Autor: eabrazil

The Book of Amos calls Israel to repentance, justice and authentic worship. The prophet Amos was a Judean shepherd and a fig farmer sent by God to prophesy to the northern kingdom of Israel in a period of prosperity, though dogged by idolatry, corruption and oppression of the poor. Amos received a revelation from God “two years before the earthquake when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam was king of Israel”. The revelation clearly shows that God is sovereign over all nations and not just Israel, and he announces judgement on several nations. Initially Damascus (Syria) is condemned for brutally crushing the people of Gilead: “She threshed Gilead with sledges having iron teeth”. Then came Gaza and the Philistines who were condemned “because she took captive whole communities and sold them to Edom”. Next came Tyre (Phoenicia) who were involved in slave trade “disregarding a treaty of brotherhood”. Then came Edom who was condemned “because he pursued his brother (Israel) with a sword”. Also came Ammon which practiced barbarities like “ripping open the pregnant women of Gilead”. So God’s righteousness is universal and no country is beyond his jurisdiction. 

 Joel 3 points to the final judgement of the nations and the restoration of Judah and Jerusalem. “In those days when I restore Judah and Jerusalem I will gather all nations… and enter into judgement against them… O Tyre, Sidon and Philistia… I will return on your heads what you have done… I will sell your children to the Jews and they will sell them to a nation far away… so prepare for war!… beat your ploughshares into swords… then let the nations be roused and advance into the valley of Jehoshaphat… and there I will judge them… multitudes in the valley of decision… the Lord will roar from Zion… but the Lord will be a refuge for his people… and Jerusalem will be holy… and a fountain will water the valley of acacias but Egypt will be desolate… yet Judah will be inhabited forever and Jerusalem through all generations… the Lord dwells in Zion!

 Joel 2 continues to point to impending judgement for Israel whilst also mentioning God’s mercy and future restoration. “Let all who live in the land tremble because the day of the Lord is coming… a day of darkness and gloom… a large and mighty army comes… nothing escapes them… they charge like warriors… they plunge through defenses… their forces are beyond number… the day of the Lord is great… it is dreadful. Who can endure it?… so return to me with all your heart… rend your heart rather than your garments… declare a holy fast… let them say spare your people, O Lord… for why should they say among the people – where is their God?… and the Lord will take pity on his people… and send you grain, and wine and oil… and I will drive the northern army from you… surely he has done great things… rejoice in the Lord your God… for the vats will overflow with new wine and oil… and I will repay you for the years that the locusts have eaten… and you will have plenty to eat and be full… then you will know that I am in Israel and that I am the Lord your God”.

The Book of Job calls God’s people to repentance whilst appointing to the possibilities of judgement or restoration.

This first chapter describes a catastrophic attack of locusts which affects all areas of Jewish society and which acts as a warning to them to repent before God. “Nothing like this locust attack has ever been seen… so wake up you drunkard and weep!… a nation without number has invaded the land… and has laid waste the vines and fig trees… the priests are in mourning… the farmers wail… the harvest has been destroyed… all the fruits and produce is devastated and everyone’s joy is withered away… put on sackcloth O priests… declare a holy fast… call a solemn assembly and cry unto the Lord… for the day of the Lord is near… the storehouses are in ruins… the cattle moan because they have no pasture… and the streams have dried up”.

 Hosea 13 is a further sad chapter depicting Israel’s downfall and distancing from God. “Ephraim has become guilty of Baal worship and died… and they make elaborate idols for themselves… they offer human sacrifices and kiss the calf idols… therefore they will be like the morning mist… I am the Lord you God and you should worship no-one else… but when I fed them they became proud  and forgot me… so like a lion I will devour them… I will destroy you Israel… where is your king that he may save you?… the guilt of Ephraim is stored up… I will have no compassion… the people of Samaria must bear their guilt because they have rebelled against their God”.

Hosea 11 is a moving chapter expressing God’s profound love for Israel despite their waywardness and rebellion. “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son… but he went away from me… and they sacrificed to the Baals… despite me leading them with cords of love… so swords will flash in their cities… but my heart is moved within me and I won’t carry out my fierce anger… for I am God, not man, and the people will follow the Lord… they will come trembling… and I will settle them in their homes”. So one clearly feels in this chapter the tension between God’s love and God’s justice.

