Hebrew Sanctuary--4
Believing is not the end of faith. With our justification we have the capacity to stand before God. But what is the purpose of standing before God?
In Exodus 29.38 Aaron and his sons offer the two lambs daily. This was the duty of their sanctification before God. Paul says in Ephesians 1.16 that he does not--cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers. Here we have the continual offering of prayers before God, the incense which Paul burns for the Lord and for the people.
Paul asks that--the eyes of your heart may be enlightened. This is the light of the candlestick by which the tabernacle is lit daily. So through communion with God Paul offers his daily prayers--his incense-- so that the Ephesians could be light to their city. The communion with God was the incense, the light in the tabernacle, in the Holy Place.
However this is not our greatest duty to God.
Our greatest duty is to enter the Holy of Holies, to minister unto God. In Exodus 30.30 God tells Moses--you shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them that they may minister as priests to Me. Ministering unto god combines the justification of standing in His presence with the sanctification of ministering to Him daily. We live our lives in the Spirit which He has given us in His place. Many might practice religious rites but they must be done in the love which the Spirit brings to the believer.
This brings us to the mystery of faith. How is it that we are in Him and He in us?
Of course, cleansing and declaration must have taken place. When this is so, we stand before God. As Jesus was fully God and fully man, God and man are to be respected. When we stand before God, we are not annihilated, nor does He disappear. He is always God and we are always men and women. If we are made in His image we have been given the capacity to receive Him as God without our dissolution. If He came in the likeness of men (Philippians 2.7), God can receive us in the name of His Son so that His holiness is not compromised.
This is stated in Exodus 24.9-11, where Moses, Aaron and the elders go up the mountain into God's presence. God does not destroy them, they behold God, they eat and drink. Such eating and drinking with God will occur again in John 21.12-13. The way to the Garden of God has been opened to us through Jesus.
All of this is to say, spiritual worship is receiving Christ. We receive Him when we love Him. 1 John says if we love Him, we will keep His commandments. This often fools us into thinking that keeping the commandments is love. It is not; yet when we remain in His love we will wish to keep His commandments. It is like the boy who wants to play baseball. He'll put on the uniform long before the game begins.
How do we love Him? Each of us will have our own capacity. We cannot grasp more of Him, although we can ask for more of Him. As with love, the more we express our love for God, the more love we will be given by God.
Love one another, for love is of God.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Thursday, December 6, 2012
HEBREW SANCTUARY--3
The tabernacle had three ministrations to the Hebrew believer--cleansing, justification and sanctification. We will look at cleansing and justification today and sanctification next week.
First, in Exodus 20 God gives His word, the commandments. Then in Ex. 20.20 Moses says God has come into their midst--to test you and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin. The purpose of His presence is that He can be holy with Israel, as this is His desire. Just as in the Garden of Eden, God's word of warning and blessing is because He is with them. Jesus will say the same thing in John 8.11--Go and sin no more. The cleansing from sin is the preparation for worship.
The priest had to cleanse himself of any sin to accept the sacrifice of the people, outside the tabernacle. The sacrifice cleansed the sinner, but the sin put upon the animal brought sin into the tabernacle. So the priest had to sprinkle the animal's blood upon the tabernacle, to cleanse it.
While God considers it necessary for the priest and the sinner to be clean, we often glide over confession too quickly. We know our cultural preferences, but we forget what weighs heavily on God's mind: cleansing from sin. Confession is bitter but it is where the blessing is found. The blessing/curse of the two trees in Genesis became the blessing/curse of the two mountains in Deuteronomy 28, which became the blessing of Matthew 5--you are the light of the world--and the admonition of Matt. 6--do not be anxious, do not be as the hypocrites, do not lay up treasures. The summary is Matt. 6.33--Seek ye first the kingdom of God.
Now we come to justification. We come to presence, cloud, light. God told Moses He wanted Israel to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, Ex. 19.6. The Table of Showbread is our communion with God by which He, through the bread and wine, enters us and we enter into His presence. We are surrounded by the incense which the priest burns at the Altar of Incense, just as Moses entered the cloud o top of the mountain, Ex. 19.9. We become the light of the world, as the light shone on Moses' face when he came down from the mountain, Ex. 34.29. This light is not for God--who is light--but for the nation and through the church to all nations.
This is the declaration part of worship. As Jesus died on the cross , being the perfect sacrifice, He became our High Priest so that we could in His righteousness stand in the presence of God, Rev.21.3. What happened to Moses on the mountain we now experience as the kingdom of priests. In Christ we enter God's presence, we put on His clothes, the white linen of righteousness. We have His word in our heart, we are obedient to His will, we walk in His path according to His name.
