Comments for October 21

14 v.3 - Here we have one of the very rare occasions when the high places were removed, rather than just abandoned by a good king. Incidentally planting a grove was also against the law - Deut.16:21

14:6 The concept of being given rest - often from enemies passes into Biblical use here are some examples. Notice how strongly it is linked with David and his kingdom. Exodus 33:14 Deuteronomy 3:20 12:10 25:19 Joshua 1:13,15 22:4 23:1 2 Samuel 7:1 1 Kings 5:4 8:56 1 Chronicles 22:9,18 23:25 2 Chronicles 14:6 7 Isaiah 14:3 Matthew 11:28 Hebrews 4:8

15:8 So Asa began a spiritual renewal in Judah. Do not think that the falling away had been a casual thing. In telling us that Asa 'renewed the altar of the Lord' we have to conclude that quite extensive desecration of Solomon's temple had taken place by now.

15:6 - Again we are reminded that God is in overall control. Whatever happens, and however it seems to have happened, it is God that has caused it - and there is always a lesson for the faithful to learn from it. The lesson this time is in the next verse - v.7. Let us take the lesson to ourselves as well.

14:3-5 Asa's reformations highlight the extent to which Judah had sunk in a relatively short time.

15:16 The daughter of Abishalom (called Absalom) 2 Chronicles 11:20-22 the third wife of Rehoboam, and mother of Abijam 1 Kings 15:2 She is called "Michaiah the daughter of Uriel," who was the husband of Absalom's daughter Tamar 2 Chronicles 13:2 Her son Abijah or Abijam was heir to the throne.

ch. 14
PEACE

There were not many kings of either Israel or Judah who had the privilege of peace throughout their reign. In the same way there are not many of us who can claim to have a full life of peace - peace with God, peace with other people, and peace of mind. Yet having a life of peace is an attribute we all desire.

Asa was one of those few kings who did have a peaceful reign. We find that "the kingdom was at peace under him." (v 5) And, "The land was at peace. No one was at war with him during those years, for the LORD gave him rest." (v 6) It was not just an accident that there was peace during Asa's reign, nor was it chance or coincidence. Asa had peace because he "did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God." (v 2) Asa put God first, not only in his own life, but also in the life of the whole nation. God came first at every step. He relied on the LORD at all times.

If we can put these same principles to work in our own lives, we too will be able to dramatically increase the peace in our own lives. We may find ourselves facing persecution, but we will be at peace with God and have peace of mind. So let's begin today by doing what is good and right in the eyes of the LORD.

14:11 That Asa cried to God for deliverance against the Ethiopians builds upon the confidence put in Yahweh in yesterday's reading. Confirming that trust in God is all that was required for deliverance. The principle is clear for us today. Do we believe that our God will deliver us? Not that we expect to have no problems but rather that we should always believe that He will provide ultimate deliverance.

15:2 The assurance of the fellowship of God as long as service is faithful is echoed in James 4:8. The Father is looking for some response from us so that he can respond to us.

ch 15
SEEK AND YOU WILL FIND

A very strong message comes through this chapter. It is repeated three times, so we need to sit up and take notice of what it says to us. Firstly the prophet Azariah said to Asa, "If you seek him (the LORD), he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you." (v 2) Next we find that Judah acted on this message. "They entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul." (v 12) And lastly, "They (Judah) sought God eagerly, and he was found by them." (v 15)

The message has not changed for us. Jesus said, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; and he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." (Matthew 7 v 7 - 8)

So how can we seek God today? Our seeking must begin with the attitude of the people of Judah who sought God eagerly. The parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin show the determination and commitment we need when we seek. And the best places to seek God are in our Bibles, in prayer, in the devotion of our lives, and in our fellowship with other believers.

Seek God today and he will be found by you.

14:3-4 Asa, in calling the people to worship God, was doing the work that the priests should have done. For it was the priests who should have been the teachers of the law (Lev 10:11, Mal 2:7) So we have to conclude that at this time the priesthood was corrupt.

15:8 The mention of 'Oded' highlights the point which we might easily forget. That is this. There were far more prophets than those whose words are found recorded in Scripture. A useful exercise would be to list them with an indication of when they were speaking. This will help you to get a fuller picture of the work of the prophets.

15:2 In spite of the action of Asa, and the deliverance which he had experienced, there was a lack of positive response. It is one thing to destroy idols; it is quite another to bring men back to God, and this is what had been neglected.

We get the idea from 2Chron 15:8,9 that all of Israel was not evil at heart.  People flocked to Jerusalem to King Asa of Judah, "when they saw that the Lord his God was with him."  It appears that the people did what their king said.  If he served God, then they did, and vice versa.   The result is summed up in 2Chron 15:15: the people "sought Him with their whole desire;" and then comes that great expression, God "was found of them".

