Psalm 129 focuses on the persecution endured by Israel, and in the two previous parts, we looked into some of this. This last part ends the Psalm, but it still has persecution as the theme.

[A]. LET US RETURN TO PSALM 129 – PERSECUTION IS THE PLOUGH/PLOW

Psalm 129:3 “The plowers plowed upon my back. They lengthened their furrows.”

A metaphor is used here to demonstrate the work of the persecutors. Their work is likened to a plow raked across the nation’s back. Lengthened furrows further expand the extent of that persecution. All the evil that has been done to Israel in the past, in the present, and in the future is being stored up by the Lord, and it will burst on the world in retribution in the Tribulation. Another interesting observation on this comes from Jonathon Cahn at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viH03bO9gxg

The writer of this Psalm had no idea of the suffering his nation has endured for the past 3,000 years. The Jews have been the most persecuted people throughout history, and Christians are the most persecuted people today. The world hates God’s people because they are the antithesis of what the evil people are. There are only two camps – the righteous and the unrighteous. The unrighteous hate the wicked a bit like the man Esau hated Jacob.

I guess you know today that Christians are persecuted for not acknowledging homosexuality. Some are dismissed from their workplace, and some professional sportsmen are sacked because they will not bow down to the Pride flag. Others are dismissed for not teaching WOKE and gender destruction in schools.

I mentioned earlier about doing research to find the persecution of Jews through the ages – the plowing of long furrows across Israel’s back. Let me just share a few examples of those. These are from “Religious Tolerance.org Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance” and from “the Museum of Tolerance in Hollywood, CA.”

[B]. PERSECUTION OF JEWS BY “CHRISTIANS” IN THE FOURTH CENTURY AD:

The initial persecution of Jews was along religious lines. Persecution would cease if the person converted to Christianity. These were the early days of persecution by the church, and it continued from there to grow worse and worse. This was following the years after Constantine, who was supposed to be the first Christian Emperor; however, I think he was not a Christian but used the Christian faith for his own advantage. He brought thousands of unconverted soldiers into the church, and they brought along their paganism, which, like leaven, spread false doctrine and practices throughout and grew up into the great abuses of the Roman church. Here are some of the persecutions in the fourth century – just a selection:

>306: The church Synod of Elvira banned marriages, sexual intercourse, and community contacts between Christians and Jews.

>315: Constantine published the Edict of Milan, which extended religious tolerance to Christians. Jews lost many rights with this edict. They were no longer permitted to live in Jerusalem or to proselytize. (Constantine was not a born-again Christian).

>325: The Council of Nicea decided to separate the celebration of Easter from the Jewish Passover. They stated: “For it is unbecoming beyond measure that on this holiest of festivals we should follow the customs of the Jews. Henceforth let us have nothing in common with this odious people… we ought not, therefore, to have anything in common with the Jews… our worship follows a… more convenient course… we desire, dearest brethren, to separate ourselves from the detestable company of the Jews…. How, then, could we follow these Jews, who are almost certainly blinded.”

>337: Christian Emperor Constantius created a law which made the marriage of a Jewish man to a Christian punishable by death.

>339: Converting to Judaism became a criminal offense.

>343–381: The Laodicean Synod approved Cannon XXXVIII: “It is not lawful [for Christians] to receive unleavened bread from the Jews, nor to be partakers of their impiety.” 5

>367–376: St. Hilary of Poitiers referred to Jews as a perverse people who God has cursed forever. St. Ephraim refers to synagogues as brothels.

>379–395: Emperor Theodosius the Great permitted the destruction of synagogues if it served a religious purpose. Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire at this time.

>380: The bishop of Milan was responsible for the burning of a synagogue; he referred to it as “an act pleasing to God.”

How deep the plow has done its pernicious work. In the following centuries, it got worse and worse and worse, and continues today.

[C]. THE RIGHTEOUS LORD SATISFIED THE RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HOLINESS OF GOD FOR US

Psalm 129:4 “The LORD is righteous. He has cut in two the cords of the wicked.”

Recognizing the righteousness of God is pointing one in the correct direction, for we must start with the proper understanding of God’s character. If the world did this today, we would not have the evil in the world. Homosexuality and gender mutilation, the adoption of paganism, and the whole of the WOKE stuff would be discarded, and we’d pay attention to what God has decreed.