This is the awesome stuff of life in Christ.
The tabernacle had three ministrations to the Hebrew believer--cleansing, justification and sanctification. We will look at cleansing and justification today and sanctification next week.
First, in Exodus 20 God gives His word, the commandments. Then in Ex. 20.20 Moses says God has come into their midst--to test you and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin. The purpose of His presence is that He can be holy with Israel, as this is His desire. Just as in the Garden of Eden, God's word of warning and blessing is because He is with them. Jesus will say the same thing in John 8.11--Go and sin no more. The cleansing from sin is the preparation for worship.
The priest had to cleanse himself of any sin to accept the sacrifice of the people, outside the tabernacle. The sacrifice cleansed the sinner, but the sin put upon the animal brought sin into the tabernacle. So the priest had to sprinkle the animal's blood upon the tabernacle, to cleanse it.
While God considers it necessary for the priest and the sinner to be clean, we often glide over confession too quickly. We know our cultural preferences, but we forget what weighs heavily on God's mind: cleansing from sin. Confession is bitter but it is where the blessing is found. The blessing/curse of the two trees in Genesis became the blessing/curse of the two mountains in Deuteronomy 28, which became the blessing of Matthew 5--you are the light of the world--and the admonition of Matt. 6--do not be anxious, do not be as the hypocrites, do not lay up treasures. The summary is Matt. 6.33--Seek ye first the kingdom of God.
Now we come to justification. We come to presence, cloud, light. God told Moses He wanted Israel to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, Ex. 19.6. The Table of Showbread is our communion with God by which He, through the bread and wine, enters us and we enter into His presence. We are surrounded by the incense which the priest burns at the Altar of Incense, just as Moses entered the cloud o top of the mountain, Ex. 19.9. We become the light of the world, as the light shone on Moses' face when he came down from the mountain, Ex. 34.29. This light is not for God--who is light--but for the nation and through the church to all nations.
This is the declaration part of worship. As Jesus died on the cross , being the perfect sacrifice, He became our High Priest so that we could in His righteousness stand in the presence of God, Rev.21.3. What happened to Moses on the mountain we now experience as the kingdom of priests. In Christ we enter God's presence, we put on His clothes, the white linen of righteousness. We have His word in our heart, we are obedient to His will, we walk in His path according to His name.
This is the awesome stuff of life in Christ.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
HEBREW SANCTUARY--2
The Veil of the Sanctuary--Exodus 26.31
The daily offices of the tabernacle represent the daily life of sanctification which prepared the sinner by cleansing him from his sin. And the annual entrance of the High Priest into the Holy of Holies represented justification, without which no man can stand before God's presence.
The veil between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies is the veil that tore at the moment Jesus died on the cross. This tearing ended the need for a Levitical priesthood as mediator between God and us--
Matt. 27.51--And behold the veil of the temple was rent in two from top to bottom,
and the earth did quake and the rocks rent...
The veil represents the body of Jesus. It is only by passing through this veil that access is gained to the Most Holy Place of Judgment. You can see the relevance of communion, taking the body and blood of Christ into oneself to have access to God.
The veil's tearing is the death of the Lamb of God, so that the believer might come in.
The Levitical priesthood has brought us this far, now with Jesus as our High Priest we no longer have need of the sacrifices and the veil.
The Ark of the Testimony--Exodus 25.10-22
The ark was made of acacia wood, covered with gold. Inside the ark were placed two tablets of stone upon which the 10 Commandments had been etched. Later Aaron's rod and a pot of manna were put in with the stone tablets. The lid of the Ark was called the Mercy Seat, Ex. 25.17. Above the Mercy Seat, between two covering cherubs, the glory of God dwelled.
The Mercy Seat represented Jesus as mediator just as the seat was between the commandments inside the ark and God's glory above it.
1 Timothy 2.5--For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
Only the High Priest was allowed to enter the Most Holy Place to be in the presence of the ark and Mercy Seat. And that was only one day of the year, the Day of Atonement.
When Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem, the ark had already been removed. In 70AD when the armies of the Roman emperor Titus sacked Jerusalem, the Holy of Holies was empty. The ark has never been found publicly to this day (except by Indiana Jones).
In Revelation 11.19 the ark is described. This was written about 95AD, after the Roman army left Jerusalem. John sees the ark of God in heaven, not the ark of the tabernacle.
