(Genesis 2:1–3; Exodus 16:22–30)
For we also received the good news
just as they did;
but the message they heard
was of no value to them,
since they did not
share the faith of those who comprehended it.
Now we who have believed
enter that rest
As for the others,
it is just as God has said:
“So I swore on oath in My anger,
‘They shall never enter My rest.’”
And yet His works have been finished since the foundation of the world. 4For somewhere He has spoken about the seventh day in this manner: “And on the seventh day God rested from all His works.”c 5And again, as He says in the passage above: “They shall never enter My rest.”
6Since, then, it remains for some to enter His rest, and since those who formerly heard the good news did not enter because of their disobedience, 7God again designated a certain day as “Today,” when a long time later He spoke through David as was just stated: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.”d
8For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9There remains, then, a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10For whoever enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from His.11Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following the same pattern of disobedience.
The Living Word
(2 Timothy 3:10–17)
12For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
14Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we profess. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin.
Let us then approach
the throne
of grace with confidence,
so that we may receive
mercy
and find grace to help us in
our time of need.
Most versions of the Bible do not attempt to translate selah but simply transliterate
the word straight from the Hebrew.
The Septuagint translated the word as “daplasma” (“a division”). Well-meaning Bible scholars disagree on the definition of selah and on its root word, but since
God has ordained that it be included
in His Word,
we should make an effort
to find out, as best we can, the meaning.
One possible Hebrew word related to selah is calah, which means “to hang” or “to measure or weigh in the balances.” Referring to wisdom, Job says, “The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold” (Job 28:19). The word translated “valued” in this verse is the Hebrew calah. Here Job is saying that wisdom is beyond comparing against even jewels, and when weighed in the balance against wisdom, the finest jewels cannot equal its value.
Selah is also thought to be rendered from two
Hebrew words: s_lah, “to praise”; and s_lal, “to lift up.”
Another commentator believes it comes from salah, “to pause.” From salah comes the belief that selah is a musical notation signifying a rest to the singers and/or instrumentalists who performed the psalms. If this is true, then each time selah appears in a psalm, the musicians paused, perhaps to take a breath, to sing a cappella, or to let the instruments play alone. Perhaps they were pausing to praise the One about whom the song was speaking, perhaps even lifting their hands in worship. This theory would encompass all these meanings—“praise,” “lift up,” and “pause.” When we consider the three verses in Habakkuk, we also see how selah could mean “to pause and praise.” Habakkuk’s prayer in chapter 3 inspires the reader to pause and praise God for His mercy, power, sustaining grace, and sufficiency.
Perhaps the best way to think of selah is a combination of all these meanings. The Amplified Bible adds “pause and calmly think about that” to each verse where selah appears. When we see the word selah in a psalm or in Habakkuk 3, we should pause to carefully weigh the meaning of what we have just read or heard,
lifting up
our hearts in praise to God for
His great truths.
“All the earth bows down to you; they
sing praise to you,
they sing
the praises of your name. Selah!”
(Psalm 66:4).
Multiple writers of psalms used the maskil form, including David (Psalms 32, 52—55, and 142), the sons of Korah (Psalms 42, 44—45), Asaph (Psalms 74 and 78), Heman the Ezrahite (Psalm 88), and Ethan the Ezrahite (Psalm 89). A couple of the maskils specify that they were to be performed with “stringed instruments” (Psalm 54:1; 55:1). It’s been suggested that, since maskils were written for instruction and meditation, the songs were sung as a form of teaching in the tabernacle and temple.
Although the exact meaning of maskil is unknown, its use in the book of Psalms highlights the fact that different psalms were written in different styles, for different purposes. Other literary and musical terms, such as selah, higgaion, and michtam, in the largest book in the Bible show how God values songs and the truths they impart.
The LORD’s Response to Solomon
(1 Kings 9:1–9)
11When Solomon had finished the house of the LORD and the royal palace, successfully carrying out all that was in his heart to do for the house of the LORD and for his own palace, 12the LORD appeared to him at night and said to him:
“I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. 13If I close the sky so there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send a plague among My people,14and if My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.
15Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16For I have now chosen and consecrated this temple so that My Name may be there forever. My eyes and My heart will be there for all time.
17And as for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, doing all I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and ordinances, 18then I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with your father David when I said, ‘You will never fail to have a man to rule over Israel.’
