POR

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POR-6 The Coming Divine Judgment on Israel

The Long Journey for physical and spiritual Israel began as Abraham gazed up at the starry sky one night. He was encouraged by God to count the stars:

1. Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your _________ be.” (Genesis 15:5)

God promised to Abraham that in His seed all the nations would be blessed:

2. And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be ______;...(Genesis 26:4)

This promise to Abraham was of the coming Savior. All nations would be blessed by the Savior who would descend from Abraham.

Many generations passed and finally the Promise of Abraham walked the streets of Jerusalem as a Man. Christ looked out over the city and instead of blessing the nation who brought Him forth, Christ pronounced woes to come:

Matthew 23

3. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and _____ and _____. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others ____. (23)

4._____ _____ , who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! (24)

5. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of _______ and ___________. (25)

6. Blind Pharisee, first _____ the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. (26)

7. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of _____ ______ _______ and all uncleanness. (27)

8. Even so you also _______ appear righteous to men, but _____ you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. (28)

9. “_____ to you, scribes and Pharisees, ________! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, ... (29)

10. And say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been ________ with them in the blood of the prophets.’ (30)

11. Therefore you are ________ against ________ that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. (31)

12. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ ______. (32)

13. Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the ________ ____ ___________ ? (33)

14. Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and _______ , and some of them you will ______ in your synagogues and _______ from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you _______ between the temple and the altar. (34-35)

15. Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon _____ _________ . (36)

16. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were ____ ______ ! (37)

17. See! Your house is left to you _______ ;... (38)

18. For I say to you, you shall see Me ___ _____ till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’” (39)

Remember God’s Warning in Leviticus 26

19. Then, if you walk contrary to Me, and are not willing to obey Me, I will bring on you ______ _______ more _____, according to your sins. ...and your highways shall be desolate.... (Verses 21-22)

20. Then I also will walk _____ to you in _____; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins. (Verse 28)

21. You shall eat the flesh of _____ ______ , and you shall eat the flesh of ____ ________ . (Verse 29)

22. I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and cast your carcasses on the lifeless forms of your idols;
and My soul shall _______ you. (Verse 30)

23. I will lay your cities _______ and bring your sanctuaries to ______, and I will not smell the fragrance of your sweet aromas. (Verse 31)

24. I will bring the land to desolation, and your enemies who dwell in it shall be _______ at it. (Verse 32)

25. I will ______ ______ among the nations and draw out a sword after you; your land shall be desolate and your cities waste. (Verse 33)

In the woes pronounced by Christ He declared to them that their fathers had killed the prophets sent to them by God. He prophesied that they would kill the prophets who He would send. He said that judgment would come upon them in their day. All accounts would be settled with them in their generation for all the righteous blood that had ever been shed by them and by their fathers.

God had given small doses of His wrath through the generations. He had even sent the Jews into bitter captivity where they served again as slaves. Yet His final wrath on the Jewish nation was still coming. The Bible bulges with promise of a coming Savior. It began in Genesis 3:15 when the first prophecy of a coming Savior is made to the Serpent (Devil) who tempted Adam and Eve:

26. And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall _______ your head, And you shall _______ His heel.” (Gen.3:15)

The Promise of a Savior wove like a golden thread throughout the Bible until the Angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph and said:

27. “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the _____ ____. (Matthew 1:20)

28. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will _____ His people from their ____ .” (Matthew 1:21)

Yet we find another thread woven throughout the pages of God’s Word beginning with the covenant God made with the Israelite nation in Leveticus 26 and it ending in Revelation 19. It is the promise of coming Judgement on Israel if they are not faithful to God.

Let’s follow the thread of Coming Divine Judgment on Israel:

29. Nevertheless the LORD did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath, with which His anger was aroused against Judah, because of all the _________ with which Manasseh had provoked Him. (2 Kings 23:26)

30. And the LORD said, “I will also ______ Judah from My sight, as I have removed Israel, and will ____ _____ this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, ‘My name shall be there.’” (2 Kings 23:27)

If we turn the pages of our Bible until we come to Isaiah, we pick up the thread of promised Divine Judgement against the unfaithful Jews:

Please Read Isaiah 3

After you read Isaiah 3 please answer the following questions:

What was said to the righteous?

Who caused the people to stumble?

