Randy Green's Blog, page 364
June 26, 2015
What’s a “Mahanaim” – Part 2
NEWS FLASH!!! Acts: Volume 8 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.
“Only do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.” But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then the glory of the Lord appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel [Numbers 14:9-10].
Incredible. Utterly incredible. Ten spies and all Israel witnessed the Lord bring the mighty Pharaoh to his knees. Egypt was the world power of the day, and the Canaanites cowered before Pharaoh. If the Lord made mincemeat of Pharaoh, how could the Israelites believe He was impotent against the Canaanites?! Sin makes us crazy, dear friends. Sin makes us wicked crazy.
The two faithful spies were Joshua bin Nun and Caleb ben Jephunneh. In the Bible verses quoted to kick off this study, the words in quotation marks were spoken by them. Those words were their ticket into the Promised Land.
Standing opposite those two were the other ten spies, with all the Israelites on their side. Let me tell you, those guys (i.e., all the Israelites) were schoolyard bullies! As reported in the Bible verse, all the Israelites wanted to stone Joshua and Caleb. We might be inclined to ask them why.
I mean, they saw with their own eyes how the Lord put the lumber to the side of Pharaoh’s head and set him straight. It didn’t even require faith to trust the Lord for victory. Eyesight sufficed in their case! But no, they preferred to disobey the Word of God because there wasn’t a soupçon of true spirituality in them.
The Israelites looked at the enemy, then they gazed at themselves, and they drew their conclusions based upon what they saw at the time. This is known in Scripture as walking by sight. Trouble is, without faith it is impossible to please God. They needed to walk by faith in the Word of God. That is how we depend on God to solve the problem.
So there were Joshua and Caleb on one side, and over against them were the other 3½ million Israelites. Joshua and Caleb exhorted them to obey the Word of God. The 3½ million folks threatened to stone Joshua and Caleb to death. But the Lord…
Ah, throughout history those words have spelled the conclusion to the matter. They did so in Egypt. They did so at the Red Sea. They did so at Mount Sinai. And guess what? They did so at Kadesh-barnea too.
The Lord appeared in the tent of meeting as the Shekinah glory, and the matter was resolved pronto. The adult Israelites would not be permitted to enter the Promised Land and receive it as their inheritance because they hadn’t faith in the Word of God. Instead, they would walk the desert sands for another thirty-eight years, until the entire lot of them had died.
After they died, their grown children would be permitted the pleasure of entering the land, conquering it, and receiving it as their inheritance. Joshua and Caleb were the only adult Israelites at Kadesh-barnea who would enter with the younger generation thirty-eight years thence.
The picture painted by the two Bible verses we quoted is an exact replica of all human history. The world stage is composed of two camps:
the Lord
mankind
Mankind is made up of two camps (aka Mahanaim):
those with faith in the Word of God
those without faith in the Word of God
It has always been this way, it is this way now, and it will be this way until Jesus comes again and sets all things right. Every human being is permitted to choose whom he will serve. We can choose to believe the Word of God and act accordingly, or we can choose to believe self and act in kind.
So which camp are you in?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86
Filed under: Church Age Tagged: Caleb, disbelief, Faith, family of God, God’s rest, Joshua, Kadesh-barnea, Numbers 14, Promised Land, unbelief
June 25, 2015
What’s a “Mahanaim” – Part 1
NEWS FLASH!!! Acts: Volume 8 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.
“Only do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.” But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then the glory of the Lord appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel [Numbers 14:9-10].
In the schoolyard at elementary school the bullies tend to rule. The bullies are the biggest and baddest dudes, of course. If they can hoodwink the rest of the kids into being intimidated by their presence, then they continue to rule.
The next best thing to being the bully in the schoolyard is to be the bully’s best friend. No one picks on you then because no one wants to settle accounts with the bully. In effect the bully’s best friend has the stature of the bully himself.
The Israelites were at Kadesh-barnea. Two years prior they witnessed the Lord inflict the mighty Egyptian god, Pharaoh, with ten plagues, bringing bully Pharaoh to his knees in abject and unconditional surrender. This self-styled “god” cried “Uncle!” and pleaded for mercy from the Hebrew God, YHWH, i.e., the Lord. As terms of his surrender, Pharaoh released the Israelites from slavery. Yea, he even begged them to leave his land!