15:16 If we are to apply God's Truth correctly, we should be like Him.  He treats everyone by the same measure (Acts 10:34).  Asa did not give his grandmother preferential treatment.  He corrected her wrong without compunction.  And so, we must not give our natural families favour at the expense of Truth.

14:5;15:17 Asa is considered a good king.  However, like other kings who started off good, he slacked off later in his reign.  It is recorded that he took away the high places early in his reign, but failed to maintain this status. 

We shall see tomorrow that he was rebuked by the prophet Hanani for his waning faith in calling on the Syrians for help instead of Yahweh; and for relying upon physicians in place of consulting Yahweh.  The lesson for us is to daily monitor our progress in Christ and take care that our faith does not diminish.

14:7  Not only was Asa a man who observed God’s laws. He also recognised that God worked in his life. There is more to living the gospel than just keeping the commandments. We have to have a relationship with the Father and realise that he is in charge of our lives .

15:11  The offering the spoils of war to God was an indication that the people recognised that really it belonged to God as He had won the battle, not they.

15:8 There was an upsurge of feeling among the people, including those from the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who had fled to Judah. They made a covenant to serve the Lord to the best of their ability. As a result we see that the Lord gave them rest (V.19)

14:5 Asa seems to have done half the job. He removed the high places in the cities but did not remove them from the rest of the land – 2Chron 15:17

15:7-8 The word of God encouraging Asa had the effect of causing him to ‘be strong’ and he made changes in his own life. Do we see the word of exhortation as providing the same impetus in our lives?

14:3 The word groves in Hebrew is asherah (plural would be asherim). The word could have been written better as Asherah, depicting the name of the Canaanite goddess Astarte, the feminine form of the Babylonian god Ishtar.

Asherah was displayed as a stem of a tree, devoid of any branches, crudely shaped into an image, and stuck into the ground. Asherah represented the goddess of fertility. People engaged in sexual activity as part of worshipping this goddess (Isa 57:5; Jer 3:6).

15:16 In the KJV, Maachah is described as the mother of Asa. One could say she was, in the ancestral sense. But, actually, she was Asa’s grandmother, being the mother of Abijah, Asa’s father (2Chron 11:22).

15:2 Here is a universal principle. Yahweh will be in our lives if we ask Him to be. But, if we ignore Him, He will not seek us. He is available whenever we want Him. But, if we want Him in our lives all the time, we should acknowledge Him in everything we do (Prov 3:5,6). If Yahweh is not with us all the time, then we will be in danger, being left only to our own devices.

14:2 In saying that Asa did ‘good and right’ the record is quoting God’s request of Israel – Deut 12:28

14:9 These Ethiopians must have been Cushites from Arabia and not from the country south of Egypt (present-day Sudan). Shishak, the king of Egypt, would not have let Ethiopians pass through his country.

15:2 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you (James 4:8).

15:16 idol in a grove (KJV) is more correctly translated Asherah (ESV).

15:8 Asa’s repentance is one of the elements of the life of a man which can enable God to say of him that he ‘did that which is right in the eyes of the Lord his God’ 2Chron 14:2

2Chron 14:1 - "Asa" [(609) means "healer, physician"] perhaps echoes Christ, the great physician and healer.

2Chron 14:11 - sometimes we may feel powerless against the mighty obstacles in our lives but we can rely on God's help (James 5:16;1Cor 10:13);  2Chron 15:2 - if we don't forsake God, He won't forsake us.

2Chron 15:1 - "Azariah" [(5838) means "Jah has helped" - God helps us too], "Oded" [(5752) means "restorer" - believers will be restored when Christ returns].

2Chron 15:3 - there will be full understanding and righteous law when Christ returns (Isa 2:3;1Cor 13:10,12).

2Chron 15:3,4,12 - seek and ye shall find (Matt 7:7-8).

2Chron 15:7 - believers will be rewarded if they don't give up (1Cor 9:24-27;Heb 3:12-14;2Pet 3:17).

2Chron 15:10-13;Lev 23:15-22 - seemingly refers to the Feast of Weeks/Pentecost and perhaps echoes a future resurrection of the first fruits(Christ), resurrection of those responsible, a day of judgement, the millenial day of Jubilee bringing rest, peace along with freedom from sin and death.

14:8    Asa had an army of men – no mention of chariots – however the Ethiopians had ‘chariots’.  Thus we see that the Ethiopians had better military ‘hardware’. However it was no match for God’s power.  We should remember this when we feel overwhelmed by the problems of this life.

15:2  The call of Azariah to Asa “if ye seek (God) He will be found” is echoed later – Isa 55:6 – by the prophet.

