The Law?

I don’t know why in my recent Bible study I’m noticing possible flaws in king David’s life. He certainly did many mighty things, like defeating Goliath and writing parts of the Bible. But I am noticing them, so here goes.

Moses wrote that future kings of Israel should write themselves a copy of the Law — so they would be sure to obey it.

14 “When you come to the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,’ 15 you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall not return that way again.’ 17 Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself.

18 Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, 20 that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel.”
Deuteronomy 17:14-20 NKJV

There are two reasons I think David didn’t write himself a copy of the law. First, he put the ark of God in a cart to move it, and Uzzah died because he touched the ark.

And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from Baale Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, whose name is called by the Name, the Lord of Hosts, who dwells between the cherubim. So they set the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new cart. And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill, accompanying the ark of God; and Ahio went before the ark. Then David and all the house of Israel played music before the Lord on all kinds of instruments of fir wood, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on sistrums, and on cymbals.

And when they came to Nachon’s threshing floor, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error; and he died there by the ark of God.
2 Samuel 6:2-7 NKJV

Moses wrote specific instructions on how the ark was to be transported. I think if David had written those instructions in his copy of the Law, he would have remembered.

10 “And they shall make an ark of acacia wood; two and a half cubits shall be its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height. 11 And you shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and shall make on it a molding of gold all around. 12 You shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its four corners; two rings shall be on one side, and two rings on the other side. 13 And you shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. 14 You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, that the ark may be carried by them. 15 The poles shall be in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it.
Exodus 25:10-15 NKJV

Second, there is this stunning verse in Nehemiah. The timeframe is after the exile to Babylon, so it is long after David’s reign.

So the whole assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and sat under the booths; for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun until that day the children of Israel had not done so. And there was very great gladness.
Nehemiah 8:17 NKJV

Moses wrote very clearly.

39  “ ‘Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest. 40 And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. 41 You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, 43 that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.’ ”
Leviticus 23:39-43 NKJV

If David had written this in his own copy of the law, surely he would have remembered it!

Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
1 Corinthians 10:11 NASB

16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 NKJV

I suppose the lesson is this: David was indeed a man after God’s own heart, but he was far from perfect. This should encourage us all!

If You, Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with You,
That You may be feared.
Psalms 130:3-4 NKJV

Has the rapture happened?
   You can still be saved and go to heaven!
---
Are you following God's plan for your life?    
   You should.
     Your plan is not going to work. 
     It is a really, really bad plan. 
     Please come to Jesus to escape your plan! 

Most people are WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

Jesus is coming.
   Are you ready to meet Him?
   Give your life to Jesus Christ.
   Time is running out.

My Salvation is a Gift

I am so glad that my salvation does not depend on me because, no doubt, I would find a way to mess it up. But in Jesus I have salvation: Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification, and Redemption. Therefore I glory in Him.

30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption31 that, as it is written, He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.
1 Corinthians 1:30-31 NKJV

Notice the above Scripture begins with “But.” Why? God will not put up with me bragging that I had something to do with making it to heaven. No flesh can ever glory in His presence!

26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence. 30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— 31 that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”
1 Corinthians 1:26-31 NKJV

I have sinned and fallen very, very short of God’s glory.

 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 3:23 NKJV

For falling short I deserve death, but God’s gift is eternal life in Jesus.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23 NKJV

I confess that Jesus is Lord, and I believe God raised Him from the dead, and therefore I have the gift of eternal life!

But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Romans 10:8-13 NKJV

I’m so glad my salvation is a gift from God, not something I can mess up!

Has the rapture happened?
   You can still be saved and go to heaven!
---
Are you following God's plan for your life?    
   You should.
     Your plan is not going to work. 
     It is a really, really bad plan. 
     Please come to Jesus to escape your plan! 

Most people are WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

Jesus is coming.
   Are you ready to meet Him?
   Give your life to Jesus Christ.
   Time is running out.

Rage Is Ok, Sometimes

Reading Psalms 119 last night helped me understand some of my feelings.

Rage has seized me because of the wrong
Who forsake Your Torah.
‭‭Tehillim (Psalms)‬ ‭119:53‬ ‭TS2009‬‬  (Other Translations)

Jesus Himself said all the Law and the Prophets can be summarized into one principle of behavior: Do to others as you would have them do to you!

