End Times Witnessing: The Altar Men of Faith

Watchman heard, “Be an altar man of faith! Build altar! And you will be amazed how much you will start receiving, because the altar is where I shall meet with you.” (be sure to continue reading!)

1.  Genesis 8:20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and there he sacrificed as burnt offerings the animals and birds that had been approved for that purpose.
   
2. Genesis 12:7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants. ” And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
   
3. Genesis 12:8 After that, Abram traveled south and set up camp in the hill country, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built another altar and dedicated it to the Lord, and he worshiped the Lord.
   
4. Genesis 13:4 This was the same place where Abram had built the altar, and there he worshiped the Lord again.
   
5. Genesis 13:18 So Abram moved his camp to Hebron and settled near the oak grove belonging to Mamre. There he built another altar to the Lord.
   
6. Genesis 22:9 When they arrived at the place where God had told him to go, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied his son, Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood.
   
7. Genesis 26:25 Then Isaac built an altar there and worshiped the Lord. He set up his camp at that place, and his servants dug another well.
   
8. Genesis 33:20 And there he built an altar and named it El-Elohe-Israel.
   
9. Genesis 35:1 [ Jacob’s Return to Bethel ] Then God said to Jacob, “Get ready and move to Bethel and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother, Esau.”
   
10. Genesis 35:3 We are now going to Bethel, where I will build an altar to the God who answered my prayers when I was in distress. He has been with me wherever I have gone.”
    
11. Genesis 35:7 Jacob built an altar there and named the place El-bethel (which means “God of Bethel”), because God had appeared to him there when he was fleeing from his brother, Esau.

Building altars runs in the family, just as blessing. Note how the three blessed men (Abraham the grandpa, Isaac the son and Jacob the grandson) carried on the family faith in building altars and call on the God who honors covenant and whose words and promises never fail. The building of the altars is a mark of their faith in the Almighty God.It is also worth pondering that all three men heard God and indeed worshiped God truthfully. They walked closely with God and spent their lifetime in the presence of God.
What else does the altar do? Many, as evidenced in the following verses from Genesis to Revelation.
What does the altar do for a Christian today? The watchman’s personal belief is that the altar (spiritual of course) has a number of very important supernatural functions:

1. A place to meet God.

2. A place to worship God: offering praises and songs in Truth and in Spirit.

3. A place to offer oneself as a living sacrifice (surrendering to the awesome God our body, soul and spirit).

4. A place to talk with God and hear God.

5. A place to pray, intercede, cry out to the Lord.

6. A place to receive cleansing, purifying, refining, being poured out, broken and molded into the image of Christ.

7. A place just to be still and know that God is God.

8. A place to receive blessings as promised and stake claims accordingly.

9. Above all it is a place to remember the Son of God, Yeshua Christ who came to the world and gave His life for us on the cross, shedding His blood and having His body broken so we are redeemed, saved and healed! Only through this High Priest we can approach the throne of grace.

What is your personal altar revealing? Be blessed when you step out in faith today and build yours! Give your children this heritage that never goes out of fashion or favor from the Almighty God!
________________________________MORE BIBLE VERSES ON ALTARS BUILDING

1. Exodus 17:15 Moses built an altar there and named it Yahweh-nissi (which means “the Lord is my banner”).
   
2. Exodus 20:22 [ Proper Use of Altars ] And the Lord said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: You saw for yourselves that I spoke to you from heaven.
   
3. Exodus 20:24 “Build for me an altar made of earth, and offer your sacrifices to me—your burnt offerings and peace offerings, your sheep and goats, and your cattle. Build my altar wherever I cause my name to be remembered, and I will come to you and bless you.
   
4. Exodus 20:25 If you use stones to build my altar, use only natural, uncut stones. Do not shape the stones with a tool, for that would make the altar unfit for holy use.
   
5. Exodus 20:26 And do not approach my altar by going up steps. If you do, someone might look up under your clothing and see your nakedness.
   
