Jesus will not do anything until the Holy Spirit reveal the secrets unto His prophets.

This verse in Amos 3:7 where Jesus tells us he will do nothing he has mentioned without revealing his purpose to his servants the prophets.  The word prophets could mean, “Inspired man” as one of its meaning.  We know that the Holy Spirit will teach us all things and will remind me of what Jesus have said.  Two good examples are (1) Jesus revealed what soon must take place (Rev 1) and (2) Daniel in Dan 2 and 10 tells us that Jesus reveals deep and hidden things to his body.  Why are the secret things, which belong to the LORD our God, revealed to us, Deut 29 tells us so that we may follow all the Words of Jesus Commands.  We must be careful that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation.  This is why we have false prophets.  This is why we are to carefully, examine the scriptures to see if what they say is true.  The Holy Spirit will give us the discernment.  Be careful, there are many of Satan false prophets out in the world. Blessing

Stephen

(Amos 3:7 KJV)  Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

(Dan 10:1 NIV)  In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a revelation was given to Daniel (who was called Belteshazzar). Its message was true and it concerned a great war. The understanding of the message came to him in a vision.

(Dan 2:22 NIV)  He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him.

(Deu 29:29 NIV)  The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.

(Rev 1:1 NIV)  The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,

(2 Pet 1:20-21 NIV)  Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. {21} For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

(2 Pet 2:1 NIV)  But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves.

(John 14:26 NIV)  But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

Prophets: 5030. nabiy', naw-bee'; from H5012; a prophet or (gen.) inspired man:--prophecy, that prophesy, prophet.

Compare the spiritual condition and ultimate destinies of the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom.

We found that the Northern Kingdom (Israel) and the Southern Kingdom (Judah) spiritual condition became corrupt and contrary to the Law of God that He set down for both nations.  We know that Israel went into captivity by Assyrians and was in a worldwide dispersion and not returned to their homeland.  Judah went into captivity by Babylon and after 70 years, returned to their homeland.  When the millennium start, Jesus will bring back to Jerusalem all Israel who was in the dispersion and Judah to join together again under King David to be one nation, Israel.  Yes, they both have great futures at the start of the millennium with Jesus directing them both.  blessing

Stephen

(Jer 3:18 NIV)  In those days the house of Judah will join the house of Israel, and together they will come from a northern land to the land I gave your forefathers as an inheritance.

(Jer 23:5-6 NIV)  "The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. {6} In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.

(Jer 23:8 NIV)  but they will say, 'As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the descendants of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.' Then they will live in their own land."

(Jer 33:7 NIV)  I will bring Judah and Israel back from captivity and will rebuild them as they were before.

(Jer 50:4 NIV)  "In those days, at that time," declares the LORD, "the people of Israel and the people of Judah together will go in tears to seek the LORD their God.

(Ezek 37:16-17 NIV)  "Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, 'Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him.' Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, 'Ephraim's stick, belonging to Joseph and all the house of Israel associated with him.' {17} Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand.

(Ezek 37:19 NIV)  say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph--which is in Ephraim's hand--and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah's stick, making them a single stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand.'

(Hosea 1:11 NIV)  The people of Judah and the people of Israel will be reunited, and they will appoint one leader and will come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.

 

Factors that disqualification someone for Priestly functions?

This is kind of interesting on what will disqualify someone for the Priestly function around and in the Temple.  I know that Leviticus 21 gives the following that that are required to be a Priest in service: 

·      No man who has any defect may come near

·      No man who is blind

·      No man who is lame

·      No man who is disfigured

·      No man who is deformed

·      No man with a crippled foot

·      No man with a crippled hand

·      No man with who is hunchbacked

·      No man with who is dwarfed

·      No man with any eye defect

·      No man with festering or running sores

·      No man with damaged testicles

·      No man who is not a descendant of Aaron

·      No man who is a Gentile

·      No man who is of the other tribes of Israel

This list makes it very selective on which man can be an active Priest in the Temple.  We find that only Aaron and his sons will serve as priests and the rest of the Levi’s will serve as helpers in the Temple.

Blessing

Stephen

(Lev 21:17-20 NIV)  "Say to Aaron: 'For the generations to come none of your descendants who has a defect may come near to offer the food of his God. {18} No man who has any defect may come near: no man who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed; {19} no man with a crippled foot or hand, {20} or who is hunchbacked or dwarfed, or who has any eye defect, or who has festering or running sores or damaged testicles.

(Num 3:6-7 NIV)  "Bring the tribe of Levi and present them to Aaron the priest to assist him. {7} They are to perform duties for him and for the whole community at the Tent of Meeting by doing the work of the tabernacle.

(Num 3:10 NIV)  Appoint Aaron and his sons to serve as priests; anyone else who approaches the sanctuary must be put to death."

 

 

Should Christians make offerings?

