29 May (Isaiah 5-7)

Isaiah 5

(v.7) God has described in the previous verses, how the people of Israel have rejected Him, and how they will be consumed by their enemies as a result. We see a lot of patterns in the Bible, for that is the way God reveals Himself to us and His people.

Prophecy in Western culture:

Prediction --> Fulfillment

Prophecy in Hebrew culture:

Pattern --> Fulfillment

God speaks to us in pattern throughout the Bible, not only to make sure we understand, but to see that the whole Bible speaks of one thing...God's plan of redemption for mankind in His Son!

(v.8) For those of us who currently live in so much cement and buildings, or those who have lived in those areas...it is not good for us to be so cramped in. God wants us to live amongst nature and to see His handiwork every day! My family recently moved from the suburbs of Southern California to the hill country of Texas, and we see God's handiwork every day! We can't help but see God in our yard and the creatures He has in it.

If we think about it, as a society, we have replaced God's handiwork with man's handiwork in our cities. We see immense buildings, roads, signs and lights...but only when we venture into the country or to the mountains, do we see God's majesty in His creation.

If you can't live in an area where you can enjoy nature, make sure to take your kids to the beach, the mountains, or the like on a weekend. Also, it's good to send them to Christian Camp in the woods, so they can get closer to God.

(v.14) Here we see the word Sheol again, and it's the place for the spirits until Christ died and allowed the believing spirits to go to heaven. The unbelieving spirits stay in Sheol, and they will be cast into the abyss with Satan and his demons.

(v.20) Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil

Aren't we living in these times today? Our culture mocks righteous living for lavish and exuberant lifestyles. We defend the convicted murderer, but throw away and kill the unwanted child in the womb. We are intolerant of Christians, but preach tolerance to them at the same time!

Always measure your values and beliefs with the Word of God, and you'll do well in this life.

Isaiah 6

(v.3) Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts

I show my kids that they say holy three times...this is believed to be referring to the Holy Trinity.

(v.8) Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?

Take note of the word Us and read Gen 3:22 and Gen 11:7 to them...the word in all these cases is Elohim, which is a plural word (three or more) used in the singular tense. This is God as the Holy Trinity! Also, take note of Isaiah's response...he volunteers to serve God! We should all take Isaiah's lead and step out in faith and serve God!

Isaiah 7

(v.14) This verse is used at Christmas time to point us to the Immaculate Conception of Christ. But skeptics try to say that the word virgin means a young woman!

First of all, the Hebrew text says the virgin which points us to one particular virgin. And if we use common sense, what kind of sign would it be to Israel to have a young woman give birth to a son? That happens every day! No, God is talking about one particular woman who hasn't been with a man, and the Holy Spirit makes her egg fertilized by supernatural ways! God had this plan all along, if we read Gen 3:15 we see that God pointed to this event from the beginning!

In Hebrew, the name Immanuel means God With Us and that is what Jesus was! We know this for a fact, since John states this at the beginning of his gospel:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us...

~ John 1:1, 14

Remember, the name Jesus means Yahweh is Salvation, so His name was His mission!

19 May (Jonah 2)

Jonah 2

(v.1) As we concluded chapter 1, we see that God had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah, and he was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights? Does this sound familiar? Jesus refers to this in Matt 12:40

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Also, in Luke 11:29 Jesus calls Jonah a prophet, thus giving Jonah an importance and status that most people don't realize. Whether Jonah was in a whale, a shark or some kind of serpent, it doesn't matter...it was big enough to swallow him whole! The Hebrew word used for fish is Dag and can mean fish or serpent. Most often, it was used to reference a fish, but that may be because people discussed fish more than serpents!

(v.2) What a prayer from Jonah! Like most of us, it takes extreme measures for us to get serious and really cry out to the LORD!

I also take time to remind my kids that Jonah mentions the Hebrew word Sheol (it is called Hades in Greek), which is the spiritual place where all who died go to. As we discussed in previous books, the believers went to Abraham's Bosom, and the unbelievers went to Sheol. Not until Jesus' blood washed away sin, could Moses, Abraham, David and all the other believers enter heaven with the Father...they were still in a sinful state. The moment Jesus died on the cross, and hereafter, all who die in faith will immediately go to heaven with the Father, but before that, the faithful had to wait in Abraham's Bosom. If you wish to learn more about this, read Luke 16 where Jesus tells us of this.

I also point out to my kids that Jonah didn't pray until three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish. This is why I believe that Jonah actually died, and he was resurrected and spit out onto the beach...he was again a type of Christ, who was dead for three days and three nights, then resurrected. I can't prove that, but it fits the pattern, and since Jonah's life is mirroring the life of Jesus in many ways, it makes sense to me!