The ark is revealed in Revelation in these passages:
Golden Candlestick--Rev. 1.12, 4.5
Table of Showbread--Rev. 4.2-5
Pre-advent Judgment begins--Rev. 4.6
Brazen Altar of Burnt Offerings--Rev. 6.9
Golden Altar of Incense--Rev. 8.3-5
Ark of the Testtimony--Rev. 11.19
The Sanctuary as the City of God--Rev. 21.22
The Veil of the Sanctuary--Exodus 26.31
The daily offices of the tabernacle represent the daily life of sanctification which prepared the sinner by cleansing him from his sin. And the annual entrance of the High Priest into the Holy of Holies represented justification, without which no man can stand before God's presence.
The veil between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies is the veil that tore at the moment Jesus died on the cross. This tearing ended the need for a Levitical priesthood as mediator between God and us--
Matt. 27.51--And behold the veil of the temple was rent in two from top to bottom,
and the earth did quake and the rocks rent...
The veil represents the body of Jesus. It is only by passing through this veil that access is gained to the Most Holy Place of Judgment. You can see the relevance of communion, taking the body and blood of Christ into oneself to have access to God.
The veil's tearing is the death of the Lamb of God, so that the believer might come in.
The Levitical priesthood has brought us this far, now with Jesus as our High Priest we no longer have need of the sacrifices and the veil.
The Ark of the Testimony--Exodus 25.10-22
The ark was made of acacia wood, covered with gold. Inside the ark were placed two tablets of stone upon which the 10 Commandments had been etched. Later Aaron's rod and a pot of manna were put in with the stone tablets. The lid of the Ark was called the Mercy Seat, Ex. 25.17. Above the Mercy Seat, between two covering cherubs, the glory of God dwelled.
The Mercy Seat represented Jesus as mediator just as the seat was between the commandments inside the ark and God's glory above it.
1 Timothy 2.5--For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
Only the High Priest was allowed to enter the Most Holy Place to be in the presence of the ark and Mercy Seat. And that was only one day of the year, the Day of Atonement.
When Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem, the ark had already been removed. In 70AD when the armies of the Roman emperor Titus sacked Jerusalem, the Holy of Holies was empty. The ark has never been found publicly to this day (except by Indiana Jones).
In Revelation 11.19 the ark is described. This was written about 95AD, after the Roman army left Jerusalem. John sees the ark of God in heaven, not the ark of the tabernacle.
The ark is revealed in Revelation in these passages:
Golden Candlestick--Rev. 1.12, 4.5
Table of Showbread--Rev. 4.2-5
Pre-advent Judgment begins--Rev. 4.6
Brazen Altar of Burnt Offerings--Rev. 6.9
Golden Altar of Incense--Rev. 8.3-5
Ark of the Testtimony--Rev. 11.19
The Sanctuary as the City of God--Rev. 21.22
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
THE HEBREW SANCTUARY---1
After God gave Moses the Ten Commandments in Exodus 25.8, He says--
Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them.
With these few words God tells Israel He wants to be with them. The plan of the tabernacle was a simplified version of the heavenly kingdom. Its' purpose was to reveal that Jesus of Nazareth is our high priest, our mediator, our sacrifice. As He was Lord of heaven, so He is high priest on earth.
The tabernacle will enable us to be with God in four stages:
Sacrifice for sins
Declaration of cleanness through the Brazen Altar, Laver, and Menorah
Daily Offices of the priests through the Veil and Ark
Judgment and Blessing in the Holy of Holies.
First, the Sacrifice for sins.
All of this took place outside the tabernacle.
The sinner brings the sacrifice to the tabernacle east door to cover sins. The sinner places his hands on the animal's head, making his confession. Then he slays the animal, collecting the animal's blood.
The Brazen Altar
At this point the priest takes certain portions of the animal to the Brazen Altar to be consumed by flames. The altar was acacia wood covered by bronze. The wood symbolized humanity, the brass symbolized suffering. When the animal was burned, this means Jesus protects the sinner from the fires of God, as they go on the animal. The altar was square, with four horns at the corners. According to Psalm 118.27 the animal pieces were tied to the horns, with the blood poured out below. Leviticus 9.24 says the fire came down from heaven.
The Laver
Before the priest burns the animal pieces he must come to this Laver to wash. This was a basin of water, made from the mirrors of the women. The priest washes his hands and feet, symbolizing baptism, the mirrors represent our sins, cleansing our souls and receiving righteousness. If the priest does not cleanse himself enough, he is struck dead, Exodus 30.21. This is because to reject the righteousness of Christ means the sinner and the priest die in their sins.
With this done properly, the sinner and the priest are clean before God.
Second, Declaration of Cleansing
Now we are just inside the tabernacle. This rectangular area is the Holy Place. We have the Table of Showbread, the Golden Candelabra, and the Golden Altar of Incense.
