11/25/12

I "heart" you


Is this for real?  Maybe, but more likely it is a manipulated picture. Personally, I hope it is the real McCoy because it would be nice to think of God writing a love letter in the sky.  Real picture or no, this represents the love of God and the only thing better is action.  Which of course, leads me to this passage in the book of Romans....

Romans, Chapter 5
6 For while we were yet weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.  7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man. Yet perhaps for a righteous person someone would even dare to die.  8 But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

 Talk is cheap, actions speak louder than any words!!!  Christ showed his love for us (even the worst among us) by his sacrifice on the cross!!!  Nuff said!!!

Bible Reading, Nov. 25


Nov. 25
Jeremiah 50-52

Jer 50:1 The word that Yahweh spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet.
Jer 50:2 Declare you among the nations and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and don't conceal: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is disappointed, Merodach is dismayed; her images are disappointed, her idols are dismayed.
Jer 50:3 For out of the north there comes up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they are fled, they are gone, both man and animal.
Jer 50:4 In those days, and in that time, says Yahweh, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together; they shall go on their way weeping, and shall seek Yahweh their God.
Jer 50:5 They shall inquire concerning Zion with their faces turned toward it, saying, Come you, and join yourselves to Yahweh in an everlasting covenant that shall not be forgotten.
Jer 50:6 My people have been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray; they have turned them away on the mountains; they have gone from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their resting place.
Jer 50:7 All who found them have devoured them; and their adversaries said, We are not guilty, because they have sinned against Yahweh, the habitation of righteousness, even Yahweh, the hope of their fathers.
Jer 50:8 Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the male goats before the flocks.
Jer 50:9 For, behold, I will stir up and cause to come up against Babylon a company of great nations from the north country; and they shall set themselves in array against her; from there she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of an expert mighty man; none shall return in vain.
Jer 50:10 Chaldea shall be a prey: all who prey on her shall be satisfied, says Yahweh.
Jer 50:11 Because you are glad, because you rejoice, O you who plunder my heritage, because you are wanton as a heifer that treads out the grain, and neigh as strong horses;
Jer 50:12 your mother shall be utterly disappointed; she who bore you shall be confounded: behold, she shall be the least of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
Jer 50:13 Because of the wrath of Yahweh she shall not be inhabited, but she shall be wholly desolate: everyone who goes by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.
Jer 50:14 Set yourselves in array against Babylon all around, all you who bend the bow; shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she has sinned against Yahweh.
Jer 50:15 Shout against her all around: she has submitted herself; her bulwarks are fallen, her walls are thrown down; for it is the vengeance of Yahweh: take vengeance on her; as she has done, do to her.
Jer 50:16 Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him who handles the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn everyone to his people, and they shall flee everyone to his own land.
Jer 50:17 Israel is a hunted sheep; the lions have driven him away: first, the king of Assyria devoured him; and now at last Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.
Jer 50:18 Therefore thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel: Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.
Jer 50:19 I will bring Israel again to his pasture, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead.
Jer 50:20 In those days, and in that time, says Yahweh, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I leave as a remnant.
Jer 50:21 Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: kill and utterly destroy after them, says Yahweh, and do according to all that I have commanded you.
Jer 50:22 A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction.
Jer 50:23 How is the hammer of the whole earth cut apart and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!
Jer 50:24 I have laid a snare for you, and you are also taken, Babylon, and you weren't aware: you are found, and also caught, because you have striven against Yahweh.
Jer 50:25 Yahweh has opened his armory, and has brought forth the weapons of his indignation; for the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, has a work to do in the land of the Chaldeans.
Jer 50:26 Come against her from the utmost border; open her storehouses; cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly; let nothing of her be left.
Jer 50:27 Kill all her bulls; let them go down to the slaughter: woe to them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.
Jer 50:28 The voice of those who flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of Yahweh our God, the vengeance of his temple.
Jer 50:29 Call together the archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow; encamp against her all around; let none of it escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she has done, do to her; for she has been proud against Yahweh, against the Holy One of Israel.
Jer 50:30 Therefore shall her young men fall in her streets, and all her men of war shall be brought to silence in that day, says Yahweh.
Jer 50:31 Behold, I am against you, you proud one, says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies; for your day is come, the time that I will visit you.
Jer 50:32 The proud one shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up; and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all who are around him.
Jer 50:33 Thus says Yahweh of Armies: The children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed together; and all who took them captive hold them fast; they refuse to let them go.
Jer 50:34 Their Redeemer is strong; Yahweh of Armies is his name: he will thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
Jer 50:35 A sword is on the Chaldeans, says Yahweh, and on the inhabitants of Babylon, and on her princes, and on her wise men.
Jer 50:36 A sword is on the boasters, and they shall become fools; a sword is on her mighty men, and they shall be dismayed.
Jer 50:37 A sword is on their horses, and on their chariots, and on all the mixed people who are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is on her treasures, and they shall be robbed.
Jer 50:38 A drought is on her waters, and they shall be dried up; for it is a land of engraved images, and they are mad over idols.
Jer 50:39 Therefore the wild animals of the desert with the wolves shall dwell there, and the ostriches shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited forever; neither shall it be lived in from generation to generation.
Jer 50:40 As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities of it, says Yahweh, so shall no man dwell there, neither shall any son of man sojourn therein.
Jer 50:41 Behold, a people comes from the north; and a great nation and many kings shall be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth.
Jer 50:42 They lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roars like the sea; and they ride on horses, everyone set in array, as a man to the battle, against you, daughter of Babylon.
Jer 50:43 The king of Babylon has heard the news of them, and his hands wax feeble: anguish has taken hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail.
Jer 50:44 Behold, the enemy shall come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation: for I will suddenly make them run away from it; and whoever is chosen, him will I appoint over it: for who is like me? and who will appoint me a time? and who is the shepherd who can stand before me?
Jer 50:45 Therefore hear the counsel of Yahweh, that he has taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely they shall drag them away, even the little ones of the flock; surely he shall make their habitation desolate over them.
Jer 50:46 At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth trembles, and the cry is heard among the nations.
 

