2010-11-05
Good Morning Dear Ones,
The messenger who came with the news that redemption from the wages of sin was near reminded people of Elijah. Last week, I shared IS 40: 3, 5 and MAL 3: 1, which for sake of jogging one’s memory are repeated here. “A voice cries out, ‘Prepare in the wilderness a road for the Lord! Clear the way in the desert for our God!...Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind will see it. The Lord Himself has promised this…The Lord Almighty answers, ‘I will send My messenger to prepare the way for Me. Then the Lord you are looking for will suddenly come to His temple. The messenger you long to see will come and proclaim My covenant.’” Elijah dressed in animal skins, and so did John the Baptist. He wore cloths made of camel’s hair; a leather belt , and his food was locusts and wild honey [MT 3: 4]. Was it any wonder the people thought Elijah had finally returned. You’ll remember that the Jewish people had been taught by their rabbis that the world must be at peace and then Elijah would return to be a messenger for the Lord. This is why an empty place is always left at the Passover table for Elijah by traditional Jews, and wine was poured into a cup ready for him. This is quite different from the Christian teaching that our Lord would appear, finally be victorious over evil, and then, would redeem all faithful people. It was to be Him and not mankind that would bring peace to the world. All these prophecies were to be taken seriously.
During the prophet Malachi’s time (435-415 BC was his ministry), there was to be a long delay until the coming of John the Baptist to announce Christ’s coming, the first advent. This was due to disobedience on the part of the people in building first the walls around Jerusalem and then, their own houses. The temple should have been their priority. Thus it took from 435 BC to 415 BC for them to get the temple built. In some ways, this reminds us of the trip of the ancient Hebrews that should have taken 11 days on foot from Egypt to Canaan taking instead, 40 years! And all this because of mankind’s disobedience. In each case, people lost enough faith to feel that the Lord had abandoned them. But we know from IS 49: 14-16 that such was never the case. “But the people of Jerusalem said, ‘The Lord has abandoned us! He has forgotten us.’ So the Lord answers, ‘Can a woman forget her own baby and not love the child she bore? Even if a mother should forget her child, I will never forget you. Jerusalem, I can never forget you! I have written you name on the palms of My hands.’” What the Jews [with the exception of today’s Messianic Jews] never really completely understood is found in IS 42: 6-7, “I, the Lord, have called you and given you power to see that justice is done on earth. Through you, I will make a covenant with all peoples; through you, I will bring light to the nations. You will open the eyes of the blind and set free those who sit in dark prisons.” The same notion is repeated in IS 49: 6, “The Lord has said to me [Isaiah], ‘I have a greater task for you, My servant. Not only will you restore to greatness the people of Israel who have survived, but I sill also make you a light to the nations-so that the world may be saved.’” Who are these nations? They are the Gentiles, whom God had planned to share the same opportunity for redemption that Jews had been given.
The question wasn’t answered at that time [about 300 years before Christ comes on the scene] as to how. It is not until IS 53: 1-12, the suffering Servant, that God’s method is really revealed, and yet, the people never really understood. IS 53: 4-5, “But He endured the suffering that should have been ours, the pain that we should have borne. All the while we thought that His suffering was punishment sent by God. But because of our sins He was wounded, beaten because of the evil we did. We are healed by the punishment He suffered, made whole by the blows He received.” Understanding except in only the very faithful, would only be had in hindsight after the crucifixion. By the time Paul [formerly a Pharisee named Saul of Tarsus who worked for the Sanhedrin –Jewish Ruling Council- persecuting Jewish Christians] uttered, in GA 3: 13-14, 16, it was becoming clear just Who Jesus of Nazareth really was. “But by becoming a curse for us Christ has redeemed us from the curse that the Law brings; for the Scripture [DT 21: 23] says, ‘Anyone who is hanged on a tree is under God’s curse.’ Christ did this in order that the blessing which God promised to Abraham might be given to the Gentiles by means of Christ Jesus, so that through faith we might receive the Spirit promised by God…Now God made His promises to Abraham and to His Descendant. The Scripture [GN 12: 7] does not use the plural “descendants,” but “Descendant,” meaning one person only, namely Christ.” [NB. The NIV uses the word “Offspring,” still in the singular, in DT 21: 23. It also uses the word “Seed” in GA 3: 16, once again in the singular]. At the very basis of the new covenant, the Covenant of Grace, is this selfless sacrifice of His own physical life by Christ on the cross, taking the sins of the world with Him and thus, making it possible for believers to be saved from certain spiritual death arising from the original sin [GN 3: 1-6]. So, just as Elijah was considered a messenger for his time, so John the Baptist, Christ’s first cousin, was the messenger prophesied for his time. He was to “prepare the way” for the coming of the Lord Jesus.