In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew 7:12 NASB

I see the pictures of smiling, happy New Yorkers, because they can now stick a scissors into the brain of a full-term baby and kill him or her just before birth. Is that how they want people to treat them? No! But they have forsaken the Bible!

Rage has seized me because of the wrong
Who forsake Your Torah.
‭‭Tehillim (Psalms)‬ ‭119:53‬ ‭TS2009‬‬  (Other Translations)

Oh, I’m not going to do anything about the rage; that is not my part. But the feeling is natural and Biblical. The Lord Himself will act!

For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
James 1:20 KJV

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.
Romans 12:19 ESV

I am praying about it!

It is time for יהוה to act!
For they have broken Your Torah.
‭‭Tehillim (Psalms)‬ ‭119:126‬ ‭TS2009‬‬  (Other Translations)

And give Him no rest until He establishes
And makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
Isaiah 62:7 NASB

Things are going to change! The Lord is going to act!

11 “But you are those who forsake the Lord,
Who forget My holy mountain,
Who prepare a table for Gad,
And who furnish a drink offering for Meni.
12 Therefore I will number you for the sword,
And you shall all bow down to the slaughter;
Because, when I called, you did not answer;
When I spoke, you did not hear,
But did evil before My eyes,
And chose that in which I do not delight.
Isaiah 65:11-12 NKJV

Are you on the winning side?

17 For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth;
And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create;
For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing,
And her people a joy.
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
And joy in My people;
The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her,
Nor the voice of crying.
Isaiah 65:17-19 NKJV

Has the rapture happened?
   You can still be saved and go to heaven!
---
Are you following God's plan for your life?    
   You should.
     Your plan is not going to work. 
     It is a really, really bad plan. 
     Please come to Jesus to escape your plan! 

Most people are WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

Jesus is coming.
   Are you ready to meet Him?
   Give your life to Jesus Christ.
   Time is running out.

Did David Sin By Having Many Wives?

God knew that someday Israel would demand a king, so part of the law of Moses includes instructions about those future kings. One of the provisions is kings should not have many wives.

14 “When you come to the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,’ 15 you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall not return that way again.’ 17 Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself.”
Deuteronomy 17:14-17 NKJV

Per 1 Chronicles, David had at least seven wives, and more than one concubine.

Now these were the sons of David who were born to him in Hebron: The firstborn was Amnon, by Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; the second, Daniel, by Abigail the Carmelitess; the third, Absalom the son of Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur; the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; the fifth, Shephatiah, by Abital; the sixth, Ithream, by his wife Eglah.

These six were born to him in Hebron. There he reigned seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years. And these were born to him in Jerusalem: Shimea, Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon—four by Bathshua the daughter of Ammiel. Also there were Ibhar, Elishama, Eliphelet, Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet—nine in all. These were all the sons of David, besides the sons of the concubines, and Tamar their sister.
1 Chronicles 3:1-9 NKJV

A possible eighth wife is king Saul’s daughter Michal, though some scholars think she is Eglah in 1 Chronicles 3.

27 therefore David arose and went, he and his men, and killed two hundred men of the Philistines. And David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full count to the king, that he might become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him Michal his daughter as a wife.
1 Samuel 18:27 NKJV

David had at least ten concubines, because that is how many he left behind when he fled from Absalom.

Then the king went out with all his household after him. But the king left ten women, concubines, to keep the house.
2 Samuel 15:16 NKJV

Therefore David had at least seven wives and ten concubines. Is that “multiplied wives” in violation of the law?

Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself.
Deuteronomy 17:17 NKJV

Yes, I think seven wives and ten concubines is too many. First, with all his duties as king David just didn’t have the time to be a good father to all his children. He ended up with a pretty dysfunctional family: One of his sons raped his half-sister, so her full brother killed him, and David was glad he was dead. That’s a dysfunctional family.

Second, God created woman to be a suitable helper for man.

And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
Genesis 2:18 KJV

I think it is impossible for a busy king to have a loving, close relationship with 17 women! Indeed, the fact he left 10 concubines behind, who were subsequently raped by Absalom, suggests to me that they were little more than sex toys to David.

And third, David having at least 17 women he slept with set a bad example for his son Solomon. David’s heart didn’t turn away from the Lord, but Solomon’s did.

