Search, Study, Show*

I am convinced that we are living in the time of the coming of our Lord. I pray that the church is prepared. Second Timothy says, "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness." (2 Tim. 2:15-16). If we don't know the Word of God, then all else is profane babblings that lead to ungodliness. The Word and voice of God and Christ impact our everlasting life. Jesus said, "...he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life...The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live...for the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." (Jn. 5:24-29, excerpt). Jesus told His listeners strongly that they did not have the Father's Word abinding in them because they did not believe the one that the Father had sent to them, Himself. He said, "Searh the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." (v. 38-39). Jesus said that Moses would accuse them, because his writings testify of Jesus, whom they refused to believe. Jesus observed a truth about them. He said that while they wouldn't believe or accept one, such as Himself, sent from God, and of whom God has testified, they would receive any other man who testifies of himself, rather than of Christ or the Father (v. 43-47). Today also, many reject God and His Word, but believe anything man tells them. The Prophet Zephaniah received the Word of the LORD concerning the corruption and shamelessness of Jerusalem. He called it filthy, polluted, an oppressive city and unashamed (Zeph. 3). He wrote, "She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the LORD; she drew not near to her God (v. 2). Her princes, her judges, and her prophets were unjust and treacherous. Of those who served in the house of the LORD, God said, "...her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law." (v. 3-4). Anyone searching and studying the scriptures would also have seen the serious consequences brought to Judah because of their worship of the false god, Baal: "And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I have commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin." (
Jer. 32:35). Many of our own children have been offered to this false god as well, as abortion became the law of the land almost fifty years ago. Regarding this offering of children in Judah at the time of the prophet, the LORD called it an abomination that He never imagined, and that the sin weighed against the whole nation. However, after the LORD's prophecy of a judgment of desolation for their corruption, and refusal to hear the voice of the LORD, the LORD brought this promise to Judah also: "For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent." (v. 9). We will see more about the restoration of the Hebrew language later. Zephaniah also prophesied the command of the LORD to the daughter of Zion and the daughter of Jerusalem to sing, be glad and rejoice with all their heart, because the LORD, the king of Israel, promised to restore Israel, and dwell within her midst: "...thou shalt not see evil any more...The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing...At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all the people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the LORD." (v. 14-20). We have seen Israel restored as a nation after almost 2,000 years. The world would have never expected the nation of Israel to rise again from the ashes of history, but for those who searched and studied the scriptures, they knew that the prophets made clear the intention of the LORD to do so. Also the Hebrew language, the pure language, has been restored as prophesied by Zephaniah. Hebrew is the only language that has been brought back from the dead. For those who study the scriptures, looking into the original Hebrew word meanings, and even the meanings of the individual Hebrew letters as well, offers a wealth of understanding into the depth of the Word of God. The prophet Jeremiah also prophesied the restoration and revival of Israel, as Zephaniah did, even while the Babylonian army was at the wall of Jerusalem. The LORD said, "Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built..For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the LORD our God." (Jer. 31:4-6). The individual Hebrew letters that make up the word "mount" used above are beth and reysh, which have the meaning when combined "the revelation of the Highest". The individual Hebrew letters used in the name Ephraim combine to mean, "The Head, or Adonai, is the beginning, the mouth that opens the door to the cross". This is the revelation of the Highest found in the phrase "mount Ephraim" in these verses above. In this revelation the LORD also said, "I will surely have mercy upon him" (Ephraim my dear son). Not only does the LORD promise to restore Israel, but to also establish a new covenant with them: "Behold the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers...which my covenant they brake, although I was a husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people." (Jer. 31:31-33). The written Word was to become a living, inward work in us, to become part of our substance. Also, as part of this new covenant the LORD prophesied through Jeremiah, "And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, , from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." (v. 34). Again we see the results of the new covenant, which was accomplished by the blood of Jesus, in the forgiveness of our iniquity and the forgetting of our sins. Again a Word of comfort and hope went forth from the LORD to His people: "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD's hand double for all her sins." (Ia. 40:1-2). The LORD's Word is not finished with Israel, but here promises to bring them to a new level of comfort, completion and peace in Him. This weekend the Second Passover took place, as allowed in scripture, for those who were unable to participate in last month's Passover because they were defiled or a journey away. God gives a second chance to come to His table for those who have been defiled, or have found themselves far away from God and our Passover Lamb, Jesus. This weekend we are also seeing another unusual sign involving a blood moon lunar eclipse. As a prophesied part of the new covenant, the Word is meant to dwell in our inward parts, and in our hearts. It is time for the church to search, study and show forth the Word of God. *Based on Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 5/15/2022 message to the church. To contact us, submit a prayer request, give a praise report, or to support this ministry: P.O. Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705 OR Everlastingcovenant@ymail.com. 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