The Israelites then marched to the Red Sea, where Pharaoh attempted to renege on his agreement to set the Israelites free. He charged after them, hemming them in between the Red Sea and his armies. Once again the Israelites witnessed the Lord inflict the mighty Egyptian god, Pharaoh, with utter defeat. Pharaoh and all his military were drowned in the Red Sea, while the Lord’s people, Israel, crossed the seabed on dry ground.
From there the Israelites marched to Mount Sinai, where they spent a year receiving the Lord’s legal code to govern them in the Promised Land. And they constructed the tabernacle worship structure and crafted the priests’ wardrobe. Now they were able to maintain a covenantal relationship with the Lord. All that was needed was a land to call their own.
So the Lord directed them to leave Mount Sinai and march to the southern border of the Promised Land. And that is how the Israelites found themselves at Kadesh-barnea. The city was on the southern reaches of the Promised Land, on the edge of the Sinai Peninsula.
The Lord directed the Israelites to enter the land, conquer the peoples living there, and exterminate them. The land was their inheritance from the Lord. The Israelites thought it wise to send spies in first to reconnoiter the terrain and peoples, so as to plot a proper military strategy for conquering the land.
The Lord permitted it, though He was none too pleased that they didn’t trust Him enough to enter and conquer the land. So twelve spies went into Canaan and surveilled the territory. Alas, but they didn’t return with a unanimous verdict.
Two spies sided with the Lord and wanted to enter the land and conquer it according to the Word of God. However, ten spies claimed the inhabitants were giants whom the Lord was too small to defeat! To make matters worse, the entire congregation of Israel sided with the ten timorous spies.
This is mind-boggling, dear friends! We need to take our leave for now and gather our thoughts at the feet of Jesus. We will continue this tale tomorrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86
Filed under: Church Age Tagged: Caleb, disbelief, Faith, family of God, God’s rest, Joshua, Kadesh-barnea, Numbers 14, Promised Land, unbelief
June 24, 2015
Bible Trilogy III – Part 4
NEWS FLASH!!! Acts: Volume 8 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.
Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in! [Psalm 24:7]
The question to ask is this: when is the Christian “at home (i.e., in heaven—R.G.) with the Lord”, while simultaneously being without a body? Consider that we have a body until we die. We again have a body at the Rapture. Voilà! we are bodiless from the time we die physically until the Rapture occurs.
During that period of time we are at home with the Lord (i.e., in heaven), and we haven’t our new resurrection bodies yet. This means that we will be like Jesus during the three days His body was in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb, but His spirit was in heaven with the Father.
Again, this isn’t revealed categorically in the Bible, so we mustn’t be dogmatic about it. I submit it to help us with the third portion of our Bible Trilogy. Read the Bible verse quoted at the start of this study. A call went out to “gates” and to “ancient doors” to open up, so that “the King of glory may come in”.
Our task is to determine what is referred to as “gates” and “ancient doors”. We also must determine who the King of glory is. The second determination is easy because Psalm 24 reveals it to us in verses 8 and 10. Read them and see. The King of glory is the Lord of Hosts (Yahweh Sabaoth). He is the risen Lord Jesus in all His resurrection glory, dear friends.
I submit to you that the “gates” and “ancient doors” are the entrance to heaven. When Jesus died, His body went into the tomb for three days. Jesus’ spirit went through the gates of heaven (the gates and ancient doors) into the presence of His Father.
Just before dying Jesus declared, “It is finished!” There was no more suffering and dying to be done, in order to pay the penalty for man’s sins. All was finished at that point. Jesus returned to the Father, even as we will do the moment we die.
Don’t start a faction in the church and argue these points, dear friends! Take them in, roll them over the tongue a bit, and savor the flavor afforded by these promising insights. But also be willing to see the potential errors involved because the Scriptures don’t categorically reveal all of these insights. The insights are intimated through a glass darkly, not vividly portrayed in the bright sunlight.
