Command the Raven

Jeremiah 21:7, 9 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)

O Lord, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed; I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.
Then said I, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay. [Dake].

Jeremiah, like many other men who have been tested by suffering, failed God and laid blame on the Almighty for his insults and bodily suffering.

He had been scourged with 39 stripes and been in the stocks a night, mocked by the multitude.

Not being told this would happen when he was called by the Lord, he therefore accused Jehovah of deceiving him [v7].

The Hebrew word ‘pathah’ for deceived here could mean induced, or persuaded in a better sense than deceit. It is translated ‘persuaded’ in Pr. 25:15 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
; and ‘allure’ in Hos. 2:15 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
.

It seemed to Jeremiah that he had made an utter failure and his labor was in vain, so he was crushed at spending his life for nothing.

He determined to quit speaking the word of the Lord; but it became as a fire shut up in his bones and he was weary of holding it back [v9].
- Dake Annotated Reference Bible: page 764

Higher Ways [Part Two]
John 3:16 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.

God’s way is to put away grudges and all bitterness – man’s is to hold them and seek revenge.

God’s way is not to take a matter [between brethren] to law – man’s is to do this.

God’s way is to lend, hoping nothing in return – man’s is not to lend without security and gain.

God’s way is to judge not – man’s is to judge.

God’s way is to do unto others as one would wish to be done unto – man’s is to take advantage of others regardless of the outcome.

God’s way is to rejoice and glory in persecution and trouble – man’s is to fight back, resent and take revenge.

God’s way is to be kind to enemies and feed them – man’s way is to repay them for their wrong-doing.

God’s way is to be friendly with the lowest and all other classes – man’s is to show respect of persons, preferring those who can return them personal gain.

God’s way is to forgive 490 times – man’s to forgive a few times, and only when necessary.

God’s way is not to boast or seek His own things – man’s way is to brag and seek things for self.

God’s way is to labour and give to others – man’s to labour for self only, and ignore others.

God’s ways, thoughts, purposes, and acts are, generally speaking, different from those of man. His plan of creation and redemption are different from what man’s would have been, as well as His way of government. - Dake A.R. Bible

TRULY, JUST AS THE HEAVENS ARE INFINITELY HIGHER THAN THE EARTH, SO GOD’S WAY AND THOUGHTS ARE ABOVE MAN’S.

If any man thirst let him come unto me and drink – He that believeth on Me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water [John 7:37-38 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
].
Out of the believer will flow unlimited power to do the works of Christ – as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God – even to them that believe on His Name; which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Therefore, on the ground of His Word, with the accessible flow of unlimited power, as the sons of God, we must strive to habitually practice His ways, until it becomes second nature to us.

Higher Ways [Part One]
Hebrew 10:38
Now the just live by faith; but if any man draw back, My Soul shall have no pleasure in him.

Examples of Higher Ways [Dake]

Living and acting on faith regarding what is not seen, even what seems impossible to be true – while man lives by what he sees and understands.

God plans on eternity – man for time.

God the spiritual – man the material.

God consecrates Himself to the highest good of all – man to self-gratification.

God works in miraculous and mysterious ways – man in the ordinary.

God’s ways are supernatural – man’s natural.

God’s ways are unlimited – man’s limited.

God exalts through humility – man through self- exaltation.

God’s way up is down – man’s is to climb up without going down [humbling self] first.

God controls by love – man by force.

God gives justice without reward – man gives it for reward and personal gain.

God wins respect by goodness – man by wealth and power.

God redeems by death – man by money.

God’s program is carried on without outward show – man’s by show and splendor.

God’s way is to take no thought for the morrow – man’s way is made up of constant worry, planning and fretting.

God’s way is to give alms, pray and fast in secret; not to be seen of men – man’s is by public demonstration.

God’s way is to bring peace on earth by man’s personal surrender – man’s way is by force of arms and conquest.

God’s way of social life is to make feasts for the poor, lame, maimed and outcasts – man’s way is to make them for friends who are well provided for, the rich and influential.

Our finite minds are incapable of comprehending the true Omnipotence and Omniscience of God, and the following words recorded in the book of Job 11:7 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
– 8 reflect the awesomeness of God:-

Can you find out the deep things of God, or can you by searching find out the limit of the Almighty [explore His depths, ascend to His heights, extend to His breadths, and comprehend His infinite] perfection?

His wisdom is high as the heights of heaven! What can you do? It is deeper than Sheol [the place of the dead]! What can you know?

Part Two continued…….