The Candelabra or Menorah used pure olive oil. The priest trimmed and refilled it. The wick was made of old priestly garments. It was always lit. It represents Jesus, the light of the world, John 1.9
The Table of Showbread was a small table made of acacia wood, covered in gold. It had 12 loaves of unleavened bread, representing Jesus, the bread of life, John 6.35 and the 12 tribes of Israel. Wine was also kept on the Table, so the Lord's Supper was present.
The Altar of Incense was before the veil separating the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies inside. On it was a brass pot with coals from the Brazen Altar. A special blend of incense was burned here, which filled the tabernacle with a sweet cloud. This cloud obscured the glory of God over the Holy of Holies, preserving the high priest's life on the Day of Atonement, Leviticus 16.13.
The Menorah is always lit, the Table always shows bread and wine, and the altar always shows the incense and the cloud. This is the eternal nature of cleansing from sin, once declared it is always so.
NEXT WEEK--THE DAILY OFFICES OF THE PRIESTS
After God gave Moses the Ten Commandments in Exodus 25.8, He says--
Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them.
With these few words God tells Israel He wants to be with them. The plan of the tabernacle was a simplified version of the heavenly kingdom. Its' purpose was to reveal that Jesus of Nazareth is our high priest, our mediator, our sacrifice. As He was Lord of heaven, so He is high priest on earth.
The tabernacle will enable us to be with God in four stages:
Sacrifice for sins
Declaration of cleanness through the Brazen Altar, Laver, and Menorah
Daily Offices of the priests through the Veil and Ark
Judgment and Blessing in the Holy of Holies.
First, the Sacrifice for sins.
All of this took place outside the tabernacle.
The sinner brings the sacrifice to the tabernacle east door to cover sins. The sinner places his hands on the animal's head, making his confession. Then he slays the animal, collecting the animal's blood.
The Brazen Altar
At this point the priest takes certain portions of the animal to the Brazen Altar to be consumed by flames. The altar was acacia wood covered by bronze. The wood symbolized humanity, the brass symbolized suffering. When the animal was burned, this means Jesus protects the sinner from the fires of God, as they go on the animal. The altar was square, with four horns at the corners. According to Psalm 118.27 the animal pieces were tied to the horns, with the blood poured out below. Leviticus 9.24 says the fire came down from heaven.
The Laver
Before the priest burns the animal pieces he must come to this Laver to wash. This was a basin of water, made from the mirrors of the women. The priest washes his hands and feet, symbolizing baptism, the mirrors represent our sins, cleansing our souls and receiving righteousness. If the priest does not cleanse himself enough, he is struck dead, Exodus 30.21. This is because to reject the righteousness of Christ means the sinner and the priest die in their sins.
With this done properly, the sinner and the priest are clean before God.
Second, Declaration of Cleansing
Now we are just inside the tabernacle. This rectangular area is the Holy Place. We have the Table of Showbread, the Golden Candelabra, and the Golden Altar of Incense.
The Candelabra or Menorah used pure olive oil. The priest trimmed and refilled it. The wick was made of old priestly garments. It was always lit. It represents Jesus, the light of the world, John 1.9
The Table of Showbread was a small table made of acacia wood, covered in gold. It had 12 loaves of unleavened bread, representing Jesus, the bread of life, John 6.35 and the 12 tribes of Israel. Wine was also kept on the Table, so the Lord's Supper was present.
The Altar of Incense was before the veil separating the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies inside. On it was a brass pot with coals from the Brazen Altar. A special blend of incense was burned here, which filled the tabernacle with a sweet cloud. This cloud obscured the glory of God over the Holy of Holies, preserving the high priest's life on the Day of Atonement, Leviticus 16.13.
The Menorah is always lit, the Table always shows bread and wine, and the altar always shows the incense and the cloud. This is the eternal nature of cleansing from sin, once declared it is always so.
NEXT WEEK--THE DAILY OFFICES OF THE PRIESTS
Friday, November 16, 2012
MESSIAH--2
In the Middle Ages the Jewish rabbi Moses Maimonides wrote the guidelines of who the messiah would be for Israel. Usually 18 OT verses are used to apply proof to his text: Some of them are:
The messiah will restore justice, Isaiah 1.26
The messiah becomes king so the nations look to him for guidance, Isaiah 2.4.
The world will worship the God if Israel, Isaiah 2.11-17.
He will descend from David, Isaiah 1.11.
The Spirit of the Lord will be upon him, Isaiah 11.2.
Evil and tyranny cannot stand before Him, Isaiah 11.4.
Knowledge of God fills the earth, Isaiah 11.9.
He will attract people from other cultures, Isaiah 11.10.
All Jews will return to Israel, Isaiah 11.12.