Still, my heart is blessed to consider how the Lord Jesus went first in death in my place. When it is my turn to come home, He can relate to my reservations and lead me safely by the hand into the Father’s presence. I will walk with Jesus through the same “gates” and “ancient doors” as He did circa 27 A.D. How glorious! Thank you, Jesus.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86
Filed under: Church Age Tagged: eternal life, eternity, heaven, new life, Psalm 24, resurrection
June 23, 2015
Bible Trilogy III – Part 3
NEWS FLASH!!! Acts: Volume 8 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.
Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in! [Psalm 24:7]
When Jesus rose out of death on the first day of the week, where did He go? For that matter where was Jesus’ spirit during the three days His body was in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea? We need to know what the Bible says about these matters, don’t we?
Well, the Bible says that Jesus rose out of death on the first day of the week. Then he spent forty days appearing at various times to his disciples and a few other folks. 1 Corinthians 15:5-8 speaks to this matter:
He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.
Acts 1:3 adds a tad bit more information for our consumption:
To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.
So we know where Jesus was after He rose out of death and His body was no longer in the tomb. At least some of the time He was on earth appearing to various disciples and followers. Likely He spent the majority of that time at the right hand of the Father in heaven, while He returned to earth for His several appearances during those forty days.
But what about the three days His body was in the tomb? Where was Jesus then? Again, what does the Bible tell us? Uh, it doesn’t…at least not categorically. That being the case, we mustn’t be dogmatic in asserting our opinions and demanding everyone else jump on our bandwagon! Or we could form a new church and name it “The Three Day Church”. Sounds like a plan…
I personally—and remember, I just stated that the Bible doesn’t categorically reveal where Jesus was during the three days when His body was in the tomb, so this is only my educated opinion—but I believe the moment Jesus died, His spirit went to be with the Father in heaven. He couldn’t appear to the disciples during that time: He didn’t have a body, so they couldn’t see Him! Why remain on earth?
Also, when Christians die they immediately go into the presence of the Lord in heaven, even though we don’t receive our resurrection bodies until the Rapture. During the period between our death and the Rapture, we are in the same state Jesus was during the three days His body was in the tomb. The Rapture serves as the Christian’s moment of physical resurrection, you see.
The Apostle Paul touched on this truth in 2 Corinthians 5:8. He noted that, when Christians die, we exult because we
prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.
Notice the contrast involved in those words. On the one hand we are “absent from the body”. Those words can only refer to a time when we exist without our bodies. Am I not right? On the other hand we are simultaneously “at home with the Lord”.
We will finish this topic in our next study. In the interim enjoy your time alone with Jesus.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86
Filed under: Church Age Tagged: eternal life, eternity, heaven, new life, Psalm 24, resurrection
June 22, 2015
Bible Trilogy III – Part 2
NEWS FLASH!!! Acts: Volume 8 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.
Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in! [Psalm 24:7]
Jesus rose out of death physically, which is the only way resurrection can occur in the first place. Man’s spirit is eternal, so it never dies physically. Ergo, man’s spirit does not resurrect out of the tomb. Man’s body alone goes into the tomb, and so man’s body alone resurrects out of the tomb.
Permit me a brief aside at this point of our study. Finite language cannot fully express spiritual realities. This is why I stated that man’s spirit does not die physically. “Spirit” and “physical” are two words which don’t go together. They form an oxymoron!
The trouble is man’s spirit does die, but it dies spiritually. Man is made to have fellowship with the Lord. When man rejects the Lord’s fellowship, he is eternally separated from the Lord. That is spiritual death. Physical death is when man’s spirit is separated from his body. Death means separation. It can be separation from the body or it can be separation from the Lord.
Man is born spiritually dead in his trespasses and sins. This means He is separated from the Lord because of his sins. Thus man needs to be born again, if he would see the Kingdom of God. When a person is born again he becomes alive spiritually, being brought into fellowship with the Lord.
At the rapture a born again person receives his new resurrection body, the same type of body the Lord Jesus now has. Jesus rose out of death on the first day of the week with His resurrection body, and He will have it through all eternity.
