Matthew: Connecting the Covenants, Part 3 - Chapter 3A - John the Immerser

Matthew 3 introduces us to John the Baptist, but we are not told too much about him.  Luke chapter 3 tells us he is the miracle son of the priest Zachariah and his wife Elizabeth, who were well beyond child-bearing years.

John was not a Baptist, nor was his name actually John.  His Hebrew name is Yochanan, meaning Yahweh is a gracious giver.  The names of his parents mean Yahweh remembers, and the oath of Yahweh.

Names mean something in scripture.  Taken together, we see a prophetic promise in the names of this priestly family:  Yahweh remembers His oath, and He has sent a gracious gift.

The gracious gift was their son, given to them in their old age, who was to have the privilege of preparing hearts for the arrival of the Messiah. In Luke 1:72-73, we even see Zechariah referring to the oath of the Lord in the midst of his beautiful prophecy: …to show mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham…

Now John, who was himself of the priestly lineage, preached in the wilderness of Judea.  Verse 2 gives us his message: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Artist's rendering of John preaching at the Jordan River

John was preparing hearts to receive their king.

Repentance is a key theme in the Hebrew scriptures, and John’s audience would have understood what was being asked of them.  The Hebrew word shoov is used over 1000 times in the scriptures, and it means to turn back or return.  The word teshuva, based on this root word, is understood in Hebrew as turning back to God and away from sin.

The kingdom of heaven is Matthew’s way of saying God’s kingdom to Jews who generally avoided using God’s name or title (and still do to this day).  Luke, writing to a more Gentile audience, generally uses the latter expression.  But they mean the same thing. The kingdom of the Lord was about to be offered to the Jewish people.  Would they accept?

Matthew then quotes lsaiah 40:3 in verse 3, saying, For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

Malachi 4:5 says, Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.

Matthew 3:4 goes on to basically describe Elijah the prophet.  John wore camel’s hair and a leather belt, and ate locusts and wild honey. For comparison, 2 Kings 1:8 says, They answered him [Ahaziah, king of Israel], “He wore a garment of hair, with a belt of leather about his waist.”  And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.”

Further on in Matthew, we will see Yeshua referring to John the Baptist as Elijah (chapters 11 and 17 if you want to read ahead, also Luke 1:17). This does not mean that John was literally Elijah, but was a prophetic type of Elijah. I believe that Malachi 4:5 is a near/far prophecy, and that we will see a type of Elijah again just before Yeshua’s return.

Before moving on, I want to talk about the idea of making the paths straight. It was an ancient custom to fix pathways and hills that were damaged by rains, heat, and constant treading of animals, in preparation for the arrival of royalty. Boulders and debris would be removed, holes filled in, and paths leveled.

Isaiah 40:4 was not quoted in Matthew, but it would have been understood:  Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.

Let me share a modern day example.  In 2017, I was in Jerusalem during the visit of President Donald Trump.  The president was transported from Ben Gurion Airport to a parking lot in south Jerusalem via the presidential helicopter Marine One.  I happened to be staying at a friend’s house just across from that parking lot.  The Jerusalem city workers had literally flattened that parking lot; removing bushes, trees, and raised curbs prior to Trump’s arrival. My friend actually saw the landing and caught it on video. I was off galivanting, so I missed the excitement.

So John, a prophetic picture of Elijah, was dunking people in the Jordan river as they confessed their sins.  Many people think of baptism as a Christian idea, but it is rooted in biblical Judaism.  The modern Hebrew term for ritual immersion is mikveh.  In the Hebrew scriptures, there are many examples of ritual bathing to remove uncleanness, which morphed into the custom of dunking in the mikveh for various life events. On my first visit to Israel, our secular Jewish tour guide explained that immersing in the mikveh was like becoming a newborn baby… in other words, born again. When Peter and company immersed 3000 people in Acts 2, they most likely used the ritual baths (over 60 of them) that have been discovered around the Temple Mount.

Matthew 3:5-6 shows people from all around the area – Jerusalem, Judea, and the Jordan River region – flocking to the place where John was immersing people while they repented and confessed their sins. Word was getting around that something big was afoot, and even the bigwigs of Judaism were making their way to hear John. But I don’t believe they expected to hear what John was going to say, and that will be covered in my next post.

Before ending, I just want to say that the location of John’s baptism site was no random spot. It is the very location where the Israelites crossed into the Promised Land from the wilderness.  God was about to begin something new.  The very word for Hebrew comes from the word Eber, which means one from beyond. The idea here is crossing over from darkness to light.

