POR

May-June 2006 POR 1 POR 2 POR 3 POR 4 POR 6 POR 7 POR 8

POR-5 Why is God so Angry?

In our study so far we have spent a lot of time in the Old Testament learning about the history of the Israelite nation. There are so many things that are very significant to know in the Old Testament in order to understand the New Testament. The history of the Israelite nation is significant to us because our Savior came through them. We learn of the promises made to Abraham and to his descendants. As we study the New Testament we learn that we too are Abraham’s descendents by faith.

1. Wherefore the law was our __________ to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. (Galatians 3:24)

2. But after that faith is come, we are ____ ______ under a schoolmaster. (Galatians 3:25)

3. For ye are all the children of God by _______ in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:26)

4. For as many of you as have been ________ into Christ have put on Christ. (Galatians 3:27)

5. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all ____ in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)

6 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye ________ ________ , and heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:29)

A good background knowledge of the OT is imperative in order to understand the Book of Revelation. When I wrote the last lesson I had included in it lot of extra reading. However when I realized what I had done, I pulled those assignments out because it was too much material to cover in one lesson.

Therefore this lesson will contain those extra readings and it will be devoted primarily to gaining more knowledge of the OT and the Israelite nation before we proceed in our study of the plagues. I feel that this is necessary in order to understand the reason for the plagues in Revelation. We may read Revelation and wonder, “Why is God so angry?” Hopefully by the end of this study you will understand a little more why God’s angels had “7 bowls full of God’s wrath” to pour out in vengeance on the earth.

Please read Deuteronomy 28

7. Make a list of some of the blessings.

8. Make a list of some of the cursings.

An Everlasting Curse Perhaps?

Then the LORD will _ __ among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, ...And among those nations you shall find no rest, nor shall the sole of your foot have a resting place; but there the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and anguish of soul. (Deut.28:64-65)

When you look at those today who profess to be of the Jewish race and religion, you see a people who are scattered amongst all the nations of the earth. They are still persecuted, disliked and mistrusted. We know of the horrendous killing of the Jews by Hitler. Today they struggle to keep the small piece of land that has been called Israel since 1947. Before then they were as God prophesied: “scattered amongst all nations” with no country of their own. Yet they fight to keep this land. They find no rest. Perhaps the only reason God has allowed them to occupy this land in recent years is because the other people who struggle to possess it are worse enemies of God than they. Ironically, present day Israel is an alley of those who call themselves Christians, although they do not believe in Christ. One has to wonder if the curse was meant to be an everlasting one, ‘til the end of time. Of course we must understand that if a person with Jewish blood believes in God and follows Christ, the curse is washed away in baptism.

Please read the Book of Judges

9. When you read Judges, what pattern did you find there? If you do not have time to read all of the book of Judges at least try to read enough of it to find the pattern that became the identifying characteristic of the Israelite nation.

10. Give an example of the pattern revealed in Judges. A pattern of events means that they reoccur over and over again. Tell what happened in one of the cycles.

Please read Psalm 78

After you have read this chapter, please answer the following questions:

11. What did God establish in Jacob?

12. What did God appoint in Israel?

13. Who was Jacob?

14. Who was Israel?

15. What connection did Jacob (Israel) have with Abraham?

16. What did the children of Ephraim do?

17. What connection did Ephraim have with Israel and Abraham?

18. Please read the following verses and then describe God’s attitude toward Israel after they sinned: Verses 21-22,30-31,56-64.

Please read Psalm 79

19. What had happened to Jerusalem?

20. What connection is Israel’s sins with the destruction that is describe here? Give a verse to support your answer.

For more information on this Psalm please scroll all the way to the bottom of this lesson.

Please read Psalm 80

21. What connection do Joseph, Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh have with Israel?

Symbolism Exercise

22. Please give the meaning of the symbolism found in verses Psalm 80: 8-15.

Please Read Acts 7

This chapter is Stephen’s sermon in which he summarized the history of Israel.

23. To whom did Stephen address his statements?

24. What did he accuse them of doing?

25. In verse 37 Moses said: “God will raise up for you a Prophet like me” Who was the Prophet?

26. What was their attitude toward Stephen’s statements?

In our next lesson we will focus on two threads that are woven throughout the Bible. It is necessary to recognize the existence of these two threads and to observe them as they weave through the Sacred pages in order to understand the 7 final plagues in Revelation.

Psalm 79 Commentary

Commentary by Burton Coffman

A Lament Over The Destruction of Jerusalem and a prayer for Vengeance

George DeHoff called this psalm, "The Funeral Anthem of a Nation."<1>

Charles M. Miller's analysis of this psalm points out that it exhibits several elements found in other psalms: (1) Ps. 79:5,7,10a are lamentation; (2) Ps. 79:6,10b,12 are imprecations; (3) Ps. 79:8-9 are pleas for forgiveness; (4) Ps. 79:11 pleads for deliverance; and (5) Ps. 79:13 carries a pledge of praise and thanksgiving following deliverance.<2>

Three possible occasions identified with this psalm were proposed by Halley, namely, "The invasion of Shishak, the fall of the northern kingdom, and the Babylonian captivity."<3> Delitzsch suggested the time of the desecration of the Temple by Antiochus Epiphanes.<4>

To this writer, the only logical selection is that of the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem and the final captivity of the residue of the people that accompanied the capture and deportation of Zedekiah to Babylon. There are many reasons for this choice.

(1) There is the fact that for eighteen centuries, "The Jews have recited this psalm upon the 9th day of the Jewish month Ab, commemorating the two destructions of Jerusalem (by the Babylonians in 587 B.C., and by the Romans in A.D. 70). This practice may point to an old tradition associating this psalm with the Babylonian period."<5>

(2) Shishak never entered Jerusalem. (2) Antiochus Epiphanes did not destroy either the temple or the city of Jerusalem. (3) The mention of the people's captivity (Ps. 79:11) points squarely to the Babylonian era. (4) The complete destruction of Jerusalem (Ps. 79:1) occurred only once in pre-Christian history, namely in 587 B.C.; and (5) many of the ablest scholars we have consulted agree on the Babylonian date and occasion.

"The only time which adequately fits this description is the exilic period after the burning of Jerusalem and the temple by Nebuchadnezzar in 587 B.C.<6> The Babylonian destruction seems most appropriate.<7> `Jerusalem in heaps' is truer of the Babylonian captivity than of the times of Antiochus Epiphanes.<8> It seems best to assign it to the period of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans.<9> The general voice of commentators is that the psalm must be referred to the time of the Babylonian conquest."<10>

The psalm naturally falls into two divisions. First, there is a description of the disaster (Ps. 79:1-4). The remaining nine verses are a prayer for deliverance, forgiveness, vengeance upon enemies, etc.

Ps. 79:1

"O God, the nations have come into thine inheritance;

Thy holy temple have they defiled;

They have laid Jerusalem in heaps."

"The nations, " i.e. "the Gentiles." It was an especially bitter thing for the Jews that a pagan nation was permitted to triumph over them. "It is the height of reproach when a father casts upon a slave the task of beating his son. Of all outward judgments against Israel, this was the sorest."<11>

"They have laid Jerusalem in heaps." Some writers have made too much of the fact that it is not stated here that the temple was destroyed, but `defiled.' However, the destruction of it would have been indeed a defilement; and besides that, how could it be imagined that with the whole city in "heaps" the temple would not have suffered the same fate as the rest of the city?

Biblical Account of Babylonian Destruction of Jerusalem