15:2  In appealing to seek God who would be found Asa is being reminded of what God said to Solomon – 1Chron 28:9

15:7   Before encouraging Asa to “be strong” the prophet reminds him that the peace he has enjoyed so far in his reign was due to his faithfulness. So we see even faithful kings needed to be encouraged – even when they were doing well. In like manner, despite our faithfulness, we need regular encouragement. Hence the value of regular reading of Scripture.

2 Chron 14

Asa cut down the groves in v3. Israel had been commanded in the Law of Moses to cut down the groves of the inhabitants of the land they were going to inherit (Deut 7:5). But in Judg 3:7 we see that already the children of Israel went back to worshipping these idols. The account of Gideon in Judges 6 describes what a grove is, and the Hebrew word used for grove is "Asherah", a Phoenician goddess. It is hard to imagine that these groves survived during the reign of faithful David, so they must have had a resurgence during Solomon's reign.

2 Chron 15

Have you noticed that the words of the prophet Azariah are later echoed by the Lord Jesus?

"The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you." (v2)

We can see the similarity of the message:

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" Matt 7:7

It's wonderful that the new testament messages of Jesus have their origin in the old testament. Furthermore, in the historical account of the old testament we can see the result in the lives of those who were obedient to the message. Look what happened when the people sought God:

"they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul... and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them: and the LORD gave them rest round about." (v12-15)

14:6    Peace in the land could easily have been explained away by saying that the lands around Judah were not strong enough to fight against Asa. However there was another reason. The peace was of God because the people seem to have heeded the command of Asa to turn to worship God faithfully.

15:2   Seeking and finding God is the basis for Jesus’ comment in Matt 7:7

14:14   Asa smote the cities around Gerar. Gerar was in what we now call the Gaza Strip so Asa, as well as routing the Ethiopians impacted also on the Philistines.

15:2   That God will be found of those that seek for him is a concept that Ezra is aware of at the time of the return from exile – Ezra 8:22

15:8 the northern kingdom of Israel had been godless and idol worshipping ever since is started in the days of Jeroboam. We notice here that Asa had been to the northern kingdom (Ephraim) and seen idols there that he liked and had brought them – or copies – to Jerusalem.

15:18Good king Asa saw the need to restore worship as it had been established by Solomon in the temple. Therefor the items David had dedicated were sought and returned to the temple. One might have thought it might have bene as easy to make new ones. However the symbology of what David had established was important.

14:1,5 That the land was “quiet” when Asa had removed all vestiges of idolatry is an indication that Yahweh was not using the nations around to “prove” Israel because of their idol worship. The nation should have noticed the relationship between the absence of idols and the presence of peaceful existence. Sadly they tended not to associate true worship with blessings from God. Rather they seemed to see the problems as being a consequence of having the idols removed – Jer 44:18.

14:4-10  Doubtless the kingdom in the north was astray from God. So it would seem reasonable to try and bring them back to serving Yahweh. But was going to battle the way to achieve this?

Conflict is not the route to reconciliation.

What was true in those days is equally true today. Correct belief and practice should be sought for in all believers. However it is achieved through careful reasoning, not conflict.

15:2 The LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you

God is sometimes presented as possessing unconditional love toward believers. But this verse shows that there are conditions in our relationship with God: "If you seek Him ... if you forsake Him". These are conditional (if/ then) statements.

14:11  Asa here states his confidence in God with the word “rest”. Sometime later Asa has forsaken God ad placed his trust in the king of Syria Hanani reproved him, using the same word for “trust” saying – 16:7 thou hastrelived on …

2Chron 15:2

“… The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.”

“The Scriptures abound with similar declarations. They make the course of every earnest man clear. Seek the LORD in the reading of His word, in prayer to Him, and in the doing of those things He has commanded; and He will guide your way in the darkness without any apparent interference and cause all things (yea even evil circumstances) to work together for your good, namely, your preparedness for an entrance into His glorious kingdom. But if ye decline from His ways and seek your own pleasure, He will leave you to your own—perhaps successful—devices, which will at last work out your own self-destruction.”

Robert Roberts, The Ways of Providence, pp. 43,44

14:6-8  We might ask why Asa was intent on building fence cities with towers, gates and bars when he had learnt that God was with him. Or was it that he did not appreciate the consequences of God being with him until God had helped him to destroy the Ethiopians?

v.9 - This verse not only talks of the physical changes of the area of the Dead Sea towards 'living' (i.e. life-supporting) water due to the earthquake, and to the time of Rev.22:1,2 when there is living water flowing from the new Jerusalem, but also of the conversion of the gentiles from their old ways of death to the new way of living water, and therefore it would be by the Gentiles that Israel would be cleansed too. Isa.60:3-10.

