HE KEEPS HIS PROMISES

Time with Jesus - Wednesday, 30 January 2013

Hi all,

Our introduction in today’s meditation begins with a table of the dates, when the people of Judah, were taken into captivity and when they returned to their land. There were three occasions of going into exile and three of returning from exile. It also shows us the consistency of God. God had warned them on many occasions that if they obeyed Him, they would be prosperous. He also warned them that if they disobeyed Him, they would be punished. Moses warned them of this before they went into the Promised Land. Over the intervening years, they had prospered while they obeyed Him. They were disciplined when they pursued other gods. Finally, the discipline reached the point where they were taken from the land into exile. God had warned them and had even delayed the judgement on many occasions. He said they would end up exile. He also promised they would be allowed to return. This came to pass exactly as He promised. He always keeps His word.

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give				Time with Jesus – Wednesday, 30 January 2013					Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give
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INTRODUCTION							DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES	He Keeps His Promises
The Three Deportations for Judah			Person		± Dates	King	25 The LORD is good to those who depend on Him, to those who search for Him. 26 So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the LORD. 27 And it is good for people to submit at an early age to the yoke of His discipline: Lament 3:25-27 NLT 6 Train a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old he will not turn away from it. Pro 22:6 GW 9 On earth we have fathers who disciplined us, and we respect them. Shouldn't we place ourselves under the authority of God, the father of spirits, so that we will live? 10 For a short time our fathers disciplined us as they thought best. Yet, God disciplines us for our own good so that we can become holy like him. 11 We don't enjoy being disciplined. It always seems to cause more pain than joy. But later on, those who learn from that discipline have peace that comes from doing what is right. Heb 12:9-11 GW 67 Before you made me suffer, I used to wander off, but now I hold on to your word. 68 You are good, and you do good things. Teach me your laws. Psalm 119:67-68 GW 71 It was good that I had to suffer in order to learn your laws. 72 The teachings that come from your mouth are worth more to me than thousands in gold or silver. Psalm 119:71-72 GW 10 This is what the LORD says: When Babylon's 70 years are over, I will come to you. I will keep my promise to you and bring you back to this place. 11 I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD. They are plans for peace and not disaster, plans to give you a future filled with hope Jer 29:10-11 GW 5 In the same way, you younger men must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, serve each other in humility, for "God opposes the proud but favours the humble." 6 So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time He will lift you up in honour. 1 Peter 5:5-6 NLT	Utterly consistent in all that He has done. There is no variation, since time was first begun. He makes a decision and doesn’t change His mind. We know His judgement’s coming, but He is also kind. He hears our intercession and the outcome is delayed, Just because a little child, has turned to Him and prayed, That there is a postponement, in what is sure to be; Purely for the benefit of lost humanity. It certainly will happen; this fact cannot be changed. Not while you are living. But when men are estranged, Or when things are so serious that He’s compelled to act. Never let it get there, because it is a fact. Just as sure as Jesus Christ is sitting on the throne. There will be a day when all His people start to groan. The instrument of judgement comes; no longer can it wait. This is now the instant when the people meet their fate. It happened to Jerusalem in BC five eight six. Babylon invaded and they were in a fix. God had been delaying it for some three hundred years. He had heard His people, when they cried and shed their tears. He could wait no longer. The time at last had come. And all of the inhabitants; each and every one, Were led off in captivity. To Babylon they went. Psalm one thirty seven is the song of their lament. Jeremiah told them that in three score years and ten, By the Lord’s great mercy, He’d bring them back again. It was a lifelong sentence. The land would have its rest. Once in every seven years was how it should be blessed. By way of compensation, the land would be unused, It should have had its Sabbath rest; but it had been abused. Daniel remembered; and he began to pray, Three score years and ten have gone; it was now the day, When the folk who want to, may pack their bags and go. Only fifty thousand left. The others all said “No!” The Lord had kept His promise. Their sentence was complete. They had all been punished. The time had come to treat, Them as His favoured People and let them start once more. Where He’d promised Abraham back in the days of yore. Jim Strickland Written 30th January 2013
1	Court -		Daniel		± 606 BC	Nebuchadnezzar 70 Years, From 606/7 to 536/7
2	Craftsmen – 10 000 deported		Ezekiel		± 597 BC
3	The Rest		----------		± 586 BC
The Three Returns to Judah			People		± Dates	Cyrus / Darius / Xerxes; Medes & Persians
1	Zerubbabel		50 000		± 537 BC
2	Ezra – (Priests &a few Levites)		1 800		± 458 BC
3	Nehemiah				± 444 BC	Artaxerxes 1  M & Persians
Today we are looking at the promises of God! All of them are guaranteed in Jesus Christ. Even so, they are all conditional. There are positive promises and negative promises. We speak of the blessings and the curses. He tells us that if we do something, the consequences follow. Obedience brings blessings. Disobedience brings curses. We don’t like the idea of God cursing us. But we aren’t meant to go that way. So be obedient and we will not have a problem. Most of us can cope with basic arithmetic. Counting up to 100 is still a breeze and subtraction is seldom a problem. So let’s look at a problem most Christians have missed. Jeremiah said the captivity would be for 70 years. But from 586/7 BC to 536/7 BC is only 50 years. So was Jeremiah mistaken? Not at all. We forget that there we three deportations from Judah. In 606/7 BC; in 596/7 and finally 586/7 BC. Daniel was a young member of the court in 606/7 BC. He spent the rest of his life as a eunuch in the court of the king of Babylon and then of the Persians. Daniel had heard of Jeremiah’s prophesy that the captivity would be 70 years. So when he had been there for ±70 years he began praying for the fulfilment of the promise. By then, he was an old man. He would have been in his eighties or nineties. At about the same time, the Medes and Persian defeated the Babylonians and took possession of Babylon. They had a king called Cyrus. He decided he would allow all the prisoners in Babylon to return to their respective countries. There was only one condition. When they arrived back in their homeland they would pray for him. (king Cyrus) This was the Cyrus, Isaiah had spoken of in his prophecy. So the promises God made through Isaiah and Jeremiah were fulfilled exactly as predicted. His people had been disciplined by being taken into captivity. But 70 years after Daniel was deported, the people were allowed to go home. God had kept His word. He had also kept His word when they went into exile. He always does! Blessings or curses. The choice is always ours! Jim & Phyllida Strickland