“HE NEVER FAILS!”
Today’s Reading: Zephaniah 3
Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).
On the right of the photograph you can see the southwest corner of the Temple Mount area. The broken foundations of the walls were built thousands of years before modern Jerusalem’s walls. Seen in the middle of the photo are new buildings in modern Jerusalem built with the same kind of stone that was used by builders down through the ages. The people who live in these buildings want to be near the Temple area where they “call on the Name of the Lord” with “a pure language.” Hebrew has been restored as the language of modern Israel (Zephaniah 3:9a).
GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.
Key Verse: Zephaniah 3:17
The Lord your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.
Today’s reading begins with a description of the condition of Jerusalem’s leaders at that time. There are corrupt princes, judges, prophets and priests (Zephaniah 3:3) who are in place. But this will not last! Zephaniah is coming on strongly! Daniel and other godly young men are about to come on the scene to shepherd God’s people under the coming Babylonian rule. Zephaniah is optimistic about the future. God gives him prophecies that are full of promises of God’s favour. Our key verse is filled with hope! Someone has said, “The future is as bright as the promises of God!” As the above photograph shows, Jerusalem as a city has been restored. And the spiritual “City of God” described by Zephaniah is under construction by the Spirit of God. Jerusalem is the only city for which the Bible asks readers to pray. Let’s do this today! Let’s all read Psalm 122.
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Yes Lord, I am praying for Jerusalem. I sing with You! I am glad and rejoice with You! (Zephaniah 3:14). I have seen the fulfillment of Your promise, O Lord, to bring the Jewish people back to Israel. Now, Lord, I pray for a mighty spiritual revival where Your Messiah, Jesus, will be Lord and Saviour for the majority! In His Name I pray. Amen!!!
100 PERSONAL WORDS: (actually about 300 words…sorry about that!)
I understand that by about 65 A.D. close to a majority of the people of Jerusalem believed that Jesus of Nazareth was Messiah. But then, because of persecution by the Roman appointed High Priest, the actions of those who wanted to overthrow Roman rule, and the cruel response of the Roman authorities, thousands of Jewish Christians left Jerusalem and settled elsewhere. Jerusalem and the Temple suffered destruction in 70 A.D. Eventually, the Romans would not allow Jews or Christians (who were mostly Jews) to live in Jerusalem, and so it became a totally pagan city for at least 150 years. Jews and Christians trickled back there around the year 320 A.D., after Constantine became Emperor of Rome.
I must comment on God’s promise of Zephaniah 3:9, “I will restore to the people a pure language.” In 1979 Crossroads produced a movie called “Apples of Gold.” In that movie our film crew interviewed an elderly lady who was the daughter of Eleazer Ben Jehuda. She told how her father was awakened in the middle of the night and heard a voice saying to him, “You are called to revive the Hebrew language as the everyday language of the people who will come to live in a future state called Israel.” That is exactly what has happened! Today even the menus in the Jerusalem restaurants are in Hebrew. A language that had been dead since the Babylonian captivity has been revived. To my knowledge this has never happened before to any people. I think we can assume that the other promises given by God through Zephaniah will also be fulfilled!!! There are now dozens of Jewish Christian congregations throughout Israel that conduct their services in Hebrew. Zephaniah wrote of God, “He never fails!” (3:5) and God said, “Therefore, wait for Me!” (3:8a).
Yours because “He never fails!”
David
P.S. I couldn’t help but begin singing the song, “God can do anything but fail” (click here for the Charlotte Mass Choir with soloist Albertina Walker).
Thanks for that song, David. Last night, the Messianic Fellowship in Kingston celebrated the Passover Sader Dinner. It was fantastic to be enriched in the traditions and heritage of Israel. “Peace be within you,” dear saints.
“…you have stayed long enough at this mountain.” Deut 1:6, NIV
Good Good Father, Kenneth Reese (so rich & beautiful!!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-ewd3bD7nI
THE EYE OF THE STORM
“Fear not that the whirlwind shall carry thee hence,
Nor wait for its onslaught in breathless suspense,
Nor shrink from the whips of the terrible hail,
But pass through the edge to the heart of the gale,
For there is a shelter, sunlighted and warm,
And Faith sees her God through the eye of the storm.
