Today’s Devotional – May 20th (Jeremiah & The Two Jerusalems)

By admin On January 18th, 2021

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Today’s Devotional – May 20th

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Jeremiah & The Two Jerusalems

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The prophet, Jeremiah, is known as the “Weeping Prophet”.

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Well, of course, the Bible doesn’t call him that. But the fact is, Jeremiah did do a lot of weeping and mourning for his people.

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And that is because, Jerusalem, the chosen city of God, had given herself over to idolatry.

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Cry of prophet Jeremiah on the Ruins of Jerusalem – Wikiart – US Public Domain

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You see, God’s professed people had no heart for the deep truths of God’s Word.

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They only wanted a superficial religion: lots of candles! Lots of music! Lots of chants!

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And lots of ceremonial Bible readings!

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In other words, they wanted the frosting, but not the inner workings, the “born again” experience.

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They didn’t mind some morality.

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But they didn’t want to die-to-self.

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Cry of prophet Jeremiah on the Ruins of Jerusalem – Wikiart – US Public Domain

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CLASSICAL PROPHECIES!?!

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**Now, most theologians look at Jeremiah (and Lamentations) as they do all the rest of the prophets in the Old Testament.**

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They fail to see the great spiritual application to today’s Church, which those prophetic books foretold of!

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And so, today’s theologians concoct terms, such as, “Classical Prophecies”, to denote that those Old Testament books were fulfilled with the literal nation of Israel.

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But the Bible knows no such thing! Rather, the Bible transfers these Old Testament prophecies to the New Testament Church.

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Magnifying Glass – Wikimedia – Share-alike License

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THE TWO JERUSALEMS

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One such revelation is found in the Epistle to the Galatians, in which Paul makes a very bold interpretation… “For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise…For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.” Galatians 4:22-26.

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So right here, the Lord, through Paul, is revealing a great concept!

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Yes, Paul revealed that there are two Jerusalems, spiritually speaking: the apostate Jerusalem, and the faithful Jerusalem.

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Sarah & Hagar – Foster Bible Pictures – wikipedia – US public domain

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JEREMIAH RELEVANT TODAY!

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**Now the great point to today’s devotional is just this: if we take this concept of allegories, and apply it to the Book of Jeremiah (and Lamentations), that Book begins to come alive, so to speak!**

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That is, with the understanding that Jeremiah is speaking either about the “Jerusalem which is now, and is in bondage with her children”, or it is speaking concerning, “Jerusalem above is free, and is the mother of us all”, then the Book of Jeremiah really begins to make sense!

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Because, there has always been an apostate portion to the Church.

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And there has always been a faithful portion to the Church.

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Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins – c 1616 – wikipedia – public domain

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ALL SCRIPTURE IS STILL RELEVANT

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And so, as the Bible clearly points out… “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” 2nd Timothy 3:16, 17.

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This above verse reveals that all of Scripture, both Old and New testaments, are equally as profitable in the understanding of truth.

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And so, using Galatians, Chapter 4 as the key to unlock the Book of Jeremiah, we now enter into a spiritual understanding of that book, which the carnal portion of the Church cannot and will not understand! In other words, Jeremiah, as well as the rest of the Old Testament, are actually speaking of the two portions of the Church: the apostate portion, and the faithful portion.

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ABOVE PHOTO: Speaker and Audience hands – Wikimedia – Public Domain

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MANY ARE LOCKED OUT!

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Listen… “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” 1st Corinthians 2:13

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Even though this above passage requires a careful examination, to properly understand it, the essence of this passage is, that the “natural man” cannot and will not comprehend the deeper truths of the Bible, which are veiled by spiritual and allegorical language.

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This is because those who are yet carnal, are not indwelt by the Holy Spirit. And there are many radio and TV Bible teachers who adamantly reject these truths, for the simple reason they are yet carnal, and cannot and will not see the spiritual nature of the Old Testament books. They scoff at those who see the spiritual nature of the Old Testament, deriding them with the unbiblical derogatory tag, “Replacement Theology heretics”, not realizing the Apostle, Paul, was chief of spiritualizing the Bible and teaching the spiritual nature of Israel.