47:12 'tree of life' is a clear Biblical image drawn from Genesis 2:9 3:22,24 and developed Proverbs 3:18 11:30 13:12 15:4. So when we come across it in Re 2:7 22:2,14 we see the development of it. Adam was barred from it. The saints will have access to it.
Jesus alludes to this theme John 6:58 when speaking of partaking of his sacrifice.

v.13-23 - We are reminded here that this situation is not just theoretical and spiritual but real and involving Israel.

47:6 In calling Ezekiel and asking him 'hast thou seen this' the prophet is being called to see something very different from what he was called to see (8:15,17) So all the evil that he had been testifying against will finally be removed and true worship will be established.

The waters issuing from under the altar form the river (Zechariah 14:8)

47:12 In saying the leaves of the tree "shall not fade" we see language drawn from Psa 1:3 where the man who walks in God's counsel is described.

V.7 We see here not merely one tree of life as in Eden(Gen 3:22), but many: to supply that which is necessary to the people of God, who themselves also become "trees of righteousness"  (Isa 61:3) planted by the waters and bearing fruit unto holiness(Psa 1:3)  

Vs.8-10 In Hebrew, mayim, the word for water, is plural. Throughout scripture, water(s) is descriptive of both the physical substance and people. The healing of the waters in this chapter applies to both in the kingdom.

Those who have been to the Dead Sea region can picture how fantastic the physical transformation will be. The change from an area where presently there is no life whatsoever in the waters, to a place teeming with life both in the waters and on the shore, will be marvellous.

Eze 47:11- a reminder to those passengers(tourists) making the trip Northwards through Hamongog (via city of Hamoah;Eze 39:15,16) on their Journey to the Temple in Jerusalem.
Each sobering step there would be reminders of the "wages of sin...."(i.e. the remnant of salt left serves as a reminder, the city of death where the bones are still being buried, etc....Yet, also, a presentation of what will be achieved through diligence and patient enduring. The dramatic change to the Dead Sea would be a living testimony to the truth.
Eze 47:9....What a reversal of the present. Consider this from extremescience.com:
The Dead Sea
There's no seaweed or plants of any kind in or around the water. There are no fish or any kind of swimming, squirming creatures living in or near the water. As a matter of fact, what you'll see on the shores of the Sea is white,crystals of salt covering EVERYTHING. And this is no ordinary table salt, either. The salts found in the Dead Sea are mineral salts, just like you find in the oceans of the world, only in extreme concentrations. The water in the Dead Sea is deadly to living things. Fish accidentally swimming into the waters from one of the several freshwater streams that feed the Sea are killed instantly, their bodies quickly coated with a preserving layer of salt crystals and then tossed onto shore by the wind and waves. Brutal!

It’s a lovely thought that the new river that comes from the new temple flows into the Dead Sea, and heals the salty water. Presumably this is the same river of which we read in Rev 22:1,2. 

47:22-23 Abraham was told ‘in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed’ Gen 12:3 We rightly understand that this is fulfilled in the call of the gentiles Gal 3:8 However it is also to have a literal fulfilment when gentiles share an inheritance in the land with the children of Israel.

47:12 The leaves that are for medicine is echoed in Rev 22:2

47:1These waters are to be seen as associated with the waters mentioned in Joel 3:18

47:3-5 The way in which the waters are described highlights that we are not talking of a small stream. But, as Zechariah says – Zech 14:8– it is to flow all the time. It was not a little wadi that dried up in the summer. God’s blessings are eternal, not temporary. Also they are super abundant.

Vs.3-5  Every 1500 feet (457 m), the water changes from ankle deep; to waist deep; to a depth over the head.

Vs.8-11 The water flow through the Dead Sea to the Red Sea will be made possible by the earthquake that shall occur when Jesus stands on the Mount of Olives (Zech 14:4-8).

Vs.13-21 This tribal division of the land is basically the same as that given to Moses (Num 34:1-29). The only difference is that here the description starts in the north, whereas in Numbers it starts in the south.

v22 introduces some very interesting concepts. Firstly that Israel will share the land with the "strangers" who dwell among them. This is unthinkable at the present time. Though many non Jewish people live in Israel, they don't feel they're being treated equally with their neighbours. Secondly, it is bearing children in the land that qualifies these strangers for a share of the land, presumably because it demonstrates the desire to stay and put down roots.

Question: What about the foreigner that's unmarried, or can't bear children? Does this rule disqualify them from an inheritance?

47:1-2 So we see that there is water issuing out from the temple in two directions. This is like what Zechariah saw Zech 14:8

47:8  The ‘sea’ spoken of which is to be ‘healed’ is the dead Sea – of ‘Salt Sea’ as the Bible refers to it. So that water which tends to death will be given the ability to sustain life because of that which comes from the altar. A pattern of the work of God in Christ – our altar Heb 13:10

47:8  The waters which shall be healed echoes Psa 46:4 where the streams will ‘make glad’ the people of God.

