Tag: House of Israel

How Do We Move Forward in Love and Unity Amongst Diversity? 

Back in Nov 2020, on the radio program, Top of Mind with Julie Rose, Pastor Oscar T. Moses, from Calvary Baptist Church in Salt Lake City,Utah, USA, shared his background as a police officer in Chicago, what it meant to receive a call to ministry, and perspectives on race and faith in the time of Black Lives Matter.

On the show, Pastor Moses describes his experience in the PD, including witnessing people who were treated as if their lives didn’t matter because of the perspective coming from the police officers. Some of these officers came from war, and they viewed citizens in a similar way, as the enemy.

He discussed that there comes a point when you have to speak up, for if you have a voice and you don’t speak up, you become complicit. 

He relates the modern affliction and devastation that many face today to the ancient judaic roots of the human family saying,

“From the biblical perspective, I see the scriptures from a harmonudic perspective. The lenses of those who have been marginalized. I can relate to the children of Israel coming out of the flesh pots of egypt.

“We are preaching in the midst [of many who are suffering from all manner of ailments]. Christ was in the midst of poor people, hurting people, those who didn’t receive equal distribution of wealth or power. I preach to the gospel that comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comforted.”

Moses, 2020

The challenge today is finding unity amongst diversity of beliefs, backgrounds, goals, and desires. Martin Luther King Jr., described the end result if our goals are approached with hatred and anger when he stated,

“Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? [2010], 64-65

Loving others is not easy. Pure religion, as described by James, who is writing to the 12 tribes of Israel (James 1:1), aka us, is this, “To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world (1:27).

How do we move forward during these times of tribulation, calamities, and a spectrum of illness, trauma, addiction, and affliction especailly when the way we associate has changed? 

Robert D.Hales once advised David A. Bednar with these words, “When you cannot do what you have always done, then you only do what matters most.” 

What does this mean? Search, ponder, and pray. I believe it is different for each person, which would require the ability to receive personal revelation from the Lord. He will guide you. Believe He is guiding you. Trust that he will guide you. This is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.


Sources

http://byuradiostage.byu.edu/episode/4eb6e3b7-4026-495d-95e4-49afa0b8e2d5/in-good-faith-pastor-oscar-t-moses

What truth will all people, including the entire house of Israel, eventually know as a result of the battle of [Gog and Magog]?

Ezekiel 38–48

Ezekiel saw in vision a great battle that will precede the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. He also saw in vision a latter-day temple that will be built in Jerusalem. He saw water flowing from this temple through the surrounding land and into the waters of the Dead Sea, which were then healed. Many of the details regarding these prophecies have not yet been revealed.

Ezekiel 38–39
Ezekiel prophesies of the battle that will precede the Second Coming

If you could pick two things that you would like the world to know about Jesus Christ, what would they be? Why?

As [you] study the prophecies of Ezekiel in Ezekiel 38–48, ask [yourself] …what the Lord will make sure everyone knows about Him as part of His Second Coming.

Read Ezekiel 38:1–3 aloud, looking for whom the Lord declared He was against.
Gog was the king (or chief prince) of a land called Magog, located north of Jerusalem. Ezekiel used Gog symbolically to represent a wicked leader or leaders who will seek to destroy God’s people in the last days.
Summar[y] of Ezekiel 38:4–6: Ezekiel prophesied that Gog would assemble a great army from many nations…Look in verse 5 for three countries that would gather.


What countries gathered to Gog?


[A]ncient Persia was east of Jerusalem, ancient Ethiopia was south of Jerusalem, and ancient Libya was west of Jerusalem. Ezekiel may have used these countries symbolically to illustrate that this army would come from many surrounding nations.

Summar[y] of Ezekiel 38:7–14: after the army of Gog gathers “against the mountains of Israel” (verse 8), their purpose will be to attack what they perceive to be the defenseless kingdom of Israel “dwelling without walls” (verse 11). This prophecy refers to the great battle commonly referred to as the battle of Armageddon, which will precede the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. (Note: The battle at the end of the Millennium described by John is also referred to as the battle of Gog and Magog [see Revelation 20:7–9; Bible Dictionary, “Gog”].) The army of Gog symbolizes the great army that will attack Jerusalem.

Read Ezekiel 38:15–16 aloud, looking for the Lord’s purpose in allowing the army of Gog to attack the people in Jerusalem in the latter days.

What did the Lord say is His purpose in allowing Gog to battle the people of Israel?

[C]onsider marking the phrase “that the heathen may know me” in verse 16… [T]he word heathen refers to people who do not know the Lord… [T]he phrase “I shall be sanctified in thee” in verse 16 means that the Lord will manifest Himself as He sustains the people of Israel against the army of Gog.


[R]ead aloud from Ezekiel 38:18–23, looking for how the Lord will demonstrate His power against the army of Gog.

How will the Lord demonstrate His power against Gog?

According to verse 23, what will many nations come to know as they witness the destruction of Gog?

Summar[y] of Ezekiel 39: After most of the army of Gog is destroyed, it will take seven months for the house of Israel to bury the dead and seven years to clean up after the battle. Sometimes in the scriptures, writers use numbers to convey symbolic meaning beyond the literal understanding. Thus, the number seven may refer to a long time or to the land becoming complete and whole again.


[R]ead Ezekiel 39:7, 21–22 aloud and look for what the children of Israel will know after this battle…mark what [you] find.


What will the children of Israel know after this battle?


According to Ezekiel 39:7, what name or title did the Lord use to refer to Himself?


What truth will all people, including the entire house of Israel, eventually know as a result of this battle? (All people will know that Jesus Christ is the Lord.)

Lesson 145: Ezekiel 38–48