The Christian will be fully alive physically when he is clothed in his own resurrection body. The body of death will be gone forever. The body of life will thenceforth be his.
Anyway, back to Psalm 24. After Jesus died on the cross (Psalm 22), and after He was buried for three days (Psalm 23), He then rose out of death (Psalm 24).
This brings up an interesting issue for us to consider. Where did Jesus go when He rose out of death on the first day of the week? For that matter where was Jesus’ spirit during the three days His body was in the tomb?
If I’ve impressed on you a proper approach for Bible study, you know how to answer those questions. Do you? Ah, I see by the look on your face that you’ve learned well. Go ahead then. Answer the questions. That’s right. The question to ask is, “What does the Bible say?” You are a fine student. I’m proud to share the Word of God with you.
Oh, but we must turn aside and take our rest at this time. Allow the Lord Jesus to share the Word of God with you a while. See you tomorrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86
Filed under: Church Age Tagged: eternal life, eternity, heaven, new life, Psalm 24, resurrection
June 21, 2015
Bible Trilogy III – Part 1
NEWS FLASH!!! Acts: Volume 8 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.
Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in! [Psalm 24:7]
Today we begin the third portion of our Bible Trilogy. The first portion came from Psalm 22 and had to do with the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus. The second portion came from Psalm 23 and had to do with the burial of the Lord Jesus. The third portion, as can be gathered by the Bible quotation above, comes from Psalm 24 and has to do with the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
We noted in the first portion that three events mark the Gospel:
Jesus’ crucifixion
Jesus’ burial
Jesus’ resurrection
We direct you to 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 for Biblical affirmation of this truth. Those three events comprise the three portions of our Bible Trilogy. The three psalms (22, 23, and 24) prophetically present the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
On the cross just prior to surrendering His spirit to the Father’s care and dying, Jesus cried aloud, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Then He was placed in Joseph of Arimathea’s new tomb, with a humongous stone sealing the entrance. He remained there for three days.
On the first day of the week before sunrise, the humongous stone was rolled away. No, Jesus’ disciples didn’t do it. Neither did the Roman soldiers do it. And the Jewish authorities certainly didn’t do it. They paid the Roman soldiers to claim they did it, so the truth of Jesus’ resurrection wouldn’t get out into public circulation.
In fact the stone wasn’t even rolled away from the entrance of the tomb so Jesus could get out. It was rolled away so man could get in. Man needed to enter the tomb in order to discover that the body of the Lord Jesus was no longer there!
The person who rolled away the stone was an angel of the Lord (cf., Matthew 28:2). He descended from heaven, rolled the stone away from the entrance, and then sat on the stone! According to the account in Matthew 28, when the angel moved the stone an earthquake occurred. That, and the angel’s brilliant appearance, sent the Roman soldiers scampering like roaches when the lights come on!
God sent the angel to roll away the stone, you see, as a witness of the resurrection. So long as the stone blocked the entrance, no one would know that the body of Jesus was no longer in the tomb.
The import of this information is vital. We will explain how so in our next study. For now let’s spend time alone with Jesus.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86
Filed under: Church Age Tagged: eternal life, eternity, heaven, new life, Psalm 24, resurrection
June 20, 2015
Bible Trilogy II – Part 3
NEWS FLASH!!! Acts: Volume 8 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want [Psalm 23:1].
Psalm 23 is about the Lord in His relationship with His kids. The role played by the Lord in this psalm is that of the Shepherd, and His kids are the sheep. That is the immediate application of the psalm to David in particular and man in general.
However, there is also the prophetic application. The Holy Spirit inspired David to write this psalm, just as He inspired David to write Psalms 22 and 24. For each of these psalms the Spirit’s inspiration led David—whether consciously or not, we cannot know—but the Spirit led David to reveal truths about the future Messiah.
Just as Psalm 22 revealed the Messiah’s future crucifixion, so does Psalm 23 reveal the Messiah’s time in death. During the three days when Jesus’ body was in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb, Jesus was under the care and protection of the Lord His God. Jesus functioned as the sheep, while the Lord His God was His Shepherd.