Most of the Western nations have now discarded God and have adopted godlessness and all the outcomes of that. Not only the leaders have chosen that path, but also the people themselves are of the same mindset. There is a saying that a nation gets the government it deserves. I can understand why people say that when they look at many of the reprobate leaders leading nations today, but I like a better statement, which is this: “A nation gets the government that best reflects themselves.” Evil people elect evil governments; they will never elect a “good” government.

The Bible shares some of the chief positions/attributes of God. We are just looking at one (The Lord is righteous). Another is “God is holy,” and another is “God is a consuming fire.” I do not dare try to divide up the attributes of God, for puny man cannot comprehend the vastness of the God of awe and wonder.

Righteousness and holiness are extremely important when it comes to the sinfulness of man. The holiness of God says that man must be destroyed because of sin. Nothing sinful can ever enter God’s presence. The righteousness of God cannot abide the sinner because wickedness is overtaken by God’s righteousness. The dilemma with all this is how can man be made fit for God’s presence to be accepted?

This is where appropriated righteousness comes in. The way has been paved by the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by His Calvary work, has made a way of escape so that man can live in the righteousness and holiness of God in complete harmony. On the cross, the great transaction was made, and what was that? Look at this verse – Isaiah 53:6 “All of us like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way, but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.” There we have the operative key, and it is SUBSTITUTION. Our iniquity/sin was taken by the Lord Himself and made His own. But there is more than just taking our sins as His own.

Sin must always receive the just/righteous penalty. That penalty is death. Isaiah adds more about the work of Calvary – Isaiah 53:4-5 “Surely our griefs He Himself bore and our sorrows He carried, yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted, but He was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, AND BY HIS SCOURGING WE ARE HEALED.” There you have the next part: through the death of the Lord on the cross, for they crucified the Lord of glory, but it was His suffering that has healed us (meaning it has cured the problem of sin and death for us).

That is not quite the full story. Remember, God is a God of righteousness and holiness, and we cannot bypass those attributes in any way. What the death of the Son of God did on the cross was to satisfy the very last vestige of righteousness and holiness so that not even an atom of penalty resides with those who have come by faith to receive the Lord Jesus as personal Saviour. Paul has summed that up beautifully – 2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” There it is – perfect substitution and appropriation. That is how it is for us today in the New Covenant.

However, for Israel, God gave the Law, and the people kept breaking the Law, usually through idolatry. God’s righteousness would protect His earthly people, but it would also condemn them if and when they turned from him. Looking at this verse again – Psalm 129:4 “The LORD is righteous. He has cut in two the cords of the wicked” – the pilgrims singing as they made their way to Jerusalem for the feasts knew and saw the righteousness of God in action as He defeated Israel’s enemies. That is why they could be jubilant in their singing of this Psalm of Ascent. However, a righteous God must judge sin, and some 300 and 500 years later, Samaria and Judah were overthrown by the righteousness of God.

This verse – Psalm 129:4 “The LORD is righteous. He has cut in two the cords of the wicked” will again be sung when God defeats all the nations’ armies at Armageddon, all those who entered Israel to overthrow and exterminate the Jews. Indeed, the cords of the wicked will be cut asunder.

[D]. THE LINE OF DIVISION AND THE REQUEST AGAINST ISRAEL’S ENEMIES

Psalm 129:5-7 “May all who hate Zion be put to shame and turned backward. 6Let them be like grass upon the housetops which withers before it grows up; 7with which the reaper does not fill his hand, or the binder of sheaves his bosom.”

The great fallacy is to believe that this request/prayer was for a specified time, and then God abandoned Israel, and that ended Israel. The prayer in verse 5 has its origin in a verse we looked at earlier in this Psalm, and here it is again – Genesis 12:3 “I will bless those who bless you and the one who curses you I will curse. In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Do not think for one moment that this promise God spoke to Abraham was only for his lifetime. This is a universal and enduring promise and will last until the final Gog/Magog revolt at the end of the Millennium. (This is not the same Gog/Magog group described in Ezekiel, which we covered last message.) –

Revelation 20:7-10 “When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war. The number of them is like the sand of the seashore. They came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are also, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

That is a most significant passage. It is the last of sin and rebellion forever. After this, righteousness and holiness will reign eternally throughout the new heaven and the new earth. In the passage above, Satan is thrown into the lake of fire as the third person to be cast in there (the beast/Antichrist and the False Prophet being the first two).