19But if you turn away and forsake the statutes and commandments I have set before you, and if you go off to serve and worship other gods,20then I will uproot Israel from the soil I have given them, and I will banish from My presence this temple I have sanctified for My Name. I will make it an object of scorn and ridicule among all the peoples.
21And when this temple has become a heap of rubble,b all who pass by it will be appalled and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ 22And others will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—because of this, He has brought all this disaster upon them.’”
A Warning against Pride
What causes conflicts and quarrels
among you?
Don’t they come from the passions at war
within you?
You crave what you do not have; you kill and covet,
but are unable to obtain it.
You quarrel and fight.
You do not have, because you do not ask.
And when you do ask, you do not receive, because
you ask with wrong motives,
that you may squander it on your pleasures.
You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God. Or do you think the Scripture says without reason that the Spirit He caused to dwell in us yearns with envy? But He gives us more grace.
This is why it says:
“God opposes the proud,
but gives
grace to the humble.”
Drawing Near to God
7Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.8Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom. 10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.
11Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. And if you judge the law, you are not a practitioner of the law, but a judge of it. 12There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
Do Not Boast about Tomorrow
(Proverbs 27:1)
Come now, you who say,
“Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city,
spend a year there,
carry on business, and make a profit.”
You do not even know what will happen tomorrow!
What is your life?
You are a mist that appears for a little while
and then vanishes.
Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that.”
As it is, you boast in your proud intentions. All such boasting is evil.
Anyone, then,
who knows
the right thing
to do,
yet fails to do it,
is guilty of sin
The Earthly Tabernacle
(Exodus 40:1–33; Acts 7:44–47)
Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. A tabernacle was prepared. In its first room were the lampstand, the table, and the consecrated bread. This was called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place, containing the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. Inside the ark were the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant.
Above the ark were the cherubim
of glory,
overshadowing the mercy seat.
But we cannot
discuss these things in detail now.
When everything had been prepared in this way, the priests entered regularly into the first room to perform their sacred duties. But only the high priest entered the second room, and then only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.
By this arrangement the Holy Spirit
was showing
that the way into the Most Holy Place
had not yet been disclosed
as long as the first tabernacle
was still standing.
It is an illustration for the present time, because the gifts and sacrifices being offered were unable to cleanse the conscience of the worshiper.
They consist only in food and drink and special washings—external regulations imposed until the time of reform.
Redemption through His Blood
But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that have come, He went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made by hands and is not a part of this creation. He did not enter by the blood of goats and calves, but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, thus securing eternal redemption.
For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that their bodies are clean, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, purify our consciences from works of death, so that we may serve the living God!
Therefore Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, now that He has died to redeem them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
In the case of a will, it is necessary to establish the death of the one who made it, because a will does not take effect until the one who made it has died; it cannot be executed while he is still alive.
That is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. For when Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.”
In the same way, he sprinkled with blood the tabernacle and all the vessels used in worship. According to the law, in fact, nearly everything must be purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
So it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a man-made copy of the true sanctuary, but He entered heaven itself, now to appear on our behalf in the presence of God.
Nor did He enter heaven to offer Himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, Christ would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But now He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment, so also Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him.
Moses at the Burning Bush
(Acts 7:30–38)
Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from within a bush. Moses saw the bush ablaze with fire, but it was not consumed. So Moses thought, “I must go over and see this marvelous sight. Why is the bush not burning up?”
When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called out to him from within the bush,
“Moses, Moses!”
“Here I am,” he answered.
“Do not come any closer,” God said. “
Take off your sandals,
for the
place where you are standing
is holy ground.”
Then He said,
“I am the God of your father, the
God of Abraham,
the
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
At this,
Moses hid his face, for
he was
afraid to look at God.
The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the affliction of My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I am aware of their sufferings. I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
And now the cry of the Israelites has reached Me,
and I have seen
how severely the Egyptians are oppressing them.
Therefore, go! I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring My people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
But Moses asked God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
“I will surely be with you,”
God said, “and this will be the sign to you that
I have sent you:
When you have brought the people
out of Egypt,
all of you will worship God on this mountain.”
Then Moses asked God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘
The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me,
‘What is His name?’ What should I tell them?”
God said to Moses,
“I AM WHO I AM
This is what you are to say to the Israelites:
‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
God also told Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered in every generation.
Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—has appeared to me and said: I have surely attended to you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt.
And I have promised to bring you up out of your affliction in Egypt, into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’
The elders of Israel will listen to what you say, and you must go with them to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.’