God’s Ways & Thoughts
Isaiah 55:9 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)

For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways higher than our ways and His thoughts than our thoughts. As rain and snow water the earth, in making it fruitful, so God’s word will accomplish its purpose.

SIX ASPECTS – His ways and thoughts higher. [Dake]

IN PARDON:
Men never would have planned pardon for enemies, as God did for those who devote themselves to destroying their plans, works and purposes. Men seek revenge on all such and harbor malice and hatred, whereas God planned redemption an untold glories for His enemies. [John 3:16 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
; Romans 5:8 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
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IN NUMBER OF OFFENCES:
Under favorable and special circumstances men forgive a few times, but they are prone not to forgive repeated offences. God forgives freely many times and as completely and lovingly the last time as the first. [Matt. 12:32 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
; 18:21-22; Rev. 22:17 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
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IN NUMBER OF OFFENDERS:
Men may pardon one person or a few who injure them, but the greater the numbers the less they are inclined to forgive. God forgives all regardless of the number of offenders.
[John 3:16 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
; 1 Tim 2:4 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
; 2 Peter 3:9 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
; Rev. 22:17 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
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IN KINDS OF OFFENCES:
Men usually limit themselves as to what kind of offences they will forgive; but God has no qualifications on this point, except the offence of rejecting the only means of help He can offer. [Matthew 12:31-32 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
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IN DEGREE OF OFFENCES:
Men will forgive if an offence is small enough not to be of any great injury to them; but God will forgive the greatest and most aggravated offences against Him. [Isaiah 53 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
: John 3:16 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
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IN MODE OF PARDON:
Men may be willing to forgive if it does not cost them much, and they can see such is to their advantage; but God gave the most precious gift of heaven that He might have a basis of forgiveness for His enemies. God redeems on the basis of personal suffering and having substituted Himself to be punished instead of His enemies. He forgives by the very one whom men sought to destroy, the one made to endure the most horrible sufferings ever laid upon a human being. He blesses by faith in the blood atonement of the death of an innocent person. Man would have punished the guilty and satisfied justice; but God punished the innocent to justify the guilty. In fact the whole program of reconciliation of enemies to God is of such a high level that men could never have planned it.

- Dakes A.R. Bible

Command Me
Isaiah 45:11 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)

Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons and concerning the work of My Hands command ye Me.

Two Commands to Israel:
Ask Me to show you things to come concerning My sons;
Command Me concerning the work of My hands.

This literally means that men have the authority to pray in such faith that they can direct the Almighty to do for them those things which they want and need.

God would rather do things for His people than to withhold from them.

To command God is an expression of highest relationship, friendship, and co-operation to the same end in life.

It is a rare privilege to command Him, and if exercised properly in fervent respectful petition, there is nothing that will be impossible to the believer.

Seven Examples of commanding God:

Moses commanded frogs to die. [Exodus 8:3 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
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He commanded flies to be removed. [Exodus 8:31 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
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He caused God to repent. [Exodus 32:12-14 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
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Joshua commanded the sun. [[Joshua 10:12 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
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Elijah commanded fire from heaven. [1 Kings 18:36-38 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
; 2 Kings 1:10-12 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
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Jesus Christ commanded the winds and waves to obey, and water to turn to wine etc. [Luke 4:35 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
; John 2 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
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Apostles and others commanded men to be free from infirmity. [Acts 3:6 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
: 5:16; 9:34; 9:40; 13:11; 14:10; 19: 11-12]

(Source: Dake King James Bible: Page 475 Column 1 & 4.)

Psalm 14:1 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

1. CREATION: That the material worlds had a beginning is not only declared by Scripture, but is confirmed by geology, astronomy, and other sciences. Everything begun owes its existence to some producing cause greater than its production. Since creations are great, the cause of them must be infinitely greater. The cause must be intelligent and personal, for force is not personal. It must be aside and apart from the things caused. This cause must be God who is the cause of all causes; and these facts must be concluded because of the nature of the various creations. To think of the vast creations of suns, solar systems, worlds, their inhabitants of intelligent beings, and of varied life without concluding that some intelligent being planned, designed, and brought them into existence is blind and willful unbelief. It is like thinking there is no intelligent person back of every watch, car, radio, television, or anything else made among men. If someone made all these things, certainly someone made the vast creations in space. The Heavens do declare the Glory of God. The firmament does show His handiwork [Ps. 19:1-6 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
; 8:3-4, note]. We can understand God by His creation [Rom. 1:19-20 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
; Job 12:7-25 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
; 38:1-41: 34].

