The Gospel Of Repentance

                                             Chapter 1 – The prophet Haggai begins his prophecy in the second year of King Darius Hystapes which is in the Hebrew month of Elul , the sixth month, and the first day of the month. On our calendar today it translates to August, 19 th , 2012. The year then was 520 B.C. and the date was August 29 th . Haggai was a contemporary of the prophet Zechariah (Ezra 5:1). The prophet spoke to Zerubbabel the governor, and to Joshua the high priest along with the Hebrew refugees who returned from Babylon to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple of the Lord. The work had begun in 536 B.C. but was halted by neighbors who did not want to see the temple built admittedly because they were afraid Israel's God. These enemies wrote a letter to King Artaxerxes stating to the king why the building project should be stopped. The king read the le...

Chapter 1 – The prophet declares the day of the Lord is imminent. The Lord will destroy all things from the face of the earth, vs 1-3. Why? Because man has sinned against the Lord, vs. 17. Man’s wealth can not deliver him in the day of the Lord’s wrath. God will quickly wipe out his enemies, vs. 18. Chapter 2 – The prophet calls the nation (Israel) to repentance; especially those who have been faithful to the Lord (the meek of the earth). This the Lord commanded so that they could escape his wrath, vs. 1-3. Next, the prophet judges the nations such as the Philistines, longtime enemies of Israel. Their lands (Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron, Ashdod, Gath. Their five main coastal cities), will be dwellings for the Israelites and their flocks when the Lord dispossess the Philistines, vs 4-7. The prophet also condemns the nations of Moab and Ammon (descendants of Lot Genesis 19:36-38) for their threats and intimidation of Israel. God will make these two nations a wilderness, vs 8-9. ...

                                                                                                              Who limits the atonement?    Atonement by definition  in the Old Testament means to cover over, atone, propitiate, pacify. The Hebrew word is kāpar . In the Greek one of the words is hilasmos which means an expiation; meaning sin is covered and remitted. Knowing who limits the atonement is critical to our understanding of the sovereign election process. Those who subscribe to Arminianism or Universalism say that the atonement is unlimited; meaning that Jesus died for everyone for all time. Jesus paid for the s...

The Oxford dictionary defines sovereign as: supreme ruler, a monarch. As an adjective means possessing  supreme or ultimate power.                                                                                                                       The word elect means to pick out, to be chosen. In regards to salvation we have the Supreme Ruler with absolute power, God Almighty choosing totally independent of any outside influence, those who would be recipients of his saving grace. Ephesians 1:4 tells us God chose us (the elect) before the foundation of the world. This was the predetermined plan of God. It must be understood that God’s choosing us was for his own good pleasure and...

Chapter 1:   The prophet voices his complaint to God in vs. 1-4. He’s tired of seeing wicked prevailing and justice not being served. This speaks to the holy zeal of the prophet has for God's righteous judgment against sin. God’s response is He’ll send a nation, the Chaldeans (Babylonians) to judge his people, vs. 5-11. The prophet is even more perplexed because is God is using a nation more wicked than Judah to punish them vs. 12-17. It goes to show us that God in his sovereignty can use the most wicked of sinners to fulfill is purposes. God can use anyone as his instrument of judgment for he owns all people creationally.                        Chapter 2:   The prophet sits as a watchman to hear what the Lord has to say. The Lord commands him to write the vision on tablets and wait for the vision to manifest for it will not tarry vs. 2-3. The prophet uses five curses or w...

Nahum was a Hebrew prophet who name means comfort. He predicted the destruction of Nineveh, the capital city in Assyria. The Assyrians were destroyed by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar in 612 B.C. so we know the prophet preached his oracle in the seventh century B.C. This generation of Ninevites refused to repent unlike the generation in Jonah’s day over one hundred years earlier. Chapter 1 -   The prophet describes the utter destruction of Nineveh. God even declares he will prepare their graves which amplifies that reality that he’ll wipe them out vs. 14. Chapter 2 – The prophet continues on with his oracle of Nineveh’s destruction: In verse one he declares he'll scatter the Babylonians like they scattered the nations. In verse two we read the Lord will retrieve Israel. The rest of the chapter is devoted to a vivid destruction of Nineveh vs 3-13. Chapter 3 – The death of Nineveh is described: They’re described as a bloody city - verse one. They’re also full ...

Chapter 3 -   The prophet speaks against Judah and Israel. The rulers do not show justice, but practice evil and devour the people like savage beasts resulting in God not hearing them when they cry out vs 1-4. The false prophets would declare peace if they were fed, but would declare war, if they weren't. These false prophets would ultimately be embarrassed because they didn't have a true word from the Lord vs 5-7. Micah made it clear that he was filled with the Spirit of the Lord, and declared God's truth vs 8. Chapter 4 - In the end times (Millennium), nations will come to Israel to learn God's law. War will end. People will be at rest finally. The Lord will bring back all his captives to where he has scattered them. Chapter 5 - The prophet predicts the coming of the Messiah vs. 2. Israel's enemies will be destroyed in the last days for plundering them. Israel is referenced as lion and young lion. Israel will be restored to their own land vs 5-9....