But I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go unless a mighty hand compels him.
So I will stretch out My hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders I will perform among them. And after that, he will release you.
And I will grant this people such favor in the sight of the Egyptians that when you leave, you will not go away empty-handed.
Every woman shall ask her neighbor and any woman staying in her house for silver and gold jewelry and clothing, and you will put them on your sons and daughters. So you will plunder the Egyptians.”
The Rebellion of Israel
(Exodus 32:1–35; Deuteronomy 9:7–29; Amos 5:16–27)
But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. They said to Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us! As for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’
At that time they made a calf and offered a sacrifice to the idol, rejoicing in the works of their hands. But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:
‘Did you bring Me sacrifices and offerings
forty years in the wilderness,
O house of Israel?
You have taken along the tabernacle of Molech
and the star of your god Rephan,
the idols you made to worship.
Therefore I will send you into exile
beyond Babylon.’
The Tabernacle of the Testimony
(Exodus 40:1–33; Hebrews 9:1–10)
Our fathers had the tabernacle of the Testimony with them in the wilderness. It was constructed exactly as God had directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. And our fathers who received it brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations God drove out before them. It remained until the time of David, who found favor in the sight of God and asked to provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.
But it was Solomon who built the house for Him.
However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:
‘Heaven is My throne
and the earth is My footstool.
What kind of house will you build for Me,
says the Lord,
or where will My place of repose be?
Has not
My hand made all these things?’
You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did. Which of the prophets did your fathers fail to persecute? They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One. And now you are His betrayers and murderers— you who received the law ordained by angels, yet have not kept it.”
Hosea’s Wife and Children
This is the word of the LORD that came to Hosea son of Beer in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and of Jeroboam son of Jehoash, king of Israel.
When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, He told him, “Go, take a prostitute as your wife and have children of adultery, because this land is flagrantly prostituting itself by departing from the LORD.”
So Hosea went and married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
Then the LORD said to Hosea, “Name him Jezreel, for soon I will bring the bloodshed of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel.
And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.”
Gomer again conceived and gave birth to a daughter, and the LORD said to Hosea,
“Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel, that I should ever forgive them. Yet I will have compassion on the house of Judah, and I will save them—not by bow or sword or war, not by horses and cavalry, but by the LORD their God.”
After she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, Gomer conceived and gave birth to a son. And the LORD said, “Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people, and I am not your God.
Yet the number of the Israelites will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted. And it will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’
Then the people of Judah and of Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint for themselves one leader, and will go up out of the land. For great will be the day of Jezreel.
The phrase hosanna in the highest appears only twice in the Bible, once in Matthew and again in Mark, during the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.
The people were crowded around the gate watching Jesus enter the city, and they were celebrating and calling out, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
(Matthew 21:9, ESV). Mark 11:10
records the crowd saying, “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” (ESV). The NIV translates their shout as
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
The word hosanna comes from a Hebrew word meaning “save now” or “save us, we pray.” The first word of Psalm 118:25 is howosiah-na, translated “Save us!” and the crowd’s use of this word at the triumphal entry was significant—especially as they waved palm branches (Psalm 118 was associated with the Feast of Tabernacles). By saying “hosanna” as Jesus passed through the gates of Jerusalem and referring to David and David’s kingdom, the Jews were acknowledging Jesus as their Messiah. The Jews had been waiting a long time for the fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7; 1 Chronicles 17:11–14; 2 Chronicles 6:16), and their shouts of “hosanna in the highest” indicated the hope that their Messiah had finally come to set up God’s kingdom then and there (see Luke 19:11).
By saying “in the highest,” the crowd was invoking heaven’s blessing on them and the salvation that the Messiah was bringing. The phrase also echoes the song of the angels in Luke 2:14:
“Glory to God in the highest”
(ESV).
To paraphrase the shouts of the crowd:
“Save us, our Messiah,
who comes to fulfill God’s mission!
Save us, we beseech you,
as you take your rightful throne
and extend
heaven’s salvation to us!”
Sadly, the salvation that the people of Jerusalem wanted that day was political, not spiritual.
They were only interested in a temporary, worldly fulfillment of the messianic prophecies.
