The Ultimate Promise Keeper

Scripture

He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. He did all these things even though he gave his hand in pledge. He will not escape!

~ Ezekiel 17:18 (CSB)

Quote

Jesus is the ultimate Promise Keeper because He has the power to enact His will: What He says, He can do.

~Ya’akov

Ezekiel does not call out Zedekiah by name but he doesn’t have to because he gives a perfect description. Zedekiah was the last of the Davidic kings. Nebuchadrezzar, the king of Babylon was the one who enthroned Zedekiah and when he did it, he made Zedekiah swear an oath of allegiance. Nebuchadrezzar was no more than out of sight when Zedekiah sent an ambassador to Egypt asking for military assistance in a rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar. Brilliant move on Zed’s part, not! Not only did Zedekiah enrage Nebuchadnezzar, he broke his promise and despised his own people in doing so. Nebuchadnezzar had left a sizable remnant of people in the land and they had relative freedom. Other than paying taxes to Babylon, they could govern themselves as they pleased but Zedekiah was a fool and his treachery resulted in a siege, thousands of deaths and the another deportation. What is the point of the story? Zedekiah, Judah’s hope, was a miserable failure and a liar. He was an oath breaker. His word meant absolutely nothing. He was selfish, vain and treacherous.

In we go back to Samuel, God’s desire was for Israel to be a Theocracy. He was going to be their KING but they rebelled against Samuel and demanded an EARTHLY KING. God told Samuel to give them what they wanted and so Samuel anointed Saul who turned out to be a miserable failure. Saul was terribly flawed and proved to be unfit to govern. In all {both kingdoms} there were 44 kings and only five were good and none of them were close to perfect. If you do the percentage, only 11% of the kings were decent but all were flawed, some worse than others. This leads me to Ezekiel 17:22-23…

‘This is what the Lord God says: I will take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and plant it. I will pluck a tender sprig from its topmost shoots, and I will plant it on a high towering mountain. I will plant it on Israel’s high mountain
so that it may bear branches, produce fruit, and become a majestic cedar. Birds of every kind will nest under it,
taking shelter in the shade of its branches. — Ezekiel 17:22-23 (CSB)

I think Ezekiel is talking about Jesus the majestic Cedar, the One who stands taller than all the other trees; to one who produces fruit and gives shelter. The prophets understood something that the general population and the religious brass did not understand: there is only one suitable KING and it is JESUS. It has always been Jesus. God knew from the beginning that mere men would fail and He also knew that the Jews were looking in the wrong direction for salvation. Why did Zedikiah turn to Egypt? Why didn’t he go to the LORD? Because the Jews rejected God/Christ as their King. Jesus came in the incarnation to give them the opportunity to embrace the REAL KING and they nailed Him to a tree. Beware of the rebellious heart. Acknowledge any rebellion and bow the knee today.

  • Eventually, LORD Willing, I will go to Athens and get me a computer. You can get good rebuilt computers there for $250 but in the meantime, I will be posting from the EASTERN GATE MINISTRIES BUILDING, located right here on the square of Rocky Ford. I will try to get back on schedule by next week. I know some of you like to read the blog first thing in the morning. I know Michael has a certain time when he reads it and this is not fitting his schedule. We will try to fix the problem.
  • June has a procedure this morning at CRMC. One of the techs is a huge Auburn Fan. When he entered the room this morning I said, “June, here is a big Alabama fan.” He smirked and said, “I ought to be but I am not. We are playing horribly and yall are rolling like a ball of butcher knives.” I’d never heard that one before. I try to be extra humble when we are winning so I just chuckled: so help me, I did not say another word. I admit that I am not as confident as my friends Michael and Seth. They say Tua will not play four quarters until the Championship. I don’t like counting my chickens before they hatch: sooner or later the boy is going to have a bad game–I just hope it is not against Auburn. Let me go ahead and give you my picks since I missed only one two weeks ago. I’m going with Alabama, Missouri, LSU, Ole Miss, A & M, Georgia and Auburn. I think Auburn will beat STATE by two tounchdowns and I am a Mississippi State fan next to Bama. I’ll be rooting for STATE but they can’t beat Auburn who has one of the best defenses in the country. I think they {State} got the wrong coach and Fitz is playing terribly. I think the other games will be close with one exception.
  • Continue to pray for Amanda, Jeremy’s baby sister. She is a fighter. Pray also for the children at St. Jude: Kooper Rooks and Lily Graham. I had planned to visit St. Jude’s this week but I am weary from travel and Big Mama can’t make the the trip right now. I want her to go because she has supported St. Jude’s for over 30 years and I didn’t even know it until Kane got sick.
  • I bought some 38-Plus bug spray from Coop this morning: 32$ for a pint. I could have bought 32 pumpkins for the price of the spray. Makes you wonder if it is worth it

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