See below for explanation of this painting

I once saw this amazing painting hanging on an outdoor wall in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem.  I'm so glad I took a photo because I haven't seen it since. It is a picture of crossing from darkness to light, but there is more going on here.  The Hebrew letters Alef and Tav are attached to the cliffs, and the person walking is carrying the Mem (Hebrew reads from right to left). Alef and Tav are equivalent to the Alpha and Omega in the Greek - the first and the last, the beginning and the end. The Mem which is being carried will fit perfectly to make a bridge between the Alef and the Tav.  Alef Mem Tav spells Emet - meaning truth in Hebrew. The Mem is the first letter of the word Mashiach, or Messiah.

Watch for a post on the second half of this chapter, coming soon.

 

Matthew: Connecting the Covenants, Part 2 - Chapter 2: Wise Men and an Evil King

Welcome to part two of connecting the covenants!   I have decided to put the New Covenant scriptures in red and the corresponding Hebrew scriptures in blue throughout this series. I've updated my first post with this information. We continue today with Matthew chapter 2.  The first two verses contain numerous connections.

Now after Yeshua was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?  For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him."

Our first connection is to Micah 5:2, where we learn the birthplace of the Messiah:  But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from old, from ancient days.

Bethlehem Ephrathah is used to distinguish which Bethlehem, as there were several in Israel in the time of Yeshua.  Ephrathah was in Judea, and is also there today.  The modern Jewish town called Efrat is just outside the Palestinian Authority-controlled Bethlehem.

Micah describes this town of Bethlehem as small, and indeed it was back then, even though it was the ancestral home of King David.  Located six miles south of Jerusalem, it was quite tiny.  Many of the Judean descendants of David, in line for the throne of Israel, fled from Bethlehem during the persecution by the Greeks under Antiochus in the 160's BC.  Where did they go?  Galilee. Specifically Nazareth. More on Nazareth at the end of this post.

By the way, Bethlehem means house of bread and ephrathah means fruitful.

So. who were these wise men, what was this star they spoke of, and how did they know about it?

The book of Daniel gives us numerous examples of the king's men in Babylon.  In Daniel 2:2, the Septuagint (Hebrew scriptures translated into Greek about 200 years before Yeshua was born) uses, among others, the Greek word magi to describe the king's "magicians."  These magicians, sorcerers, and diviners were advisors to the king. Daniel himself was elevated to the position of advisor to various kings in Babylon. Magi is the word used in Matthew 2:2 for wise men.

After the seventy years of exile were up for the Jews in Babylon, a small percentage of them returned to Jerusalem, but the majority remained in Babylon.  Did the Jewish presence in Babylon over the years have influence over the wise men and astrologers there?  Were they familiar with the Hebrew scriptures? 

Numbers 24:17 is a prophecy uttered by Balaam, the Gentile who was unable to curse the Israelites but instead blessed them: I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel.

Also, there are numerous Hebrew scriptures that speak of nations and kings bowing down to the Messiah. The wise men came to the feet of Messiah from the nations to give homage to the newborn king. Technically, they were not kings, but they served kings.

Psalm 72 says, May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands render him tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts! May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him!

Isaiah 60:3 says, And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.  

Continuing the story in Matthew... The wise men went to Jerusalem and asked around about Israel's coming king.  Herod caught wind of this and was beside himself - and all of Jerusalem with him. He was an evil man who killed his wives and sons out of paranoia that someone would usurp his throne. The people of Jerusalem knew that if Herod wasn't happy, ain't nobody happy. Herod left no stone unturned and summoned his own wise men... the Jewish leaders, to find out where this king would be born. They told Herod where this would be, quoting Micah 5:2... right there in Matthew 2:6.

Herod then summoned the Eastern wise men and grilled them about the timing, and then commanded them to go find the kid and bring him word so that he too could worship him.

The magi listened to the king and then went on their way, following the star and it led them to the house where the child was.

Stop.

I have no idea how a star in the sky can rest over a house in the physical realm. May I suggest an idea? 

The last verse of Revelation chapter 1 says this about John's vision:  As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

The Greek word for angel, angelos, means a messenger, an envoy, one who is sent. Could the star that led the magi to the house have been a messenger or envoy of some kind?  I believe it makes sense.