(v.5) Read these verses with Jesus in mind, and it fits. Jesus freed that "captives" in Abraham's bosom. Luke 4:18

Jonah is describing the center of the earth...the abyss. The Greek word for that is Abusso, which is referred to mean hell. Notice how Jonah says the earth with its bars closed behind me forever...he is describing hell...or Sheol/Hades.

(v.9) Whether Jonah was physically dead or not, he was in a bad situation! He prayed fervently to the LORD, and He heard Jonah. I think what did it, was Jonah called upon the name of the LORD by saying, Salvation is of the LORD. This is the name of Jesus...YHWH Saves!

Mar 9 (1 Sam 27-28)

1st Samuel 27

(v.1) David has been such a man of faith, and he so many times talked with God, but here he has not consulted God, and let his flesh take control. If he had remembered that God is on his side, he wouldn't have said to himself that he would die at the hand of Saul.

We all do this...we talk ourselves into and out of things. The power of rationalization is great...we can justify bad deeds or words, and we can convince ourselves that we know what is best for us. But sooner than we think, God shows us every time, that He knows what's best for us. If we just start every day walking with Him, and continue the day in prayer, we would be much better off!

(v.7) David figured that in order to have Saul's pursuit of him to end, he would encamp in the enemy's territory. This worked, but we'll see that David had to endure a whole new set of problems because of it.

This is important for our kids (and us parents) to remember...as long as we have breath, we will have trials and problems in life. Sometimes they are little, and other times, they are big problems. I teach my kids this scenario, in order that they may glean something practical in their lives from David:

When we are born again, we are new creatures in Christ. We have new power and vigor, but this doesn't mean we will never have problems, doubts, stumbles or issues the rest of our lives. In fact, because Satan doesn't want us to be effective ambassadors of Christ, he will tempt us to make us fall away from Christ and be stagnant and ineffective Christians.

So if we let our trials and persecutions in Christ drag us down, we have let the enemy win. We think if we don't speak out for Christ, and if we don't let others know the hope that is in us, we will avoid conflicts...we may just blend into the world. But soon we will find that we're more miserable away from Christ in the world, than living for Christ with persecution! (Jam 1:2-3)

(v.11) So now that David has avoided his persecution from Saul with God on his side, he has become a common thief, a liar and murderer. He has absorbed the pitfalls of this world by trying to avoid serving God! This is common with believers who fall away from God...they end up worse than when they were unsaved! The only thing that will make backsliders happy again, is to repent and return to Christ.

1st Samuel 28

(v.6) Saul was blind without God. Samuel was dead, and the LORD wouldn't speak to Saul because of Saul's unbelief.

(v.14) Because Saul was not walking with God, he sought a medium (a witch) to speak to the dead. When Saul saw Samuel, he bowed down to him. Not only was it wrong to seek Satanic mediums to speak to the dead, but it's worse to bow down to mortal men. Only God is worthy to bow down to. (Phil 2:10)

(v.19) Depending upon the ages of your kids, you may want to approach this part with discretion. It seems that Samuel's spirit is appearing to Saul. We often hear of ghosts, and perhaps this is a biblical example of a ghost.

I teach my kids, that our bodies are mortal, but our spirits are immortal. We will live forever, but our faith and choices determine WHERE we will live in eternity. Before Christ came to conquer sin and death, all the people who lived before then, went to Sheol when they died. Sheol was the Hebrew, and Hades was the Greek name for the spirit world in the Old Testament. If we read Luke 16:19-31, we see that there were two parts to this spirit world...one for believers in God, and another part for the unbelievers. The believers went to Abraham's Bosom, since Abraham is known as the "Father of the Faithful."

This is why Samuel said that Saul would be with him in the spirit world the next day. I suspect that Samuel is in Abraham's Bosom, and Saul will be in the other place that Jesus spoke about, in eternal torment. After Christ died on the cross, he freed the believers from Abraham's Bosom and took them to heaven, leaving the others in Sheol to wait for their eternal judgment.

So getting back to the issue of ghosts...If we remember the Nephilim and the giants (Gen 6), and the reason for the flood, then the spirits of these Nephilim and giants were killed in the Flood, but their spirits lived on. This is what scholars believe are demons...evil spirits that died in body, but their spirits are evil. So, I recommend that we pray and seek His wisdom when we discuss these things with our kids, since they can be a little scary and freaky to them...it is to me as well! But...it is biblical and the truth, so I don't keep that from my kids.