Jer 51:1 Thus says Yahweh: Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against those who dwell in Lebkamai, a destroying wind.
Jer 51:2 I will send to Babylon strangers, who shall winnow her; and they shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her around.
Jer 51:3 Against him who bends let the archer bend his bow, and against him who lifts himself up in his coat of mail: and don't you spare her young men; destroy you utterly all her army.
Jer 51:4 They shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans, and thrust through in her streets.
Jer 51:5 For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, of his God, of Yahweh of Armies; though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel.
Jer 51:6 Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and save every man his life; don't be cut off in her iniquity: for it is the time of Yahweh's vengeance; he will render to her a recompense.
Jer 51:7 Babylon has been a golden cup in Yahweh's hand, who made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
Jer 51:8 Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: wail for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.
Jer 51:9 We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go everyone into his own country; for her judgment reaches to heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.
Jer 51:10 Yahweh has brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of Yahweh our God.
Jer 51:11 Make sharp the arrows; hold firm the shields: Yahweh has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes; because his purpose is against Babylon, to destroy it: for it is the vengeance of Yahweh, the vengeance of his temple.
Jer 51:12 Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set the watchmen, prepare the ambushes; for Yahweh has both purposed and done that which he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
Jer 51:13 You who dwell on many waters, abundant in treasures, your end is come, the measure of your covetousness.
Jer 51:14 Yahweh of Armies has sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill you with men, as with the canker worm; and they shall lift up a shout against you.
Jer 51:15 He has made the earth by his power, he has established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding has he stretched out the heavens:
Jer 51:16 when he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; he makes lightning for the rain, and brings forth the wind out of his treasuries.
Jer 51:17 Every man is become brutish and is without knowledge; every goldsmith is disappointed by his image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
Jer 51:18 They are vanity, a work of delusion: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
Jer 51:19 The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance: Yahweh of Armies is his name.
Jer 51:20 You are my battle axe and weapons of war: and with you will I break in pieces the nations; and with you will I destroy kingdoms;
Jer 51:21 and with you will I break in pieces the horse and his rider;
Jer 51:22 and with you will I break in pieces the chariot and him who rides therein; and with you will I break in pieces man and woman; and with you will I break in pieces the old man and the youth; and with you will I break in pieces the young man and the virgin;
Jer 51:23 and with you will I break in pieces the shepherd and his flock; and with you will I break in pieces the farmer and his yoke of oxen; and with you will I break in pieces governors and deputies.
Jer 51:24 I will render to Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, says Yahweh.
Jer 51:25 Behold, I am against you, destroying mountain, says Yahweh, which destroys all the earth; and I will stretch out my hand on you, and roll you down from the rocks, and will make you a burnt mountain.
Jer 51:26 They shall not take of you a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but you shall be desolate for ever, says Yahweh.
Jer 51:27 Set up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz: appoint a marshal against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough canker worm.
Jer 51:28 Prepare against her the nations, the kings of the Medes, its governors, and all its deputies, and all the land of their dominion.
Jer 51:29 The land trembles and is in pain; for the purposes of Yahweh against Babylon do stand, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant.
Jer 51:30 The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight, they remain in their strongholds; their might has failed; they are become as women: her dwelling places are set on fire; her bars are broken.
Jer 51:31 One runner will run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on every quarter:
Jer 51:32 and the passages are seized, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are frightened.