A doomful message of judgement continues in Hosea 9 as God warns the Jews that they ought to be preparing themselves for judgement rather than rejoicing over their prosperity. “Do not rejoice, O Israel, because you have been unfaithful to your God… and you love the wages of a prostitute… their sacrifices will not please God… thorns will overrun their tents… the days of punishment are coming… because your sins are so many… they have sunk deep into corruption… Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird… woe to them… give them wombs that miscarry and breasts that are dry… because of their sinful deeds I will drive them out of my house… my God will reject them because they have not obeyed him”.

Hosea 7 carries on with the indictment of the northern kingdom of Israel which is also called Ephraim. “The sins of Ephraim are exposed and the crimes of Samaria revealed… their sins engulf them… they are all adulterers… all of them are hot as an oven; they devour their rulers… Ephraim mixes with nations and is a flat cake not turned over… Ephraim is like a dove, easily deceived and senseless… woe to them because they have strayed from me… they do not cry to me from their hearts… they do not turn to the most high… and they will be ridiculed in Egypt”.

Last night we held a special service for the deaf with a church full including 16 deaf people. I led the service and deaf pastor Luiz Carlos preached on ‘Obedience to God’, based on John 14:23-28, with interpreter Daysa transmitting the message to the non-deaf. Before the message the deaf presented a short drama, and afterwards the deaf choir did a song. It was a lovely service. 

If anyone is able to help us build the new church at Ipueira we need 6 windows at £100 each and we need 4 doors at £300 each. Please send your donations to the EAB treasurer. Last week we put the roof on the church. We plan to inaugurate the church before the end of the year. Please pray!

 Hosea 5 condemns the Jews for insistent idolatry and warns that judgement is approaching. He initially condemns the priests: “Hear this, you priests… judgement is against you… Ephraim turned to prostitution and Israel is corrupt… a spirit of prostitution is in their hearts… Israel’s arrogance testifies against them… they are unfaithful to the Lord… Ephraim will be laid waste… I will pour out my wrath on Judah… I will tear them to pieces… in their misery they will earnestly seek me”.

Hosea 3 shows how God’s redeeming love is greater than our unfaithfulness and God tells Hosea to go and love his wife again even though she is an adulteress and “is loved by another”. Gomer is now apparently enslaved to her lover but God tells Hosea to go and buy her back – go and redeem her. So he went and redeemed her paying 170 grams of silver plus 330 litres of barley and they returned to living as faithful husband and wife once again. The chapter closes referring to Israel’s exile followed by their return when they will “seek the Lord and David their king… and they will have blessings in the last days”.

Yesterday I completed my summary of the Book of Daniel and thus concluded all the Major Prophets, 862 chapters of the Bible, and 72.5% of the Bible. Now its on to the Book of Hosea and all the other Minor Prophets.

Maintaining the adulterous woman imagery Hosea 2 likens Israel to an unfaithful wife betraying the Lord with Baal and other pagan objects of worship. God rather retorts: “I will block her path with thornbushes… so that she cannot find her way… she has not acknowledged that I was the one who gave her everything… I will stop all her celebrations, festivals and feasts… I will punish her for the days she burned incense to the Baals… and me she forgot”. Despite all Israel’s unfaithfulness however God still loved her “and will speak tenderly to her… I will give her back her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope… there she will sing as in her youth… in that she will call me my husband… not my master… I will remove the Baals from your lips… and I will betroth you to me forever… and you will acknowledge the Lord… and I will show my love… and I will say to Israel you are my people and they will say to me you are my God!”

Daniel 9 starts with Daniel’s prayer of repentance and then goes into a very significant prophecy of the seventy weeks. It was during the first year’s reign of King Darius that Daniel was studying the writings of Jeremiah and realized that the 70 years exile was nearing its end so he seeks God in intense prayer and fasting. He remembers God’s keeping of his covenant and confesses “we have sinned… we haven’t listened to the prophets… we are covered with shame and have sinned against you… all Israel has transgressed your law… that’s why you judged us… the Lord brought the disaster upon us rightly… please turn away your anger and wrath from us… give ear O God and hear… forgive!” Then comes the second part of the chapter with the arrival of the angel Gabriel who tells Daniel that “seventy sevens (weeks) are decreed for people and city to finish transgression, end sin, atone, bring everlasting righteousness, seal up vision and prophecy to anoint the most holy”. The prophecy divides the 70 weeks as follows: 7 weeks (49 years) when Jerusalem will be rebuilt albeit in times of trouble + 62 weeks (434 years) building up to the coming of “the Anointed One, the ruler (the Messiah)” + 1 final week (7 years) when “he will confirm a covenant and put an end to sacrifice and offering… and he will be cut off (on the cross)”.