But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites— from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, “You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his father David. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon. And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
1 Kings 11:1-8 NKJV

These abominations stayed in Israel and Judah nearly up to the time Judah went into exile. No doubt they contributed to both Israel and Judah going into captivity.

13 Then the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, which were on the south of the Mount of Corruption, which Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the people of Ammon. 14 And he broke in pieces the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden images, and filled their places with the bones of men.
2 Kings 23:13-14 NKJV

If Solomon wrote Proverbs 4, he is writing things he learned from his father David.

When I was my father’s son,
Tender and the only one in the sight of my mother,
He also taught me, and said to me:
“Let your heart retain my words;
Keep my commands, and live.
Get wisdom! Get understanding!
Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth.
Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you;
Love her, and she will keep you.
Wisdom is the principal thing;
Therefore get wisdom.
And in all your getting, get understanding.
Exalt her, and she will promote you;
She will bring you honor, when you embrace her.
She will place on your head an ornament of grace;
A crown of glory she will deliver to you.”
Proverbs 4:3-9 NKJV

Nowhere in Proverbs is there anything like this.

When I was my father’s son,
Tender and the only one in the sight of my mother,
He also taught me, and said to me:
“Beware the pleasures of the flesh
That can turn your heart from the Lord.
So have few wives
And concubines
So you can love each fully as she deserves,
And be a good father to all your children.”

IMO David couldn’t write that, because he didn’t do it. And Solomon reasoned, “17 didn’t hurt my dad David. I’ll have 1,000.” And that was the beginning of the end for Israel and Judah — until 1948.

That’s pure conjecture on my part.

And I could be 100% wrong. When Nathan rebukes David for committing adultery with Bathsheba and killing her husband Uriah, this is part of what he tells David. Perhaps God didn’t think 17 was too many.

Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon.”
2 Samuel 12:7-9 NKJV

So make up your own mind. 🙂

Has the rapture happened?
   You can still be saved and go to heaven!
---
Are you following God's plan for your life?    
   You should.
     Your plan is not going to work. 
     It is a really, really bad plan. 
     Please come to Jesus to escape your plan! 

Most people are WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

Jesus is coming.
   Are you ready to meet Him?
   Give your life to Jesus Christ.
   Time is running out.

Scriptures That Make Me Chuckle

Every time I read some passages in the Bible, they tickle my funny bone. Perhaps they may make you chuckle too. It may help to “make a movie in your head” and note the reactions of others. 😉

First up, the Egyptians have made the horrible decision to follow the children into the split Red Sea, and God steps in. This reads best in the King Jimmy.

And took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the LORD fighteth for them against the Egyptians.
Exodus 14:25 KJV

Yes, I suppose chariots with no wheels would indeed drave heavily.

Next, also from Exodus, Pharoah wants one more night with the frogs.

Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”

Moses said to Pharaoh, “I leave to you the honor of setting the time for me to pray for you and your officials and your people that you and your houses may be rid of the frogs, except for those that remain in the Nile.”

10 Tomorrow,” Pharaoh said.
Exodus 8:8-10 NIV

Then there is Aaron’s big whopper. Moses is up on the mountain for 40 days and the people get restless. Aaron caves immediately, and the Bible clearly says that Aaron made the golden calf.

When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”

Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”
Exodus 32:1-4 NIV

Moses comes down from the mountain and asks his brother Aaron what’s going on. Aaron does not tell the whole truth.

21 He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?”

22 “Do not be angry, my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil. 23 They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’ 24 So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!
Exodus 32:21-24 NIV

In the movie in my mind, after Aaron says this, Moses is frowning at Aaron in utter disbelief. If he wore glasses he would be looking at Aaron over his glasses. Aaron is shuffling nervously, getting more and more embarrassed. The mental scene makes me chuckle.

Sarah lied to the Lord, but it didn’t seem to bother Him. This story makes me smile at the Lord’s compassion, not chuckle.

10 Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”

Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him.11 Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”

13 Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

15 Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.”

But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.
Genesis 18:10-15 NIV

In the “movie in my mind” of this passage, it is the reaction to the sudden appearance of the soldiers of those assaulting Paul that makes me chuckle.