How sad it will be that straight after Satan is thrown into the lake of fire, so will all those unsaved from the beginning of Genesis, who will share that eternal fate – Revelation 20:13-15 “The sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them, and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds, and death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. If anyone’s name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was THROWN INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE.”

If the Lord has led you to hear this message or to read it somewhere, and you have never given your life to Jesus Christ in full repentance, then you will end up in the lake of fire. This is not a fairy tale. Please repent and be converted so that your sins may be blotted out. The Lord Jesus went to the cross for you and died to save your soul. Please give yourself to Him right now.

Here is a verse – Psalm 137:5 “If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget her skill.” That verse has an eternal aspect to it. God will never forget Jerusalem. He has enjoined us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. The enemy hates Jerusalem, and that is why we see such hatred against the city from the UN and Obama and Biden and Albanese (Australia). Please do not write Jerusalem off. God has not!

[E]. FOREVER IS FOREVER – JERUSALEM WILL BE EVERLASTING

Because Israel is not written in the Apostles’ Creed church confessions, some statements of faith, or church constitutions, people think Israel is irrelevant and not worthy of consideration or has succumbed to the erroneous doctrine that all that applied to Israel now belongs to the Church. That is so wrong. God has a high standing for Jerusalem in the future. Consider these verses:

FOREVER MEANS FOREVER – Joel 3:20 ESV “But Judah shall be inhabited FOREVER, and Jerusalem to ALL GENERATIONS.”

WHEN JESUS RETURNS, JERUSALEM IS THE FAITHFUL CITY – Zechariah 8:3 ESV “Thus says the Lord: I HAVE RETURNED TO ZION AND WILL DWELL IN THE MIDST OF JERUSALEM, and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain.”

Let us make a comment on this verse – Psalm 129:6 “Let them be like grass upon the housetops which withers before it grows up.”

The previous verse speaks about putting to shame all those who hate Zion (understand that as Jerusalem/Israel), and then verse 6 is the simile of grass upon the housetops. It was not uncommon for some homes to have grass on the rooftops as it had a cooling effect on the inside of the house in a hot climate. The imagery here is of vibrant green grass that has sprung up and looks strong but then withers away before reaching maturity. It is a fitting image because all those who hate Israel will wither away and be as nothing, but the City of the Great King will endure.

Isaiah 60:14 “The sons of those who afflicted you will come bowing to you, and all those who despised you will bow themselves at the soles of your feet. They will call you the city of the LORD, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Psalm 48:2 “Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion in the far north, the city of the great King.”

Psalm 129:8 “Nor do those who pass by say, ‘The blessing of the LORD be upon you. We bless you in the name of the LORD.'” May the Lord bless Israel. Difficult times will lie ahead, but when Israel blooms in full blessing, it leads the world. Isaiah 19:23-25 “IN THAT DAY there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. On that day, Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, ‘Blessed is Egypt, My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and ISRAEL MY INHERITANCE.'”

Remember, though, that Psalm 129 is all about the persecutions Israel has (and will) endure.

ronaldf@aapt.net.au

 

 

Who is more awesome than God? This is a question that is not at all difficult to answer, and the answer is no one. No one at all is even remotely close.

There is no entity, no person, quite literally nothing imaginable by anyone at any time in all of history, the present, or in all of the eternal future that can be compared even slightly in the realms of awesomeness to the Creator of Life.

There are those who like to believe that they are as awesome as God. Some, like the fallen angel Lucifer, as well as many of his devoted followers, would like to be thought of and worshiped as if they are even more awesome than God.

Then there are those who deny God’s existence altogether and claim that the Universe and the Earth exploded from nothing with a “big bang.”

Just exploded out of pure nothingness and for no particular reason, complete with all of the amazing complexities that make life possible.

Kind of like believing that a Rolex Watch could design, gather the needed jewels and tiny pieces, and then assemble itself. The problem with this is that the universe is much more complicated than a Rolex Watch and its two hundred or so teeny tiny parts.

To make a case for this analogy, consider this: Just one average-sized, fully-grown human body contains approximately 60,000 miles of arteries as part of the circulatory system that transports blood. Think about it: that’s enough arteries, if strung out in a line, to circle the entire earth twice with 10,000 miles left over. The arteries are just part of the highly complex systems of organs such as the heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, intestines, stomach, reproductive, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, limbs, many smaller organs, and, oh yes, the brain.

All of these organs working in synergy and relying heavily on oxygen and water to remain alive.

The human brain alone is infinitely more complex than a Rolex Watch.

