My Utmost for His Highest for Friday, 10 November 2017 "Fellowship In The Gospel" by Oswald Chambers
Fellow labourer in the gospel of Christ. (1 THESSALONIANS 3:2)
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After sanctification it is difficult to state what your aim in life is, because God has taken you up into His purpose by the Holy Ghost. He is using you now for His purposes throughout the world as He used His Son for the purpose of our salvation. If you seek great things for yourself— “God has called me for this and that,” you are putting a barrier to God’s use of you. As long as you have a personal interest in your own character, or any set ambition, you cannot get through into identification with God’s interests. You can only get there by losing for ever any idea of yourself and by letting God take you right out into His purpose for the world, and because your goings are of the Lord, you can never understand your ways.
I have to learn that the aim in life is God’s, not mine. God is using me from His great personal standpoint, and all He asks of me is that I trust Him, and never say— “Lord, this gives me such heartache.” To talk in that way makes me a clog. When I stop telling God what I want, He can catch me up for what He wants without let or hindrance.* He can crumple me up or exalt me, He can do anything He chooses. He simply asks me to have implicit faith in Himself and in His goodness. Self pity is of the devil; if I go off on that line I cannot be used by God for His purpose in the world. I have “a world within the world” in which I live, and God will never be able to get me outside it because I am afraid of being frost-bitten. *without let or hindrance: legal phrase meaning “without obstacle or impediment.” (From My Utmost for His Highest Classic Edition)
Bible in One Year: Jeremiah 48-49; Hebrews 7Jeremiah 48:1 Concerning Mo’av, this is what Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says:
“Woe to N’vo, for it is ravaged;
Kiryatayim disgraced and captured.
Misgav is put to shame, distressed.
2 “In Mo’av, nothing is left to praise.
At Heshbon they plotted her downfall:
‘Come, we’ll cut her off as a nation.’
You too, Madmein, will be silenced;
the sword pursues behind you.
3 An agonized cry from Horonayim,
ruin, terrible devastation!
4 Mo’av has been shattered;
the cries of her young ones are heard,
5 as they ascend the slopes of Luchit,
weeping bitterly as they climb.
On the road down to Horonayim
shrieks of destruction ring out.”
6 Flee! Save your lives!
Be strong, like a tamarisk in the desert.
7 Because you trust in your deeds and your wealth,
you too will be captured.
Together with his priests and princes,
K’mosh will go into exile.
8 A destroyer will descend on every city,
no city will escape.
The valley too will perish,
the plain will be laid waste,
as Adonai as said.
9 Give Mo’av wings,
so it can fly and get away.
Its cities will become ruins,
with no one to live in them.
10 A curse on him who does the work
of Adonai carelessly!
A curse on him who withholds his sword
from blood!
11 Mo’av has lived at ease from his youth;
he is [wine] settled on its dregs,
not decanted from jar to jar —
he has not gone into exile.
Therefore it retains its own [bad] taste,
its aroma remains unchanged.
12 “So the days are coming,” says Adonai, “when I will send people to tilt him; they will tilt his jars, emptying them and shattering the wine-flasks to pieces. 13 Mo’av will be disappointed by K’mosh then, just as the house of Isra’el was disappointed by Beit-El, a god in whom they had put their trust.
14 “How can you say, ‘We are heroes,
warriors valiant in battle’?
15 They are ravaging Mo’av, attacking its cities;
its best young men go down to be slaughtered,”
says the king, whose name is Adonai-Tzva’ot.
16 Mo’av’s ruin is coming soon,
its disaster speeds on swiftly.
17 Pity him, all of you who are near him,
all of you who know his name;
say, “How the mighty scepter is shattered,
that splendid staff!”
18 Descend from your glory, and sit in thirst,
daughter living in Divon;
for Mo’av’s destroyer advances on you;
he has destroyed your strongholds.
19 Stand by the road and watch,
inhabitant of ‘Aro‘er;
ask the man fleeing and the woman escaping,
“What is going on?”
20 Mo’av is disgraced, indeed, destroyed.
Wail aloud! Shriek!
Proclaim it by the Arnon
that Mo’av has been laid waste.
21 Judgment has come on the Plain — on Holon, Yachtzah, Mefa‘at, 22 Divon, N’vo, Beit-Diblatayim, 23 Kiryatayim, Beit-Gamul, Beit-M‘on, 24 K’riot, Botzrah and all the cities in the land of Mo’av, far and near.
