For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
Someone who openly tells you what you have done wrong in front of others is better than someone who likes you, but does not let anyone know. It is better to trust a friend who hurts your feelings than an enemy who tells you that all is going as you wish.
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
Indeed He is and I will praise Him every day. I am grateful that His love for me will never end, no matter how often I disappoint Him. I believe His promise and will praise His name.
The writer compares the old covenant under the old priesthood with the new covenant with the new priesthood. Under the old covenant there were many priests because the priests were limited by death. Ultimately, all of those priests died. Under the new covenant there is only one priest because Jesus is that priest and He lives forever. Therefore His priesthood lasts forever. In addition, under the old covenant the priests had to offer sacrifices every day because they had to first sacrifice for their own sins before they could intercede for the people. Under the new covenant Jesus only had to make one sacrifice for all time because He was sinless.
Jesus is the kind of high priest which we need because He is unstained by sin. He was tempted as we are, so He understands the challenges we face. However, He was able to resist that temptation, so He can show us how we too can resist that temptation. He has sacrificed Himself once and for all time for our sins. Now He lives to intercede with God on our behalf.
God is sending judgment upon the nations of this earth and when it comes, the righteous will be only able to save themselves. Even if Noah and Job were alive today they would be unable to save anyone other than themselves. They would be unable to shield even their own sons and daughters. This is the day that is coming. Let us strive to convince our friends and loved ones to turn to God today so that we will not witness their suffering and be unable to help them.
And why is this judgment coming? God had raised up Jerusalem and made it a beacon to the nations. He had given its people treasure and luxuries so that they lived a life of beauty and comfort. Rather than praising God and thanking Him for their wealth, they took their wealth and used it to worship idols. Further, they sacrificed the children which God had given them to those idols. Those children belong to God and He will not forget those who sacrifice them on the altar. Our society is guilty of the same sins. God took the people of this nation and built a great nation, but how do we repay Him for His wonderful gifts to us? We offer our wealth on the altar to numerous idols and we sacrifice the children He gave us on the altar of abortion. God’s judgment is coming. There may still be time, but only if all of God’s people who remain stand in the gaps and pray for His Spirit to transform hearts throughout this land and this world. The time is short.