The
Apple of His Eye ... commentary of Psalm 74
The Apple of His Eye
… A commentary of Psalm
74
Verse One
The Apple of His Eye … A commentary of Psalm 74
Zechariah 2:8
“For thus saith the
LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto
the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth
you toucheth the apple of his eye.”
A psalm is a
song. It is a hymn!
“Maschil of Asaph.”
Maschil= מסיל =
instruction
Who is Asaph … who
gives this “Maschil”?
For this background information we will turn to the First Book of The Chronicles, and read from there in chapter six, verses thirty-one and thirty-two:
“And
these are they whom David set over the
service of song in the house of the LORD, after that
the ark had rest. And they ministered before the
dwelling place of the tabernacle of the congregation
with singing, until Solomon had built the house of
the LORD in Jerusalem: and then they waited
on their office according to their order.”
[1 Chronicles 6:31-32]
The “these are
they” are the Levites. The
Levites are the ones who appointed Asaph
[along with Heman and Ethan] as a singer and
the player of an instrument. This
instrument Asaph played were the “cymbals of
brass”.
“Asaph the chief, and
next to him Zechariah, Jeiel, and Shemiramoth, and
Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and
Obededom: and Jeiel with psalteries and with harps;
but Asaph made a sound with cymbals;”
[1 Chronicles 16:5]. Also, see [1
Chronicles 15:17, 19].
Asaph was the receiver
of this instruction from David. We see
this transactional process illustrated by the First
Book of The Chronicles, chapter sixteen, verse
seven. We read: “Then
on that day David delivered first this psalm
to thank the LORD into the hand of Asaph and his
brethren.” [1 Chronicles 16:7]
This psalm of
instruction was placed “into the hand of
Asaph” for the purpose to give instruction
to the people… to prophesy to
the people.
This ministry of
the instruction of the people was to form
for Asaph [and his brethren] the very purpose
for his life. We can see this truth in several
verses of the Scripture … all found in the first
book of the Chronicles. Let us read them:
·
“So he left there before
the ark of the covenant of the LORD Asaph and his
brethren, to minister before the ark continually, as
every day's work required:” [1
Chronicles 16:37].
·
“Moreover David and the
captains of the host separated to the service of the
sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who
should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and
with cymbals: and the number of the workmen
according to their service was: Of the sons of
Asaph; Zaccur, and Joseph, and Nethaniah, and
Asarelah, the sons of Asaph under the hands of
Asaph, which prophesied according to the order of
the king.” [1 Chronicles 25:1-2]
·
“All these were
under the hands of their father for song in
the house of the LORD, with cymbals, psalteries, and
harps, for the service of the house of God,
according to the king's order to Asaph, Jeduthun,
and Heman.” [1 Chronicles 25:6]
Asaph sees something before it happens
[in B.C. 1040] because the Spirit of God is in
him [the prophet].
God concurrently sees the
beginning and the end of all things.
HE puts future things into the
prophet.
Psalm 74:1
“O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever?
why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep
of thy pasture?”
“O God”
In this psalm [or song] a
question is addressed to “God”.
Now, who is “God”?
This question is in
reference to the true GOD!
“But the LORD is
the true God, he is the living God, and an
everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall
tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide
his indignation.” [Jeremiah
10:10] [2 Chronicles 15:3]
Are you ready?
“God”
is a supernatural triune Person
[Notice the great “us” in
Genesis 1:26].
1.
The Father [John 1:14]
2.
The Son [John 1:18]
3.
The Holy Spirit [Holy Ghost] [1
Corinthians 12:3]
THESE THREE ARE ONE!!!
1 John 5:7: “For there
are three that bear record in heaven, the Father,
the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are
one.”
This true
supernatural triune
Person has had no beginning, and this true
supernatural triune Person has no end.
Furthermore, this true
God has never evolved to one level of
being from another level of being. The
BIBLE reveals this supernatural triune Person
that inhabiteth eternity!
We find this in the book
of Isaiah: “For thus saith
the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity,
whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and
holy place, with him also that is of a
contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of
the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite
ones.” [Isaiah 57:15]
The ONE who is
HIGH and is LOFTY and is HOLY is same ONE
who was found in fashion
as a man who humbled
himself to die on the cross of Calvary for our
sins.
Let the Spirit of God
connect the HIGH and LOFTY ONE to the
contrite and humble ONE seen in The
Epistle of Paul the Apostle to The Philippians:
“And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled
himself, and became obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross.” [Philippians 2:8]
This is the true
God!!!
