Handwriting on The Wall

“And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,

“’Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,

    for he has visited and redeemed his people

and has raised up a horn of salvation for us

    in the house of his servant David,

as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,

that we should be saved from our enemies

    and from the hand of all who hate us;

to show the mercy promised to our fathers

    and to remember his holy covenant,

the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us

    that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,

might serve him without fear,

    in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;

    for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,

to give knowledge of salvation to his people

    in the forgiveness of their sins,

because of the tender mercy of our God,

    whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high

to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,

    to guide our feet into the way of peace.’” (Luke 1:67-79 ESV)

Zechariah was the father of John the Baptist, and after John was born he gave this prophesy regarding Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, who was yet to be born, and regarding God’s call upon the life of Zechariah’s son John the Baptist, that he would be the one to go before the Lord Jesus to prepare his ways, and to share with the people the gospel message of our salvation. And all of us today who believe in Jesus Christ are to be sharing with the people of this world the gospel of our salvation and the ways of the Lord Jesus.

For Jesus Christ, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – came into this world as a human baby to a human mother, conceived of the Holy Spirit. So while he lived on this earth he was fully human and fully God (God incarnate, in the flesh). And while on this earth he performed many miracles and he preached repentance (death to sin) and obedience to him as necessary components of genuine faith, persuaded of God, and for salvation from sin and for eternal life with God, by God’s grace.

For Jesus Christ died on that cross nearly 2000 years ago in order to put our sins to death with him so that, by God-gifted faith in him, we would now die with him to sin (not just once, but daily), and so that we would now walk with him in obedience to his commands. For our greatest enemies are Satan and sin, which he delivered us from, so that we might now serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. This is the essence of the gospel of our salvation from sin, by the grace of God.

And this is the message of the gospel that we must be giving out to the people, too. For forgiveness is only promised to the truly repentant, and it is not free license to keep walking in sin. And God’s mercy was in putting our sins to death with him so that, by God-persuaded faith in him, we will now deny self, die to sin daily, and follow our Lord Jesus in walks of obedience to his commands. For the light is Jesus Christ and truth and righteousness and the gospel which delivers us from the darkness (sin) so we obey him now.

The Rejection of Christ

So how did the Jewish nation respond to Jesus Christ and to his gospel message? As a nation they rejected Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, and thus they divorced their husband (God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). And they married another (human flesh and the gods of this world). Some Jews believed in Jesus as their Lord and Messiah (the Christ) but the majority have not, and the nation as a whole has not. So the nation of Israel does not believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jesus’ words.

[Genesis 17:7-9; Genesis 18:19; John 8:18-19,38-47; Romans 2:28-29; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 9:4-8,25-28; Romans 11:1-36; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 3:16,26-29; Galatians 4:22-31; Ephesians 2:11-22; Ephesians 3:6; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-16; Hebrews 8:6-13;1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 2:22; Jude 1:5; Revelation 2:9; Revelation 3:9]  

But it isn’t just the majority of the Jews or the Jewish nation which has rejected Jesus Christ as the Christ, the Lord. And it isn’t just all those who make no profession of faith in Jesus Christ. But it is a very large number of those who profess faith in Jesus Christ with their lips but who have divorced him as their husband (Lord, Master) and who have become followers of other humans and their teachings, many of which are contrary to the teachings of Christ and of his NT apostles on the subject of the gospel.

Probably most of what is called “church” here in America are institutions of human origin being run just like any other human-based businesses, being marketed to the people of the world. And in order to market “the church” to the world they have also altered the gospel message and the character of God/Christ and of his church to make them more agreeable and appealing to human flesh. And in so doing they have divorced Jesus as their husband and they have married (partnered with) those of like kind (the flesh of humans), instead.

King Belshazzar

And from here the Lord reminded me of the story of King Belshazzar, and of all his idolatry and his worship of other gods and the shameful way in which he treated God and what is of God. And then there was the handwriting on the wall which Daniel was then able to interpret: 

“And this is the writing that was inscribed: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin. This is the interpretation of the matter: Mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; ekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; Peres, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” “That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.” (Daniel 5:25-28,30-31 ESV)

And this is not just Old Testament kinds of stuff. If we read in the New Testament, we are given many warnings of judgment for all who do not honor God as holy and who go their own way and who follow their own evil course and who do not obey the Lord and his commandments. They will die in their sins. They will not inherit eternal life with God. 

[Matt 7:13-14,21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 10:27-30; Ac 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

For Our Nation  

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

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