Death is swallowed up, Isaiah 25.8.
All Jewish people will have joy and peace, Isaiah 51.11.
He will be a messenger of peace, Isaiah 52.7.
Nations will recognize the wrong they did Israel, Isaiah 52.13--53.5
The world will turn to Israel, Zechariah 8.23.
War is destroyed, Ezekiel 39.9.
These are the particular points Maimonides emphasized. According to these texts, the messiah is a future king from the line of David who will be anointed and rule the Jewish people during the Messianic age. He will rebuild the temple, reinstitute the Sanhedrin and animal sacrifices. All Jews will return to Israel. And the messiah will lead the Jewish people in what one website calls, 'full Torah observance.' Modern Jewish commentators say the messiah will be born of human parents, he will have no supernatural qualities, he will not be God.
While many of the OT passages Jewish and Christian scholars use concerning the messiah are the same, the different interpretations remain apart.
Jesus said--I am the Father are one, John 10.30. He said--I am the way, the truth, the life, no man comes to the Father but through Me, John 14.6. Jesus created the way to the Father--by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, Hebrews 10.20. The Jews of His day believed they already had a connection to God.
Jewish scholars say Jesus did not rebuild the temple, institute animal sacrifices or install strict Torah observance. They say there was no prophet, that all Jews must return to Israel. Some Jewish scholars say Jesus was not a prophet, did not descend from David, that He did not lead Jews in Torah observance.
Christian scholars say Jesus ended the sacrifices as He was the last sacrifice, the Lamb of God, John 1.36. The Holy Spirit at Pentecost has made every believing soul the temple of God, 1 Peter 2.5, 6. Jesus said in Matthew 11.9 that John was a prophet and that the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. In John 4.19 the Samaritan woman at the well says--Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. In Matt. 21.11 the people say Jesus is a prophet.
But really these are secondary matters which might not change a person's mind. The significant issue is whether Jesus is God and whether Jews will return to full Torah observance.
Jesus said He was God, He came to fulfill the Law, that the Law will not pass away until all is accomplished, Matt. 5.18. What is to be accomplished? He said---All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I command you; and lo, I will be with you always, even to the end of the age, Matt. 28.18-20.
In the Middle Ages the Jewish rabbi Moses Maimonides wrote the guidelines of who the messiah would be for Israel. Usually 18 OT verses are used to apply proof to his text: Some of them are:
The messiah will restore justice, Isaiah 1.26
The messiah becomes king so the nations look to him for guidance, Isaiah 2.4.
The world will worship the God if Israel, Isaiah 2.11-17.
He will descend from David, Isaiah 1.11.
The Spirit of the Lord will be upon him, Isaiah 11.2.
Evil and tyranny cannot stand before Him, Isaiah 11.4.
Knowledge of God fills the earth, Isaiah 11.9.
He will attract people from other cultures, Isaiah 11.10.
All Jews will return to Israel, Isaiah 11.12.
Death is swallowed up, Isaiah 25.8.
All Jewish people will have joy and peace, Isaiah 51.11.
He will be a messenger of peace, Isaiah 52.7.
Nations will recognize the wrong they did Israel, Isaiah 52.13--53.5
The world will turn to Israel, Zechariah 8.23.
War is destroyed, Ezekiel 39.9.
These are the particular points Maimonides emphasized. According to these texts, the messiah is a future king from the line of David who will be anointed and rule the Jewish people during the Messianic age. He will rebuild the temple, reinstitute the Sanhedrin and animal sacrifices. All Jews will return to Israel. And the messiah will lead the Jewish people in what one website calls, 'full Torah observance.' Modern Jewish commentators say the messiah will be born of human parents, he will have no supernatural qualities, he will not be God.
While many of the OT passages Jewish and Christian scholars use concerning the messiah are the same, the different interpretations remain apart.
Jesus said--I am the Father are one, John 10.30. He said--I am the way, the truth, the life, no man comes to the Father but through Me, John 14.6. Jesus created the way to the Father--by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, Hebrews 10.20. The Jews of His day believed they already had a connection to God.
Jewish scholars say Jesus did not rebuild the temple, institute animal sacrifices or install strict Torah observance. They say there was no prophet, that all Jews must return to Israel. Some Jewish scholars say Jesus was not a prophet, did not descend from David, that He did not lead Jews in Torah observance.
Christian scholars say Jesus ended the sacrifices as He was the last sacrifice, the Lamb of God, John 1.36. The Holy Spirit at Pentecost has made every believing soul the temple of God, 1 Peter 2.5, 6. Jesus said in Matthew 11.9 that John was a prophet and that the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. In John 4.19 the Samaritan woman at the well says--Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. In Matt. 21.11 the people say Jesus is a prophet.