The true God is
the: “I AM”: “And God said unto Moses, I
AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto
the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.”
[Exodus 3:14]
Therefore, the true
God is eternal, infinite and
boundless and HE exists outside of the
bounds of time!
Now, this
“God” is called by many
names. [I am sure this list is not
complete.]:
i.
“God” is
called: JEHOVAH in Exodus 6:3.
“And I appeared unto Abraham, unto
Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God
Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to
them.”
ii.
“God” is
called: JEALOUS in Exodus 34:14.
“For thou shalt worship no other god:
for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is
a jealous God:”
iii.
“God” is
called: ADVOCATE in 1 John 2:1.
“My little children, these things write
I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we
have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous:”
iv.
“God” is
called: LAMB OF GOD in John 1:29.
“The next day John seeth Jesus coming
unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world.”
v.
“God” is
called: THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE
in John 11:25.
“Jesus said unto her, I am the
resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me,
though he were dead, yet shall he live:”
vi.
“God” is
called: SHEPHERD & BISHOP OF SOULS in
1 Peter 2:25.
“For ye were as sheep going astray; but
are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of
your souls.”
vii.
“God” is
called: JUDGE in Acts 10:42.
“And he commanded us to preach unto the
people, and to testify that it is he which was
ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and
dead.”
viii.
“God” is
called: Potentate, King of Kings,
LORD OF LORDS in 1 Timothy 6:15.
“Which in his times he shall shew,
who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King
of kings, and Lord of lords;”
ix.
“God” is
called: MAN OF SORROWS in Isaiah 53:3.
“He is despised and rejected of men; a
man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we
hid as it were our faces from him; he was
despised, and we esteemed him not.”
x.
“God” is
called: HEAD OF THE CHURCH –
saviour of the body in Ephesians 5:23.
“For the husband is the head of the
wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and
he is the saviour of the body.”
xi.
“God” is
called: MASTER in Matthew 8:19.
“And a certain scribe came, and said
unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever
thou goest.”
xii.
“God” is
called: FAITHFUL & TRUE WITNESS in
Revelation 3:14.
“And unto the angel of the church of the
Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the
faithful and true witness, the beginning of the
creation of God;”
xiii.
“God” is
called: ROCK in 1 Corinthians 10:4.
“And did all drink the same spiritual
drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that
followed them: and that Rock was Christ.”
xiv.
“God” is
called: HIGH PRIEST in Hebrews 6:20.
“Whither the forerunner is for us
entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for
ever after the order of Melchisedec.”
xv.
“God” is
called: THE DOOR in John 10:9.
“I am the door: by me if any man enter
in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and
find pasture.”
xvi.
“God” is
called: LIVING WATER in John 4:10.
“Jesus answered and said unto her, If
thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that
saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have
asked of him, and he would have given thee living
water.”
xvii.
“God” is
called: BREAD OF LIFE in John 6:35.
“And Jesus said unto them, I am the
bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never
hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never
thirst.”
xviii.
“God” is
called: ROSE OF SHARON - lily of
the valleys in Song of Solomon 2:1.
“I am the rose of Sharon, and
the lily of the valleys.”
xix.
“God” is
called: ALPHA and OMEGA in Revelation
22:13.
“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and
the end, the first and the last.”
xx.
“God” is
called: TRUE VINE in John 15:1.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is
the husbandman.”
xxi.
“God” is
called: MESSIAH and PRINCE
in Daniel 9:25.
“Know therefore and understand, that
from the going forth of the commandment to restore
and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince
shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two
weeks: the street shall be built again, and the
wall, even in troublous times.”
xxii.
“God” is
called: Rabbi [or teacher] in John
3:2.
“The same came to Jesus by night, and
said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a
teacher come from God: for no man can do these
miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.”
xxiii.
“God” is
called: HOLY ONE in Mark 1:24.
“Saying, Let us alone; what have
we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou
come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the
Holy One of God.”
xxiv.
“God” is
called: MEDIATOR in 1 Timothy 2:5.
“For there is one God, and one
mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;”
xxv.
“God” is
called: THE BELOVED in Ephesians 1:6.
“To the praise of the glory of his
grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the
beloved.”
xxvi.
“God” is
called: ROD and BRANCH
in Isaiah 11:1.
“And there shall come forth a rod out of
the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of
his roots:”
xxvii.