They chose not to see the prophecies that said the Messiah would be “a man of sorrows” who would bear the griefs of His people and be crushed for their sins. His oppression and death were clearly predicted in Isaiah 53. Yes, Jesus was the Messiah they had been waiting for, and He accepted their shouts of “hosanna in the highest.” He was truly Immanuel, God with us (Isaiah 7:14). But the political conquest and final fulfillment of the David Covenant must await the second coming (Acts 1:11; Zechariah 14:4; Matthew 24:30; Titus 2:13). Before Jesus could take care of the political problems of His people, He had to take care of the sin problem.
As the people shouted “hosanna in the highest,” little did they know what that would actually mean. Jesus had come to save (Luke 19:10), but not in the manner they desired. “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22). Their cries for salvation and their demand that it come “now” were answered with the cross. God provided a spiritual salvation from the bondage of sin, bought at great cost to the Lord Jesus. But the blessed results of that salvation extend into eternity and far outweigh any temporary benefits we could experience in this world.
The phrase hosanna in the highest appears only twice in the Bible, once in Matthew and again in Mark, during the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The people were crowded around the gate watching Jesus enter the city, and they were celebrating and calling out, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21:9, ESV). Mark 11:10 records the crowd saying, “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” (ESV). The NIV translates their shout as “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
The word hosanna comes from a Hebrew word meaning “save now” or “save us, we pray.” The first word of Psalm 118:25 is howosiah-na, translated “Save us!” and the crowd’s use of this word at the triumphal entry was significant—especially as they waved palm branches (Psalm 118 was associated with the Feast of Tabernacles). By saying “hosanna” as Jesus passed through the gates of Jerusalem and referring to David and David’s kingdom, the Jews were acknowledging Jesus as their Messiah. The Jews had been waiting a long time for the fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7; 1 Chronicles 17:11–14; 2 Chronicles 6:16), and their shouts of “hosanna in the highest” indicated the hope that their Messiah had finally come to set up God’s kingdom then and there (see Luke 19:11).
By saying “in the highest,”
the crowd
was invoking heaven’s blessing on them
and the
salvation that the Messiah
was bringing.
The phrase also echoes the song of the angels in Luke 2:14: “Glory to God in the highest” (ESV).
To paraphrase the shouts of the crowd: “Save us, our Messiah, who comes to fulfill God’s mission! Save us, we beseech you, as you take your rightful throne and extend heaven’s salvation to us!”
Sadly, the salvation that the people of Jerusalem wanted that day was political, not spiritual. They were only interested in a temporary, worldly fulfillment of the messianic prophecies. They chose not to see the prophecies that said the Messiah would be “a man of sorrows” who would bear the griefs of His people and be crushed for their sins. His oppression and death were clearly predicted in Isaiah 53. Yes, Jesus was the Messiah they had been waiting for, and He accepted their shouts of “hosanna in the highest.” He was truly Immanuel, God with us (Isaiah 7:14). But the political conquest and final fulfillment of the David Covenant must await the second coming (Acts 1:11; Zechariah 14:4; Matthew 24:30; Titus 2:13). Before Jesus could take care of the political problems of His people, He had to take care of the sin problem.
As the people shouted “hosanna in the highest,” little did they know
what that would actually mean.
Jesus had come to save (Luke 19:10), but not in the
manner they desired.
“Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness”
(Hebrews 9:22).
Their cries for salvation
and their demand
that it come “now” were answered with the cross.
God provided a spiritual salvation
from the bondage of sin, bought at
great cost to the Lord Jesus.
But the blessed results of that salvation extend
into eternity and far outweigh
any temporary benefits
we could experience in this world.
Put On the New Self
(Ephesians 4:17–32)
Therefore, since you have been raised with Christ,
strive for the things above,
where Christ is
seated at the right hand of God.
Set your minds on things above, not
on earthly things.
For you died, and your life is now hidden
with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
Put to death, therefore,
the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality,
impurity,
lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.
Because of these, the wrath of God is coming on
the sons of disobedience.
When you lived among them, you also used to
walk in these ways.
But now you must put aside all such things as these:
anger, rage, malice, slander,
and filthy language from your lips.
Do not lie to one another,
since you
have taken off the old self with its practices,
and have put on the new self,
which is being renewed in knowledge in the
image of its Creator.
Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free,
but Christ is all and is in all.
Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion,
kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
Bear with one another and forgive any complaint you may have against someone else.
Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
And over all these virtues put on love, which is the bond of perfect unity.
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, for to this you were called
as members of one body.
And be thankful.
Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
We have the biblical record of
the
Pool of Siloam, a place that was
used by
Kings and Priests and by the
Messiah Himself
The One Sent by God
to be
Our Savior
used the Pool of “Sent” to prove that
He is the Light of the World
and to offer
the living water available
only
through Him
The invitation to drink of Him is still open:
“Let the one who is thirsty
come;
and let the one
who
wishes take the
free gift of the water of life”
(Revelation 22:17).
The Word Brings Salvation
(Isaiah 65:1–16)
Brothers,
My heart’s desire and prayer to God
for the
Israelites is for their salvation
For I testify about them
that they are zealous for God, but not
on the
basis of knowledge
Because they were ignorant of
God’s Righteousness
and
sought to establish their own,
they did not
Submit to God’s Righteousness
For Christ
is the
end of the law, to bring
righteousness
to everyone who believes
For concerning the righteousness that is by the law, Moses writes:
“The man who does these things
will live by them.”
But the righteousness that is by faith says:
“Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?
’(that is, to bring Christ down)
or, ‘Who will descend into the Abyss?’
(that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).”
But what does it say?
“The word is near you; it is in your mouth
and
in your heart,”
that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming:
that if you confess with your mouth,
“Jesus is Lord,”
and believe in your heart
that God
raised Him from the dead,
you will be saved.
For with your heart you believe and
are justified,
and with your mouth you confess
and are saved.
It is just as the Scripture says:
“Anyone who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”
For there is no difference between Jew and Greek:
The same Lord is
Lord of all, and gives richly to all who call on Him,
for,
“Everyone who calls on the
Name of the Lord
will be saved.”
How then can they call on
the One in
whom they have not believed?
And how can they believe in the One of whom they
have not heard?
And how can they hear without someone
to preach?
And how can they preach unless
they are sent?
As it is written:
“How beautiful
are
the feet of those who bring
good news!”
But not all of them welcomed the Good News
For Isaiah says,
“Lord, who has believed our message?”
Consequently,
Faith
Comes by hearing,
and
hearing by the
Word of Christ
But I ask, did they not hear?
Indeed they did:
“Their voice has gone out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.”
I ask instead, did Israel not understand?
First, Moses says:
“I will make you jealous by those who are not a nation;
I will make you
angry by a nation without understanding.”
And Isaiah boldly says:
“I was found
by those who did not seek Me;
I revealed Myself
to those who did not ask for Me.”
But as for Israel he says:
“All day long I have held out
My Hands
to a
Disobedient and obstinate people.”
Mark 1:15
“The time is fulfilled,” He said, “and
the kingdom of God is near
Repent and believe
in
The Gospel!”
Luke 5:32
I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
Acts 2:38
Peter replied,
“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ
for the forgiveness of your sins,
and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 3:19
Repent, then, and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away,
Romans 2:4
Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness,
tolerance, and patience,
not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness,
but is patient with you,
not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.
Isaiah 55:6-7
Seek the LORD
while He may be found;
call on Him
while He is near.
Let the wicked man forsake
his way and
the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the LORD,
that He may
have compassion, and to our God,
for He will freely pardon.
Joel 2:12-13
“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.” / So rend your hearts and not your garments, and return to the LORD your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion. And He relents from sending disaster.
Ezekiel 18:30-32
Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each according to his ways, declares the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, so that your iniquity will not become your downfall. / Cast away from yourselves all the transgressions you have committed, and fashion for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel? / For I take no pleasure in anyone’s death, declares the Lord GOD. So repent and live!
Jeremiah 3:12-14
Go, proclaim this message toward the north: ‘Return, O faithless Israel,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will no longer look on you with anger, for I am merciful,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt, that you have rebelled against the LORD your God. You have scattered your favors to foreign gods under every green tree and have not obeyed My voice,’” declares the LORD.
“Return, O faithless children,”
declares the LORD,
“for I am
your master, and I will take you
—one from a city and
two from a family—and bring you
to Zion.
Luke 13:3
No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish.
Luke 24:47
and in His name repentance and forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.
Acts 17:30
Although God overlooked the ignorance of earlier times, He now commands all people everywhere to repent.
Revelation 2:5
Therefore, keep in mind how far you have fallen. Repent and perform the deeds you did at first.
But if you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
Revelation 3:19
Those I love I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent.
Mark 1:14
Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
Repent.
Matthew 3:2
And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Matthew 9:13
But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice:
for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Matthew 10:7
And as ye go, preach, saying,
The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
kingdom.
Matthew 11:12
And from the days of John the Baptist
until now the
kingdom of heaven suffereth violence,
and the violent take it by force.
