The Law and The Believer
An excellent 7 part Audio series by Scott Martin (Photo: Saar Waterfall in the Golan Heights)
Song of Songs
We were so blessed by this very rare and valuable teaching on marriage by our pastor and friend, Tim Cantrell from Antioch Bible Church in Johannesburg, that we would like to share it with you.
This is a link to the first of the series. https://www.antiochbiblechurch.org.za/multimedia-archive/why-the-whole-church-needs-the-song-of-solomon-song-11/
(to continue with the series press “newer sermons” at the bottom of the page)
Feast well!
Giving sight to the blind by Peter Smuts
The Ugly Bride by Mark Jones – August 2019
Valley of the Dry Bones
70 years after the Messiah was born, the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed.
70 years after God restored the land of Israel, the body of the Messiah is restored and growing too!
All praise to a faithful God who keeps His Covenant!
‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. ‘
Ezekiel 37:21 -22
‘The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “Sovereign Lord , you alone know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord ! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord .’ ” So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’ ” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army. Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord , when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord .’ ” ‘ Ezekiel 37:1-14 https://www.bible.com/bible/111/EZK.37.1-14
The people of Israel live!
At exactly 10:00 this morning, the sirens wails all across the land and for two minutes all activity stops and every mind recalls that fateful event.
Every year, for 70 years, the nation commemorates this day, they remember their dead, they remember the atrocities of the Holocaust. Every year more stories get told, more horrific than the ones told before. Every year, the shockwaves of the utter depravity of the heart of man shoot through the hearts of these people.
The ones who were children at this time, are old men and women now and as they share their stories, every disturbing detail is remembered.
One man sneered: ”Closure?, closure is for people who have never experienced hard times.”
With pain, this land was born (again).
From the stench of rotting corpses, smoke from ceaseless incinerators , the sound of gunfire, Typhoid fever, starvation, from the clutches of an enemy determined to obliterate the Jewish people, this nation rises on the wings of their faithful God!
My friends, in our shock to learn of the horrors of the Holocaust, let us not forget that we are not fighting flesh and blood and neither are the Jewish people.
God’s people have been hunted, persecuted and slaughtered since time began.
But guess what?
They are still here!
Listen to this song of Ofra Chaza. The words are so profound, I want to share them with you:
“I’m still alive!
Hear my brothers
I’m still alive
And both my eyes still look toward the light
I’ve suffered thorns
And yet borne flowers
Ahead are years too numerous to count
I ask and also pray
How wonderful that hope is not yet lost
A Psalm passes
From generation to generation
Like a spring from long ago
And on to eternity
I’ll still sing on and on
I’ll reach out
To friends across the sea
I ask and also pray
How wonderful that hope is not yet lost
I live, I live, I live,
yes, I’m still alive!
This is the song my grandfather
Sang yesteryear to my father
And today I sing
I’m still alive!
The people of Israel live
My days are full of life
The pillar of fire still rises …”
The Jews are tough people. They are also stiff-necked and stubborn, but they are still the apple of God’s eye and He is busy fulfilling His promises to them because He is a faithful God!
My dear brothers and sisters, you might ask “Why should we care?”- we should care !…
Because God is at work and is busy doing a great miracle.
Because the Messiah of Israel is also our Messiah.
Because He is faithful to them, He is also faithful to us.
Because He watches over them, He also watches over us.
Because He is our Hope, He is also their Hope!
Because He lives, they live!
Because He lives, we live forever!
Halleluya!
‘But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring! ‘
Romans 11:12
“For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” Romans 11:15
Their deliverance is near! It is at the door!
Look at their faces as they sing.
God did that.
He saved them over and over again!
“Sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvelous things;
his right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for Him.
The Lord has made His salvation known
and revealed His righteousness to the nations.
He has remembered his love
and His faithfulness to Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.”
Psalm 98:3
While hope is not yet lost, let us earnestly pray to God for this life from the dead!