Beware ungodly fare; feast on God's Word!

Thursday, November 14, 2013 Ps 23, 27, 85, 86; 1 Macc 1:1-28; Rev 19:1-10; Mt. 16:1-12 YHWH Is my Shepherd; I will never lack anything I need. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside still waters; He restores my soul! He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, the valley of death, I will fear no evil, for You Are with me. Your rod and staff comfort me. You prepare a table before me, in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy will pursue me all my days, and I will abide in the house of the Lord forever. YHWH is my Light and Salvation; I need fear no one else. Evildoers who sleek to slander or slay me, He will cause to stumble and fall. I will not fear, though vastly outnumbered; I will be confident in peace and in war. I ask only one thing of my Lord: that I may abide in Your house forever, beholding Your beauty, imbibing Your wisdom and knowledge. Shelter me in days of trouble; hide me in Your tabernacle; set me high on a rock of refuge. God will lift me up, and I will praise Him in His tabernacle, with shouts of joy and a voice of praise to my God. He encourages me to seek His face; and I do so, my Lord! Cast me not away, O Lord; take me up, and teach me Your ways, for I've wandered in twilight long enough. Lead me on a level path, for I have stumbled over myself for many leagues. Keep me from the will of adversaries. I believe I will see the goodness of YHWH in the land of the living. I wait upon the Lord and be strong and courageous; let me wait upon the Lord. Restore us, God of our salvation. Set aside Your indignation against us; show me Your steadfast love, and grant us Your salvation. Let me hear and heed what God has to say; let my faith rise to greet His righteousness, which goes before me, and let me follow His footsteps. Alexander of Macedon defeated Darius the Mede and his Persian forces, and enjoyed sovereignty over the known world. But then, Alexander became fatally ill; he summoned his officers and divided his realms among them, and then he died. His successors brought many evils on the earth in the years of their rule; and from among them came forth a sinful root, Antiochus Epiphanes, son of Antiochus. He had been a hostage in Rome, but now he became a ruler, in the 137th year of the Greek hegemony. Antiochus Epiphanes encouraged lawless men from Israel, who sought to practice the ways of their Greek rulers. They built a gymnasium in Jerusalem; they exercised there naked, as was the Greek manner, and sought to efface their own circumcisions; they abandoned the holy covenant, joined with the Gentiles, and sold themselves to do evil. Antiochus Epiphanes grew restless, and sought to add Egypt to his realm. So he invaded Egypt and routed Ptolemy, the ruler of Egypt. And Antiochus Epiphanes plundered Egypt. Then he besieged Jerusalem with a strong force. He arrogantly entered the holy sanctuary, removed the golden altar, the lampstand, and the holy utensils, the table of the Bread of Presence, the cups, the bowls, the censers, the temple curtain, the crowns and gold decorations from the front of the temple—all this he stripped away and stole and then departed to his own land. He committed deeds of murder and spoke with great arrogance. All Israel mourned and fainted and all Jacob's house was clothed with shame. John the Revelator heard what seemed to be a loud voice of multitudes in heaven. They cried: 'Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for His judgments are true and just. He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; He has avenged on her the blood of His servants. Hallelujah! The smoke from her ruin goes up for ever and ever!' And the 24 elders and four living creatures around the through fell down and worshiped God on the throne, crying out 'Amen, Hallelujah!' And a Voice came from the throne: 'Praise our God all you His servants who fear Him, great and small.' And the multitude, in a voice like many waters or immense peals of thunder, cried: 'Hallelujah! For YHWH our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His Bride has made herself ready; it was granted to her to be clothed ith fine linen, bright and pure.' [This fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints of God.] And God's angel said to me, 'Write this: blessed are those invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. What you see and hear—these are the true words of God.' And I fell at the angel's feet to worship him, but he said to me, 'You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.' Take note: the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus, asking Him for a sign from heaven. He answered them: 'When evening comes and the sky is red, you say, “It will be fair weather, for the evening sky is red.” And in the morning, “It will be storm today, for the morning sky is red and threatening.” You can interpret the weather, but not the signs of the times we live in. An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign from God, but no sign will be given except the sign of Jonah.' And Jesus departed from them. When Jesus and His disciples came to the other side of the lake, they realized that the disciples had brought no bread for the journey. Jesus said to them, 'Beware the leaven of the Sadducees and Pharisees!' The disciples spoke among themselves, murmuring that this referred to their lack of bread. But Jesus said, 'Men of little faith, why are you discussing your lack of bread? Don't you understand? Don't you remember the five loaves with which I fed five thousand, or feeding four thousand with only seven loaves? How can you fail to understand now, that I am not speaking to you about bread? Beware the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.' Then they got His meaning: to avoid the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.