2. DESIGN: The design and purpose of all creation prove an intelligent Designer to order and direct all things to useful ends. Nature without God in it is like man’s body without life in it, like a watch, radio, television, or any complicated machine without a designer, maker, and maintenance man. Who but God orders, arranges, and maintains the vast solar systems and all life on the planets to the minutest detail? Who caused the systems to run eternally in their own orbits and spheres without the slightest deviation from fixed law? Just as the Bible is not written and produced by the laws of spelling and grammar, but by intelligent minds according to those laws, so the book of the universe is not written by the laws of nature, but by an intelligent Being who made all things and upholds them by His own power [Heb. 1:13 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
]. Out of 5,300 pictures of snow-crystals catalogued no two are exactly alike. Each has 6 points crossing at a 60 degree angel. If one is like a fern it has 6 out-pointing leaves; if like a windmill, it has 6 sails; if like a starfish, 6 ribs; or if like a fir tree, 6 stems with plumes set in perfect symmetry. This makes 3 distinct angles to each flake. The Hebrew word for ‘snow’ equals 333 [Hebrew letters stand for numbers]. Could it not be that God has set His symbol of the Triune God in each flake? The average snow storm produces about 10000 billion crystals. Only an intelligent Being could design so many forms. This same infinite design is carried out with every detail of creation, proving an infinite mind. If design is seen in such details as snow how much more are they seen in larger and more visible creations in the earth and heavens?

3. INTUITION: This means direct, inborn, self-conscious, sense-perception knowledge; comprehension without effort or reasoning; instinctive knowledge. All men have an intuitive belief in God. Some have so ignored and killed out such natural faith by unnatural and destructive efforts that it is not recognized by them; but in times of sudden danger and in face of realities they automatically call out upon God for help. This proves the intuition is still there but suppressed. Such faith is as much a part of man’s faculties as breathing, eating, drinking, etc. It is as natural as the instinct of a chicken out of the shell who starts to pick in the sand around it for something to eat, or a calf who knows where to get its first dinner. The calf does not pick in the sand and a chicken would never think of going to a cow for its food. Nothing in nature has to be school-trained to learn how to act according to its own peculiar nature. So man does not have to learn that there is a God. He knows intuitively that there is one and that in Him he lives, moves, and has his own being [Acts 17:22-28 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
].

4. NATURE: Man’s moral and spiritual natures know there is a God who approves or condemns all acts of right or wrong. Conscience is the voice of God in man. Moral law makes him a responsible creature and requires him to consecrate himself to the highest good of being and of the universe. It must be that there is a God or moral nature is a lie. It lives in constant respect and fear of the pleasure or displeasure of Him. Man’s native moral obligation to moral law implies a moral Lawgiver and Moral Governor of the Universe. Willing or unwilling man lives in the sense of such Presence in his life and conduct. Conscience does not lay down the law but it recognizes it. Thus man’s moral and intellectual being proves the existence of God to whom he is responsible.

5. UNIVERSAL BELIEF: The vast majority of men in all ages and places have acknowledged the existence of God. The lowest tribes and the most destitute of religion as well as the highest civilized and religious have equally believed in a supreme being. Such is manifest in the manners, customs, literature, religion, and conduct of all men [Rom. 1:21-32 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
].

6. UNIVERSAL HUNGER: When a person is physically hungry we know that the hunger argues and demands something to satisfy it. When a man hungers for God that hunger argues and demands Someone or Something to satisfy it. All men hunger for soul satisfaction and long for a Saviour and a Deliverer from all the ills and curses of life. There must be supreme Being capable of meeting this universal craving when men turn to Him and meet His terms of reconciliation and fellowship [Jn. 3:16-20 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
; 2 Cor. 5:17-21 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
; 6:14-18; 1 Jn. 1:1-9 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
].

7. DEPENDENCE AND NECESSITY: All men of all ages and places not only recognize the existence of a supreme Being, but they, at times, recognize their dependence upon Him and an absolute necessity for His blessings to sustain life. They realize their own helplessness and long for and call upon God for help in times of need [Ps. 107:1-43 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
; Jonah 1:5-16 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
].

8. HARMONY: To believe in the existence of God is the only natural, normal, practical, beneficial, satisfying, factual, necessary, and Scriptural way to believe. When one has the key that will unlock a door he knows he has the right key. Even so, when one has the answer to every question, the explanation of every mystery, the satisfaction to every hunger and desire, the answer to the perplexing problems of the past, present, and future, he knows that he is right in believing there is a God. Atheism is not the answer to one problem. It makes lies of nature, creation, the Bible, and God and leaves helpless and floundering man a victim of misery and despair.