6. Exodus 24:4 Then Moses carefully wrote down all the Lord’s instructions. Early the next morning Moses got up and built an altar at the foot of the mountain. He also set up twelve pillars, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel.
   
7. Exodus 24:6 Moses drained half the blood from these animals into basins. The other half he splattered against the altar.
   
8. Joshua 8:30 [ The Lord’s Covenant Renewed ] Then Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal.
   
9. Joshua 22:24-28 “The truth is, we have built this altar because we fear that in the future your descendants will say to ours, ‘What right do you have to worship the Lord, the God of Israel? “So we decided to build the altar, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, “If they say this, our descendants can reply, ‘Look at this copy of the Lord’s altar that our ancestors made. It is not for burnt offerings or sacrifices; it is a reminder of the relationship both of us have with the Lord.’
10. Judges 6:24 So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
11. 1 Samuel 2:28
    I chose your father out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in my presence. I also gave your father’s house all the offerings made with fire by the Israelites.
12. 1 Samuel 7:17 But he always went back to Ramah, where his home was, and there he also judged Israel. And he built an altar there to the LORD.
13. 2 Samuel 24:18 [ David Builds an Altar ] On that day Gad went to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”  25 David built an altar to the LORD there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the LORD answered prayer in behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.
14. 1 Chronicles 21:26 David built an altar to the LORD there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He called on the LORD, and the LORD answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering.
15. 1 Kings 8:22. [ Solomon's Prayer of Dedication ] Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven. 54 When Solomon had finished all these prayers and supplications to the LORD, he rose from before the altar of the LORD, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven.
16. 1 Kings 18:30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD, which was in ruins. 32 With the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. 35 The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.
17. Ezra 3:1 [ Rebuilding the Altar ] When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, the people assembled as one man in Jerusalem. 2 Then Jeshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. 3 Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar“on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the LORD, both the morning and evening sacrifices.
18. Isaiah 6:5 Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” 6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷ With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
19. Isaiah 56:7 these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”
20. Ezekiel 43:26 For seven days they are to make atonement for the altar and cleanse it; thus they will dedicate it. 27 At the end of these days, from the eighth day on, the priests are to present your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar. Then I will accept you, declares the Sovereign  LORD.”
21. Ezekiel 47:1-2 In my vision, the man brought me back to the entrance of the Temple. There I saw a stream flowing east from beneath the door of the Temple and passing to the right of the altar on its south side. ² The man brought me outside the wall through the north gateway and led me around to the eastern entrance. There I could see the water flowing out through the south side of the east gateway.
22. Joel 1:13 [ A Call to Repentance ] Put on sackcloth, O priests, and mourn; wail, you who minister before the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you who minister before my God; for the grain offerings and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God. 2:17 Let the priests, who minister before the LORD, weep between the temple porch and the altar. Let them say, “Spare your people, O LORD. Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’
23. “Zechariah 14:20 On that day HOLY TO THE LORD will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, and the cooking pots in the LORD’s house will be like the sacred bowls in front of the altar.
24. Luke 1:11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.
25. Revelation 6:9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 8:3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. 8:5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake. 9:13 The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the horns of the golden altar that is before God.
26. Revelation 14:18 Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, “Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine, because its grapes are ripe.” 16:7 And I heard the altar respond: “Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgments.”

End Times Witnessing: Holy Spirit teaches how to fast

 Watchman heard: "To live End Times, you need to live by the Spirit of God. Pay attention to what the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual." (1 Cor.2:13)

"But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God." (1 Cor.2:10)

___________________________What does the Spirit say on fasting?

Isaiah 58:6-12 (New King James Version)

⁶ “ Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
      To loose the bonds of wickedness,
      To undo the heavy burdens,
      To let the oppressed go free,
      And that you break every yoke?
       ⁷ Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
      And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;
      When you see the naked, that you cover him,
      And not hide yourself from your own flesh?
       ⁸ Then your light shall break forth like the morning,
      Your healing shall spring forth speedily,
      And your righteousness shall go before you;
      The glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
       ⁹ Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer;
      You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’