In fairness, designing and creating the numerous tiny parts and assembling the Rolex does take a great deal of focus, patience, and intelligence. So, no slight meant to the watch or the watchmakers.

However, if the human body and the human brain are not enough evidence of the complexity of creation itself as compared to a Rolex, consider the elements that sustain life on Earth and the entire universe.

Earth, air, water, fire, oxygen, and gravity just for starters.

Basic elements that sustain the myriad forms of animal life, underwater creatures, countless bird species that fly through the air, and a vast world of insects of both the flying and crawling kind. Dozens of all types of minerals and metals and ores, liquids and gases, and zillions of microscopic atoms, neutrons, and electrons permeate everything.

Have you ever gazed in amazement at the night sky, from the rim of Haleakala Crater on Maui or from the middle of the desert, at the billions of twinkling stars?

Or, wondered about the whole enormous universe filled with countless planets and moons orbiting like clockwork around stars called suns, formed into galaxies and solar systems of various sizes, and kept by enormously powerful forces of electromagnetic and gravitational safe-locks from colliding like bumper cars at the county fair and careening into complete and utter chaos!

If all that isn’t enough to convince an atheist, how about DNA? Billions of individuals have walked the earth since the first humans, and every single one of them/us has a unique pattern of DNA.

In Psalm 139, the Creator of all life reveals to us that He knew each individual before we even entered our mother’s womb. He saw our unformed bodies. Then, He formed us in the womb. We were wonderfully made.

Each with a different face and unique DNA that makes us different from anyone else. Similar perhaps sometimes, but nonetheless, each of us is a complete original.

Believing that an intelligently designed, highly complex universe just accidentally exploded out of pure nothingness is fantastically delusional. Also, the deceived beings who believe this are usually the biggest mockers of the one true God.

Mocking God is a dumb thing to do. It is also impossible because God cannot be mocked.

Galatians 6:7 “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked.”

Just who is the one true God?

It is He who has revealed Himself through the Holy Bible. In that book is His history. “His story.”

Following are a few of the things God has done to reveal Himself to be the One and Only True God, who is also known as “The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,” and many other names as well, such as Yahweh, Jehovah, Adonai, El Shaddai, “I am That I am,” the Alpha and Omega, God Almighty, and Heavenly Father.

The first act of awesomeness He did to reveal Himself was to create the entire universe and all that is in it. That would include this earth and all who have ever dwelt upon it.

Any type of physical pain is usually enough to convince someone that they really do exist inside a body made of flesh and blood. If for no other reason than this, we can attest to and give witness to the fact that there really is a creation and a planet we call Earth, and we really do dwell here upon it.

I know for a certainty that I did not create the universe, or the earth, or myself.

It would be completely vain, arrogant, and idiotic to be in the business of comparing oneself to the actual Creator of Life and all of the complexities that make life even possible.

The second wonderfully awesome thing the Creator has done is this: He has held and continues to hold the entire universe together.

I, my precious wife of 57 years, and my fellow believers in Jesus love to give thanks to our awesome God for the many astonishingly wonderful things He has done and continues to do. We worship Him and praise Him for His awesomeness and His Holiness.

Here are a few more things that demonstrate the awesomeness of God. Things that have taken place in the last few thousand years. Things that are a part of history and/or His Story.

He created humans in His own likeness and gave them unrestricted free will. He gave them the intelligence to choose wisely, but only if they chose to choose wisely.

Adam and Eve had that ability and chose not to choose wisely, which set in motion a fallen state of being for humanity.

They fell for the lie from the fallen angel known as Lucifer that if they could acquire the knowledge of good and evil, then they could be like God.

Only God can be like God.

Only God is omniscient, omnipresent, and has supernatural powers capable of creating and sustaining universes.

Only God can declare the end from the beginning and make prophecies of near, mid, and distant future events that come true with precise accuracy 100% of the time.

Only God is Perfect and Holy, and only God has the ability to save us fallen humans and bestow eternal life and happiness upon whosoever, of their own free will, trusts in Him.

Only God can be like God.

From the beginning, God has done amazing, miraculous things that defy reality.

So many supernatural things as to fill up an entire book. A thick book just like the Holy Bible.

Just to cite a couple of them as an example, there are these:

In the days of the prophet Daniel, God stood with three Hebrew lads in a fiery furnace that was stoked to a temperature that should have instantly melted them all, and their clothes were not even singed.