Note that these wise men did not go to Yeshua's original birthplace... the cave, the stable, or wherever it was.  The child was now a little older and was at the house where he and his parents were staying (but still in Bethlehem).  The magi entered the house, saw the child with his mother, and fell down and worshiped. Gentiles from afar worshipping the Jewish Messiah. They gave the child gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. (This is why we assume there were three magi - three gifts.  But there could have been an entire ensemble of magi).

Isaiah 60:6 says, They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall bring good news, the praises of Yahweh. Did you notice that there is no myrrh mentioned here?  This is an example of a near/far prophecy. Myrrh was a gift included at His first coming because it is a spice that represents death.  However, when He returns as the King of glory, no myrrh will be required.

It is interesting that Luke 2 records the first worshippers of the Messiah - the Jewish shepherds. They went straight to Yeshua's place of birth after being told where to find Him by an angel.  This order fits the repeated biblical pattern of the Jew first and then the nations. The magi came later.

After worshipping the baby king, the magi dreamt that they were not to return to Herod, and so they didn't. They snuck out the back door of Judea, so to speak.

Time for another angelic dream, this time for Joseph, telling him to get his family out of there pronto. Joseph wasted no time, and they all left for Egypt under the cover of darkness. Matthew 2:15 says they remained there until the death of Herod.  This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, "Out of Egypt I called my son."

Oooo, another connection.  Hosea 11:1 says, When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. This prophecy has so many layers! Both Abraham (Genesis 12) and Moses (Exodus 12) left Egypt with great treasures.  Joseph and Mary eventually left Egypt and returned to Israel with the greatest treasure of all - the Messiah!

Meanwhile, back in Bethlehem... Herod was furious at being tricked by the wise men, and he put to death all the male children in Bethlehem and surrounding areas ages two and under.  Matthew 2:18 records a prophecy from Jeremiah: A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.

Going back to Jeremiah, it is interesting to note the context of this verse.  Jeremiah 31 is filled with promises of hope and restoration for Israel. The comfort and reassurance in that chapter is so great that verse 15 stands out as such a contrast - that of Rachel weeping for her children. Ramah was well north of Bethlehem, so the prophecy isn't location-specific.  I believe the contrast of that one verse of mourning in the midst of great hope is intentional.

In the same way, the celebration and joy of the Messiah's earthly arrival is tempered by the tragic murders in Bethlehem. 

Herod was not the only despot to murder Jewish baby boys.  We also have a connection back to Exodus chapter 1, where the evil Pharaoh commanded the deaths of all the Israelite baby boys.

In both of those cases, the future deliverer of his people was rescued from death as a baby. First Moses, then Yeshua.

Matthew chapter 2 concludes with Joseph being given another dream to return to Israel.  The final verse says, And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.

This prophecy isn't so clear, as it is not a direct quote of a verse - at least not in the English.  However, check out Isaiah 11:1... There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. That word for branch is netzer. The name Nazareth comes from this word and means branch town. It is the town where the branch of the stump of Jesse, the promised Messiah, would grow up. Even today in Israel, followers of Yeshua are called Notzrim, a title that stems (pun intended) from the same root (pun also intended) word.

Matthew: Connecting the Covenants, Part 1 - Intro and Chapter 1

It has been on my heart to do a study on book of Matthew as it relates to the Hebrew scriptures (aka Old Testament - a term that I do not favor because it makes those scriptures seem seem obsolete).

The good news (or gospel in olde English if you prefer, a word shortened from good spell which means glad tidings or good news) of Matthew was written primarily to a Jewish-Christian audience, probably between 70 and 80 AD to those followers of Yeshua who were scattered after the fall of Jerusalem.

Matthew's primary purpose was to demonstrate that Yeshua is the Messiah, the Son of David; and the initial fulfillment of Yahweh's promises to Israel (although some of those promises are yet to be fulfilled... more on this in later posts).

UPDATE: I have decided to put the New Covenant scriptures in red and the corresponding Hebrew scriptures in blue throughout this series.

Who was Matthew? In Hebrew, the name is Mattityahu, meaning gift of Yahweh, a name that we do not find in the Hebrew scriptures. However, the name is prominent in the account of the Hasmoneans in the apocryphal books of the Maccabees.  Mattityahu was the patriarch of the Levitcial Hasmonean family who led the fight against Antiochus Epiphanes in the 160s BC.  This evil Greek ruler sought to destroy Judaism, and the Hasmoneans helped defeat him, leading to the festival of Hanukkah. However, being Levites, the Hasmoneans were not qualified to be kings of Israel. The king had to be from the line of Judah. But without the military successes of the Hasmoneans, there would have been no future king Messiah.