The passionate tempest with rush and wild roar
And threatenings of evil may beat on the shore,
The waves may be mountains, the fields battle plains,
And the earth be immersed in a deluge of rains,
Yet, the soul, stayed on God, may sing bravely its psalm,
For the heart of the storm is the center of calm.
Let hope be not quenched in the blackness of night,
Though the cyclone awhile may have blotted the light,
For behind the great darkness the stars ever shine,
And the light of God’s heavens, His love shall make thine,
Let no gloom dim thine eyes, but uplif t them on high
To the face of thy God and the blue of His sky.
The storm is thy shelter from danger and sin,
And God Himself takes thee for safety within;
The tempest with Him passeth into deep calm,
And the roar of the winds is the sound of a psalm.
Be glad and serene when the tempest clouds form;
God smiles on His child in the eye of the Storm.”
From Streams in the Desert, April 23
Thanks for The Eye of the storm, Beverly. Lo
Thanks Beverlee and blessings to you.
Dear David.
Thank you so much for your faithfulness, you and Norma Jean, have been and continue to be, such a blessing in me and my families lives.
Have a great day.
Ina Bonham.
Should we learn Hebrew too? Is it a difficult language to learn?
2 times yes, dear Doreen! There is a magazine called” israel today” by Aviel Schneider, a messianic Jewish editor and team (started by his dad Ludwig Schneider). They have suggestions how to learn the language. Just google “israel today magazine”. there you can even subscribe to their daily free news.
Wonderful promises today in the key verses and in Zephaniah 3, 8a, “He never fails”, “Therefore, wait for me.” Love the poem, “The Eye of the Storm” Beverlee. Praying for Jerusalem, David. God bless you saints!
Amen!! Ger.
Thank you for that history and insight,David.Blessings
Oh Israel
To you who spoke with scorn,
The Phoenix is Israel reborn,
No longer scattered and badly torn,
But arisen as prophets did warn
Ben Gourion led a mighty few,
Powerful in spirit through and through,
With God on their side they knew
They were fighting for every Jew.
Praise be to this nation all alone,
Among the wolves time has shown,
That hatred’s seeds widely sown,
For the land they call their own.
She will know the Messiah’s return,
For that is what her people yearn
And then it is the Master’s turn
To make His foe to forever burn.
G W (Bill) Marshall/2011~2012
David You are an amazing man and have blessed my life so much. What an exciting thing the vision and the Hebrew language I rejoice thank you for your godly wisdom
Please don’t apologize for”300 words”, David. This was so much appreciated. Also praying for the peace of Jerusalem.
Thank you David for the daily blog, and for the song you posted today.
I love and appreciate you, and all my fellow bloggers too!
when clicking Biblegateway.com for the Sripture of the day, there appears to be no sound so I can’t hear the Scriptres being spoken! Do others have this issue also? Just wondering!
Pray for a young man (from yesterday’s blog) I call him XYZ, he’s done a total 180 and desires to get training to becme a counsellor. He is only 20 years old!
Also please pray that I can forgive my sister and her family! They did not keep my childen safe when they were younger and problems happened! Please pray that my children can forgive also. Blessings to everyone!
Sah: I am praying that The Lord will give to strength to forgive your sister and her family. I know you are hurting and it is really hard to forgive something terrible like what happened to your kids. I am speaking from experience, you won’t have peace until to give it over to The Lord and let Him let His blood wash it all away.
Isaiah 43v18-19 says “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. NIV. This verse has been a help to me, I have said it each time my thoughts go astray. God Bless You.
One of my favorite scriptures…hard to IMAGINE… in particular 3:17 “THE LORD OUR GOD IS IN THE MIDST OF US….THE LORD REJOICES OVER US WITH SINGING”
HOW AWESOME IS THAT?
There are a lot of organizations in the world trying to get the Jewish people back to Israel. I wanted to mention one in particular: Ezra Canada…you can google it and see the work they are doing. Thank you for posting the poem O Israel Bill Marhsall. God Bless!