“God” is
called: CARPENTER in Mark 6:3.
“Is not this the carpenter, the son of
Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda,
and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And
they were offended at him.”
xxviii.
“God” is
called: GOOD SHEPHERD in John 10:11.
“I am the good shepherd: the good
shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.”
xxix.
“God” is
called: LIGHT OF THE WORLD in John
8:12.
“Then spake Jesus again unto them,
saying, I am the light of the world: he that
followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall
have the light of life.”
xxx.
“God” is
called: IMAGE OF THE INVISIBLE GOD in
Colossians 1:15
“Who is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of every creature:”
xxxi.
“God” is
called: THE WORD in John 1:1.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
xxxii.
“God” is
called: CHIEF CORNERSTONE in Ephesians
2:20.
“And are built upon the foundation of
the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief corner stone;”
xxxiii.
“God” is
called: CHRIST and SAVIOR
in John 4:42.
“And said unto the woman, Now we
believe, not because of thy saying: for we have
heard him ourselves, and know that this is
indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.”
xxxiv.
“God” is
called: SERVANT in Matthew 12:18.
“Behold my servant, whom I have chosen;
my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will
put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment
to the Gentiles.”
xxxv.
“God” is
called: AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF OUR FAITH
in Hebrews 12:2.
“Looking unto Jesus the author and
finisher of our faith; who for the joy that
was set before him endured the cross, despising the
shame, and is set down at the right hand of the
throne of God.”
xxxvi.
“God” is
called: Alpha and Omega - THE
ALMIGHTY in Revelation 1:8.
“I am Alpha and Omega,
the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which
is, and which was, and which is to come, the
Almighty.”
xxxvii.
“God” is
called: WONDERFUL, COUNSELLER, MIGHTY GOD,
PRINCE OF PEACE, EVERLASTING FATHER
in Isaiah 9:6.
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a
son is given: and the government shall be upon his
shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful,
Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father,
The Prince of Peace.”
xxxviii.
“God” is
called: SHILOH in Genesis 49:10.
“The sceptre shall not depart from
Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until
Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering
of the people be.”
xxxix.
“God” is
called: LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDA – ROOT OF
DAVID in Revelation 5:5.
“And one of the elders saith unto me,
Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the
Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and
to loose the seven seals thereof.”
xl.
“God” is
called: I AM in John 8:58.
“Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I
say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”
xli.
“God” is
called: BRIDEGROOM in Matthew 9:15.
“And Jesus said unto them, Can the
children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the
bridegroom is with them? but the days will come,
when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and
then shall they fast.”
xlii.
“God” is
called: ONLY BEGOTTEN SON in John
3:16.
“For God so loved the world, that he
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life.”
xliii.
“God” is
called: IMMANUEL in Matthew 1:23.
“Behold, a virgin shall be with child,
and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his
name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with
us.”
xliv.
“God” is
called: SON OF MAN in Matthew 20:28.
“Even as the Son of man came not to be
ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his
life a ransom for many.”
xlv.
“God” is
called: DAYSPRING in Luke 1:78.
“Through the tender mercy of our God;
whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,”
xlvi.
“God” is
called: THE AMEN in Revelation 3:14.
“And unto the angel of the church of the
Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the
faithful and true witness, the beginning of the
creation of God;”
xlvii.
“God” is
called: KING OF THE JEWS in Mark
15:26.
“And the superscription of his
accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
xlviii.
“God” is
called: PROPHET in Matthew 21:11.
“And the multitude said, This is Jesus
the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.”
xlix.
“God” is
called: REDEEMER in Job 19:25.
“For I know that my redeemer
liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter
day upon the earth:”
l.
“God” is
called: ANCHOR in Hebrews 6:19.
“Which hope we have as an anchor
of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which
entereth into that within the veil;”
li.
“God” is
called: ROOT AND OFFSPRING -
BRIGHT MORNING STAR in Revelation 22:16.
“I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify
unto you these things in the churches. I am the root
and the offspring of David, and the bright
and morning star.”
lii.
“God” is
called: THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE
in John 14:6.
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the
truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father,
but by me.”
liii.
“God” is
called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS in
Jeremiah 23:6.
The Wide Side note:
What have we learned? What is greatly
evident is God is known by NAMES. It
follows also, that men [who are created in the image
of God] have names.
Genesis 1:27 “So God
created man in his own image, in the image of
God created he him; male and female created he
them.”
