Come to Understanding

Come to Understanding

They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding,

and they that murmured shall learn doctrine. — Isaiah 29:24

So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense,

and caused them to understand the reading. — Nehemiah 8:8

October 1, 2012
Volume 11 Number 19

As a Tree Planted By the Waters

Daniel tells of a coming time of trouble. Yet he also says that "at that time your people shall be delivered:"

1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which stands for the children of your people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time your people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. -Daniel 12

When Daniel wrote these words, it likely seemed to many that this "time of trouble" had already come. The families (clans and tribes) of the North, under the leadership of the King of Babylon, had already utterly destroyed the Kingdom of Judah, just as Jeremiah had prophesied:

9 Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, says Yahweh, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolations. -Jeremiah 25

Because of such unpopular prophecies, Jeremiah was cast into a dungeon:

6 Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the court of the prison: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire. -Jeremiah 38

Even though Jeremiah was later pulled up out of the dungeon, he remained a prisoner in the court of the prison. While the battles raged all around him as the Babylonians utterly destroyed Jerusalem, Jeremiah was safely confined to the court of the prison!

13 So they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

28 So Jeremiah stayed in the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was taken: and he was there when Jerusalem was taken. -Jeremiah 38

After the fighting was over, and Judah and Jerusalem were destroyed, the King of Babylon gave his officers specific orders to take good care of Jeremiah!

11 Now Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, saying,

12 Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do to him even as he shall say unto you. -Jeremiah 39

Thus, Yahweh fulfilled His promise to protect Jeremiah, who was part of the "remnant" that continued to trust in Him. The enemy even treated him well during Judah’s "time of evil" and "time of affliction:"

11 Yahweh said, Truly it shall be well with your remnant; truly I will cause the enemy to entreat you well in the time of evil and in the time of affliction. -Jeremiah 15

Yahshua (Jesus) told of a future time of trouble, which appears to be the same one that was described by Daniel. He called it the days when there "shall be affliction" (see Mark 13:19) and also "great tribulation:"

21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. -Matthew 24

However, Yahweh will cause the days of this "great tribulation" to be shortened for the sake of His "elect." It is for their sake that some, a "remnant" such as that described in Jeremiah, will be saved from total destruction:

22 And unless those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. -Matthew 24

This is a time of judgment that will come upon a world of people that have rejected Yahweh and His offer of salvation through the "Lamb of God," which is Yahshua the Messiah. Even powerful world leaders will be among those that will try to hide from "the wrath of the Lamb:"

15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;

16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: -Revelation 6

During such a time, many of us may ask this question:

17 For the great day of his wrath has come; and who shall be able to stand? -Revelation 6

Answering a similar question in Malachi, Yahweh said that those that have been purified by the heat like the "refiner’s fire" will be able to "endure the day of His coming:"

2 But who may endure the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appears? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:

3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto Yahweh an offering in righteousness. -Malachi 3

They are those that trust in Yahweh, rather than in man, which are described as being like trees that are planted by the waters. They will endure the heat when it comes:

7 Blessed is the man that trusts in Yahweh, and whose hope Yahweh is.

8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreads out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat comes, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be afraid in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. -Jeremiah 17

When the hurtful spirits are unleashed from their abode, which is the "bottomless pit," the people of Yahweh will be like those green trees. By the power of the Spirit of God, they will have the "seal of God in their foreheads:"

3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. -Revelation 9

Those spirits will be held back until Yahweh’s people are "sealed" in their foreheads:

3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. -Revelation 7

They will trust in Him and continually meditate upon Him through His word. As such they are compared to trees that are "planted by the rivers of water." When the heat comes their leaves will not wither, but will stay green:

1 Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.

2 But his delight is in the law of Yahweh; and in his law does he meditate day and night.

3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. -Psalms 1

However, the outcome for those that put their trust in man instead of in Yahweh is not so good. They are "like the destitute in the desert" that dwell in "parched places:"

5 Thus says Yahweh; Cursed be the man that trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from Yahweh.

6 For he shall be like the destitute in the desert, and shall not see when good comes; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. -Jeremiah 17

The ungodly that are like the chaff driven by a wind that cannot stand when the judgment comes:

4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.

5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

6 For Yahweh knows the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish. -Psalms 1

Those that trust in man and reject Yahweh, the "fountain of living waters," also vainly make their own gods:

13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. -Jeremiah 2

In exchange for economic benefits, they will trust in a man and will become his people as they receive his name:

16 And he causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

18 Here is wisdom. Let him that has understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. -Revelation 13

Yahweh’s people, however, will know His name:

1 And I looked, and, behold, a Lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with him a hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads. -Revelation 14

4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. -Revelation 22

He will give His Spirit, which is the water of everlasting life, to those that trust in His name:

14 But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. -John 4

Like a green tree planted by flowing waters, those drinking of His Spirit will be able to stand when heat comes.

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Scriptures are taken from the Proper Name Version of the King James Bible.