47:1     We read in Eze 11:1 that the 25 elders are sitting at the East gate committing profanities. But now we see that the gate is “cleansed” through the issuing of the water from the city which passed through the East gate.

1. some feel Ezekiel 40-48 was designed to show the Jews how they were to worship and serve God when their 70 years of Babylonian exile were expired; Israel at this time needed a new religious code as they had lost their temple and everything associated with it; a challenge to this pre-Messianic millennial view is the river mentioned in Ezekiel 47.

2. Eze 47:1-12 - this may be the only seemingly miraculous element of Ezekiel's vision (other than the prophetic vision itself); is this growing stream literal or symbolic? Is it what could have been pre-Messianic millennial with an echo of the Messianic millennial, or is it the Messianic millennial era? If the river is Messianic millennial is the rest of the Ezekiel 40-48 Messianic millennial?

3. Eze 47:6 - "hast thou 'seen'<7200> this" - of course Ezekiel had seen it, perhaps it meant had Ezekiel perceived the meaning of it thus suggesting it might be symbolic.

4. similar (but different) prophecies (Joel 3:18;Rev 22:1-2;Isa 66:12) would seem to be symbolic and might the Isaiah prophecy plus the fishing in the Dead Sea (Eze 47:9-11) point toward to the blessing and peace of the Gentiles?

5. Eze 47:9 - very great multitude of fishes - (Matt 4:19;John 21:10-11).  Eze 47:10 - Engedi<5872>, Eneglaim<5882> - could this refer to sacrifice for Jew and Gentile?

6. Eze 47:8 - "the waters shall be healed" - living water - 2Kin 20:20;Psa 1:1-3;Jer 17:7-8,13;John 7:37-39;4:7-14;Zech 14:4,8;Rev 22:1.

7. Eze 47:7,12 - "many trees on the one side and on the other...the leaf thereof for medicine" - Rev 22:2 - "on either side of the river, was there the tree of life...the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations".

8. other cities were built as dwellings but very few were dwelling in Jerusalem (see Ezekiel 45 notes)which suggests Jerusalem was rebuilt with the intention of it being a temple by those returning from the Babylonian captivity. Zech 8:4 probably implies no civilian dwelling in Jerusalem in his day. All 12 tribes returned (compare Eze 47:13 with Neh 7:73;Ezra 8:24-25;2:70).

9. Eze 47:13-21 - boundaries of the land were about 400 miles north to south and about 100 miles east to west with eastern border the Jordan River and the Dead Sea; thus the land of Ezekiel's vision was smaller than that of the covenant to Abraham (Gen 15:18).

10. Eze 47:18 - the east sea is not the Persian Gulf but the Dead Sea (Num 34:3;Josh 12:3;Joel 2:20).

11. Eze 47:19 - the great sea is the Mediterranean; Kadesh is in the Negeb so the river isn't the Nile.

47:7   These trees answer to the tress for the healing of the nations – Rev 22:2

47:9   God made everything in the rivers and water – Gen 1:21 – and gave Adam dominion over them – Gen 1:28. However this dominion was never achieved by Adam. It will happen when God’s kingdom is re-established on the earth.  The river spoken of here is like the river in Eden –Gen 2:10 - which sustained the Garden of Eden.

47:10  This description of fishing on the shores of the Dead Sea gives us a rare insight into life in the Millennium.

47:12     The way in which this tree was “for medicine” contrasts markedly with the tree which Adam and Eve ate from. That tree brought death

47:1    Up to this point we have been given a description of the building. Now we are outside the building looking at something that will not be built by men. It is a river. Whilst it might seem to be a natural feature it clearly is part of the design God has for Jerusalem.

47 can be divided thus.

:1-12     speaks of the waters that flow from under the temple.

:13-29   describes the division of the land of Israel.

FACING EAST

Special note: The Tabernacle, Solomon's temple and the temple of Ezekiel's vision all faced east. Ezekiel seems to want us to pick up on this fact, when he says, "The man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east)." (Eze 47:1). Did you see the special note? "For the temple faced east."

What is the significance of the temple facing the east? East is where the sun comes up. East is where the new day begins. East looks toward a new beginning each day. East is where we look for a brand new start when walking in the light. And east, as far as the land of Israel is concerned, looks out over the rest of the world.

There is some real spiritual significance for us in this. If we are the temple of the Living God, as Paul describes, then our lives should also be looking toward the east. It's not so we can worship the sun, but so that we can be walking in the light, watching for the Sun of Righteousness to arise, confident of the new beginning that is coming with the return of Jesus, and in the new light of forgiveness we have from the darkness that invades our lives every day.