But really these are secondary matters which might not change a person's mind. The significant issue is whether Jesus is God and whether Jews will return to full Torah observance.
Jesus said He was God, He came to fulfill the Law, that the Law will not pass away until all is accomplished, Matt. 5.18. What is to be accomplished? He said---All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I command you; and lo, I will be with you always, even to the end of the age, Matt. 28.18-20.
Friday, November 9, 2012
JESUS THE MESSIAH--1
Several times in the gospels Jesus of Nazareth is called, Son of David. The Jews knew that was the preliminary form of the title, messiah, because the sign of the messiah is that he would take the throne of David. Some Jews accepted Jesus as the messiah, many did not.
A blind man in Luke 18.39 is told Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. The blind man immediately calls Him, Son of David. How did he know Jesus was the Son of David?
Joseph, the husband of Mary, descended from David through Solomon, Matt. 1.6. In fact, an angel calls Joseph--son of David, in Matt. 1.20. Six more times in the gospel of Matthew Jesus is called or known as the Son of David, the one who will take the throne of David.--
Matt. 9.27, 12.23, 15.22, 21.9, 21.15, 22.42.
But calling Jesus the son of David was not true biologically since Joseph was not His true father. So why was Jesus called the Son of David?
The identity of the messiah was a well-known theme but not a specific one. In Psalm 2.6 the psalmist of this song says--
I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain.
In 2.12 he says--
Do homage to the Son, lest He become angry
and you perish in the way,
for His wrath may soon be kindled.
How blessed are all those who take refuge in Him.
Here we see the psalmist, who is not named, say the messiah is the Son, His wrath will be kindled, and those who take refuge in Him are blessed.
The messiah is the one who fulfills the covenant with God by which the works of the devil are ended, ushering in a reign of peace and prosperity for Israel under God. This path of the messiah from Genesis 3 through the OT is shown by Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses and the prophets.
So the messiah--
must be born a man to be the seed of Eve, Gen. 3.
will be a preacher of righteousness like Noah, Gen. 6.7.
will be a man of faith like Abraham, through whom all the nations of the world will be blessed, Gen. 12.
will come through Judah as Jacob announced, Gen. 49.
will suffer in order to be exalted like Joseph, Gen. 37-48.
will be a prophet and savior like Moses, Exodus 2-16.
This is the wider application of the messiah through the OT to Israel. But there is in the OT a closer portrait of the messiah--
the psalms say he will be Son and King, Psalm 2.
Isaiah says he will be born of a virgin, 7.14, son of David, 9.1, the branch who will bring redemption and blessing, ch. 11, and the bringer of joy, 61.1.
Micah said the messiah will shepherd his people, Micah 5.1.
Amos said the messiah will be for all peoples, Amos 9.11.
Jeremiah said the messiah will be the king of righteousness, Jer. 23.5.
Now the NT writers know of these prophecies and fulfillments. Matthew says Jesus was born of Abrahamic and Davidic lineage, Matt. 1.2-16. Luke says the same thing in Luke 2.4-15. John the Baptist refers to the saving role of Jesus in John 1.29 when he calls Him, the Lamb of God. Matthew says Jesus will bring judgment as well as life, Matt. 3.1-12. Luke 1.51-55 says the same thing, that Jesus will bring down the rulers and bless Israel. Luke and John say Jesus was anointed as messiah at His baptism, Luke 4.16-22, John 4.24-25.
Then, what does all this mean?
For us it means the role of messiah was a royal one, taking the throne of David and more than that. The messiah takes a priestly role in Hebrews 10.19-22--
Since therefore brethren we have confident to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near...
He takes a kingly role so that the Magi say when Jesus is born in Matt. 2.2--
where is He who is born King of the Jews...
and Pilate wrote when Jesus died on the cross--
Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews, John 19.19.
And He takes the role of a prophet, as the crowd said in Matt. 21.11--
This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee..
All of this is to inaugurate the kingdom of God. That kingdom came then and through the church as the body of Christ the same kingdom is here now. Praise the Lord.
Several times in the gospels Jesus of Nazareth is called, Son of David. The Jews knew that was the preliminary form of the title, messiah, because the sign of the messiah is that he would take the throne of David. Some Jews accepted Jesus as the messiah, many did not.
A blind man in Luke 18.39 is told Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. The blind man immediately calls Him, Son of David. How did he know Jesus was the Son of David?
Joseph, the husband of Mary, descended from David through Solomon, Matt. 1.6. In fact, an angel calls Joseph--son of David, in Matt. 1.20. Six more times in the gospel of Matthew Jesus is called or known as the Son of David, the one who will take the throne of David.--
Matt. 9.27, 12.23, 15.22, 21.9, 21.15, 22.42.