Jer 51:33 For thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time when it is trodden; yet a little while, and the time of harvest shall come for her.
Jer 51:34 Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me, he has crushed me, he has made me an empty vessel, he has, like a monster, swallowed me up, he has filled his maw with my delicacies; he has cast me out.
Jer 51:35 The violence done to me and to my flesh be on Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and, My blood be on the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.
Jer 51:36 Therefore thus says Yahweh: Behold, I will plead your cause, and take vengeance for you; and I will dry up her sea, and make her fountain dry.
Jer 51:37 Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling place for jackals, an astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant.
Jer 51:38 They shall roar together like young lions; they shall growl as lions' cubs.
Jer 51:39 When they are heated, I will make their feast, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, says Yahweh.
Jer 51:40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with male goats.
Jer 51:41 How is Sheshach taken! and the praise of the whole earth seized! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!
Jer 51:42 The sea is come up on Babylon; she is covered with the multitude of its waves.
Jer 51:43 Her cities are become a desolation, a dry land, and a desert, a land in which no man dwells, neither does any son of man pass thereby.
Jer 51:44 I will execute judgment on Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he has swallowed up; and the nations shall not flow any more to him: yes, the wall of Babylon shall fall.
Jer 51:45 My people, go you out of the midst of her, and save yourselves every man from the fierce anger of Yahweh.
Jer 51:46 Don't let your heart faint, neither fear for the news that shall be heard in the land; for news shall come one year, and after that in another year shall come news, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.
Jer 51:47 Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will execute judgment on the engraved images of Babylon; and her whole land shall be confounded; and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
Jer 51:48 Then the heavens and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for joy over Babylon; for the destroyers shall come to her from the north, says Yahweh.
Jer 51:49 As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the land.
Jer 51:50 You who have escaped the sword, go you, don't stand still; remember Yahweh from afar, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.
Jer 51:51 We are confounded, because we have heard reproach; confusion has covered our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of Yahweh's house.
Jer 51:52 Therefore, behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will execute judgment on her engraved images; and through all her land the wounded shall groan.
Jer 51:53 Though Babylon should mount up to the sky, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall destroyers come to her, says Yahweh.
Jer 51:54 The sound of a cry from Babylon, and of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
Jer 51:55 For Yahweh lays Babylon waste, and destroys out of her the great voice; and their waves roar like many waters; the noise of their voice is uttered:
Jer 51:56 for the destroyer is come on her, even on Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, their bows are broken in pieces; for Yahweh is a God of recompenses, he will surely requite.
Jer 51:57 I will make drunk her princes and her wise men, her governors and her deputies, and her mighty men; and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake up, says the King, whose name is Yahweh of Armies.
Jer 51:58 Thus says Yahweh of Armies: The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly overthrown, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the peoples shall labor for vanity, and the nations for the fire; and they shall be weary.
Jer 51:59 The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Now Seraiah was chief quartermaster.
Jer 51:60 Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come on Babylon, even all these words that are written concerning Babylon.
Jer 51:61 Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When you come to Babylon, then see that you read all these words,
Jer 51:62 and say, Yahweh, you have spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that none shall dwell therein, neither man nor animal, but that it shall be desolate forever.
Jer 51:63 It shall be, when you have made an end of reading this book, that you shall bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates:
Jer 51:64 and you shall say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise again because of the evil that I will bring on her; and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
 