Matthew 13:9,11,24,47
Who hath ears to hear, let him h
ear…
Matthew 25:1
Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins,
which took their lamps,
and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
Isaiah’s Commission
(Matthew 13:10–17; Mark 4:10–12; Acts 28:16–31)
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne,
high and exalted; and the train of His robe
filled the temple. Above Him stood seraphim, each having six wings:
With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered
their feet, and with two they were flying.
And they were calling out to one another:
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts;
all the earth is full of His glory.”
At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook,
and the temple was filled with smoke.
Then I said:
“Woe is me,
for I am ruined,
because
I am a man of unclean lips
dwelling
among a people of unclean lips;
for my
eyes have seen the King,
the LORD of Hosts.”
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was
a glowing coal that he
had taken with tongs from the altar.
And with it he touched my mouth and said:
“Now that this has touched your lips,
your iniquity is removed
and your sin is atoned for.”
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying:
“Whom shall I send?
Who will go for Us?”
And I said:
“Here am I. Send me!”
And He replied:
“Go and tell this people,
‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
Make the hearts of this people calloused;
deafen their ears and close their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.
Then I asked:
“How long, O Lord?”
And He replied:
“Until the cities lie ruined
and without inhabitant,
until the houses are left unoccupied
and the land is desolate and ravaged,
until the LORD has driven men far away
and the land is utterly forsaken.
And though a tenth remains in the land,
it will be burned again.
As the terebinth and oak leave stumps when felled,
so the holy seed will be a stump in the land.”
https://biblehub.com/bsb/matthew/13.htm#10
With the coming of Christ, we have the fulfillment of the Mosaic Covenant (Matthew 5:17) and a reversal of the effects of Israel’s spiritual backslidings. Wherever Christ went, He healed the sick, but this was not just because of kindness on His part; His healings were always a sign from heaven of Christ’s authority as Messiah (John 7:31). He was giving Israel a taste of the kingdom of God (Luke 11:20). Those who refused His authority were often left sick (Matthew 13:58).
At the pool of Bethsaida, for example, Jesus healed only one in a huge multitude (John 5).
The apostles were also given the specific power to heal the sick, and for thirty-seven years they went everywhere healing those who heard their message.
Again, their miracles, including healing, were confirmation of the truth of the gospel the apostles proclaimed.
The healing ministry was not for anyone’s personal convenience; rather, it was a sign from God—to the Jews of the Old Covenant primarily
—of the validity of the apostles’ message.
The Pool of Bethesda
Some time later there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool with five covered colonnades, which in Hebrew is called Bethesda.
On these walkways lay a great number of the sick, the blind, the lame, and the paralyzed.
One man there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.
When Jesus saw him lying there and realized that he had spent a long time in this condition,
He asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am on my way, someone else goes in before me.”
Then Jesus told him, “Get up, pick up your mat, and walk.”
Immediately the man was made well, and he picked up his mat and began to walk.
Now this happened on the Sabbath day,
so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath! It is unlawful for you to carry your mat.”
But he answered, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”
“Who is this man who told you to pick it up and walk?” they asked.
But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while the crowd was there.
Afterward, Jesus found the man at the temple and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you.”
And the man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
The Father and the Son
Now because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews began to persecute Him.
But Jesus answered them, “To this very day My Father is at His work, and I too am working.”
Because of this, the Jews tried all the harder to kill Him. Not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.
So Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself, unless He sees the Father doing it. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does.
The Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does. And to your amazement, He will show Him even greater works than these.
For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He wishes.
Furthermore, the Father judges no one, but has assigned all judgment to the Son, so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment.
Indeed, he has crossed over from death to life.
Truly, truly, I tell you, the hour is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so also He has granted the Son to have life in Himself.
And He has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.
Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice and come out—those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.
I can do nothing by Myself; I judge only as I hear. And My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
Testimonies about Jesus
If I testify about Myself, My testimony is not valid. There is another who testifies about Me, and I know that His testimony about Me is valid.
You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. Even though I do not accept human testimony, I say these things so that you may be saved.
John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you were willing for a season to bask in his light. But I have testimony more substantial than that of John. For the works that the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works I am doing—testify about Me that the Father has sent Me. And the Father who sent Me has Himself testified about Me. You have never heard His voice nor seen His form, nor does His word abide in you, because you do not believe the One He sent.