30 The whole city was aroused, and the people came running from all directions. Seizing Paul, they dragged him from the temple, and immediately the gates were shut. 31 While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar. 32 He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.
Acts 21:30-32 NIV

No doubt they tried to make themselves invisible!

Later, it is the reaction of these same soldiers in my mental movie that brings a smile.

23 As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air,24 the commander ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. He directed that he be flogged and interrogated in order to find out why the people were shouting at him like this. 25 As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?”

26 When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. “What are you going to do?” he asked. “This man is a Roman citizen.”

27 The commander went to Paul and asked, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?”

“Yes, I am,” he answered.

28 Then the commander said, “I had to pay a lot of money for my citizenship.”

“But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied.

29 Those who were about to interrogate him withdrew immediately. The commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains.
Acts 22:23-29 NIV

And finally, the commander tells the truth, but not the whole truth.

26 Claudius Lysias,
To His Excellency, Governor Felix:
Greetings.

27 This man was seized by the Jews and they were about to kill him, but I came with my troops and rescued him, for I had learned that he is a Roman citizen. 28 I wanted to know why they were accusing him, so I brought him to their Sanhedrin. 29 I found that the accusation had to do with questions about their law, but there was no charge against him that deserved death or imprisonment.30 When I was informed of a plot to be carried out against the man, I sent him to you at once. I also ordered his accusers to present to you their case against him.
Acts 23:26-30 NIV

I hope you enjoyed this. Perhaps you learned a little about meditation too. 🙂

Are you following God's plan for your life? 
   You should.
      Your plan sucks.
      It really, really sucks.
      Suckage Maximus.

Most people are WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

Jesus is coming.
   Are you ready to meet Him?
   Give your life to Jesus Christ.
   Time is running out.

Blog Post Fail – Pharaoh’s Heart

I watched a YouTube video where the pastor, who knows Biblical Hebrew, said in passing that God didn’t harden Pharaoh’s heart to not let the children of Israel leave Egypt, he strengthened Pharaoh’s heart. That is, God didn’t make Pharaoh evil, He just increased what was already in Pharaoh’s heart. I investigated this idea, with the intention of making a blog post about it. Indeed, one of my translations does sometimes use the word strengthen.

And יהוה said to Mosheh, “As you go back to Mitsrayim, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I am going to strengthen his heart, so that he does not let the people go.”
‭‭Shemoth (Exodus)‬ ‭4:21‬ ‭TS2009‬‬

Investigating further, in the KJV, harden or hardened occurs in Exodus 19 times in 19 different verses. Four different Hebrew words are translated as harden or hardened: H2388, H3513, H3515, and H7185.

And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.
Exodus 4:21 KJV  Hebrew  H2388

But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.
Exodus 8:15 KJV  Hebrew  H3513

And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh’s heart is hardened, he refuseth to let the people go.
Exodus 7:14 KJV  Hebrew  H3515

And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.
Exodus 7:3 KJV  Hebrew  H7185

Before I continue, consider the difficulties and complexity there might be in translating these two English sentences into another language.

  • We eat what we can, and what we can’t, we can.
  • Take this lead, and lead the lead burrow to the old lead mine by Lead, South Dakota.

These are some other KJV verses that have these same four Hebrew words translated harden or hardened in the verses above.

And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.
1 Samuel 30:6 KJV  Hebrew  H2388

And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.
Genesis 13:2 KJV  Hebrew  H3513

And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company.
Genesis 50:9 KJV  Hebrew  H3515

And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us: for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god.
1 Samuel 5:7 KJV  Hebrew  H7185

So harden or hardened is also translated: encouraged, rich, great, and is sore. Are you kidding? At this point I don’t have the knowledge or insight to determine if God hardened or strengthened Pharaoh’s heart. But I would like to be able to! I’m getting tired of all the inaccuracies of translation. See this post if you haven’t. I recycled the photo selfie for this post. 😉
Kissing Through a Screen Door – Bible Translations

Has the rapture happened?
   You can still be saved and go to heaven!
---
Are you following God's plan for your life?    
   You should.
     Your plan is not going to work. 
     It is a really, really bad plan. 
     Please come to Jesus to escape your plan! 

Most people are WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

Jesus is coming.
   Are you ready to meet Him?
   Give your life to Jesus Christ.
   Time is running out.