      “ If you take away the yoke from your midst,
      The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
       ¹⁰ If you extend your soul to the hungry
      And satisfy the afflicted soul,
      Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
      And your darkness shall be as the noonday.
       ¹¹ The LORD will guide you continually,

      And satisfy your soul in drought,

      And strengthen your bones;

      You shall be like a watered garden,

      And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

       ¹² Those from among you
      Shall build the old waste places;
      You shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
      And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach,
      The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.
____________________________________
When you think of fasting, consider this, what bondage oppresses the people of many nations most? Poverty? Many Christian (and other religious) organizations have been doing a lot of charity work throughout human history to feed the poor and cloth the naked. But many more peoples in many nations are increasingly under dark bondage and suffer worse fate. Why? Why? Why?
Even Christians (and other religious followers) are under the same fate.
Is there something in these verses/commands we have been blind to?
Why did Jesus tell the disciples this stunning statement praising and honoring Mary who anointed His feet with a jar of expensive perfume (worth a whole year's wages in those days) and wiping His feet with her hair, filling the whole house with fragrance?

Matthew 26:11-13 (New International Version)

¹¹The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. ¹²When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. ¹³I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her."

Jesus revealed a lot of clues in His words. let us look at some and pray that the Holy Spirit illuminates our hearts to digest them and make them alive in us!
Matt.4:4 "But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say,   ‘People do not live by bread alone,
      but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

John 6:63 "The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life."
 What did Jesus come to this world for? The Holy Spirit says, 
1 John 3:8 "He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil."
Luke 4:18 “ The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,
       Because He has anointed Me
      To preach the gospel to the poor;
      He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
      To proclaim liberty to the captives
      And recovery of sight to the blind,
      To set at liberty those who are oppressed;" 

Isaiah 10:27 "And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing."


2Cor.3:6 "He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."


Now you know how to fast God's way!

How to decode My end times revelations?

The watchman heard: “You need to be led by the Holy Spirit to detect the clues about My end times survival revelations.”

1 Corinthians 2:9-16


9 But as it is written:
“ Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 
¹⁰ But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. ¹¹ For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. ¹² Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
¹³ These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. ¹⁴But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

¹⁵ But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. ¹⁶ For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

End Times Witnessing: Deliverance from Confusion

Your Word,  O Lord, is a lamp to my feet!

Watchman heard:  "You need to continue to walk in the Light, so you will not stumble like the people in the dark!"

Proverbs 4:18-27

¹⁸ But the path of the just is like the shining sun,
That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.
¹⁹ The way of the wicked is like darkness;
They do not know what makes them stumble.
²⁰ My son, give attention to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.
²¹ Do not let them depart from your eyes;
Keep them in the midst of your heart;
²² For they are life to those who find them,
And health to all their flesh.
²³ Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life.
²⁴ Put away from you a deceitful mouth,
And put perverse lips far from you.
²⁵ Let your eyes look straight ahead,
And your eyelids look right before you.
²⁶ Ponder the path of your feet,
And let all your ways be established.
²⁷ Do not turn to the right or the left;
Remove your foot from evil.

Footnotes:

1. Proverbs 4:18 Literally light

______________________________

ONLY THE LORD GIVES LIGHT!

# 2 Samuel 22:29
“For You are my lamp, O LORD;The LORD shall enlighten my darkness.
# Ezra 9:8
And now for a little while grace has been shown from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage.
# Job 33:30
To bring back his soul from the Pit,That he may be enlightened with the light of life.
# Psalm 13:3
Consider and hear me, O LORD my God;Enlighten my eyes, Lest I sleep the sleep of death;
# Psalm 18:28
For You will light my lamp;The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
# Psalm 19:8
The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
# Ephesians 1:18