NAMES signify the presence of a PERSONALTY
… a PERSON!
You know a person by their name in
God’s purview. God knew Jeremiah before he was
born: “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew
thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I
sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a
prophet unto the nations.” [Jeremiah 1:5]
Enter John Dewey. [Oct 20, 1859 - Jun
01, 1952] John Dewey demoted the worth
of the individual to the level of an
insignificant number or of an animal.
Hence, the name of the person is repressed.
Here is John Dewey’s agenda. This
atheistic John Dewey, who was one of the fathers
of the American progressive socialists, totally
remade the public school system [in his image as
an animal] with his inverse placement of the
collective over the individual.
In total contrast, God emphasizes the
individual person over the collective.
Proof?
This personal relationship [with the
individual person] [by a personal God]
is the theme seen throughout the Bible.
This is why in the 1960’s the Bible in
the schools in America had to be gotten rid of!
God’s word simply stood in their
way!!!
A person to person relationship!
For example: in the Gospel according to
John, we have this: “Judas
[who is a person] [who
is an individual] saith unto him [who
is a person] [who is an individual],
not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt
manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?
Jesus answered and said unto him
[who is a person] [who is
an individual], If a man [who is a
person] [who is an individual],
love me, he [who is a person] [who
is an individual], will keep my words:
and my Father will love him [who is a person]
[who is an individual], and we will
come unto him [who is a person] [who
is an individual], and make our abode with
him [who is a person] [who is
an individual].” [John 14:22-23]
In the last part of the nineteenth century,
John Dewey, and his socialist adherents
formulated a long-term conspiracy with the end goal
to radically change America by imposition of their
utopian vision of a collectivist
society.
Dumb it down!
A collectivist society is likened
[within the progressive socialist’s philosophy]
as to a herd of animals, or as like bees of
the beehive, or as like the ants of an ant colony.
But to God, there is a radical
difference. A human being [mankind]
is a PERSON, and is likened to GOD [WHO is a
PERSON]. Man was created in the image
of God.
Now, it is as plain as the nose on your
face as to what has happened since
the nineteenth century.
Search God’s words to get your
bearings, and read in the First Book Moses
called the Genesis, the book of beginnings,
to see just how special man is in his
attributes, and how much man is like
God.
Genesis 1:26: “And
God said, Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish
of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over
the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every
creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Genesis 1:27: “So
God created man in his own image, in the
image of God created he him; male and female created
he them.”
Therefore, Satan has lied to us
[down through the years], and especially in the last
century. He found some dupes to use in
his master plan to bring man to the PIT, and has
been successful in injecting his poison
into the minds of Charles Darwin, and John Dewey,
and all their blind adherents. These men
literally believe they are ANIMALS.
THE TRUTH is: Man is over the animals,
and is not an animal! Man was created to
commune and fellowship with God.
Whereas, by DESIGN, the rest of God’s
creation is bereft of this attribute [an eternal
soul]. [The rest of God’s creation = the
grass, the trees, the fish, the birds and the
animals.]
John Dewey, and his dupes, therefore,
surmised the surest way [the ultimate way] to
undermine individualism was to conduct a
multipoint subtle war against individualism
through the America’s public school system.
The game plan involved getting rid of the
emphasis the primary schools placed on the
development of high literacy and independent
intelligence.
“Why? Because both of these sustained
individualisms.
What was needed, they believed, was a
new curriculum that emphasized socialization and
taught children to read by a whole-word method that
would lower the nation’s literacy level and make its
children more amenable to collectivist values…They
considered themselves peerless intellects and
socialism a morally superior way of life.”1
[1. Most of us Attended John Dewey’s Socialist
Public Schools by mydixieAdmin, Feb 7, 2019, Al
Benson, Revised History]
John Dewey boldly stated: “Change must
come gradually. To force it unduly would compromise
its final success by favoring a violent reaction.”
In other words: The goal was to fool
the people, and to sneak these changes into the
land’s schools, and to perform this inside job to
convert the nation composed of individuals into one
herd of animals.
Now, John Dewey spawned his
adherents. Then in the 1940’s and the 1950’s
these adherents, with Charles Darwin’s toxin
embedded within them, gave us the whole word
method approach of the Dick, Jane and Spot readers
in the effort to dehumanize the person or
repress individualism.