Those three lads had been sentenced to death for refusing to worship a human king who liked to think he was a god. Instead, they chose to die rather than give up worshiping the one true God, who stood with them in the fiery furnace and saved them (Daniel 3:19-27).

God sent fire from Heaven, at the request of the prophet Elijah, down upon the soaking wet wood surrounding Elijah’s altar to God on Mt. Carmel, and the soaking wet wood instantly burst into flames.

This happened much to the dismay of the 450 false prophets of Baal, who all together were unable to coerce their false god into sending down fire (1 Kings 18:38).

God split the deep waters of the Red Sea into two walls of water that exposed the dry bottom of the sea and held the walls of water up so that the Israelites could pass through safely with all of their people, animals, and belongings to the other side, and to dry land. He then released the walls of water upon the Egyptian soldiers who were in pursuit of the Israelites (Exodus 14:21-26).

The Bible is filled with numerous other examples of the supernatural powers of Holy God, the Creator.

Why did He do such things?

He did such things to get the attention of the fallen and to increase the faith of the faithful.

Somehow, the fallen state of humanity and the rampant indulgence in sinful behavior turned many individuals into dullards and dimwits, unable to recognize the miraculous nature of their own existence.

And God had an amazing plan to rescue whoever would choose to be rescued.

He would send a most wonderful part of Himself to Earth to be born into a human body.

God is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Three distinct personalities, and yet, 100% One in nature.

How can this be?

There is only one way to have any understanding of this amazing truth.

The Holy Spirit reveals this understanding to whosoever truly believes in the Son, who was sent by the Father.

The Father sent His Son into the world to save all who would believe in Him and then bestowed the gift of the Holy Spirit unto each true believer. According to the Son, the Holy Spirit leads believers to the truth in all matters.

“But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you” (John 14:26).

And so, it is the Holy Spirit that gives the hearts and minds of believers the ability to intuitively comprehend and be comfortable with God being Three in One and yet One at the same time.

For unbelievers who are without the Holy Spirit, such a thing is not only incomprehensible but appears to them to be foolishness and utter nonsense (1 Corinthians 1:18).

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are always in agreement, always on the same page, so to speak, 100% unified all of the time.

There is no part of God that is not wonderful and no part of Him that is not Holy and Perfect.

So, then God sent a wonderful part of Himself into the world. God sent His beloved only begotten Son into the world.

The Holy Spirit, with the same miraculous divine power that the Son had used to speak Creation into existence, overshadowed the Hebrew virgin named Mary and miraculously caused her to become pregnant with the physical body that the Son would need to bring the Holy presence of God among men (Luke 1:35).

What an enormous sacrifice that must have been for the Son!

The Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity who had always existed unrestrained by a physical body made up of flesh and blood and bones. A body that was then subjected to the needs of the flesh and the temptations of the flesh (Hebrews 4:15).

And yet, because of who He really was and really is, Jesus was able to walk and live upon the earth for 33 and one-half years without ever committing even one sin (2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:22).

Although the actual ministry of Jesus on Earth lasted merely 3 and one-half years, He was able to demonstrate the mighty supernatural power of God through reality-defying miracles such as calming a raging storm with a mere word, feeding over 5,000 people with a few fish and a few loaves of bread, walking on water and turning water into wine, just to name a few. Jesus also brought the Holy Presence of God to Earth.

He showed great compassion as He miraculously healed all manner of sickness and disabilities.

Jesus even revealed the power God has over life and death by raising several people from the dead, including Lazarus (John 11:38-44).

And then, the Father raised His Son from the dead (Matthew 28).

And then, the Son went to prepare a place for all those who trust in Him, and He promised to return for us (John 14:3).

And the Father gave the gift of the Holy Spirit to be our constant companion as we await the return of the Father’s Only Begotten Son.

Only our Heavenly Father knows the day and the hour when His Son will fulfill that promise (Matthew 24:36).

He gave us signs to watch for so as to know when such a time was at hand.

Jesus also gave to us, by way of His beloved disciple John, the Book of Revelation.

In this book, Jesus tells us about the future plans of The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Plans to eliminate evil and plans for a wonderful Eternity (Revelation 21 and 22).

An Eternity as wonderful as God Himself, and everyone who believes the following scripture is invited.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:16-17).

Blessings to all in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

Rick Segoine

Romans 10: 9-13 says, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture says, ‘Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call on Him. For ‘whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'”