the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,

# Hebrews 6:4
For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit,
# Job 37:15
Do you know when God dispatches them,And causes the light of His cloud to shine?
# Psalm 56:13
For You have delivered my soul from death.Have You not kept my feet from falling, That I may walk before God In the light of the living?
# Psalm 118:27
God is the LORD,And He has given us light; Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.
# Isaiah 24:15
Therefore glorify the LORD in the dawning light, The name of the LORD God of Israel in the coastlands of the sea.
# Isaiah 50:10
“ Who among you fears the LORD? Who obeys the voice of His Servant? Who walks in darkness And has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD And rely upon his God.
# Jeremiah 13:16
Give glory to the LORD your God Before He causes darkness, And before your feet stumble On the dark mountains, And while you are looking for light, He turns it into the shadow of death And makes it dense darkness.
# Ezekiel 32:8
All the bright lights of the heavens I will make dark over you, And bring darkness upon your land,’ Says the Lord GOD.
# Daniel 5:11
There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the Spirit of the Holy God. And in the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him; and King Nebuchadnezzar your father—your father the king—made him chief of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers.
Daniel 5:14
I have heard of you, that the Spirit of God is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you.
# John 3:21
But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
# Acts 26:18
to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’
# 1 Corinthians 4:5
Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God.
# 2 Corinthians 4:4

whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.

# 2 Corinthians 4:6
⁶ For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
# Philippians 2:15

that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,

# 1 John 1:5
[ Fellowship with Him and One Another ] This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
# Isaiah 60:19
[ God the Glory of His People ] “ The sun shall no longer be your light by day, Nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you; But the LORD will be to you an everlasting light, And your God your glory.
# Revelation 4:5
And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
# Revelation 11:19
Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.
# Revelation 21:11
having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.
# Revelation 21:23

The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.

# Revelation 22:5

There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.

End Times Witnessing: O Cry for a Samuel!

Judges 2:1-5
Then the Angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said: “I led you up from Egypt and brought you to the land of which I swore to your fathers; and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you. ² And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this? ³Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they shall be thorns in your side,^[a] and their gods shall be a snare to you.’” ⁴ So it was, when the Angel of the LORD spoke these words to all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voices and wept.
⁵ Then they called the name of that place Bochim;^[b] and they sacrificed there to the LORD.
⁸ Now Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died when he was one hundred and ten years old.
¹⁰ When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel.

Israel’s Unfaithfulness

¹¹ Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals;

¹⁸ And when the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed them and harassed them. ¹⁹ And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they reverted and behaved more corruptly than their fathers, by following other gods, to serve them and bow down to them. They did not cease from their own doings nor from their stubborn way.
²⁰ Then the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and He said, “Because this nation has transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not heeded My voice, ²¹ I also will no longer drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died, ²² so that through them I may test Israel, whether they will keep the ways of the LORD, to walk in them as their fathers kept them, or not.” ²³ Therefore the LORD left those nations, without driving them out immediately; nor did He deliver them into the hand of Joshua.
_______________________________

We are in the Judges Time again. What happened before happens again.

God has spoken:
^{Isaiah 46: 9} Remember the former things, those of long ago;
I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me.
¹⁰ I make known the end from the beginning,
from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say: My purpose will stand,
and I will do all that I please.
___________________________________

O watchman, cry for a Samuel to be raised today!

End Times Witnessing: And then God answers

1 Kings 8:10-11
¹⁰ When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD. ¹¹ And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled his temple.
1 Kings 9:1-9
The LORD Appears to Solomon
¹ When Solomon had finished building the temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and had achieved all he had desired to do, ² the LORD appeared to him a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. ³ The LORD said to him:
“I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
⁴ “As for you, if you walk before me in integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, ⁵ I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’
⁶ “But if you ^[a] or your sons turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you ^[b] and go off to serve other gods and worship them, ⁷ then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. ⁸ And though this temple is now imposing, all who pass by will be appalled and will scoff and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ ⁹ People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the LORD their God, who brought their fathers out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why the LORD brought all this disaster on them.’ “
1 Corinthians 3:16-17
¹⁶Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? ¹⁷If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.
1 Pet.2:4-5
⁴As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— ⁵you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁹But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
1 Pet.1:13-16