25 “Mo’av’s strength is cut down,
his arm is broken,” says Adonai.
26 Because Mo’av boasted against Adonai, make him so drunk that he wallows in his own vomit and becomes a laughingstock. 27 After all, Isra’el was a laughingstock for you. He didn’t associate with thieves; nevertheless, whenever you spoke of him, you shook your head.
28 You who live in Mo’av,
leave the cities, and live on the rocks;
be like the dove who makes her nest
in a hole in the rock at the mouth of a cave.
29 We have heard of the pride of Mo’av:
so very proud he is! —
presumptuous, proud, conceited;
so haughty his heart!
30 “I know what meager ground he has
for his arrogance,” says Adonai.
“His boasting has nothing behind it,
and it hasn’t accomplished a thing.”
31 Therefore I wail for Mo’av;
for all Mo’av I cry;
for the people of Kir-Heres I lament.
32 I will weep for you, vineyard of Sivmah,
more than I wept for Ya‘zer.
Your branches spread to the sea,
reaching as far as the sea of Ya‘zer.
On your summer fruits and on your vintage
the destroyer has fallen.
33 Gladness and joy have been removed
from productive fields and the land of Mo’av.
“I have stopped the flow of wine from the vats
and the shouts of those who tread the grapes —
those shouts of joy are stilled.”
34 The cries from Heshbon to El‘aleh
are heard as far away as Yachatz;
those from Tzo‘ar to Horonayim
are heard in ‘Eglat-Shlishiyah;
for even the waters of Nimrim
have become a desolate waste.
35 “Moreover,” says Adonai,
“in Mo’av I will put an end
to anyone sacrificing on a high place
or offering incense to his gods.”
36 This is why my heart is moaning
for Mo’av like funeral flutes,
why my heart moans for the men
of Kir-Heres like funeral flutes;
for the wealth they produced has vanished.
37 Every head has been shaved bald,
every beard has been clipped short,
gashes are on every hand,
sackcloth around every waist.
38 On all the housetops of Mo’av
and in its open places —
lamentation everywhere!
“For I have broken Mo’av like a pot
that nobody wants,” says Adonai.
39 Wail, “How shattered is Mo’av!
How shamefully in retreat!”
Thus will Mo’av become an object
of ridicule and distress to all its neighbors.
40 For here is what Adonai says:
“Look! Down he swoops like a vulture,
spreading his wings against Mo’av —
41 the cities are captured, the strongholds are seized.
On that day the hearts of Mo’av’s warriors
will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
42 Mo’av will be destroyed as a people,
because he boasted against Adonai.
43 Terror, pit and trap are upon you,
people of Mo’av,” says Adonai.
44 “Whoever flees from the terror
will fall into the pit;
and he who climbs up out of the pit
will be caught in the trap.
For I will bring on her, on Mo’av,
the year for her punishment,” says Adonai.
45 “In the shadow of Heshbon
the fugitives stop, exhausted.
For fire breaks out from Heshbon,
a flame from inside Sichon,
consuming the sides and tops of the heads
of Mo’av’s noisy boasters.
46 Woe to you, Mo’av!
K’mosh’s people are doomed!
For your sons have been taken captive,
and your daughters led into captivity.
47 Yet I will end Mo’av’s exile
in the acharit-hayamim,” says Adonai.
This is the judgment on Mo’av.
49:1 Concerning the people of ‘Amon, here is what Adonai says:
“Has Isra’el no sons?
Has he no heir?
Then why has Malkam inherited Gad,
with his people settled in its cities?
2 Therefore,” says Adonai, “the days are coming
when I will sound the battle alarm
against Rabbah and the people of ‘Amon;
it will become a tel of ruins,
her villages burned to the ground.
Then Isra’el will inherit from them
who disinherited him,” says Adonai.
3 “Wail, Heshbon, for ‘Ai is doomed!
Cry out, daughters of Rabbah!
Wear sackcloth and mourn,
running here and there among the sheep pens.
For Malkam will go into exile,
together with his priests and officers.
4 Why do you take such pride in the valleys,
your well-watered valleys, rebellious daughter?
You trusted in your riches
and thought, ‘Who can attack me?’
5 I am bringing terror on you,”
says Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot, “from every side.