I am going to address this question in a different way, instead of money or things along the same line.  Do we not have the Holy Spirit living in us and does it not make us the Temple of the Holy Spirit.    Does not Paul tell us that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and we were bought at a price, therefore we are to honor God with our bodies. 

What is an offering and our worship, but making a sacrifice to our God.  Paul tells us to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.  Are we not told that to show love towards God is to obey His commands.  We are told to love God with everything we have and to love our fellow mankind.  How by serving others. 

Paul tells us to serve one another in love and Peter tells us to serve others by the gift that we receive from the Holy Spirit.  Jesus tells us to let our light shine so our good deeds may be seen.  All this comes down faith needs to be accompanied by action and is justified by what we do.  Blessing

Stephen

(1 Cor 6:19-20 NIV)  Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; {20} you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

(Rom 12:1 NIV)  Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.

(Mat 5:16 NIV)  In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

(James 2:17 NIV)  In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

(James 2:24 NIV)  You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

(Gal 5:13 NIV)  You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature ; rather, serve one another in love.

(1 Pet 4:10 NIV)  Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.

Describe how the people reacted as the Northern Kingdom moved toward the worship of Pagan gods.

The Nation of Israel, which is the Northern Kingdom, did move with their feet because those who wanted to follow God of their fathers moved to Jerusalem.  Jeroboam did not want Israel to go back to Jerusalem, so he did some things.  He made his own priests and drove out the Levites, set up goat and calf idols, and change the Feast of Tabernacles to a month later.  He changed the Sabbaths of the Lord so individuals would not go the Jerusalem anymore.  Blessing

Stephen

(2 Chr 11:13-15 NIV)  The priests and Levites from all their districts throughout Israel sided with him. {14} The Levites even abandoned their pasturelands and property, and came to Judah and Jerusalem because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them as priests of the LORD. {15} And he appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat and calf idols he had made.

(2 Chr 11:16 NIV)  Those from every tribe of Israel who set their hearts on seeking the LORD, the God of Israel, followed the Levites to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to the LORD, the God of their fathers.

(2 Chr 13:9 NIV)  But didn't you drive out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and make priests of your own as the peoples of other lands do? Whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams may become a priest of what are not gods.

(1 Ki 12:26-30 NIV)  Jeroboam thought to himself, "The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. {27} If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam." {28} After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt." {29} One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. {30} And this thing became a sin; the people went even as far as Dan to worship the one there.

(1 Ki 12:31-33 NIV)  Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites. {32} He instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. This he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made. And at Bethel he also installed priests at the high places he had made. {33} On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month of his own choosing, he offered sacrifices on the altar he had built at Bethel. So he instituted the festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to make offerings.

What blessings has obedience brought to my life?

The Holy Spirit is living and directing in our lives, there are many blessings that we will receive.  The first and foremost is the blessings of the Spirit or another word, Fruit of the Spirit.  By being obedience to Jesus Our Lord, it shows that we love Him by following His Way of Life, both in following what He says and following His example and teachings and obeying His commands.  With the Holy Spirit in my life, the Apostle Paul told us from Gal 5 that we would have love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  If we do not have the righteousness and truth in our lives, Paul in Eph 5 calls us foolish.  We are to understand what the Lord’s will is by studying the scriptures, and then we will understand what the Lord’s will it.  Blessing

Stephen

(Gal 5:22-23 NIV)  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, {23} gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

(Eph 5:9 KJV)  (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)

(Eph 5:17 NIV)  Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.

In what ways do we grieve the Holy Spirit?

When I look at how do we grieve the Holy Spirit, Eph 4 comes to mind.  It says, do not grieve the Holy Spirit.  The Apostle Paul tells us that we can grieve the Holy Spirit by having certain things in our lives, for example, bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, conceited, provoking and envying each other, and every form of malice in our lives.  The Greek word for grieve is lupeo and Strong’s says it means to distress; reflex. or pass. to be sad:--cause grief, grieve, be in heaviness, (be) sorrow (-ful), be (make) sorry.  Paul then tells us in 1 Thes 5 to not quench the Spirit meaning we can quench the Spirit?  Do that mean then if we rejoice evermore, continue praying without ceasing, always give thanks to God for all things and learn to like prophesying.  Then if we do these things, by proving all things, holding fast that which is good and always again, abstain from all appearance of evil.  Yes, this can only be done with the Holy Spirit living in us and it is not us, Jesus directing our lives.  Blessing

Stephen

(Eph 4:30-31 NIV)  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. {31} Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.

3076. lupeo, loo-peh'-o; from G3077; to distress; reflex. or pass. to be sad:--cause grief, grieve, be in heaviness, (be) sorrow (-ful), be (make) sorry.

(1 Th 5:16-22 KJV)  Rejoice evermore. {17} Pray without ceasing. {18} In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. {19} Quench not the Spirit. {20} Despise not prophesyings. {21} Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. {22} Abstain from all appearance of evil.

(Gal 5:26 NIV)  Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.