"there is no light in them"

As you know, I like to find confirmation of Biblical principals in both the Old and New Testaments.  I found another one today!

Isaiah 8:19-20(NKJV)

And when they say to you, “Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? 

To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

I believe this matches what we are told in the New Testament that Jesus is the light.  If we preach anything other than Jesus then there is no light in us.

Pretty cool!

The Destruction of Judah

I'm reading Micah and Isaiah side by side.  What I find most interesting about that is that God sent not 1, but 2 prophets at essentially the same time to warn Judah.  How bad do you have to be that God feels the need to send two prophets?

The warnings from both prophets have things in common.  For example, they both warn of the threat coming from Syria.  They both talk about the people being carried off and those who are left will have to survive off of the land.

And they were both correct.  Judah ended up being taken in to captivity just like Israel before her.  

If you can only remember 3 things…..

I like to keep things simple.  Now of course first and foremost is believing in Jesus.  But after that here are three simple things to keep in mind. 

Micah 6:8(NKJV)

    He has shown you, O man, what is good;      And what does the Lord require of you     But to do justly,     To love mercy,     And to walk humbly with your God?

I can't think of a better verse to describe the age we are in.

Isaiah 5:20(NKJV)

    Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;      Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;     Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

It is sad.  Especially in light of these verses.

2 Thessalonians 1:6-10(NKJV)

since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, 

and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, 

in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 

when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.

AS I have written before, those who think that God takes a live and let live attitude to this are going to be surprised according to Scripture.  The fact that the word vengeance is used tells me that God takes this personally!

Test All Things

Now this is some great advice right here.  Test all things. 

1 Thessalonians 5:21(NKJV)

Test all things; hold fast what is good. 

You will hear and read many things that "sound Christian".  Always check Scripture to make sure it is really in there!

Once again Scripture reminds us we will be held accountable for who we listen to.

Micah 3:9-12(NKJV)

    Now hear this,     You heads of the house of Jacob     And rulers of the house of Israel,     Who abhor justice     And pervert all equity,

    Who build up Zion with bloodshed     And Jerusalem with iniquity:

    Her heads judge for a bribe,     Her priests teach for pay,     And her prophets divine for money.     Yet they lean on the Lord, and say,     “Is not the Lord among us?     No harm can come upon us.”

    Therefore because of you     Zion shall be plowed like a field,     Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins,     And the mountain of the temple      Like the bare hills of the forest.

Those in Judah, like Israel before them allowed themselves to be led astray.  And they were held accountable for that by being taken into captivity. 

Isaiah and Micah

Isaiah and Micah were contemporaries.  Both sent to prophesy to Judah.  Isaiah came on the scene 3 years before Micah and Micah prophesied about 10 after Isaiah. 

I am reading them both together.  One chapter each day.  So far the message of both is pretty much the same.  God isn't pleased and is warning Judah that they are about to go the way of Israel.  By that I mean they are being warned that they are about to go into captivity just like Israel did. 

God is extremely patient but His patience do run out.  For those who think that ultimately God won't send anyone to hell I would offer this as an example that yes God punish even those He loves.