Jer 52:1 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
Jer 52:2 He did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.
Jer 52:3 For through the anger of Yahweh did it happen in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
Jer 52:4 It happened in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built forts against it round about.
Jer 52:5 So the city was besieged to the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.
Jer 52:6 In the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.
Jer 52:7 Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled, and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king's garden; (now the Chaldeans were against the city all around;) and they went toward the Arabah.
Jer 52:8 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.
Jer 52:9 Then they took the king, and carried him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; and he gave judgment on him.
Jer 52:10 The king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he killed also all the princes of Judah in Riblah.
Jer 52:11 He put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in fetters, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison until the day of his death.
Jer 52:12 Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, who stood before the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem:
Jer 52:13 and he burned the house of Yahweh, and the king's house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house, burned he with fire.
Jer 52:14 All the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down all the walls of Jerusalem all around.
Jer 52:15 Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the poorest of the people, and the residue of the people who were left in the city, and those who fell away, who fell to the king of Babylon, and the residue of the multitude.
Jer 52:16 But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poorest of the land to be vineyard keepers and farmers.
Jer 52:17 The pillars of brass that were in the house of Yahweh, and the bases and the bronze sea that were in the house of Yahweh, did the Chaldeans break in pieces, and carried all the brass of them to Babylon.
Jer 52:18 The pots also, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the basins, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass with which they ministered, took they away.
Jer 52:19 The cups, and the fire pans, and the basins, and the pots, and the lampstands, and the spoons, and the bowls--that which was of gold, in gold, and that which was of silver, in silver,--the captain of the guard took away.
Jer 52:20 The two pillars, the one sea, and the twelve bronze bulls that were under the bases, which king Solomon had made for the house of Yahweh. The brass of all these vessels was without weight.
Jer 52:21 As for the pillars, the height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits; and a line of twelve cubits did compass it; and its thickness was four fingers: it was hollow.
Jer 52:22 A capital of brass was on it; and the height of the one capital was five cubits, with network and pomegranates on the capital all around, all of brass: and the second pillar also had like these, and pomegranates.
Jer 52:23 There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; all the pomegranates were one hundred on the network all around.
Jer 52:24 The captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold:
Jer 52:25 and out of the city he took an officer who was set over the men of war; and seven men of those who saw the king's face, who were found in the city; and the scribe of the captain of the army, who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the midst of the city.
Jer 52:26 Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah.
Jer 52:27 The king of Babylon struck them, and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away captive out of his land.
Jer 52:28 This is the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year three thousand twenty-three Jews;
Jer 52:29 in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred thirty-two persons;
Jer 52:30 in the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred forty-five persons: all the persons were four thousand and six hundred.
Jer 52:31 It happened in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison;
Jer 52:32 and he spoke kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon,
Jer 52:33 and changed his prison garments. Jehoiachin ate bread before him continually all the days of his life:
Jer 52:34 and for his allowance, there was a continual allowance given him by the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life.