But calling Jesus the son of David was not true biologically since Joseph was not His true father. So why was Jesus called the Son of David?
The identity of the messiah was a well-known theme but not a specific one. In Psalm 2.6 the psalmist of this song says--
I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain.
In 2.12 he says--
Do homage to the Son, lest He become angry
and you perish in the way,
for His wrath may soon be kindled.
How blessed are all those who take refuge in Him.
Here we see the psalmist, who is not named, say the messiah is the Son, His wrath will be kindled, and those who take refuge in Him are blessed.
The messiah is the one who fulfills the covenant with God by which the works of the devil are ended, ushering in a reign of peace and prosperity for Israel under God. This path of the messiah from Genesis 3 through the OT is shown by Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses and the prophets.
So the messiah--
must be born a man to be the seed of Eve, Gen. 3.
will be a preacher of righteousness like Noah, Gen. 6.7.
will be a man of faith like Abraham, through whom all the nations of the world will be blessed, Gen. 12.
will come through Judah as Jacob announced, Gen. 49.
will suffer in order to be exalted like Joseph, Gen. 37-48.
will be a prophet and savior like Moses, Exodus 2-16.
This is the wider application of the messiah through the OT to Israel. But there is in the OT a closer portrait of the messiah--
the psalms say he will be Son and King, Psalm 2.
Isaiah says he will be born of a virgin, 7.14, son of David, 9.1, the branch who will bring redemption and blessing, ch. 11, and the bringer of joy, 61.1.
Micah said the messiah will shepherd his people, Micah 5.1.
Amos said the messiah will be for all peoples, Amos 9.11.
Jeremiah said the messiah will be the king of righteousness, Jer. 23.5.
Now the NT writers know of these prophecies and fulfillments. Matthew says Jesus was born of Abrahamic and Davidic lineage, Matt. 1.2-16. Luke says the same thing in Luke 2.4-15. John the Baptist refers to the saving role of Jesus in John 1.29 when he calls Him, the Lamb of God. Matthew says Jesus will bring judgment as well as life, Matt. 3.1-12. Luke 1.51-55 says the same thing, that Jesus will bring down the rulers and bless Israel. Luke and John say Jesus was anointed as messiah at His baptism, Luke 4.16-22, John 4.24-25.
Then, what does all this mean?
For us it means the role of messiah was a royal one, taking the throne of David and more than that. The messiah takes a priestly role in Hebrews 10.19-22--
Since therefore brethren we have confident to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near...
He takes a kingly role so that the Magi say when Jesus is born in Matt. 2.2--
where is He who is born King of the Jews...
and Pilate wrote when Jesus died on the cross--
Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews, John 19.19.
And He takes the role of a prophet, as the crowd said in Matt. 21.11--
This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee..
All of this is to inaugurate the kingdom of God. That kingdom came then and through the church as the body of Christ the same kingdom is here now. Praise the Lord.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
LORD AND CHRIST
A lady I know says she has trouble with the birth of Christ. Well, so did Herod! But my friend's trouble is with the understanding that the birth of Jesus was as God and as a baby. The poet John Milton called Jesus the 'infant God.' My friend can understand the human side of birth with Mary being pregnant; she can find a way to relate to God as coming to earth, but to put the two together she simply cannot fathom it.
I appreciate how she has come to terms with her own faith and limitations. She is like the woman in John 4, she has told the truth. And I think she represents millions of us who have trouble with Jesus being---both Lord and Christ, Acts 2.36.
Some of us stay on the side of Jesus as a man. We search for the historical Jesus, the man of fingerprints and sweat and sandals. Several attempts have been made in my lifetime to say Jesus never went to the cross, He never died and rose---He just went away with Mary to have a mundane life. This was D.H. Lawrence's The Man Who Died, Nikos Kazantzakis' The Last Temptation of Christ, the Passover Plot, and the DaVinci Code. All of these say Jesus was not God. Jewish intellectuals have always claimed Jesus was just another rabbi.
Some of us stay on the spiritual side, claiming Jesus was God but not a man. This was an original heresy in the early centuries of the church. Jesus merely seemed to be a man, but like one of the gods in Homer, merely appeared to be human when He never really was.
So now, to believe that Jesus was God and He was human, that has taken the church a few centuries to understand.
We certainly can't wrap our minds around it; but we can believe it. If Jesus were no more than divinity like the Greek gods, the world would have forgotten about Him. He would be off in someone's imagination, someone's memory, but no more. If He were only a man he would be in history books as a failed deliverer, one among many. As a man he might proved some axiom but that wouldn't convince anyone.