9. HISTORY: The record of events in all history gives overwhelming evidence of the existence and providence of God – in the rise and fall of nations, the preservation of races; the government of peoples; and innumerable events which had no natural or possible explanation other than the acts of a supernatural Being called GOD. Multitudes of men have been blessed by Him and redeemed from lives of sin and shame. Some have seen God with the natural eyes; others have had visions and revelations from Him; and still others have known God in an intimate and personal way. These millions of actual contacts and experiences cannot be denied. Healings, miracles, deliverances, and real contacts with God have revolutionized individual lives and whole nations times without number. To deny the existence of God is as foolish as to deny the creation, electricity, heat, light, cold and innumerable other things, seen and unseen. Multitudes today can testify of changed lives by faith in God, answers to prayer, and personal experiences of many kinds. While this is true among Christians, not one infidel, agnostic, or atheist can boast of any benefit whatsoever from his unbelief. The acid test of Christianity and atheism is the actual benefits of their converts!

10. SCRIPTURES: The Bible begins by assuming the existence of God and His creation of all things [Gen: 1:1; Job 38-40 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
]. In over 20,000 statements about God in Scripture we get to know all that we need to know about the subject [further notes: r, Jn. 4:24 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
Dake A.R.B.]
- Dake Annotated Reference Bible: page 623.

Proverbs 15:11 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)

11 Hell and destruction are before the LORD: how much more then the hearts of the children of men?

This confirms what was said (v. 3) concerning God’s omnipresence, in order to his judging of evil and good.

1. God knows all things, even those things that are hidden from the eyes of all living: Hell and destruction are before the Lord, not only the centre of the earth, and its subterraneous caverns, but the grave, and all the dead bodies which are there buried out of our sight; they are all before the Lord, all under his eye, so that none of them can be lost or be to seek when they are to be raised again. He knows where every man lies buried, even Moses, even those that are buried in the greatest obscurity; nor needs he any monument with a Hic jacet–Here he lies, to direct him. The place of the damned in particular, and all their torments, which are inexpressible, the state of separate souls in general, and all their circumstances, are under God’s eye. The word here used for destruction is Abaddon, which is one of the devil’s names, Rev. 9:11 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
. That destroyer, though he deceives us, cannot evade or elude the divine cognizance. God examines him whence he comes (Job 1:7 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
), and sees through all his disguises though he is sly, and subtle, and swift, Job 26:6 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
.

2. He knows particularly the hearts of the children of men. If he sees through the depths and wiles of Satan himself, much more can he search men’s hearts, though they be deceitful, since they learned all their fraudulent arts of Satan. God is greater than our hearts, and knows them better than we know them ourselves, and therefore is an infallible Judge of every man’s character, Heb. 4:13 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
.
- Matthew Henry Commentary

Jeremiah 39:17-18 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)

But I will deliver thee in that day, saith the Lord: and thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid.
For I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thy life shall be for a prey unto thee: because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the Lord. [Dake]

JEREMIAH – Jehovah is high, Jehovah raises up or launches out.

This shows how God rewards those who put their trust in Him, and repays for showing kindness to His prophets, as did this Ethiopian [v 18; 38:13].

The word of God to men is more than predictions of things to come, as clearly demonstrated here. Even prophecy, as explained in 1 Cor. 14:3 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
, is speaking to men in edification, exhortation, and comfort.

These chapters [40 – 44], containing messages to the remnant left in the land, very few predictions in them, but what is written is as much the word of the Lord as the predictions.

The Jews regarded history as the word of the Lord also, when written by an inspired prophet; and so their historical books are called the early prophets. Actually, inspiration guarantees the genuineness and authenticity of the history of the Bible as well as prophecy and all should be considered the Word of God.

Jeremiah was, according to this, led away captive along with all other prisoners in chains to Ramah where the captives were collected and examined [v 1]. He was singled out and separated from all the others because of his predictions against Judah and Jerusalem which were favorable to the king of Babylon in this war [v2].

Note this speech of Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard. He spoke of the predictions which God had given and how they had been fulfilled to the letter because of sin [v 2-3].

He took the chains off Jeremiah and invited him to go to Babylon with him and assured him he would be well treated there, if he saw fit to do so; otherwise he made the prophet free to go to Gedaliah and remain with the remnant in the land, or go elsewhere if he wished.