Nov. 25
Hebrews 11

Heb 11:1 Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen.
Heb 11:2 For by this, the elders obtained testimony.
Heb 11:3 By faith, we understand that the universe has been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not been made out of things which are visible.
Heb 11:4 By faith, Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he had testimony given to him that he was righteous, God testifying with respect to his gifts; and through it he, being dead, still speaks.
Heb 11:5 By faith, Enoch was taken away, so that he wouldn't see death, and he was not found, because God translated him. For he has had testimony given to him that before his translation he had been well pleasing to God.
Heb 11:6 Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to him, for he who comes to God must believe that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him.
Heb 11:7 By faith, Noah, being warned about things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared a ship for the saving of his house, through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
Heb 11:8 By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out to the place which he was to receive for an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he went.
Heb 11:9 By faith, he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a land not his own, dwelling in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise.
Heb 11:10 For he looked for the city which has the foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Heb 11:11 By faith, even Sarah herself received power to conceive, and she bore a child when she was past age, since she counted him faithful who had promised.
Heb 11:12 Therefore as many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as innumerable as the sand which is by the sea shore, were fathered by one man, and him as good as dead.
Heb 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and embraced them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
Heb 11:14 For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own.
Heb 11:15 If indeed they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had enough time to return.
Heb 11:16 But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
Heb 11:17 By faith, Abraham, being tested, offered up Isaac. Yes, he who had gladly received the promises was offering up his one and only son;
Heb 11:18 even he to whom it was said, "In Isaac will your seed be called;"
Heb 11:19 concluding that God is able to raise up even from the dead. Figuratively speaking, he also did receive him back from the dead.
Heb 11:20 By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even concerning things to come.
Heb 11:21 By faith, Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.
Heb 11:22 By faith, Joseph, when his end was near, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel; and gave instructions concerning his bones.
Heb 11:23 By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid of the king's commandment.
Heb 11:24 By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,
Heb 11:25 choosing rather to share ill treatment with God's people, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a time;
Heb 11:26 accounting the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he looked to the reward.
Heb 11:27 By faith, he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.
Heb 11:28 By faith, he kept the Passover, and the sprinkling of the blood, that the destroyer of the firstborn should not touch them.
Heb 11:29 By faith, they passed through the Red Sea as on dry land. When the Egyptians tried to do so, they were swallowed up.
Heb 11:30 By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been encircled for seven days.
Heb 11:31 By faith, Rahab the prostitute, didn't perish with those who were disobedient, having received the spies in peace.
Heb 11:32 What more shall I say? For the time would fail me if I told of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets;
Heb 11:33 who, through faith subdued kingdoms, worked out righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
Heb 11:34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, rom weakness were made strong, grew mighty in war, and caused foreign armies to flee.
Heb 11:35 Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, not accepting their deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.
Heb 11:36 Others were tried by mocking and scourging, yes, moreover by bonds and imprisonment.
Heb 11:37 They were stoned. They were sawn apart. They were tempted. They were slain with the sword. They went around in sheep skins and in goat skins; being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated
Heb 11:38 (of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and the holes of the earth.
Heb 11:39 These all, having had testimony given to them through their faith, didn't receive the promise,
Heb 11:40 God having provided some better thing concerning us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

Revelation, Chapter 21, Mark Copeland

                        "THE BOOK OF REVELATION"

                           Chapter Twenty-One

OBJECTIVES IN STUDYING THIS CHAPTER

1) To consider the eternal destiny of the redeemed, in terms depicting
   fellowship with God and protection by God

2) To be amazed at the glory of the holy city, the New Jerusalem, the
   Lamb's wife, as revealed to John

SUMMARY

Following the Judgment scene at the end of the previous chapter, the
eternal destiny of the redeemed is now revealed.  The motif of a new
heaven and new earth, along with the New Jerusalem, is used to provide
great hope and comfort to Christians.  This is certainly nothing new,
for both the Old and New Testaments provided similar pictures to
increase anticipation of the future (cf. Isa 65:17-25; 66:22-24; He 11:
10,13-16; 13:14; 2Pe 3:13).  In each case, the eternal destiny of
God's faithful is described in terms that provided the greatest meaning
and encouragement to the people of that dispensation.  Here we see the
destiny of the redeemed in terms depicting fellowship with God and
protection by God.