Each of you will be driven out headlong,
with no one to gather the fugitives.
6 But afterwards, I will bring back
the exiles of ‘Amon,” says Adonai.
7 Concerning Edom, this is what Adonai-Tzva’ot says:
“Is there no wisdom left in Teman?
Have her wise men forgotten how to counsel?
Has their wisdom vanished?
8 Flee! Turn back! Hide yourselves well,
you who live in D’dan;
for I am bringing calamity on ‘Esav,
when the time for me to punish him comes.
9 If grape-pickers came to you,
they would leave no grapes for gleaning.
If thieves came at night,
they would destroy until they were satisfied.
10 So I, for my part, have stripped ‘Esav bare,
I have exposed his hiding-places;
he will not be able to hide himself.
He is doomed — sons, brothers and neighbors —
so that he is no more.
11 Leave your orphans; I will keep them alive;
let your widows trust in me.”
12 For this is what Adonai says: “Those who do not deserve to drink from this cup will have to drink it anyway, so should you go unpunished? No, you will not go unpunished; you will certainly drink it. 13 For I have sworn by myself,” says Adonai, “that Botzrah will become a ruin and an object of astonishment, reproach and cursing; all its cities will be ruins forever.”
14 I have heard a message from Adonai:
“A messenger is sent among the nations, saying:
‘Gather together, and march against her!
Prepare for battle!’
15 Here! I will make you least among nations,
the most despised of people.
16 Your capacity to terrorize
has deceived you and made you arrogant.
You make your home in the rocky crags
and seize the top of the mountain;
but even if you build your nest high as an eagle’s,
from there I will drag you down,” says Adonai.
17 Edom will become an object of horror;
everyone passing by will whistle
in astonishment at all its disasters.
18 It will be like the overthrow of S’dom,
‘Amora and their neighboring towns,” says Adonai.
“No one will settle there any more,
no human being will live there again.
19 It will be like a lion coming up from the thickets
of the Yarden against a strong settlement:
in an instant I will chase him away
and appoint over it whomever I choose.
For who is like me? Who can call me to account?
What shepherd can stand up to me?”
20 So hear the plan of Adonai
that he has devised against Edom,
and his purpose that he will accomplish
against those who live in Teman:
the least of the flock will drag them away;
their own pasture will be in shock at them.
21 The earth quakes at the sound of their fall;
their cry can be heard at the Sea of Suf.
22 Like a vulture he will soar, swoop down
and spread out his wings against Botzrah.
On that day the hearts of Edom’s warriors
will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
23 Concerning Dammesek:
“Hamat and Arpad are confused;
having heard bad news, they dissolve in fear,
like the churning sea, which cannot calm itself.
24 Dammesek, weakened, turns to flee;
trembling has seized her;
anguish and pain take hold of her
like the pains of a woman in labor.
25 How can a city so praised be deserted,
a city that gave me such joy?
26 Therefore her young men will fall in her squares,
and all her warriors be silenced on that day,”
says Adonai-Tzva’ot.
27 “I will light a fire inside Dammesek’s walls
which will consume the palaces of Ben-Hadad.”
28 Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hatzor, which N’vukhadretzar king of Bavel struck, Adonai says:
“Set out! March against Kedar!
Plunder the people of the east!
29 They will seize their tents and their flocks,
their tent curtains and all their equipment;
their camels too they will take for themselves
and shout at them, ‘Terror in every direction!’
30 Flee! Leave your homes! Hide yourselves well,
you who live in Hatzor,” says Adonai;
“for N’vukhadretzar king of Bavel
has devised a plan against you;
he has formed a scheme against you.
31 Get up! March on a nation at ease,
that lives secure,” says Adonai.
“They have neither gates nor bars;
they live in isolation.
32 Their camels will be booty,
their many cattle a spoil.
I will scatter to the winds
those who shave the sides of their heads;
From every direction I will bring
their disaster on them,” says Adonai.
33 “Hatzor will be a place for jackals to live,
desolate forever;
no one will settle there any more,
no human being will live there again.”
34 This is the word of Adonai that came to Yirmeyahu the prophet concerning ‘Eilam at the beginning of the reign of Tzidkiyahu king of Y’hudah: 35 “Adonai-Tzva’ot says:
‘I will break ‘Eilam’s bow,
the mainstay of their might.