Let's face the spiritual east and make sure our eyes are looking intently for the Son of God to rise in glory.
 

47:11  In stating that certain parts will be “given to salt” we see that whilst the Salt Sea will be healed there will be areas still polluted by salt. We can imagine areas of still water remaining salty whilst the living water flowing from the temple will pass by those areas. We should realise that two bodies of water in close proximity can be quite different, though flowing together. This can be seen, for example, where glacial water joins fresh water. The two can be seen flowing side by side for quite some distance at times.

47:11Whilst so much of the land will be “healed” a small portion will be left unchanged. It is as if God is going to leave an example of how unpleasant things used to be before Messiah came.

47:8-10 Ezekiel here, describes the consequence of the waters that will flow from Jerusalem as recorded in Zech 14:8. God’s actions are always purposeful. The Garden of Eden was a place of beauty, not bareness. The waters Ezekiel and Zechariah speak of will restore the lower Jordan valley and the Dead Sea to fruitfulness. A feature of the whole of the earth during the 1,000 year reign of Jesus.

47:10 Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets.

Fishermen catch fish for people to consume. This suggests that some meat-eating will continue into the kingdom. Also the meat  sacrifices will be eaten (43:19 cp 44:29,31).

47:5 The waters (river) that proceeded from under the threshold of the temple is echoed – Rev 22:1 – in the river that proceeded out of the throne of God.

47:1 The Garden of Eden was a special place created by God. It had rivers – Gen 2:1 – for the purpose of irrigating not only the garden but the middle east. The Garden of Eden was a pattern of how God planned to beautify His earth.

16 v. 15 - Consider the whole of the passage that Paul writes between Col.1:18 and 2:9 in this context and rejoice in the hope in which you are called.

15:18-20 We all like to be liked by those we come into contact with. However we must appreciate that our belief in the gospel should make our lives so different that our friends and neighbours notice that we are not like them. One consequence of this is that they may feel threatened or intimidated by our morality and as a consequence shun us or try to find fault with us.
We must realise that this sort of attitude is just like the way in which people who should have known better responded to Jesus.

16:1 If we wish to think of Jesus as being one who went about bending over backwards in order to please men we would be mistaken. Matthew 11:6 13:21 57 Mark 6:3 John 6:61
Whilst Jesus knew that what he had to say would offend many he was concerned that his followers would not be so dismayed. Matthew 11:6 Luke 7:23
His concern was that his Father's will might be known. This is offensive to the flesh - therefore he prayed that his disciples would not be caused to stumble as did his adversaries. John 16:1

15:22-24 are words spoken by Jesus to the disciples. He is showing them that the religious leaders bear responsibility for what they did - even though the death of Jesus was by the 'determinate counsel of God' (Acts 2:23). This is why Peter and John could say that they had killed Jesus and should repent (Acts 3:14-15)

16:17-19 Whilst the disciples have been very willing to question Jesus as we saw in Chapter 14 they are now reticent again, like they had been at time earlier in his ministry. Maybe they were so confused because they could not understand Jesus' answers that they felt it better just to remain quiet. However the Lord, in his wisdom, realised that they were confused and, despite the fact that he was going to die before the end of the next day, dealt with their confusion. Truly a man who was more concerned with the needs of others than his own needs.

15:27 Jesus comment 'from the beginning' forms the basis for the criteria laid down (Acts 1:21) when finding a replacement for Judas.

16:22 It is true that no man was able to take away the disciple's joy after the resurrection. They had seen and talked with him for 40 days. No matter what happened the truth of the resurrection could not be denied. Are we so convinced that Jesus did rise from the dead the no one would convince us otherwise?

15:13 In saying 'a man lay down his life ...' Jesus is re using the words of Peter (13:38) but whereas Peter could say the words but not perform the deed Jesus was able to both say the words and perform the deed. We are all like Peter but can be thankful that Jesus, though sharing our nature, was able to fulfil his promise.

16:33 John does  not record the 'Olivet Prophecy' with its attendant warnings (Mark 13:11) but here we have similar words, given in more general terms. So Jesus warned the disciples of persecution in the Olivet Prophecy and now, a couple of days later, he warns them again.

16:33 "these things" would have been everything that Jesus had told the disciples this night. He had told them about himself (as he had done so often before) that he had to leave them, to go to his Father, but that he would return. This was to provide strength to them, as it does for each one of  us today, awaiting that glorious day.

15:1-11 On the night that the Memorial Feast was instituted, it was natural for Jesus to speak about the vine as a symbol of spiritual fruitfulness. He admonished the disciples not to follow the example of Judas ( though Judas's name is not mentioned here), but to remain in the vine, that is, in Christ. These branches are divided into two groups; those that bear fruit to glory of our Heavenly Father, and those that do not bear fruit. In order to bear fruit it is absolutely necessary to remain in the vine. We are aware of what happens to the branches that do not bear fruit. We know what type of branch that we would like to be.    