John first sees all things made new.  There is a new heaven and a new
earth, for the first heaven and first earth are no more (cf. 20:11).
He sees the holy city, New Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from
God.  A loud voice from heaven declares that God will dwell with His
people and be their God.  God, who is the Alpha and the Omega, the
Beginning and the End, will comfort His people by removing all that
causes pain, and provide the fountain of the water of life freely to
him that thirsts.  While those who overcome inherit all things and
enjoy the blessings of being God's children, the wicked and unfaithful
have their part in the lake of fire and brimstone (cf. 19:20; 20:10,
14-15) which is defined as the second death (1-8).

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls (cf. 15:7; 16:1) then
carries John to a great and high mountain, to show him "the bride, the
Lamb's wife".  This is none other than the great city, the New
Jerusalem, which is seen descending out of heaven from God. It is a
city having the glory of God, and the bulk of the chapter describes its
prominent features.  A great and high wall surrounds the city. Standing
about 72 yards high and made of jasper, the wall has twelve pearly
gates upon which are the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, with an
angel at each gate.  The wall has twelve foundations, made of
precious stones, upon which are the names of the twelve apostles.  The
city itself, made of pure gold like clear glass, is 1500 miles long in
its length, breadth, and height.  The street of the city is also pure
gold, like transparent glass (9-21).

The glory of the holy city is described further by noting that there is
no temple, for God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.  There is no
need for the sun or moon, for the glory of God and the Lamb illuminate
the city.  Its gates are never shut, there is no night there, and the
nations of the saved along with the kings of the earth bring their
honor and glory into it.  Only those written in the Lamb's book of life
enter this glorious city, ensuring that it remains free from any
abomination and defilement (22-27).

OUTLINE

I. ALL THINGS MADE NEW (1-8)

   A. THE NEW HEAVEN AND NEW EARTH (1)
      1. John sees a new heaven and a new earth
      2. The first heaven and earth had passed away, and there was no
         sea

   B. THE NEW JERUSALEM (2)
      1. John saw the holy city coming down out of heaven
      2. It was prepared as a bride adorned for her husband

   C. THE PROCLAMATION FROM HEAVEN (3-4)
      1. "The tabernacle of God is with men"
         a. "He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people"
         b. "God Himself will be with them and be their God"
      2. "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes"
         a. "There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying"
         b. "There shall be no more pain, for the former things have
            passed away"

   D. THE PROCLAMATION FROM THE ONE WHO SAT ON THE THRONE (5-8)
      1. "Behold, I make all things new"
         a. "Write, for these words are true and faithful"
         b. "It is done!"
      2. "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End"
         a. "I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to
            him who thirsts"
         b. "He who overcomes shall inherit all things"
            1) "I will be his God"
            2) "He shall be My son"
      3. "But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers,
         sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars..."
         a. "Shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire
            and brimstone"
         b. "Which is the second death"

II. THE NEW JERUSALEM (9-21)

   A. JOHN IS SHOWN THE HOLY CITY (9-11)
      1. By one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with
         the last plagues
         a. Who offered to show John "the bride, the Lamb's wife"
         b. Who carried him away in the Spirit to a great and high
            mountain
      2. He sees the great city, the holy Jerusalem
         a. Descending out of heaven from God
         b. Having the glory of God
         c. With light like a jasper stone, clear as crystal

   B. THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE CITY AND ITS WALL (12-21)
      1. It had a great and high wall with twelve gates
         a. With twelve angels at the gates
         b. With the names of the twelve tribes of Israel
         c. With three gates each on the east, north, south, and west
         d. With twelve foundations, on which were the names of the
            twelve apostles of the Lamb
      2. The measurement of the city, the gates, and the wall
         a. The angel had a golden reed to measure them
         b. The city is laid out as a cube, its length, breadth, and
            height are each 12,000 furlongs
         c. The wall is one hundred and forty-four cubits
      3. The construction of the city, the wall, its foundations, and
         the gates
         a. The wall was of jasper; the city was pure gold, like clear
            glass
         b. The twelve foundations of the wall were adorned with
            precious stones:
            1) Jasper         5) Sardonyx        9) Topaz
            2) Sapphire       6) Sardius        10) Chrysoprase
            3) Chalcedony     7) Chrysolite     11) Jacinth
            4) Emerald        8) Beryl          12) Amethyst
         c. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate one pearl
         d. The street of the city was pure gold, like transparent
            glass