We are thrilled to learn that Pastor Phil Watkins (Bristol Ivy Church) was released from hospital yesterday after a 2-month stay where he received a successful stem cell infusion for his Leukaemia from his compatible donor son Nathanael. Well done Nathanael! Well done Phil! Well done Shirley! Praise the Lord! (We were at Bristol Ivy Church last October 12th before all this erupted)

I have just eaten mashed cassava roots with salted meat cooked by our daughter-in-law Gylmara. Absolutely delicious. 😋

Daniel 7 tells about a dream which Daniel had during the reign of king Belshazzar. Daniel dreamt of “four great beasts, each different from the other, came up out of the sea”. The first was like a lion but had the wings of an eagle, and this beast is often understood to represent Babylon. “I watched until its wings were torn off” thought to be a reference to God humiliating Babylon. The second beast was a bear with 3 ribs in its mouth suggesting conquest. This is thought to represent Medo-Persia. Next came a leopard with 4 wings and 4 heads which “was given authority to rule”. This is usually interpreted as Greece under Alexander the Great and the kingdom’s division into 4 after his death. Finally came a frightening strange beast with 10 horns and iron teeth often associated with Rome. Now the dream switches its focus from earth to heaven where we see “the Ancient of Days (God)” sitting on his throne as the heavenly court was convened, the books were opened and the 4th beast was judged, slain, destroyed and “thrown into the blazing fire”! Then “there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven… he was given authority, glory and power… and all nations worshiped him… and he has an everlasting dominion that will not pass away or ever be destroyed”. The son of man here is clearly Jesus Christ. The 4 beasts clearly represent earthly kingdoms “but the saints of the most high will receive and possess the kingdom forever”. God’s kingdom is eternal. Evil will last for a time, but God will ultimately judge it. 

King Darius was organizing the kingdom and appointed 120 satraps (regional governors) with 3 administrators coordinating them, and the plan was to appoint Daniel as coordinator of all. Daniel’s popularity and success brought jealousy and some sought to damage his image, but they didn’t succeed because Daniel was so upright and honest. So they approved an irrevocable law making it illegal to worship any god  other than Darius for 30 days. Being the spiritual man that he was Daniel ignored the law and continued with his normal daily prayers, and when he was caught they threw him into the Lion’s den as punishment. But God sent his angel to shut the lions’ mouths and he was untouched. Then they got the jealous trouble makers and threw them to be devoured by the lions! So Darius decreed that Daniel’s God was the living God who endures forever… his dominion will never end… and he performs signs and wonders!”

 I have just had my bi-monthly hair cut. I hope you like it? 👨

Last night I led the mid-week prayer meeting and Bible study and Pastor Murilo gave an excellent study on the 3rd Epistle of John. 

Having completed my synopsis of the Book of Ezekiel I have now covered 71.5% of the chapters of the Bible. I am now in the final book of the major prophets and have done one third of the 12 chapters of Daniel. Then it will be on to the 12 minor prophets to complete the Old Testament which is just over 78% of the Bible.

 Last night I led a wonderful service at Green Pastures with a team of 16 mainly young people from the Basingstoke Hub Community church which has been with us for a 2-week stay. The group sang, presented a drama sketch, preached a message based on the sketch and another of the group gave a word of testimony. It was a lovely blessed service.

Philip has also taken the group on 2 nature trails around the nature reserve.

We are thrilled and praising the Lord for a wonderful divine healing that we have seen. Liz and I were asked to pray for a child with the laying on of hands and God has healed the child from a quite complicated problem. All glory be to God! 🙌

I have completed my synopsis of the Book of Ezekiel and am now into the final major prophet Daniel.