Shalom,
Psalm 99 is the 6th of 7 "royal psalms". These psalms all magnify the sovereign rule of the LORD! That is, Yahweh, or Jehovah, the Eternal, Self-existing One! He IS the ONE Who is King of kings and Lord of lords! Wouldn't you know that there would be 7 of them! Our God IS God! We looked at verse 1 earlier, so let's look at verse 2:
2 The LORD is great in Zion, and He is high above all the nations.
Our sovereign Lord is "great", the Hebrew word, "gadowl", which means: large in magnitude and extent, in intensity, loud in sound, important, distinguished, and refers to extended dimension; in Zion (a mountain in Jerusalem, also refers to Jerusalem itself), and is high above ALL people (nations and individuals)! In other words, there is NO god like OUR GOD! AMEN! Now look at verses 6-7:
6 Moses and Aaron were among His priests, and Samuel was among those who called upon His Name; they called upon the LORD, and he answered them. 7 He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud; they kept His testimonies and statutes that He gave them.
He spoke to THEM in the pillar of cloud! He speaks to US by His Spirit Who lives inside of us (believers in Jesus of Nazareth). I am so thankful to be living in THIS day! Aren't you?
In Luke 20 we see Jesus dealing with three groups of people: the chief priests, the scribes and the elders. Jesus had already told His disciples to expect this in Luke 9:22:
22 Saying, The Son of Man must suffer many things and be [deliberately] disapproved and repudiated and rejected on the part of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be put to death and on the third day be raised [again].
These religious leaders were upset at the cleansing of the Temple by Jesus and proceeded to bring questions that they THOUGHT would trap Him! They didn't succeed, of course, but there was more to this than I realized! I found this in the Bible Exposition Commentary:
But there was more to this series of questions than mere guile. The word "rejected" in Luke 9:22 (and also in Luke 20:17) means "to reject after investigation." It was required that the Jews carefully examine the Passover lambs from the 10th day to the 14th day to make sure they had no blemishes (Exodus 12:1-6). Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God (John 1:29), was watched and tested by His enemies during that final week; and yet in spite of what they saw and learned, they rejected Him. However, Jesus was also examining them! For as they questioned Him, He questioned them, and their responses revealed the ignorance, hatred and unbelief of their hearts.
They rejected the perfect Lamb of God, the very ONE Who came to save them! Luke 20:17-18:
17 But [Jesus] looked at them and said, What then is [the meaning of] this that is written: The [very] Stone which the builders rejected has become the chief Stone of the corner [Cornerstone]? 18 Everyone who falls on that Stone will be broken [in pieces]; but upon whomever It falls, It will crush him [winnow him and scatter him as dust].
Have YOU fallen on this Stone yet? Have YOU received Jesus of Nazareth as Lord and personal Saviour? Make that choice NOW, while you still can! He is coming, soon and very soon, for His own! I want YOU to be one of those!
Jeremiah operated as a prophet during the reign of King Josiah who did right in the sight of the Lord. The people appeared to repent and and agree with the king, but Jeremiah knew otherwise! They said the right things with their lips, but their hearts were far from God! Jeremiah 11:9-10:
9 And the LORD said to me, A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10 They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear My words; they have gone after other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant or solemn pledge which I made with their fathers.
God continually sent His prophets to give the people the opportunity to change their thinking to agree with Him. When they refused, then destruction and calamity came! It was NOT what God desired for them, but their own choices determined what He could do for them! The same is still true now! God has given us His Word so that we can find out what belongs to us as believers in Jesus of Nazareth and members of the family of God. We make choices DAILY that determine just how much of what God has promised will come to pass in our lives. Study the Word of God to find out what belongs to you, and then do everything you need to do to get in position to receive! God's not holding anything back, WE do that by your choices! CHOOSE LIFE and the BLESSING! AMEN!
Shalom in Him!