36 I will bring against ‘Eilam the four winds
from the four quarters of the sky
and scatter them to all those winds.
There will not be one nation to which
the dispersed of ‘Eilam will not come.
37 I will break ‘Eilam before their foes,
before those who seek their lives;
I will bring disaster on them,
my burning anger,’ says Adonai.
‘I will send the sword to pursue them
until I have finished them off.
38 I will put my throne in ‘Eilam
and destroy their king and leaders,’ says Adonai.
39 ‘But in the acharit-hayamim,
I will bring back the exiles of ‘Eilam,’ says Adonai.”
Hebrews 7:1 This Malki-Tzedek, king of Shalem, a cohen of God Ha‘Elyon, met Avraham on his way back from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him; 2 also Avraham gave him a tenth of everything.[Hebrews 7:2 Genesis 14:17–20]
Now first of all, by translation of his name, he is “king of righteousness”; and then he is also king of Shalem, which means “king of peace.”
3 There is no record of his father, mother, ancestry, birth or death; rather, like the Son of God, he continues as a cohen for all time.
4 Just think how great he was! Even the Patriarch Avraham gave him a tenth of the choicest spoils. 5 Now the descendants of Levi who became cohanim have a commandment in the Torah to take a tenth of the income of the people, that is, from their own brothers, despite the fact that they too are descended from Avraham. 6 But Malki-Tzedek, even though he was not descended from Levi, took a tenth from Avraham.
Also, he blessed Avraham, the man who received God’s promises; 7 and it is beyond all dispute that the one who blesses has higher status than the one who receives the blessing.
8 Moreover, in the case of the cohanim, the tenth is received by men who die; while in the case of Malki-Tzedek, it is received by someone who is testified to be still alive.
9 One might go even further and say that Levi, who himself receives tenths, paid a tenth through Avraham; 10 inasmuch as he was still in his ancestor Avraham’s body when Malki-Tzedek met him.
11 Therefore, if it had been possible to reach the goal through the system of cohanim derived from Levi (since in connection with it, the people were given the Torah), what need would there have been for another, different kind of cohen, the one spoken of as to be compared with Malki-Tzedek and not to be compared with Aharon? 12 For if the system of cohanim is transformed, there must of necessity occur a transformation of Torah. 13 The one about whom these things are said belongs to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar; 14 for everyone knows that our Lord arose out of Y’hudah, and that Moshe said nothing about this tribe when he spoke about cohanim.
15 It becomes even clearer if a “different kind of cohen,” one like Malki-Tzedek, arises, 16 one who became a cohen not by virtue of a rule in the Torah concerning physical descent, but by virtue of the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is stated,
“You are a cohen FOREVER,
to be compared with Malki-Tzedek.”[Hebrews 7:17 Psalm 110:4]
18 Thus, on the one hand, the earlier rule is set aside because of its weakness and inefficacy 19 (for the Torah did not bring anything to the goal); and, on the other hand, a hope of something better is introduced, through which we are drawing near to God.
20 What is more, God swore an oath. For no oath was sworn in connection with those who become cohanim now; 21 but Yeshua became a cohen by the oath which God swore when he said to him,
“Adonai has sworn and will not change his mind,
‘You are a cohen forever.’”[Hebrews 7:21 Psalm 110:4]
22 Also this shows how much better is the covenant of which Yeshua has become guarantor.
23 Moreover, the present cohanim are many in number, because they are prevented by death from continuing in office. 24 But because he lives forever, his position as cohen does not pass on to someone else; 25 and consequently, he is totally able to deliver those who approach God through him; since he is alive forever and thus forever able to intercede on their behalf.
26 This is the kind of cohen gadol that meets our need — holy, without evil, without stain, set apart from sinners and raised higher than the heavens; 27 one who does not have the daily necessity, like the other cohanim g’dolim, of offering up sacrifices first for their own sins and only then for those of the people; because he offered one sacrifice, once and for all, by offering up himself. 28 For the Torah appoints as cohanim g’dolim men who have weakness; but the text which speaks about the swearing of the oath, a text written later than the Torah, appoints a Son who has been brought to the goal forever.