It is interesting that new covenant writer and disciple Matthew was most likely also a Levite, the ones who served at the temple.  Our Matthew (also known as Levi) had fallen away from his Levitical roots and become a tax collector, hated by his countrymen.  He was one of the later-added disciples; we don't see him added to the pack until Matthew 9.

Let's jump in.

Matthew 1:1  says, The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ (Messiah), the son of David, the son of Abraham. 

Stop. 

Today, most Jews will not pick up a new testament and read it, because they have been conditioned to believe that it is an antisemitic book that wants to destroy them.  But I have heard testimonies from people who have started with the book of Matthew and are blown away at the opening line.  Son of David, son of Abraham?  This resonates with the Jewish psyche.  The text continues with more lineage, and verse 17 wraps it up by saying, So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah fourteen generations.

Whoa. This passage screams Messiah. 

Since Hebrew letters are also numeric, the name David equals 14.  David David David! Many Jews know that the Messiah must come from the line of David, according to the Davidic Covenant in 2 Samuel 7, where Yahweh says to David in verses 12-13:  When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.  He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. (This promise is reiterated in Psalm 89:3-4, 132:11, Isaiah 16:5, and Jeremiah 33:17).

In context, David wanted to build a house for Yahweh, but instead, Yahweh told David, no, I'm going to build a house for ME from YOU and your lineage.

Okay, so this passage is shouting the concept of Messiah.  But not so fast.

I read an article by a rabbi who said that the genealogy in Matthew demonstrates the opposite, that Yeshua could not have come from this lineage, and to that I say, you are correct, sir.

Verses 11 and 12 mention a guy named Jeconiah (aka Jehoiachin and Coniah) in the lineage.  However, this dude had his bloodline cursed in Jeremiah 22:30, which says, speaking of Coniah, Thus says the LORD: write this man down as childless, a man who shall not succeed in his days, for none of his offspring shall succeed in sitting on the throne of David and ruling again in Judah. 

Oops.

Yahweh doesn't lie, so what gives?  The answer is that we see the line of Joseph here, the husband of Mary. Joseph was Yeshua's legal father by adoption, but he was not Yeshua's blood father.  Jeconiah's bloodline would not sit on the throne, just as Jeremiah prophesied.

The very next verse confirms this. Now the birth of Jesus Christ (Messiah) took place in this way.  When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.  Not Jeconiah's bloodline.  

We now have a fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14, which declares, Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.  Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (meaning God with us). In fact, Matthew quotes this prophecy in verse 23.

(Chapter 3 of the book of Luke gives the genealogy of Yeshua on His mother's side, and goes all the way back to Adam. When verse 23 says that Joseph was the son of Heli, the Greek grammar is missing the article, which indicates that Joseph is Heli's son-in-law.  Also, if you compare the two lineages, you will notice some converging and diverging, which probably has to do with Levirate marriages, when a woman's husband dies and his brother is required to take her as wife and give her a child that carries on the name of the dead husband. It is shown in as customary in Genesis with the story of Tamar and Judah, and became codified as part of the law in Deuteronomy 25:5-6.)

Anyway, to say that Joseph was quite surprised at the news of Mary's pregnancy is an understatement.  The next verse says that he planned to divorce her quietly (not publicly) and not shame her, probably because he loved her.  Deuteronomy 22:23-24 tell us that if a man lies with a betrothed virgin they both must be publicly stoned to death. 

By the way, betrothal in those days was as binding as marriage, even though the marriage had yet to be consummated.  Some say that betrothal was harder to get out of than the actual marriage itself.  It's probably why Lazar Wolf was so angry when Tevye broke the agreement he'd made with Lazar Wolf to marry his daughter in the best musical ever written, Fiddler on the Roof.

Tevye and Lazar Wolf making a marriage deal. 
Without her permission, I might add. That never goes well.

Moving on... so as Joseph was considering his options, an angelic messenger came to him in a dream, calling him Joseph, son of David, and convincing him to take Mary as his wife because the child conceived is from the Holy Spirit. 

The next verse doesn't make much sense unless you understand the Hebrew behind it. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.  In English, you cannot see the meaning or purpose of the name.  But let's splash in a little Hebrew:  You shall call his name Yeshua (God is salvation) because he will yasha (save) his people from their sins.