Jesus rose from the dead. There are many accounts of the risen Christ by His adversaries among the Romans and the Jews. God doesn't die; humans don't come back to life.
It is beyond us all that He was both Lord and Christ. Today we have no mechanism by which to combine humanity and divinity that compliments our own minds, so we don't believe it. Some of us go toward the divinity side of Jesus by pursuing signs, miracles and wonders, or some form of religion which denies the human. Some of us go toward the human side, saying if we can't prove Jesus was God He must not have been. So several writers have taken it as their task to prove Jesus lived. This can be done, but does it change the heart and soul of a person? Maybe not.
We could look at our century, our own times and see one one side the human rationalists saying if something can't be understood by rational processes, it doesn't exist. I am reminded of one of Shakespeare's lines--
there are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio
than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
And we can look at our century, our own time and see those who only believe in strange spiritualities which have no ground of being. People who lock themselves in a cell until a wild dream comes through the iron bars, people who have rapturous fits, who don't et for days and abuse their bodies, 1 Timothy 4.3-5.
Only in Jesus Christ do we have someone who is the ground of being and the fulfillment of truth.
So how do we believe this? We do not stand back from Him, trying to hold in one hand His divinity and in the other hand His humanity as if we could balance the two. One does not neutralize the other. But if we ask Him to reveal Himself to us, He will give us all of Himself we can receive.
And we can receive what He will reveal, after all we are made in His image. The positive aspect of this is that we have all eternity to work it out.
A lady I know says she has trouble with the birth of Christ. Well, so did Herod! But my friend's trouble is with the understanding that the birth of Jesus was as God and as a baby. The poet John Milton called Jesus the 'infant God.' My friend can understand the human side of birth with Mary being pregnant; she can find a way to relate to God as coming to earth, but to put the two together she simply cannot fathom it.
I appreciate how she has come to terms with her own faith and limitations. She is like the woman in John 4, she has told the truth. And I think she represents millions of us who have trouble with Jesus being---both Lord and Christ, Acts 2.36.
Some of us stay on the side of Jesus as a man. We search for the historical Jesus, the man of fingerprints and sweat and sandals. Several attempts have been made in my lifetime to say Jesus never went to the cross, He never died and rose---He just went away with Mary to have a mundane life. This was D.H. Lawrence's The Man Who Died, Nikos Kazantzakis' The Last Temptation of Christ, the Passover Plot, and the DaVinci Code. All of these say Jesus was not God. Jewish intellectuals have always claimed Jesus was just another rabbi.
Some of us stay on the spiritual side, claiming Jesus was God but not a man. This was an original heresy in the early centuries of the church. Jesus merely seemed to be a man, but like one of the gods in Homer, merely appeared to be human when He never really was.
So now, to believe that Jesus was God and He was human, that has taken the church a few centuries to understand.
We certainly can't wrap our minds around it; but we can believe it. If Jesus were no more than divinity like the Greek gods, the world would have forgotten about Him. He would be off in someone's imagination, someone's memory, but no more. If He were only a man he would be in history books as a failed deliverer, one among many. As a man he might proved some axiom but that wouldn't convince anyone.
Jesus rose from the dead. There are many accounts of the risen Christ by His adversaries among the Romans and the Jews. God doesn't die; humans don't come back to life.
It is beyond us all that He was both Lord and Christ. Today we have no mechanism by which to combine humanity and divinity that compliments our own minds, so we don't believe it. Some of us go toward the divinity side of Jesus by pursuing signs, miracles and wonders, or some form of religion which denies the human. Some of us go toward the human side, saying if we can't prove Jesus was God He must not have been. So several writers have taken it as their task to prove Jesus lived. This can be done, but does it change the heart and soul of a person? Maybe not.
We could look at our century, our own times and see one one side the human rationalists saying if something can't be understood by rational processes, it doesn't exist. I am reminded of one of Shakespeare's lines--
there are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio
than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
And we can look at our century, our own time and see those who only believe in strange spiritualities which have no ground of being. People who lock themselves in a cell until a wild dream comes through the iron bars, people who have rapturous fits, who don't et for days and abuse their bodies, 1 Timothy 4.3-5.
Only in Jesus Christ do we have someone who is the ground of being and the fulfillment of truth.
So how do we believe this? We do not stand back from Him, trying to hold in one hand His divinity and in the other hand His humanity as if we could balance the two. One does not neutralize the other. But if we ask Him to reveal Himself to us, He will give us all of Himself we can receive.
And we can receive what He will reveal, after all we are made in His image. The positive aspect of this is that we have all eternity to work it out.
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