15:12 In talking about the ‘new commandment’ Jesus is reminding the disciples what he had told them in the upper room John 13:34

16:5-6  It seems that the disciples were so troubled by what Jesus had been saying to them that they did not even ask him where he was going but that the sorrow would not be in the disciples minds if they had asked.

15:10 In speaking about keeping his commandments Jesus is returning to the point that he made in John 14:15

15:27 Even though these words were spoken directly to the disciples in the first century, the directive has been given to the followers of Jesus in all ages. "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature"

16:20 Jesus here speaks beforehand about the emotional roller coaster that the disciples would endure between his arrest and resurrection some three days later.

15:12,17 The commandment to love one another is clear. We shall be judged on how well we treat each other. Each brother or sister is a part of Jesus, and our behaviour towards them becomes our behaviour towards Jesus Himself (Matt 18:5,6).

15:20 In saying ‘remember the word’ Jesus is quoting Psa 119:49 where David is speaking of how to maintain fellowship with God and reminds the disciples of what he had said earlier that evening in the upper room – John 13:16.

15:5 Jesus could do nothing without His Father (John 5:19). Likewise, we can do nothing without the Lord Jesus. We can plan and implement, but it is all of none effect unless Yahweh gives the increase (Psa 127:1; 1Cor 3:7).

16:8 Jesus was in the mind of the Father before Jesus was born. But, that does not mean that Jesus was or had ever been physically in heaven at any time. Jesus’ physical existence began when He was born to Mary. He came from the Father because it was by the power of the Holy Spirit that he was conceived (Luke 1:35).

16:24  In encouraging the disciples that they will be joyful Jesus is repeating words he had spoken earlier that evening – John 15:11

BEAR BETTER FRUIT

Jesus is the true vine. We are the branches. Here is the warning: "He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit." (John 15:2)

If we want to be a Christian, we cannot afford to be a Christian seat warmer. A Sunday-morning-only Christian does not bear fruit through the rest of the week. Instead, we need to be 24-7 Christians, dedicated to the Lord twenty four hours a day and seven days a week. During our week between Sundays we will actively be looking for ways we can help people, encourage spiritual growth, we will be praying, preaching and spurring other believers on to do the same. God's fruit will be developed in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. (Gal 5:22-23)

To bear fruit we need to remain in Christ (John 15:4), because without Jesus in our lives we cannot bear fruit, so we need to get to know him by learning about him, praying and obeying him so that we can be his friend.

We don't have to bear fruit on our own. We can ask for help - for bigger and better and longer lasting fruit. "If you remain in me and my words in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you." (v.7) And Jesus said, "I appointed you to go and bear fruit - fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name." (v.16)

So let us bear fruit for Jesus and ask for more opportunities to grow bigger, better and longer lasting fruit for him.

HOW NOT TO GO ASTRAY

It is so easy to go astray. Temptations, trials, pressure, tiredness, disappointments and laziness, among other things, can all lead us toward sin. But the things Jesus said to his disciples should give us strength. In some of his last instructions to his followers before he was arrested, Jesus said, "All this I have told you so that you will not go astray." (John 16:1) So the question we need to answer is: What did Jesus tell them to prevent them from going astray?

1. Trust in God, (John 14:1) and trust in Jesus. Jesus is the only way to life. (v.6)
2. Obey the teaching of Jesus (John 14:23)
3. Be aware that God will discipline us so that we can be more fruitful. (John 15:2)
4. Remain in Christ. Hold on to him no matter what. (John 15:5)
5. Bear fruit. (John 15:8)
6. Love one another (John 15:12)
7. Be aware that the world will hate you and persecute you (John 15:18-20)

If we concentrate on the positive things of trust and belief, obedience, holding on, being fruitful in Christ and loving one another, and if we are aware that life will not be easy, we will very likely be too busy, too prepared, and too preoccupied with the work of Jesus to go astray.

So "let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." (Heb 12:1)

The Value of Fruit

John 15:5 - "He that abideth in me ... bringeth forth much fruit"

The fruit is always for the benefit of others ...

the fruit is of no value to the tree itself.

Food for thought!

16:24  That their joy would be full is quoted by John – 1John 1:4 in his first letter. There are many times when John  develops the ideas found in his gospel.

16:29 One really wonders whether the disciples truly understood what Jesus had been saying when they said ‘now thou speakest plainly ...’ However it must have been a comfort to them to think that they understood his words.

John 15:16.

16:20  Jesus’ promise that the sorrow of the disciples would be turned to joy echoes Jer 31:13 which prophecy speaks of the New Covenant where sins will be remembered no more.