Chapter one wraps up with Joseph obeying the Lord, taking Mary for his wife, and then... he knew her not until she had given birth to a son. Later on, Joseph did know his wife in the biblical sense and they had at least six more children, according to Mark 6:3. So Mary was a virgin only for her firstborn and not the rest of her children, contrary to some traditions.

For part 2, click here.

One New Man

Israel.

The church. 

Are they two different entities altogether, or does scripture clearly teach one new man?

I wrote about this concept a dozen years ago, but it bears repeating.  If you want to read it, click here.

The Greek word ekklesia appears 77 times in the Septuagint.  This word is used in the New Testament 118 times, and is usually translated into the word church.

Septuagint? What's that, you ask?  Several hundred years before the Messiah walked the earth, seventy Hebrew scholars - orthodox Jews - translated the Hebrew scriptures (aka Old Testament) into Greek.  It is an excellent resource that helps to bridge understanding between the Hebrew and the Greek scriptures.

So back to my statement.  The fact that ekklesia appears 77 times simply blows my mind. The church in the Hebrew scriptures?  (Don't even get me started on the significance of the number 77).

Yes.  Because the scriptures, in their entirety, tell a unified story that points to the Messiah and the redemption of the world.

There are a lot of last-days teachings these days.  I have sat through quite a few of them.  And rightfully so, because we truly are in the last days.  But one thing that keeps coming up in these teachings is the idea that we are in the "church age."

The "church age" is much longer that the church thinks it is.  It is not an entity that is separate from Israel, ready to be zapped away so that Israel can undergo horrible tribulation all by herself.  

Biblically speaking, the ekklesia has always been God's people.  God in His mercy has allowed Gentiles to be grafted into His kingdom, along with the Jews, as stated in Romans 11.  Granted, most Jews do not yet believe in Yeshua the Messiah, but God keeps His promises, and that day of recognition is coming soon.  They will be grafted back into the ekklesia, the community of God's people, through faith in the Messiah.

Without Israel, the nations were completely without hope of redemption.  Look at Ephesians 2:12... Remember that you were at that time separated from Messiah, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

Many theologians teach that the "church" will be zapped away before God deals with Israel.  There is no clear passage that teaches this... these teachers will admit that the idea is inferred.  But it takes a lot of biblical gymnastics to get to that place.

Here is a quick example. Recently I heard a preacher say that Matthew 24:29-31 does not teach the "rapture," (I prefer to say the gathering of the saints) but the beginning of God's kingdom.  Really? This is what it says:

Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the starts will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.  Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.  And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet  call, and they will gather the ELECT from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Clearly, this scripture shows that there is a gathering of the saints at the return of the Messiah, at a loud trumpet call.  What is the Greek word for "elect"? It is eklektos - a variation of the word ekklesia. For those theologians who say this passage is just for Israel, and then they insist that we are in a separate ekklesia age, how do they reconcile this? They can't.

There are several other places where the scriptures teach us about the gathering together of the saints.  Check these out:

Behold! I tell you a mystery.  We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.  For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Messiah will rise first. (1 Thessalonians 4:16)

We are given another glimpse of the timing of this gathering in 2 Thessalonians 2:  Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.  Let no one deceive you in any way.  For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.

Did you catch that?  Our gathering to Him (popularly called the "rapture") will not happen before the great rebellion (meaning apostosy, or falling away from the faith) and the revealing of the antichrist. Clearly we will still be around when the antichrist is revealed. So please, be ready. In this world you will have tribulation, according to Yeshua.

So what about that one new man that I referred to at the beginning of this post?  After we are told in Ephesians 2 that the nations had been excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and without hope in the world, we see this:

But now in Messiah Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Messiah.  For He Himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down the flesh the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through he cross, thereby killing the hostility.

Dispensationalism is a fancy word that means division between the church and Israel, and dispensationalists claim that the church has to be gone before God can deal with unbelieving Israel.  There are actually some ultra-dispensationalists who teach that Christians will dwell in heaven with Jesus, and the Jews will in the kingdom on earth.  Not only does this fly in the face of scripture's claim of one new man, but it is also thinly-veiled anti-semitism.  As if we, the ekklesia, are to have nothing to do with those Jews.

Cringe.

I will leave you with the words of Yeshua in John 17, as He prayed for unity among His followers, both present and future:

I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.... I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

Abraham Did What??