Now the following is quoted from an
American educator, Samuel L. Blumenfeld:
The Ox You Slaughter
“Another important
component of the progressive curriculum was
behavioral psychology. It was Edward L. Thorndike, a
strong believer in evolution and eugenics, who
stressed the notion that children were animals and
could be trained like animals. He wrote in 1928:
Our experiments on
learning in the lower animals have probably
contributed more to knowledge of education, per hour
or per unit of intellect spent, than experiments on
children. The best way with children may often be,
in the pompous words of an animal trainer, "to
arrange everything in connection with the trick so
that the animal will be compelled by the laws of his
own nature to perform it."
But it was John B.
Watson, the most arrogant behaviorist of them all,
who revealed the true contempt that he and his
fellow behaviorists had toward their fellow human
beings when he wrote in his book, Behaviorism:
Human beings do not
want to class themselves with other animals. They
are willing to admit that they are animals but
"something else in addition." It is this "something
else" that causes the trouble. In this "something
else" is bound up everything that is classed as
religion, the life hereafter, morals, love of
children, parents, country, and the like. The raw
fact that you, as a psychologist, if you are to
remain scientific, must describe the behavior of man
in no other terms than those you would use in
describing the behavior of the ox you slaughter.”2
2.
The Victims of Dick and Jane, By Samuel L.
Blumenfeld, September 01, 2002
Oh, Jane.
See Spot and Tim.
See Spot run.
Little did I know what
they were doing to me as a little first grader
student at the Burnside Elementary School on
Burnside Avenue in East Hartford, Connecticut in the
1950’s?
Thus, we have here in all
the foregoing seen John Dewey’s subtle work
performed in the dark.
John Dewey has
offended all the little children in the United
States of America for four generations.
Luke 17:1-2: “Then
said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but
that offences will come: but woe unto him,
through whom they come! It were better for him that
a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast
into the sea, than that he should offend one of
these little ones.”
We are now ready to go
back into our psalm, continuing with verse
one.
“O God, why hast thou cast us
off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke
against the sheep of thy pasture?”
“Why?”
This whole thing is
prophetic!
1.
Why have you cast us away?
[Israel] Answer: You turned away from me!
It is as clear as a bell as it is
declared in the BOOK: “But if ye turn away,
and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I
have set before you, and shall go and serve other
gods, and worship them;
Then will I pluck them up by the roots
out of my land which I have given them; and this
house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I
cast out of my sight, and will make it to be
a proverb and a byword among all nations.”
[2 Chronicles 7:19-20]
The consequences for this SIN was
this:
·
The destruction of
Jerusalem and the seventy-year captivity of
the people by Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon [in
B.C. 606].
·
The destruction of
Jerusalem and the dispersal of the Jews as a
nation by Emperor Titus [in A.D. 70.] There
would no home for the Jews for eighteen
hundred and seventy-eight years!
·
The destruction of
Jerusalem in the future great tribulation.
“For then shall be great
tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of
the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”
[Matthew 24:21]
2.
Again: “…
why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep
of thy pasture?”
Why are you angry with us [with
Israel]? Answer: You rejected me
[you rejected my knowledge]: “My people are
destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast
rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that
thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast
forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy
children.” [Hosea 4:6]
In the book of Isaiah, in chapter
fifty-nine, God lays out HIS case very
carefully, and in a very concise detail,
as to the reasons why HE was hiding HIS face
from them and why HE was not willing to even
hear from them. Please turn to there and we
will read.
Isaiah 59:1-8
“Behold, the LORD'S hand is not
shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear
heavy, that it cannot hear:
But your iniquities have separated
between you and your God, and your sins have hid
his face from you, that he will not hear.
For your hands are defiled with blood,
and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have
spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.
None calleth for justice, nor any
pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak
lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth
iniquity.
They hatch cockatrice' eggs, and weave
the spider's web: he that eateth of their eggs
dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a
viper.
Their webs shall not become garments,
neither shall they cover themselves with their
works: their works are works of iniquity, and
the act of violence is in their hands.
Their feet run to evil, and they make
haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are
thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are
in their paths.
The way of peace they know not; and
there is no judgment in their goings: they have
made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein
shall not know peace.”
SIN CERTAINLY has its consequences!
The Lamentations of Jeremiah
[in chapter two, verse ten through verse
twenty-two] transports us to the scene where the
apple of His eye is seen in grievous lamentations:
“The elders of the daughter of Zion sit
upon the ground, and keep silence: they have
cast up dust upon their heads; they have girded
themselves with sackcloth: the virgins of Jerusalem
hang down their heads to the ground.
Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels
are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth, for
the destruction of the daughter of my people;
because the children and the sucklings swoon in the
streets of the city.
They say to their mothers, Where is
corn and wine? when they swooned as the wounded in
the streets of the city, when their soul was poured
out into their mothers' bosom.
What thing shall I take to witness for
thee? what thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter
of Jerusalem? what shall I equal to thee, that I may
comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy
breach is great like the sea: who can heal
thee?
Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish
things for thee: and they have not discovered thine
iniquity, to turn away thy captivity; but have seen
for thee false burdens and causes of banishment.
All that pass by clap their hands
at thee; they hiss and wag their head at the
daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the
city that men call The perfection of beauty,
The joy of the whole earth?
All thine enemies have opened their
mouth against thee: they hiss and gnash the teeth:
they say, We have swallowed her up: certainly
this is the day that we looked for; we have
found, we have seen it.
The LORD hath done that which he
had devised; he hath fulfilled his word that he had
commanded in the days of old: he hath thrown down,
and hath not pitied: and he hath caused thine
enemy to rejoice over thee, he hath set up the horn
of thine adversaries.
Their heart cried unto the Lord, O wall
of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a
river day and night: give thyself no rest; let not
the apple of thine eye cease.
Arise, cry out in the night: in the
beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like
water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands
toward him for the life of thy young children, that
faint for hunger in the top of every street.
Behold, O LORD, and consider to whom
thou hast done this.
Shall the women eat their fruit, and
children of a span long? shall the priest and the
prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?
The young and the old lie on the ground
in the streets: my virgins and my young men are
fallen by the sword; thou hast slain them in
the day of thine anger; thou hast killed, and
not pitied.
Thou hast called as in a solemn day my
terrors round about, so that in the day of the
LORD'S anger none escaped nor remained: those that I
have swaddled and brought up hath mine enemy
consumed. [Lamentations 2:10-22]
Israel’s lamentations over sin
begins their journey back to a three-letter word:
[B-U-T]
But God works things out for the apple
of His eye [for her good!] even though
the apple of His eye disobeyed.
Friend, just read, study, and believe The
Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans in chapter
eleven, for there we will find the happy ending
for both Jew and Gentile.
Here is the lesson to be learned.
The judgment of one people may occasion the
redemption of another people:
“For if the casting away of them be the
reconciling of the world, what shall the
receiving of them be, but life from the
dead?” [Romans 11:15]
In the end Israel will be saved!
“And so all Israel shall be
saved: as it is written, There shall come out of
Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness
from Jacob:” [Romans 11:26]
3.
“…the sheep of thy
pasture?”
Where there are sheep there will be
a shepherd. The people of Israel
are God’s flock of sheep: “For he
is our God; and we are the people of his
pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye
will hear his voice,” [Psalm 95:7]
However, blindness in part
has happened to Israel and the
people were cast out. [Romans 11:25]
They may have lost their way through the
wilderness, because they left their Shepherd,
yet they shall be recovered. Recovery
is a beautiful thing. What was lost
will be found. There will not be any
sad ending to the nation of Israel. Amen!
We come now to the great shepherd
passage in the Bible which is located in the Gospel
of according to John, chapter ten, verse, sixteen:
“And other sheep I have, which are not of this
fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my
voice; and there shall be one fold, and one
shepherd.” [John 10:16]
The other sheep are the Gentiles.
They will be added to the sheep of the
flock of Israel.
That’s US!! The Christians, the
believers in Jesus Christ, are sheep!
We are now ready to go to the Epistle of
Paul the Apostle to the Ephesians, chapter two,
starting with verse twelve: “That at that time ye
were without Christ, being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the
covenants of promise, having no hope, and without
God in the world:
But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes
were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
For he is our peace, who hath made both
one, and hath broken down the middle wall of
partition between us;
Having abolished in his flesh the
enmity, even the law of commandments
contained in ordinances; for to make in himself
of twain one new man, so making peace;
And that he might reconcile both unto
God in one body by the cross, having slain the
enmity thereby:
And came and preached peace to you which
were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
For through him we both have access by
one Spirit unto the Father.
Now therefore ye are no more strangers
and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints,
and of the household of God;
And are built upon the foundation of the
apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being
the chief corner stone;
In whom all the building fitly framed
together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
In whom ye also are builded together for
an habitation