Tuesday, October 18, 2022

Judgment Will Be Avoided (Acts 3:22-24)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/16/2017 9:57 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                     Focus: Judgment Will Be Avoided

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 3:22-24

 

            Message of the verses:  “22  "Moses said, ’THE LORD GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR BRETHREN; TO HIM YOU SHALL GIVE HEED to everything He says to you. 23 ’And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ 24 “And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announced these days.”

 

            The prophet that Moses is talking about is the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, as Peter is pointing out to those who were listening to him preach.  “The prophet like Moses was generally regarded by the Jews as the Messiah (cf. John 1:21, 25; 6:14; 7:40),” writes John MacArthur.  He goes on to quote the Midrash Rabbath who said,

 

“As was the former redeemer so shall the latter redeemer be.  While of the former it is said (Ex. 4:20) ‘And Moses too his wife and his sons and set them upon an ass,’ so the latter: for it says (Zech. 9:9) ‘He is lowly and riding on an ass.’  And while the former redeemer brought down manna (Ex. 16:4) ‘Behold I will rain bread from heaven for you, ‘so the latter redeemer shall bring down manna.”

 

            Peter goes on to talk about the consequences of rejecting the Messiah.  Deuteronomy 18:19 which is also quoted by Peter, Moses cautioned, “And it shall be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.”  Those who would reject their Messiah would result in the loss of the covenant blessing.  This is the perilous condition that Peter’s hearers found themselves in, and Peter is warning them of the consequences of this.  The truth is that both Jews and Gentiles find themselves in this same place if they reject the Messiah as they will all forfeit the promised blessings and will spend eternity in a place called hell.

 

            Peter goes on to not only talk about rejecting what Moses has said, but “likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announced these days.” 1 Samuel 3:20 states: “All Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the LORD.”  This shows that Samuel was a prophet.  We do not find that Samuel prophesized concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, he did however anoint David as king, and David’s line brought about our Lord’s birth.  We find this prophecy that was given to David in 2 Samuel 7:10 and following.

 

            We see here and will see later on in Acts chapter six where Stephen preaches to the unbelieving leaders of Israel some similar things, that is that Israel has in the past and still is doing rejecting what the prophets spoke about their Messiah.  This continues to go on today and will continue until just prior to when our Lord returns as seen in Revelation chapter nineteen.  We have already discussed what Paul wrote in Romans 11:26 “and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, "THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB."”

 

            I have mentioned a book that I have that was written around 40 or so years ago, a book that has paintings in it to help explain the prophecies that Jesus fulfilled in His first coming, and also paints of what He will fulfill in His second coming.  They are all there in the Word of God and so there is no excuse for any person to miss them, to repent of their sins and accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  To accept what the Bible has to say about our Lord Jesus Christ is the first step of obedience, and there are others that follow.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to trust the Lord as I teach our Sunday school class on the book of Revelation.

 

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Philemon’s slave, Onesimus.”

 

Today’s Bible question:  “What kind of oil was used in the lamps of the Holy Place?”

 

Answer in our next SD.

 

9/16/2017 10:27 AM

 

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