 It's been almost two years since I have posted, and I have been sensing that it is time to get back to it.  My husband did point out to me that I published a book during my absence, so there is that.  Back to blogging... 

I've been pondering the near-sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis 22.  Judaism calls this the binding of Isaac, or the akedah (Hebrew for binding).  This word is only used once in scripture.

I know people who refuse to put their trust in God because of this account. Their logic is this:  Why would God ask someone to sacrifice their child?  If child sacrifice is wrong, then God is wrong to ask it.

It is a legitimate objection.  On the surface, it seems like God is commanding something heinous, especially to our modern sensibilities (even though those modern "sensibilities" seem to have no problem with the rampant child sacrifice that goes on in our culture today via abortion, but I digress - sort of).

Why didn't Abraham protest?  Why did he go along with it, seemingly without any complaints at all?

The culture.

Abraham lived in a time when child sacrifice was a normal thing in most cultures of the ancient world. He even came out of one of those cultures - Chaldea.  The sacrifice of a child was intertwined with the worship of a pagan deity, often a fertility god/goddess.  Worshipers sought to obtain a blessing from their deities. For instance, when rain was desperately needed for crops, or there was an impending battle, people would sacrifice what was important to them to get the gods to respond to them favorably.

This practice was found among the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Moabites, the Aztecs, Incas, the Druids... just to name a few.  There were many more. It was pervasive in the ancient world.

Abraham was so steeped in this ideology that when the request came, he complied without surprise or a fight.

But why did God do it?

I believe that the LORD was setting up the situation as a demonstration.  He was introducing to Abraham (and the world) what NOT TO DO.  God could have just told him, don't sacrifice children. God was testing Abraham's heart for obedience, but that was not all.  In a dramatic way, the LORD was officially putting a STOP to the evil practice of child sacrifice.

STOP, Abraham!  There is going to be a better way.  The LORD said, here is a ram for now, caught in a thorn bush, but I will provide MYSELF, the Lamb, who will someday wear a crown of thorns. In this whole dramatic scenario, the LORD puts a stop to the practice of child sacrifice, but He also foreshadows a day when He, the LORD will come to earth and become our sacrificial Lamb.

There are other foreshadows in the story.  It was a three day journey to the land of Mount Moriah. Isaac did not protest, but laid down willingly on the altar.  He even carried the wood for the sacrifice.  Abraham announced to his servants that both he and Isaac would be back. Did Abraham believe there would be a resurrection?  Perhaps so.  But he knew that the LORD would somehow take care of it, because Abraham had been promised descendants as numerous as the seashore.

Genesis 22:12 says, He (the LORD) said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me."

Verse 14 says, So Abraham called the name of that place, 'The LORD will provide,'  as it is said to this day, 'On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.'

Abraham named the place the LORD will provide. Or in Hebrew, YHWH Yireh.  Or in English transliteration, Jehovah Jireh.

Someday, the LORD would not withhold His Son from mankind, in that very same place.  He is asking us to trust in Him, in the same way that He challenged Abraham to trust in Him and His provision.

Yeshua, the True King

So far, I have avoided posting about the elephant in the room.

I'm talking about the 'Rona.

I've been watching, praying, and taking it all in, ever since Covid 19 disrupted the planet over a year and a half ago.

Has there ever been anything that has affected the whole world in this way, in such a short time?  In my opinion, even World War 2 did not affect the world with such suddenness and entirety. This virus literally shut down the planet almost overnight.

For a long time, I have been pondering a connection between Covid and the white horse of Revelation 6:  And I looked, and behold, a white horse!  And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.

The word that was standing out to me was crown.  The Greek word is stephanos, but the Latin word in the vulgate (scriptures translated into Latin by Jerome in the year 405 AD) is corona.

As I meditated on the possible connection, I sensed a strong whisper in my spirit from the Lord, "Corona is not king, I am."  This whisper occurred in the spring of 2020, in the early days of lockdown.

This whispered truth has been my constant reminder of Who is in charge. It is a reminder to bow down to Him only, and not to the virus and all its, um, stuff.

Anyway, back to the white horse.  Most scholars agree that the white horse here in chapter 6 is a picture of deception.  Revelation 19:11 depicts our TRUE King seated on a white horse when He returns to conquer His enemies, and in that passage He is called Faithful and True.  

