I have found myself talking a lot about Kingdom and Kingdom blessings during the past weekend. It all started with my preparation for the baptism classes that is going on every Friday night at church. I was developing the historical connection John the baptism has with baptism and what was the thrust of his message. Then i wanted to compare that with the real thrust of the teachings of Jesus while he was on earth, which culminated with the Great Commission. Our command to baptise people was given as part of that.
Since both john and JJesus talked a lot about the kingdom, my thoughts went back another step to the promises of the kingdom in the Old Testament prophecies. When we study the prophecies that spanned from 8th century B.C. to 6th century B.C., what we see is primarily warning against a people who were going away from God. It was a message of losing their kingdom rather than gaining a kingdom. Isaiah's prophecies are unique in this that though originated in the same time period, it contains majestic promises of a coming kingdom.
Jeremiah's book is even more interesting in this respect. He was an eye witness to the Babylonian captivity. As such, we see a dichotomy in his prophecies. Earlier in his book, we see warnings after warnings which made him very unpopular to his contemporaries and landed him in all types of peril. Then his prophecies began to fulfill right before his eyes. All of a sudden, the mercy of God started to pour out to the captives. Gazing at the long chain of Jewish captives, he shouted that the captivity will last only for seventy years. later he sent a letter to the captives saying that if they seek the welfare of the city where God has placed them they will do good and that God's plans for their
Monday, March 12, 2007
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