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After sanctification it is difficult to state what your aim in life is, because God has taken you up into His purpose by the Holy Ghost. He is using you now for His purposes throughout the world as He used His Son for the purpose of our salvation. If you seek great things for yourself— “God has called me for this and that,” you are putting a barrier to God’s use of you. As long as you have a personal interest in your own character, or any set ambition, you cannot get through into identification with God’s interests. You can only get there by losing for ever any idea of yourself and by letting God take you right out into His purpose for the world, and because your goings are of the Lord, you can never understand your ways.
I have to learn that the aim in life is God’s, not mine. God is using me from His great personal standpoint, and all He asks of me is that I trust Him, and never say— “Lord, this gives me such heartache.” To talk in that way makes me a clog. When I stop telling God what I want, He can catch me up for what He wants without let or hindrance.* He can crumple me up or exalt me, He can do anything He chooses. He simply asks me to have implicit faith in Himself and in His goodness. Self pity is of the devil; if I go off on that line I cannot be used by God for His purpose in the world. I have “a world within the world” in which I live, and God will never be able to get me outside it because I am afraid of being frost-bitten. *without let or hindrance: legal phrase meaning “without obstacle or impediment.” (From My Utmost for His Highest Classic Edition)
Bible in One Year: Jeremiah 48-49; Hebrews 7Jeremiah 48:1 Concerning Mo’av, this is what Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says:
“Woe to N’vo, for it is ravaged;
Kiryatayim disgraced and captured.
Misgav is put to shame, distressed.
2 “In Mo’av, nothing is left to praise.
At Heshbon they plotted her downfall:
‘Come, we’ll cut her off as a nation.’
You too, Madmein, will be silenced;
the sword pursues behind you.
3 An agonized cry from Horonayim,
ruin, terrible devastation!
4 Mo’av has been shattered;
the cries of her young ones are heard,
5 as they ascend the slopes of Luchit,
weeping bitterly as they climb.
On the road down to Horonayim
shrieks of destruction ring out.”
6 Flee! Save your lives!
Be strong, like a tamarisk in the desert.
7 Because you trust in your deeds and your wealth,
you too will be captured.
Together with his priests and princes,
K’mosh will go into exile.
8 A destroyer will descend on every city,
no city will escape.
The valley too will perish,
the plain will be laid waste,
as Adonai as said.
9 Give Mo’av wings,
so it can fly and get away.
Its cities will become ruins,
with no one to live in them.
10 A curse on him who does the work
of Adonai carelessly!
A curse on him who withholds his sword
from blood!
11 Mo’av has lived at ease from his youth;
he is [wine] settled on its dregs,
not decanted from jar to jar —
he has not gone into exile.
Therefore it retains its own [bad] taste,
its aroma remains unchanged.
12 “So the days are coming,” says Adonai, “when I will send people to tilt him; they will tilt his jars, emptying them and shattering the wine-flasks to pieces. 13 Mo’av will be disappointed by K’mosh then, just as the house of Isra’el was disappointed by Beit-El, a god in whom they had put their trust.
14 “How can you say, ‘We are heroes,
warriors valiant in battle’?
15 They are ravaging Mo’av, attacking its cities;
its best young men go down to be slaughtered,”
says the king, whose name is Adonai-Tzva’ot.
16 Mo’av’s ruin is coming soon,
its disaster speeds on swiftly.
17 Pity him, all of you who are near him,
all of you who know his name;
say, “How the mighty scepter is shattered,
that splendid staff!”
18 Descend from your glory, and sit in thirst,
daughter living in Divon;
for Mo’av’s destroyer advances on you;
he has destroyed your strongholds.
19 Stand by the road and watch,
inhabitant of ‘Aro‘er;
ask the man fleeing and the woman escaping,
“What is going on?”
20 Mo’av is disgraced, indeed, destroyed.
Wail aloud! Shriek!
Proclaim it by the Arnon
that Mo’av has been laid waste.
21 Judgment has come on the Plain — on Holon, Yachtzah, Mefa‘at, 22 Divon, N’vo, Beit-Diblatayim, 23 Kiryatayim, Beit-Gamul, Beit-M‘on, 24 K’riot, Botzrah and all the cities in the land of Mo’av, far and near.
25 “Mo’av’s strength is cut down,
his arm is broken,” says Adonai.
26 Because Mo’av boasted against Adonai, make him so drunk that he wallows in his own vomit and becomes a laughingstock. 27 After all, Isra’el was a laughingstock for you. He didn’t associate with thieves; nevertheless, whenever you spoke of him, you shook your head.