Be Holy

¹³Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. ¹⁴As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. ¹⁵But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; ¹⁶for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”^[a]

End Times Witnessing: A king talks with God

TODAY’S REVELATION FOR WATCHMAN:

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication

^{1 Kings 8:22} Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven ²³ and said:
“O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. ²⁴ You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it—as it is today.
²⁵ “Now LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, ‘You shall never fail to have a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons are careful in all they do to walk before me as you have done.‘ ²⁶ And now, O God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David my father come true.
²⁷ “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! ²⁸ Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, O LORD my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. ²⁹ May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of which you said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. ³⁰ Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.
³¹ “When a man wrongs his neighbor and is required to take an oath and he comes and swears the oath before your altar in this temple, ³² then hear from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, condemning the guilty and bringing down on his own head what he has done. Declare the innocent not guilty, and so establish his innocence.
³³ “When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you, and when they turn back to you and confess your name, praying and making supplication to you in this temple, ³⁴ then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to their fathers.
³⁵ “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and confess your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, ³⁶ then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance.
³⁷ “When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when an enemy besieges them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, ³⁸ and when a prayer or plea is made by any of your people Israel—each one aware of the afflictions of his own heart, and spreading out his hands toward this temple- ³⁹ then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and act; deal with each man according to all he does, since you know his heart (for you alone know the hearts of all men), ⁴⁰ so that they will fear you all the time they live in the land you gave our fathers.
⁴¹ “As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name- ⁴² for men will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when he comes and prays toward this temple, ⁴³ then hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.
⁴⁴ “When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray to the LORD toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name, ⁴⁵ then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.
⁴⁶ “When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them captive to his own land, far away or near; ⁴⁷ and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their conquerors and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly’; ⁴⁸ and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and pray to you toward the land you gave their fathers, toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name; ⁴⁹ then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. ⁵⁰ And forgive your people, who have sinned against you; forgive all the offenses they have committed against you, and cause their conquerors to show them mercy; ⁵¹ for they are your people and your inheritance, whom you brought out of Egypt, out of that iron-smelting furnace.
⁵² “May your eyes be open to your servant’s plea and to the plea of your people Israel, and may you listen to them whenever they cry out to you. ⁵³ For you singled them out from all the nations of the world to be your own inheritance, just as you declared through your servant Moses when you, O Sovereign LORD, brought our fathers out of Egypt.”
⁵⁴ When Solomon had finished all these prayers and supplications to the LORD, he rose from before the altar of the LORD, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven. ⁵⁵ He stood and blessed the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying:
⁵⁶ “Praise be to the LORD, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses. ⁵⁷ May the LORD our God be with us as he was with our fathers; may he never leave us nor forsake us. ⁵⁸ May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep the commands, decrees and regulations he gave our fathers. ⁵⁹ And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the LORD, be near to the LORD our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel according to each day’s need, ⁶⁰ so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God and that there is no other. ⁶¹ But your hearts must be fully committed to the LORD our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time.”

The Dedication of the Temple

⁶² Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the LORD. ⁶³ Solomon offered a sacrifice of fellowship offerings ^[a] to the LORD : twenty-two thousand cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the Israelites dedicated the temple of the LORD.
⁶⁴ On that same day the king consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the LORD, and there he offered burnt offerings, grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings, because the bronze altar before the LORD was too small to hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings.
⁶⁵ So Solomon observed the festival at that time, and all Israel with him—a vast assembly, people from Lebo ^[b] Hamath to the Wadi of Egypt. They celebrated it before the LORD our God for seven days and seven days more, fourteen days in all. ⁶⁶ On the following day he sent the people away. They blessed the king and then went home, joyful and glad in heart for all the good things the LORD had done for his servant David and his people Israel.