III. THE GLORY OF THE HOLY CITY (22-27)

   A. ILLUMINATED BY THE PRESENCE OF GOD AND THE LAMB (22-23)
      1. Its temple are the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb
      2. It is illuminated by the glory of God and the Lamb

   B. ENHANCED BY THOSE WHO ENTER IT (24-27)
      1. The nations of the saved shall walk in its light
      2. The kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it
      3. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day, and there is no
         night there
      4. The nations shall bring their glory and honor into it
         a. Nothing that defiles, causes an abomination or a lie, shall
            enter it
         b. Only those written in the Lamb's book of Life enter it

REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR THE CHAPTER

1) What are the main points of this chapter?
   - All things made new (1-8)
   - The New Jerusalem (9-21)
   - The glory of the holy city (22-27)

2) What did John see? (1)
   - A new heaven and new earth

3) What happened to the first heaven and first earth? What of the sea?
   (1)
   - They had passed away
   - It was no more

4) What did John see coming down out of heaven from God? (2)
   - The holy city, New Jerusalem, prepared as bride adorned for her
     husband

5) What is said about the dwelling of God? (3)
   - The tabernacle of God is with men
   - He will dwell with them and they shall be His people
   - God Himself will be with them and be their God

6) What will God do?  What shall be no more? (4)
   - Wipe away every tear from their eyes
   - Death, sorrow, crying, pain

7) What did the One on the throne say to John in verse 5?
   - "Behold, I make all things new"
   - "Write, for these words are true and faithful"

8) What did He say in verse 6?
   - "It is done!"
   - "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End"
   - "I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him
     who thirsts"

9) What is promised to those who overcome? (7)
   - He shall inherit all things
   - "I will be his God and he shall be My son"

10) Who shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and
    brimstone?  What is this called? (8)
   - The cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually
     immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, all liars
   - The second death

11) Who offered to show John the bride, the Lamb's wife? (9)
   - One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls

12) Where is John taken, and what does he see? (10)
   - To a great and high mountain
   - The great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from
     God

13) What was the general description of the city? (11)
   - It has the glory of God
   - Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone,
     clear as crystal

14) What surrounded the city? (12)
   - A great and high wall with twelve gates

15) What stood at each of the gates?  What was written on the gates?
    (12)
   - An angel
   - The names of the twelve tribes of Israel

16) How many foundations did the wall have?  What was written on the
    foundations? (14)
   - Twelve
   - The names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb

17) What was the length, breadth, and height of the city? (16)
   - 12,000 furlongs (about 1500 miles)

18) How tall was the wall? (17)
   - 144 cubits (about 72 yards)

19) What was the construction of the wall?  Of the city? (18)
   - The wall was of jasper
   - The city was of pure gold, like clear glass

20) What were the foundations of the city adorned with? (19)
   - All sorts of precious stones

21) What were the twelve gates?  What was the street of the city? (21)
   - Twelve pearls, each gate of one pearl
   - Pure gold, like transparent glass

22) Why was there no temple in the city? (22)
   - The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple

23) Why was there no need for the sun or moon to shine in it? (23)
   - The glory of God illuminated it, and the Lamb is its light

24) Who shall walk in its light?  Who shall bring their glory and honor
    into it? (24)
   - The nations of those who are saved
   - The kings of the earth

25) What shall not be shut at all day?  What about at night? (25)
   - The city's gates
   - There shall be no night there

26) Who will by no means enter the city?  Who will enter the city? (27)
   - Anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie
   - Only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life