PRAYER: O Lord, You are entirely consistent in Your teaching. Just as the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, celebrates the giving of the old Covenant of the Law, the Ten Commandments [EX 24: 4-11], so Pentecost celebrates the giving of the Holy Spirit [AC 2: 1-4]. Just as Shavuot is 50 days after Passover [the commemoration of the release of Jews from Egyptian slavery-EX 12: 21-42], so Pentecost is 50 days after Easter [the celebration of Christ’s resurrection to heaven-MT 28: 1-9]. We bow our heads with great reverence and awe for You, Dearest Abba. No human has ever accomplished the giving of freedom through truth [JN 8: 31-32] and the hope of the resurrection [RO 8: 29], as You have. No human has ever brought about the giving of the Holy Spirit to believers in Your Son [RO 8: 14-16], as You have. No human has ever brought justification, the deeming of believers as “innocent” [RO 4: 3, GN 15 :6; GA 3: 6] as You have. No human has ever brought eternal forgiveness to believers [HE 8: 12], You have. Nor will humankind ever be able to mirror these amazing blessings. Therefore, our reverence includes the offering of praise, honor, glory, and thanks to You forever. Your Son, Jesus Christ, is the perfect substitute sin Sacrifice for us, the Propitiation for our sins [RO 3: 24-25]. His death after suffering and being hung on the cross accomplished what no human could ever do. Long ago, in GN 3: 15, came the announcement of the conflict between mankind and evil. [God speaking to the serpent] “I will make you and the woman hate each other; her offspring and your will always be enemies. Her offspring will crush your head and you will bit their heel.” For generation after generation, mankind didn’t realize that they would suffer tremendously due to their sin, but that Satan [the serpent working evil] would eventually lose in the end, at the hand of a Savior, Who we know to be the Lord Jesus Christ. Dearest Abba, we thank and praise you forever for loving us, working out our salvation, and always being here for us. In Christ’s holy and mighty name, we pray. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: More will be shared about the messenger and what he announces next week. We, as believers, inherit a great Kingdom, God’s Kingdom about which Christ spoke. But the history of how we came to have this Kingdom and a clarion call to spread the truth are a rich part of our earthly experience and preparation for our permanent home in heaven. If we take the time every day to pray and to spend time in God’s word, we will be cooperating with our Lord in our own sanctification [purification and preparation for the time when God calls us home to Him for a blissful eternal fellowship with Him in heaven –glorification]. PS 1: 1, “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night.” God is good to us and forgiving, full of constant love for all who pray to Him [PS 86: 5]. We can use PS 86: 11 to ask God for His direction. “Teach me, Lord, what You want me to do, and I will obey You faithfully; teach me to serve You with complete devotion.” The author of this Psalm really understood God’s qualities, as expressed in PS 86: 15, “But You, O Lord, are a merciful and loving God, always patient, always kind and faithful.” My own experience is a testimony of exactly that about God. I always felt I was the last person He should love, because of my stubbornness and apathy in the first 25 years of my life. And yet, He has given me faith, discipline to study His word and pray daily, the opportunity to share my faith, surrounded me with loving, wonderful people who demonstrate how to be a better believer, and most of all, has blessed me beyond anything I could have ever imagined. He will do the same for each of you, and all you must do is believe in Christ and act on it! Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15