White is the color of purity and also of victory.  It is interesting to note that in ancient times, Roman Generals entered their conquered cities in chariots drawn by white horses.

Our enemy the devil is the Father of Lies and can only mimic and deceive.  So it is no surprise that scripture portrays his deception by the use of a white horse.  And he is going to try and conquer, but he will get only so far.

Wisdom is needed, saints.

If we look back to 2 Thessalonians 2, the context is the Day of the Lord, and the return of our King.  Verse 3 warns believers not to be deceived: Let no one deceive you in any way.  For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.

Further on in the chapter, we are told about the great deception that will take place on earth: The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders,  and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Dang.  So much of this seems to be taking place right under our noses. 

Ok, let's go back to our white horse in Revelation 6, so that I can geek out with more original language stuff.

What is this bow that the rider is holding? The Greek word is toxon.  I will let Wikipedia define the origin of the word toxon:  

The modern terms "toxic" and "toxin" derive from the ancient Greek word for "bow", toxon, from Old Persian *taxa-, "an arrow". ... In the Kingdom of Kush, arrows were often poison-tipped. There is some indication that poisoned arrows were used in battle against the Romans from 27 BC to 22 BC.

Chew on that idea for awhile.  Is there a modern (or moderna) equivalent of something that will stab us and contains poison?  I'm not going to be dogmatic about this, but it is definitely worth considering.  Is there a current worldwide campaign to convince us to take a poisonous skin prick? Are people with dissenting opinions silenced?  I think the answer is obvious.

There is one more biblical word I want to geek out on.  It is found in Galatians 5:20, Revelation 9:21, and Revelation 18:23.  The Greek word is pharmakeia, and the ESV translates the word as sorceries.  But let's look at the outline of Biblical usage as found in Blue Letter Bible:

Let those definitions sink in.  And then I urge you to pray,  seek the Lord, and ask for wisdom in all these matters. 

Because He is the King, He is in charge, and He is coming soon... on a white horse.

I want to end this post on a high note, so let's look at Psalm 45. It is easy to see the coming King and Kingdom in this beautiful psalm:

For the director of music. To the tune of “Lilies.” Of the Sons of Korah. A maskil. A wedding song.

(A WEDDING song!  Did you catch that?  Our bridegroom is coming soon!)

My heart is stirred by a noble theme
as I recite my verses for the king;
my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.

You are the most excellent of men
and your lips have been anointed with grace,
since God has blessed you forever.

Gird your sword on your side, you mighty one;
clothe yourself with splendor and majesty.

In your majesty ride forth victoriously (on a white horse?)
in the cause of truth, humility and justice;
let your right hand achieve awesome deeds.

Let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the king’s enemies;  

(the arrows of the TRUE king)
let the nations fall beneath your feet.

Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever;
a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.

You love righteousness and hate wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
by anointing you with the oil of joy.

All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia;
from palaces adorned with ivory
the music of the strings makes you glad.

Daughters of kings are among your honored women;
at your right hand is the royal bride in gold of Ophir.

Listen, daughter, and pay careful attention:
Forget your people and your father’s house.

Let the king be enthralled by your beauty;
honor him, for he is your lord.

The city of Tyre will come with a gift,
people of wealth will seek your favor.

All glorious is the princess within her chamber;
her gown is interwoven with gold.

In embroidered garments she is led to the king;
her virgin companions follow her—
those brought to be with her.

Led in with joy and gladness,
they enter the palace of the king.

Your sons will take the place of your fathers;
you will make them princes throughout the land.

I will perpetuate your memory through all generations;
therefore the nations will praise you for ever and ever.

And since I want to end on a high note, I will look at the next three horses in a future post...

How To Study the Scriptures

I have so many ideas for blog posts currently running through my head, and this was not one of them.

However, I thought it would be good to lay down some principles that can help tremendously in making sense of God's word.  These days, it seems that so many people have just given up, saying that we can't understand it, or even worse, saying that it's not really God's word and that it was just a bunch of ancient writings written by a bunch of ancient men, doing the best they could in their cultural context.

This is tragic, because the scriptures were written over a 1500 year period, by 40+ authors, and the result is a unified story that points to Yeshua the Messiah... including a huge amount of prophecy that CAME TO PASS-  and continues unfolding - as His return approaches, right on schedule.  This is impossible from man's perspective.

Try playing the campfire game with 10 friends and see if you get the same result.  You know, where someone starts the story, and then one by one each person adds to it.  The story is always ridiculous.