WHATEVER YOU ASK

"I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name and I will do it."(John 14:12-14)

"If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."(John 15:7-8)

"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name." (John 15:6)

"In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete."(John 16:23-24)

"In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I come from God."(John 16:26-27)

The above are five quotes about answered prayer in just three chapters. If we are in Christ, if we love and believe in him, if what we ask for is for God's glory and will bear fruit, then no matter how difficult it is, it will be given to us if we ask. Simple, eh? Let us believe and grow fruit to the glory of God by what we ask for in prayer.

16:25   Jesus’ moved from “proverbs” to plain speaking at this point as he was no longer seeking to get the disciples to think for themselves as to what he meant. He was concerned that there would be no misunderstanding on their part.

16:23 In saying that the disciples will ask God in Jesus’ name is an indication of the benefits of being reconciled to God because of the death and resurrection of Jesus and the atonement that brought. What was true for Jesus’ disciples is just as true for us today.

JESUS LOVES ME

"Yes, Jesus loves me," the old Sunday School song goes. It's not very often talked about, but the love of Jesus is conditional. This is what he said, "As the Father loved me, so I have loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love." (John 15:9-10).

Jesus loved us first - before we were even lovable. But his love only remains if we show our love to him by obeying his commands. If we chose to do our own thing instead of obeying Jesus, we remove ourselves from his love. If we refuse to love each other, we remove ourselves from his love.

Being loved by Jesus is an act of grace on his part, but remaining under the covering of his love is an act of choice on our part. What will we choose? To turn away from the love he wants to give us, or to obey and rejoice in his love? The choice is ours and every moment is another opportunity to choose, whether any of our past choices have been good or bad.

"Yes, Jesus loves me," but have we chosen to remain in his love?

BEAT THE DOUBTS

When things don't go our way we have an automatic safety mechanism built into us that makes us question whether what we are doing is the right thing to do.

For example, if I began to build a house and people came to me saying that I was using the wrong materials, that I didn't have enough tools or space to make what I wanted to make, let alone the knowledge to make a house because I am not a builder, I should think twice about it an probably get professional help.

But the same thing can, and probably will happen in our spiritual lives. Jesus told his disciples that people would hate them because of him, people will persecute us, people will turn from our teaching and cast us out. (John 15:18-16:4). In this case it is not that we may be doing anything wrong, but nasty things are going to happen anyway.

We need to know that our faith will be shaken and that it will be very tempting give up. That's why Jesus said,"All this I have told you so that you will not go astray." Yes, some really faith trying times could be ahead for all of us, but because we know about it we can be prepared to beat the doubts in our mind and remain faithful to our Lord.

So let's think about what Jesus prepared his disciples for, and be prepared ourselves.

15:17   The concept of “love” and it being commanded might seem at variance from each other. Isn’t “love” an emotion that develops without any ability on our part to control it? Well, that might be true of human love. However it is not true of the love that believers should show towards their fellows. That love has to be cultivated. It is an obligation even if we do not “like” the person we are to love. The amazing thing is that once we being to love such a person we may well find that we like them as well.

John 16:20-22

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy….”

Have you ever read a suspense novel and got to a real tense part and then looked at the end of the final chapter to see if your favourite character survived? I have, and in doing so, it considerably lessened my anxiety knowing the tenseness of the present situation was only temporary and my favourite character survived.

Our life in Christ is much like this. This verse puts into perspective in looking ahead at things from the vantage point of Christ’s return. In doing so, we see that everything around us is temporary; that everything we experience and feel is but temporary while what God has given us and done for us in Christ is eternal (2Cor 4:18; cf. 1Pet 1:13).

Without question, life brings joy, but this joy is only temporal. Suffering, sorrow and pain is necessary to find permanent joy. It was so with Christ (Heb 12:2; cf. Luke 24:26,46). Our path to eternal joy goes through such a path, but Christ has given his disciples something to look forward to. He gave us hope by focusing on the joy that is to come.

Human nature being what it is, we sometimes tend to focus too much on the pain and suffering of our present circumstances, rather than choosing to stay focused on Christ through it all. Christ likens our present sufferings to birth pangs, in that through grief comes great joy.

We must stay focused on the glory which shall be revealed in us in due time (Rom 8:18; cf. Prov 4:25,26; Col 3:2-4). It really releases life’s tension and makes life so much easier to bear (Matt 11:28-30).

15:11   The abiding joy is rather like the joy Jesus spoke of in three related parbles about “lost” items being found – Luke 15:5,9,23

15:4-5 When we think that maybe we do not want to be with fellow believers or read scripture these words should ring in our ears. As Peter said. Jesus was the only one with the words of eternal life. – John 6:68

John 16:33

“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”