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Consequently, the greater portion of the church community is greatly in spiritual darkness, even as it is written…“As for My people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O My people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.” Isaiah 3:12

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This Old Testament prophecy has a special significance in these last days, as we see the churches fall apostate to the whims of unsanctified minds, now ruling over God’s professed people.

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Paul persecuted by Pharisees & Sadducees – www.thebiblerevival.com – US Public Domain

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PAUL SCOLDS GALATIANS

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Paul gently scolds the Galatians, by saying…“Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?” Galatians 4:21

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Paul was scolding these Galatians because they merely wished to keep the letter of the law without truly hearing the law!

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And how should they have heard the law?

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By interpreting the spiritual nature of the Old Testament, veiled within allegories!

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In other words, the Old Testament presents the Gospel of Christ, howbeit veiled within the many various stories, in which God orchestrated those true historical accounts in such a way as to be allegorical portraits of various aspects of the Gospel.

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And Paul illustrated to the Galatians how to truly “hear the law”, by revealing the spiritual meaning behind the account of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Hagar, and Ishmael. And so, we too need to truly “hear the law”, only made possible by the indwelling of the Spirit of Truth!

Paul the Apostle – cropped & brightened photo – Artist – Valentin de Boulogne or Nicolas Tournier – circa 1500s – Wikipedia – Public Domain

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“COME UNTO ME”

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The Good News is that it is still the day of Salvation!

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And the call still goes out… “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

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Everything necessary for Salvation, for daily grace and strength and for everlasting life is available to each and every one of us.

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If I find the Bible to be a closed book, there still is great hope!

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Prayer – USMC – Wikimedia – US Govt. Public Domain

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TODAY’S PRAYER…

“Dear Lord, Help me to see the spiritual nature of the Bible. Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy Law…

Prayer – USMC – Wikimedia – US Govt. Public Domain

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THE END

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TODAY’S FEATURED HEAVENLY SIGN

Info & pics of constellations on this site from Wikipedia & International Astronomical Union (click here)

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THE HOLY-GHOST-RIDER CONSTELLATION

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“Gavest thou…wings and feathers unto the ostrich?….What time she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his rider.” Job 39:17, 18

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Here in the above condensed passage is revealed a tremendous Bible prophecy! Here the ostrich (being a symbol of the Church-Apostate) is going to lift up herself and scorn the horse and his rider.

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Well, if we look in the winter-night skies, we might possibly have our eyes opened to see a most incredible constellation group, known as the “Horse and His Rider” Constellation Group.

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And so, this above passage speaks of the time of the end (which we are just now in). And sadly to say, there will be many in the Church who will scorn this last message, just as the wisdom-deprived ostrich scorns the Horse and His Rider, who symbolize God’s Church in battle, being ridden by the Spirit of Christ! Such a sad ending for the Church-Apostate, to scorn the Holy Spirit: the same Spirit that they so often exulted in praise, with their lips!

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This constellation group is made up of a number of smaller constellations: the horse’s head, made from the Perseus Constellation. The tail and rear end is partly of the Cassiopeia Constellation. The hind-leg is made partly of stars from the Andromeda Constellation. The Rider is made primarily from the Camelopardalis Constellation.

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TOMORROW:

“May 21st (The Church That Moved to Higher Ground!)”

Germany Bavarian church – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

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20+ MINUTE AUDIO STUDY IN JEREMIAH

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ALL ‘NOBLE BEREANS’ (open-minded seekers of Bible truth) ARE ENCOURAGED TO BEGIN FOLLOWING THIS 650+ AUDIO BIBLE STUDY THROUGH THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH EACH DAY ON THIS DAILY DEVOTIONAL.

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THIS STUDY #138 IS PRESENTED BY THE LATE HAROLD CAMPING…

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above picture: Prophet Jeremiah – www.christianimagesource.org – Public Domain

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Those who are interested in using photos on this page may click on provided link below each photo, to get to Wikimedia Commons for various licensing details & tags, and all other necessary information on any particular photo.

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