Anyway, I digress.  

The Word of God is like a tapestry.  We need to learn to look beyond the knots and chaos that can be seen on the back of the canvas. Sometimes, things are messy and make no sense until we look at the finished work.  (Another analogy would be Shrek's onion.  There are layers and layers of Biblical truths, just waiting to be peeled!)

Corrie Ten Boom used to hold up this tapestry as she 
traveled the world, speaking to groups
about her experiences during the Holocaust.

Let's jump in with some good Bible study precepts.

Number 1:  Context!

Perhaps you've heard the expression, "context is key."  Well, it is.  It's way too easy to rip a verse out of context and use it in a way that suits your own purposes but doesn't necessarily convey what the author was trying to say.  

Jeremiah 29:11 is a great example.  Now if that is your life verse, don't panic.  It's a lovely verse, and you can keep it.  But I don't know many people who zoom out to get the whole story.  Jeremiah is addressing the Jews who are about to be exiled into Babylon.  He is saying, "go, and thrive while there.  God will be with you while you are there and He will bring you back out someday...  Oh, and if you don't go, He will send sword and pestilence and make you like rotten vile figs."  (I've never met anyone who claims Jeremiah 29:17 as their life verse).

When you are examining the context of a passage, expand to the surrounding verses (or even chapters) as much as necessary to get a handle on what is being said.  Ask yourself these questions:

• Who is the author?
• When did he write?
• To whom did he write it?
• How would the recipients have received it then?
• And finally, how does this apply in my life today? 

Number 2:  Word Studies

Did you know that the scriptures were never written using a single word of English? Oh, the insights you can gain when you do biblical studies! The Tanakh (aka Old Testament) was written mostly in Hebrew with a bit of Aramaic as well. The New Covenant Scriptures were written in koine Greek, which was the ancient, every day language spoken by many people in the Roman Empire.

I first learned how to do word studies via a class taught by a friend.  He demonstrated how to use resources such as an interlinear Bible, a concordance, and a lexicon.  These books were extremely helpful, both in studying the Word and using as door stops.  They were extremely heavy.  It was like being in high school again, schlepping all those heavy textbooks from class to class in a backpack.

Fortunately, today there are tools that are much easier to access and schlepp around, right there in your phone.  My favorite app is Blue Letter Bible.  There are other good resources out there too, such as E-sword or Logos.  I stick with Blue Letter because I know the format and can move around it pretty quickly.  AND, they recently added Septuagint links!  (That may only mean something to you if you are a Bible nerd like me).

The Septuagint was written about 200 years before Yeshua.  It is the Hebrew scriptures (aka Old Testament), translated into Greek by seventy Hebrew scholars.  I recently discovered that the Greek work euangelion (or a form of it) is used many times in the Old Testament.  Most English New Testaments translate that word as gospel. This will be the subject of an upcoming post, so stay tuned for that.  It's truly mind-blowing to me.

Number 3:  Look for the Pictures

Snapshots - the scriptures are filled with them!  When you see one (and they are everywhere), ask yourself what it means.  Blood on the doorpost.  Rahab's red cord.  The serpent on a pole in the wilderness (more on that in a sec).  The tabernacle.  Lamb of God.  Tree of life. Water from a rock.  Bread from heaven.  Sun, moon, and stars.  Moses' outstretched arms.  Yeshua's outstretched arms. Wait, a connection! Which leads me to the next premise:

Number 4:  Follow the hyperlinks

What does that mean?  This is somewhat related to precept 3, as you are considering the pictures.  It involves rabbit trails as you compare scripture to scripture.  A great example is John 3:16.  It is used so often by itself to try and convey the gospel, but if you look at the previous two verses, it refers to Moses lifting the serpent on a pole in the wilderness.  This just begs for a journey back to the source to see what is going on.  And there you can find another hyperlink to the serpent in Genesis 3.  Following these hyperlinks can give you the Big Picture!

Another great resource for studying the scriptures is the Bible Project team.  They offer these amazing free videos on You Tube that give overviews and breakdowns of each book of the Bible.  They also create thematic videos that do a great job following the hyperlinks.  In fact, I borrowed the hyperlinks word directly from them because they use it so much.  They have a one year bible reading plan that uses their videos, which you can find on the You Version app.  They also have podcasts available.

If you have not spent much time studying God's word, I encourage you to jump in.  The scriptures have the power to change your life.