The Witness of Scripture
(Luke 16:19–31)
You pore over the Scriptures because you presume that by them you possess eternal life.
These are the very words that testify about Me, yet you refuse to come to Me to have life.
I do not accept glory from men, but I know you, that you do not have the love of God within you. I have come in My Father’s name, and you have not received Me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe if you accept glory from one another, yet do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
Do not think that I will accuse you before
the Father.
Your accuser is Moses,
in whom you have put your hope.
If you had believed Moses,
you would believe Me, because he wrote
about Me.
But since you do not believe
what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”
The Pool of Bethesda was “in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate” (John 5:2), which places it north of the temple, near Fort Antonia. John gives the additional detail that the pool was “surrounded by five covered colonnades.” During Jesus’ time, the Pool of Bethesda lay outside the city walls. It was at this pool that Jesus performed a miracle showing that He is greater than any human malady and that superstition and religious folklore are foolish and feeble substitutes for faith in God.
The Pool of Bethesda was used in ancient times to provide water for the temple. The mention of the “Upper Pool” in 2 Kings 18:17 may be a reference to the Pool of Bethesda. Sometime during the Hasmonean Period, an additional pool was added to the original one.
The name of the pool, “Bethesda,” is Aramaic. It means “House of Mercy.” John tells us that “a great number of disabled people used to lie [there]—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed” (John 5:3). The covered colonnades would have provided shade for the disabled who gathered there, but there was another reason for the popularity of the Pool of Bethesda. Legend had it that an angel would come down into the pool and “stir up the water.” The first person into the pool after the stirring of the water “was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted” (John 5:4, NAS). The Bible does not teach that this actually happened--John 5:4 is not included in most modern translations because it is unlikely to be original to the text—rather, the superstitious belief probably arose because of the pool’s association with the nearby temple.
On the day that Jesus visited the Pool of Bethesda, there was a man there who “had been an invalid for thirty-eight years” (John 5:5). Jesus asked the man if he wanted to be healed. The man replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me” (verse 7). Obviously, the man believed the urban legend about the stirring of the water. He blamed the fact that he was never healed on his tardiness in getting into the water.
Jesus swept aside all superstition and bypassed altogether the need for magic water with one command: “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk” (John 5:8). The man was instantly cured, and “he picked up his mat and walked” (verse 9). The man did not need quicker reflexes or beneficent angels or enchanted water. The man needed Jesus.
Amazingly, not everyone was happy about the man’s miraculous healing. The day Jesus healed the man at the poolside happened to be a Sabbath. As the man left Bethesda, the Jewish leaders saw him carrying his mat, and they stopped him: “It is the Sabbath,” they said. “The law forbids you to carry your mat” (John 5:10). The man told them that he was simply obeying orders: “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk’” (verse 11). The Jews inquired who would so brazenly promote Law-breaking, but “the man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd” (verse 13).
The reaction of the Jewish leaders shows that, no matter how much proof God provides, there will be some people who refuse to see the truth. Jesus was a bona fide Miracle Worker, but the religious leaders couldn’t see the miracle. All they could see was that someone had violated a rule. The issue was not the breaking of God’s command, for Jesus fulfilled the Law and was completely subject to it (Matthew 5:17). The only thing being broken was a pharisaical interpretation of one of God’s laws. So, a blessing meant to increase faith only increased the blindness of those who refused to acknowledge the blessing.
The postscript to the story reveals that the man who was physically healed still needed some spiritual healing. “Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, ‘See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you’” (John 5:14). Jesus’ words are a rebuke of an unnamed sin—the man was living contrary to God’s will somehow—and a warning of “something worse.” What could be worse than thirty-eight years of paralysis? How about an eternity in hell (see Mark 9:47)?
Now that the man knew who Jesus was, he returned to the Jewish leaders and told them “it was Jesus who had made him well” (John 5:15). It is likely that the man did this in praise of Jesus, to magnify the glory due His name, and also from a sense of obligation—he had been asked a question and felt he should respond with the answer, once he had it. Little did he anticipate the reaction the leaders would have: “So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him” (verse 16).
The Pool of Bethesda
was the focus of a local
legend about healing,
but Jesus showed that
faith in legends
and
superstition is misplaced.
In contrast,
faith in
Jesus Christ—the One
who can heal
with a simple word,
the
Savior who can forgive
any sin,
the true Master of
the
“House of Mercy”—is
Never Misplaced