After giving Jeremiah food and reward, he let him go [Jer. 40:4-5 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
], and he chose to remain among the remnant in the land [v6].
- Dake A.R. Bible: page 785

How we got our English Bible

Our English Bible is the result of 1200 years of work by all kinds of learned men.

Portions were translated from the Vulgate, the Latin version, beginning as far back as 700 A.D. when Aldhelm translated the Psalms into Saxon.

Egbert translated the 4 gospels sometime later.

Bede translated parts of the Scriptures into Saxon.

King Alfred undertook a translation of the Psalms but died in 900 A.D. before it was finished.

Elfric translated the Pentateuch and some of the historical books in the 10th Century.

Nothing else was done about translation from then to the time of John Wyclif, who made the first complete English Bible from the Vulgate in 1380 A.D.

The next was a N.T. by William Tyndale in 1535 and the Pentateuch in 1530.

In 1535 Miles Coverdale made the first complete printed English Bible.

Then came the Geneva Bible in 1560 A.D. followed by Bishop’s Bible in 1563 and revised in 1568.

The Roman Church came out with the Douay Version of the N.T. in 1582 and the whole Bible in 1609 which has been used by that church up until now.

In 1604 King James authorized 47 men to make a complete translation of the Bible from the original languages. It was finished in 1611 after 7 – 8 years of diligent work.

It has been the most popular and accepted version of the English speaking world from that day until now.

There have been several revised versions since then, and a number of Bibles in the so-called modern English, but none have been as well accepted and as lasting as the King James version – and perhaps never will be.
- Dake Annotated Reference Bible: page 520.

From Koinonia House Archives March 2008

THE DEITY OF CHRIST -
Why do we believe that Jesus was the Messiah? What if he was just a man? Does it really make a difference? If you have ever asked yourself these same questions, be assured that the Bible does have the answers.

For the greater part of the last 2,000 years the historical existence of Jesus has not been questioned. However, in the last two centuries an increasing number of skeptics have claimed that Jesus never existed, even though a cursory review of ancient Roman and Rabbinical writings reveals that Jesus was indeed a historical figure. The Babylonian Talmud, an ancient rabbinical commentary, makes a number of references to Jesus of Nazareth. The first century Jewish historian Josephus also made references to Jesus: “Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man. If it be lawful to call Him a man, for He was a doer of wonderful works. He was the Christ. And the tribe of Christians so named from Him are not extinct to this day… (The Antiquities of the Jews, book 18, chapter 3).”

Throughout its text the Bible clearly teaches that there is but one God. However, the mystery of the Godhead is that this one God manifests Himself in three distinct persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. This fact has led to the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. In fact, the attributes of God, the works of God and the names of God are applied to all three persons of the trinity. Throughout the Old Testament we are given a glimpse of the deity and majesty of the Messiah (Anointed One). Furthermore, the fact that God is a plural being, eternally existent in more than one person, is also found throughout the Old Testament. Elohim, the plural form of El, one of the names of God, is seen throughout the Old Testament (see Genesis 1:1 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
) and in Genesis 1:26 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
God states, “Let us make man in our image…”

In the New Testament the disciples clearly spoke of the preeminence and deity of Jesus Christ. He is identified as the creator of the universe (Jn 1:1-14 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
, Col 1:16 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
), God manifest in the flesh (1 Tim 3:16 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
), and our Lord and Savior (Titus 1:1-4 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
). This is only a small sample of their claims about the nature and identity of Christ. By healing the sick, resurrecting the dead, creating food out of nothing and by defying the laws of gravity, Jesus demonstrated His authority over the laws of physics and thereby revealed His divine nature. Jesus’ resume is impeccable. All the necessary attributes of the Creator are applied to Him within the Biblical text – he is independent of space and time, transcendent, distinct from his creation, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and has authority over the laws of nature. Jesus himself claimed to be the Son of God and the only way to eternal life (John 4:25 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
; 9:35-37; 10:30-3; 14:6-9).

Jesus Christ made the ultimate sacrifice for us. It will take an eternity for us to understand what it cost Him that we might live. He “made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:7-11 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
).” This Resurrection Sunday take time to reflect on who Jesus is and to thank Him for what he did on our behalf.
Related Links:
• Easter Resources - Koinonia House
• The Easter Story - DVD - Koinonia House
• The Agony of Love - MP3 Download
• From Here to Eternity - MP3 Download
- From Koinonia House News Letter