The Lord would enter into judgment with the _______________ and ____________.

In small and big doses God caused the Jews to suffer for their wickedness, but the big Judgment was still coming:

38. He has stretched out His hand against them and stricken them, and the hills trembled. Their carcasses were as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is _________ out still. (Isaiah 5:25b-f)

In the coming judgment against the Jews, God promised not to punish the faithful with the wicked. He would preserve them and keep them from harm until it was safe to move about again. In this passage He speaks of revenging the blood of his prophets:

39. Come, my people, enter your chambers, And shut your doors behind you; Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, Until the ________ is past. (Isaiah 26:20)

40. For behold, the LORD comes out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; the earth will also _____ ___ ______ , And will no more cover her slain. (Isaiah 26:21)

In Isaiah 34 desolation is described that will come upon the Jews because of their unfaithfulness to God. Part of the meaning of “desolation” is “barren wasteland”. God does a convincing job of describing just how desolate the place they occupied will be. Isaiah 34 is symbolic not literal and evidence that our God has a sense of humor.

Please read Isaiah 34

41. After you read Isaiah 34 using some of the colorful description found in the chapter tell of the desolation that would come upon the Jews.

Concerning Isaiah 34, let’s reflect again on the promise God made to them in Lev. 26 if they did not keep His commandments. Below is a passage from Lev. 26 that foretells what He will do to them if they are not faithful. Compare it with what He says in Isaiah 34:

I will bring the land to desolation, and your enemies who dwell in it shall be astonished at it. (Verse 32)

I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you; your land shall be desolate and your cities waste. (Verse 33)

Please read Jeremiah 4

42. How did God describe His people in Jeremiah 4?

Finally we come to the last book of the OT, Malachi. In it we read the last warning in the OT of the coming judgment against Israel:

Malachi 4

43. “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,” Says the LORD of hosts, “That will leave them neither _____ ____ _________ . (1)

Notice in the verse above (verse 1) prophesied that Israel would not be left with a “root or a branch”. After the destruction that is coming upon Israel they will no longer have power with God, they will no longer be considered His people. He will sever all ties with them. They will be utterly plucked up by the roots!

Symbolism Practice

44. Please read Mark 12:1-11. Now translate the symbolism of this passage. Compare this passage with Psalm 80. Compare also with Isaiah 5. A hint is found in Isaiah 5:7.

45. The plucked out vine will be replaced by the True Vine. Please read John 15:1-8 and tell about the True Vine.

Now back to Malachi 4:

46. But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With _______ in His _____; and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves. (2)

Who is the Sun of Righteousness? Christ of course! The coming of the Christ and the judgment against Israel are closely linked in time. God will pluck Israel out by the roots and He will plant the church of our Lord in its place where all nations, Jew and Gentile, may come and be healed.

47. You shall ______ the wicked, for they shall be ____ under the soles of your feet On the day that I do this,” Says the LORD of hosts. (3)

48. “_________ the Law of Moses, My servant, Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, With the statutes and judgments. (4)

God reminds His faithful servants in Israel that He has promised that this day would come since Moses received the Law at Horeb.....with its statutes and JUDGMENTS!

49. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the ________ and _______ day of the LORD. (5)

Who was this Elijah? Let’s find out.

Jesus said:

50. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to _____ it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear! (Matt.11:13-15) (Please read the whole chapter of Matthew 11 for further details)

Jesus told them that John was Elijah. Now look at verse Malachi 4:5 again. It says: I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.

The great and dreadful day of the LORD was the promised Judgment on Israel. And Christ said that Elijah had come!

51. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a ______ .” (6)

In verse 6 we see that Elijah would turn their hearts to each other with concern for one another’s spiritual well being......”Let I come and strike the earth with a curse”. Let’s take a look at what John preached that “turned their hearts” in the right direction:

52. John came _________ in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, ________ their sins. (Mark 1:4-5)

Jesus went about preaching repentance and the coming kingdom .......and the coming Judgment on Israel. Notice that He speaks in future tense. He told them that He was going to send them prophets, wise men and scribes. He prophesied that they would kill or persecute the ones He would send. He even told them when it would happen:

53. Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come_____ ___ ____________. (Matt.23:34-36)

He said that all the things He was saying would come upon the generation who was standing there listening to His Words.

Judgment against Israel was very close!