28 You who live in Mo’av,
leave the cities, and live on the rocks;
be like the dove who makes her nest
in a hole in the rock at the mouth of a cave.
29 We have heard of the pride of Mo’av:
so very proud he is! —
presumptuous, proud, conceited;
so haughty his heart!
30 “I know what meager ground he has
for his arrogance,” says Adonai.
“His boasting has nothing behind it,
and it hasn’t accomplished a thing.”
31 Therefore I wail for Mo’av;
for all Mo’av I cry;
for the people of Kir-Heres I lament.
32 I will weep for you, vineyard of Sivmah,
more than I wept for Ya‘zer.
Your branches spread to the sea,
reaching as far as the sea of Ya‘zer.
On your summer fruits and on your vintage
the destroyer has fallen.
33 Gladness and joy have been removed
from productive fields and the land of Mo’av.
“I have stopped the flow of wine from the vats
and the shouts of those who tread the grapes —
those shouts of joy are stilled.”
34 The cries from Heshbon to El‘aleh
are heard as far away as Yachatz;
those from Tzo‘ar to Horonayim
are heard in ‘Eglat-Shlishiyah;
for even the waters of Nimrim
have become a desolate waste.
35 “Moreover,” says Adonai,
“in Mo’av I will put an end
to anyone sacrificing on a high place
or offering incense to his gods.”
36 This is why my heart is moaning
for Mo’av like funeral flutes,
why my heart moans for the men
of Kir-Heres like funeral flutes;
for the wealth they produced has vanished.
37 Every head has been shaved bald,
every beard has been clipped short,
gashes are on every hand,
sackcloth around every waist.
38 On all the housetops of Mo’av
and in its open places —
lamentation everywhere!
“For I have broken Mo’av like a pot
that nobody wants,” says Adonai.
39 Wail, “How shattered is Mo’av!
How shamefully in retreat!”
Thus will Mo’av become an object
of ridicule and distress to all its neighbors.
40 For here is what Adonai says:
“Look! Down he swoops like a vulture,
spreading his wings against Mo’av —
41 the cities are captured, the strongholds are seized.
On that day the hearts of Mo’av’s warriors
will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
42 Mo’av will be destroyed as a people,
because he boasted against Adonai.
43 Terror, pit and trap are upon you,
people of Mo’av,” says Adonai.
44 “Whoever flees from the terror
will fall into the pit;
and he who climbs up out of the pit
will be caught in the trap.
For I will bring on her, on Mo’av,
the year for her punishment,” says Adonai.
45 “In the shadow of Heshbon
the fugitives stop, exhausted.
For fire breaks out from Heshbon,
a flame from inside Sichon,
consuming the sides and tops of the heads
of Mo’av’s noisy boasters.
46 Woe to you, Mo’av!
K’mosh’s people are doomed!
For your sons have been taken captive,
and your daughters led into captivity.
47 Yet I will end Mo’av’s exile
in the acharit-hayamim,” says Adonai.
This is the judgment on Mo’av.
49:1 Concerning the people of ‘Amon, here is what Adonai says:
“Has Isra’el no sons?
Has he no heir?
Then why has Malkam inherited Gad,
with his people settled in its cities?
2 Therefore,” says Adonai, “the days are coming
when I will sound the battle alarm
against Rabbah and the people of ‘Amon;
it will become a tel of ruins,
her villages burned to the ground.
Then Isra’el will inherit from them
who disinherited him,” says Adonai.
3 “Wail, Heshbon, for ‘Ai is doomed!
Cry out, daughters of Rabbah!
Wear sackcloth and mourn,
running here and there among the sheep pens.
For Malkam will go into exile,
together with his priests and officers.
4 Why do you take such pride in the valleys,
your well-watered valleys, rebellious daughter?
You trusted in your riches
and thought, ‘Who can attack me?’
5 I am bringing terror on you,”
says Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot, “from every side.
Each of you will be driven out headlong,
with no one to gather the fugitives.
6 But afterwards, I will bring back
the exiles of ‘Amon,” says Adonai.
7 Concerning Edom, this is what Adonai-Tzva’ot says:
“Is there no wisdom left in Teman?
Have her wise men forgotten how to counsel?
Has their wisdom vanished?
8 Flee! Turn back! Hide yourselves well,
you who live in D’dan;
for I am bringing calamity on ‘Esav,
when the time for me to punish him comes.
9 If grape-pickers came to you,
they would leave no grapes for gleaning.
If thieves came at night,
they would destroy until they were satisfied.
10 So I, for my part, have stripped ‘Esav bare,
I have exposed his hiding-places;
he will not be able to hide himself.
He is doomed — sons, brothers and neighbors —
so that he is no more.
11 Leave your orphans; I will keep them alive;
let your widows trust in me.”
12 For this is what Adonai says: “Those who do not deserve to drink from this cup will have to drink it anyway, so should you go unpunished? No, you will not go unpunished; you will certainly drink it. 13 For I have sworn by myself,” says Adonai, “that Botzrah will become a ruin and an object of astonishment, reproach and cursing; all its cities will be ruins forever.”
14 I have heard a message from Adonai:
“A messenger is sent among the nations, saying:
‘Gather together, and march against her!
Prepare for battle!’
15 Here! I will make you least among nations,
the most despised of people.
16 Your capacity to terrorize
has deceived you and made you arrogant.
You make your home in the rocky crags
and seize the top of the mountain;
but even if you build your nest high as an eagle’s,
from there I will drag you down,” says Adonai.
17 Edom will become an object of horror;
everyone passing by will whistle
in astonishment at all its disasters.
18 It will be like the overthrow of S’dom,
‘Amora and their neighboring towns,” says Adonai.
“No one will settle there any more,
no human being will live there again.
19 It will be like a lion coming up from the thickets
of the Yarden against a strong settlement:
in an instant I will chase him away
and appoint over it whomever I choose.
For who is like me? Who can call me to account?
What shepherd can stand up to me?”
20 So hear the plan of Adonai
that he has devised against Edom,
and his purpose that he will accomplish
against those who live in Teman:
the least of the flock will drag them away;
their own pasture will be in shock at them.
21 The earth quakes at the sound of their fall;
their cry can be heard at the Sea of Suf.
22 Like a vulture he will soar, swoop down
and spread out his wings against Botzrah.
On that day the hearts of Edom’s warriors
will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
23 Concerning Dammesek:
“Hamat and Arpad are confused;
having heard bad news, they dissolve in fear,
like the churning sea, which cannot calm itself.
24 Dammesek, weakened, turns to flee;
trembling has seized her;
anguish and pain take hold of her
like the pains of a woman in labor.
25 How can a city so praised be deserted,
a city that gave me such joy?
26 Therefore her young men will fall in her squares,
and all her warriors be silenced on that day,”
says Adonai-Tzva’ot.
27 “I will light a fire inside Dammesek’s walls
which will consume the palaces of Ben-Hadad.”
28 Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hatzor, which N’vukhadretzar king of Bavel struck, Adonai says:
“Set out! March against Kedar!
Plunder the people of the east!
29 They will seize their tents and their flocks,
their tent curtains and all their equipment;
their camels too they will take for themselves
and shout at them, ‘Terror in every direction!’
30 Flee! Leave your homes! Hide yourselves well,
you who live in Hatzor,” says Adonai;
“for N’vukhadretzar king of Bavel
has devised a plan against you;
he has formed a scheme against you.
31 Get up! March on a nation at ease,
that lives secure,” says Adonai.
“They have neither gates nor bars;
they live in isolation.
32 Their camels will be booty,
their many cattle a spoil.
I will scatter to the winds
those who shave the sides of their heads;
From every direction I will bring
their disaster on them,” says Adonai.
33 “Hatzor will be a place for jackals to live,
desolate forever;
no one will settle there any more,
no human being will live there again.”
34 This is the word of Adonai that came to Yirmeyahu the prophet concerning ‘Eilam at the beginning of the reign of Tzidkiyahu king of Y’hudah: 35 “Adonai-Tzva’ot says:
‘I will break ‘Eilam’s bow,
the mainstay of their might.
36 I will bring against ‘Eilam the four winds
from the four quarters of the sky
and scatter them to all those winds.
There will not be one nation to which
the dispersed of ‘Eilam will not come.
37 I will break ‘Eilam before their foes,
before those who seek their lives;
I will bring disaster on them,
my burning anger,’ says Adonai.
‘I will send the sword to pursue them
until I have finished them off.
38 I will put my throne in ‘Eilam
and destroy their king and leaders,’ says Adonai.
39 ‘But in the acharit-hayamim,
I will bring back the exiles of ‘Eilam,’ says Adonai.”
Hebrews 7:1 This Malki-Tzedek, king of Shalem, a cohen of God Ha‘Elyon, met Avraham on his way back from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him; 2 also Avraham gave him a tenth of everything.[Hebrews 7:2 Genesis 14:17–20]
Now first of all, by translation of his name, he is “king of righteousness”; and then he is also king of Shalem, which means “king of peace.”
3 There is no record of his father, mother, ancestry, birth or death; rather, like the Son of God, he continues as a cohen for all time.
4 Just think how great he was! Even the Patriarch Avraham gave him a tenth of the choicest spoils. 5 Now the descendants of Levi who became cohanim have a commandment in the Torah to take a tenth of the income of the people, that is, from their own brothers, despite the fact that they too are descended from Avraham. 6 But Malki-Tzedek, even though he was not descended from Levi, took a tenth from Avraham.
Also, he blessed Avraham, the man who received God’s promises; 7 and it is beyond all dispute that the one who blesses has higher status than the one who receives the blessing.
8 Moreover, in the case of the cohanim, the tenth is received by men who die; while in the case of Malki-Tzedek, it is received by someone who is testified to be still alive.
9 One might go even further and say that Levi, who himself receives tenths, paid a tenth through Avraham; 10 inasmuch as he was still in his ancestor Avraham’s body when Malki-Tzedek met him.
11 Therefore, if it had been possible to reach the goal through the system of cohanim derived from Levi (since in connection with it, the people were given the Torah), what need would there have been for another, different kind of cohen, the one spoken of as to be compared with Malki-Tzedek and not to be compared with Aharon? 12 For if the system of cohanim is transformed, there must of necessity occur a transformation of Torah. 13 The one about whom these things are said belongs to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar; 14 for everyone knows that our Lord arose out of Y’hudah, and that Moshe said nothing about this tribe when he spoke about cohanim.
15 It becomes even clearer if a “different kind of cohen,” one like Malki-Tzedek, arises, 16 one who became a cohen not by virtue of a rule in the Torah concerning physical descent, but by virtue of the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is stated,
“You are a cohen FOREVER,
to be compared with Malki-Tzedek.”[Hebrews 7:17 Psalm 110:4]
18 Thus, on the one hand, the earlier rule is set aside because of its weakness and inefficacy 19 (for the Torah did not bring anything to the goal); and, on the other hand, a hope of something better is introduced, through which we are drawing near to God.
20 What is more, God swore an oath. For no oath was sworn in connection with those who become cohanim now; 21 but Yeshua became a cohen by the oath which God swore when he said to him,
“Adonai has sworn and will not change his mind,
‘You are a cohen forever.’”[Hebrews 7:21 Psalm 110:4]
22 Also this shows how much better is the covenant of which Yeshua has become guarantor.
23 Moreover, the present cohanim are many in number, because they are prevented by death from continuing in office. 24 But because he lives forever, his position as cohen does not pass on to someone else; 25 and consequently, he is totally able to deliver those who approach God through him; since he is alive forever and thus forever able to intercede on their behalf.
26 This is the kind of cohen gadol that meets our need — holy, without evil, without stain, set apart from sinners and raised higher than the heavens; 27 one who does not have the daily necessity, like the other cohanim g’dolim, of offering up sacrifices first for their own sins and only then for those of the people; because he offered one sacrifice, once and for all, by offering up himself. 28 For the Torah appoints as cohanim g’dolim men who have weakness; but the text which speaks about the swearing of the oath, a text written later than the Torah, appoints a Son who has been brought to the goal forever.
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WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are only what we are in the dark; all the rest is reputation. What God looks at is what we are in the dark—the imaginations of our minds; the thoughts of our heart; the habits of our bodies; these are the things that mark us in God’s sight. (from The Love of God—The Ministry of the Unnoticed, 669 L)
We are only what we are in the dark; all the rest is reputation. What God looks at is what we are in the dark—the imaginations of our minds; the thoughts of our heart; the habits of our bodies; these are the things that mark us in God’s sight. (from The Love of God—The Ministry of the Unnoticed, 669 L)
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