“Huh?” I hear a flummoxed saint groan. “How could Jesus be one of the sheep? He’s the Shepherd! Get with the program, teacher!”
Oh, but you are overlooking one of the mysteries of Scripture, dear brother in Christ. Jesus willingly laid aside His prerogatives as God, when He took upon true humanity (cf., Philippians 2:5-8). He became one of us and lived accordingly. He walked in obedience to the Word of God under the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
In this way He fulfilled all righteousness on our behalf, and then He went to the cross and died on our behalf. His life wasn’t on His behalf, nor was His death. His life fulfilled all righteousness, something we could not do because we are sinners and sinners are not righteous! His death then paid the penalty for our sins, so we wouldn’t have to die to pay that penalty.
Jesus functioned as one of the sheep on our behalf. His life was for us. He lived as we are supposed to live, viz., as the Lord’s sheep. We are to follow Him, eat the food He serves us, and depend on Him for our safety from the flesh, the world, and the devil. In death He walked securely with the Lord His God as His Shepherd, even as we are to do when the time comes for each of us.
All is of grace, not of works. Jesus fulfilled all for us, and He freely gives us what He Himself worked for and earned. It costs us nothing, you see, but it cost Him dearly. Grace is free to us because He did the work, paid the price, and earned it for us.
Do the truths we learned from Psalm 23 stir your heart? Do you now love the Lord Jesus even more? Do you want to follow Him and look to Him for everything in life and death?
Lord Jesus, I love you. Thank you for your inexplicable and unfathomable love for me.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86
Filed under: Church Age Tagged: 1 Corinthians 15, burial, death of Jesus, pasture, Psalm 23, sheep, shepherd, tomb
June 19, 2015
Bible Trilogy II – Part 2
NEWS FLASH!!! Acts: Volume 8 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want [Psalm 23:1].
What transpired during the three days Jesus’ body was in the tomb is not revealed to us in the Bible. Ergo, we are unable to know! Assertions about Jesus descending into hell and suchlike guess work should be kept at arm’s length by the dutiful saint. We choose to stick with “Thus saith the Lord” for our information.
As to whether or not Jesus descended into hell, we’ll leave it to the systematic theology buffs to waste away their time on this earth debating such mysteries. For our part we will stick with Isaiah in saying, “To the Law and the prophets. If they speak not according to them, their words are worthless.” (Pardon my paraphrase.)
But let’s return to Psalm 23, where a green pasture and still waters await us. Oh, and the Lord has prepared a table for us there too. The meal He provides is even better than we can imagine. The servings He gives us are reminiscent of Joseph’s serving to Benjamin in Egypt. Each of us will discover readily enough that our cup runneth over. We will enjoy ourselves much better than we would hanging out in the valley of the shadow of death, don’t you think?
Psalm 23 has been taught from many and various different aspects. I want to draw our attention to an aspect not often given the focus by preachers and teachers. I hope you are ready to traverse the psalm with me. A salubrious trek we shall find it to be.
Two main characters form the cast of Psalm 23. There is the Lord and then there is David. David is the author of the psalm, but all of God’s people can and should make it their own.
In Psalm 23 the Lord is the star. The two words “the Lord” are the actual name of God. The word “God” depicts the Creator, He who is high above man in heaven, distant and removed from the earth, impersonal and intimidating. When His name “the Lord” is used, however, it depicts Him on a personal level with man, friendly and affording us a personal relationship.
David/man is the costar of Psalm 23. In fact the costar is just along for the ride. That is the extent of his role in the psalm. He serves the same function a dumb sheep serves in the pasture with the shepherd. He follows and behaves himself, while the shepherd provides for him and protects him so he doesn’t do himself wrong or starve to death.
We can gather this much directly from the psalm by means of a simple observation. Look over the six short verses and determine:
how many times the Lord is mentioned
how many times David/man is mentioned
The Lord is mentioned 12 times. There’s only 6 verses! Think He’s the star? The pertinent twelve words are “the Lord”, “He”, “His”, “You”, and “Your” (NASB).
David/man is mentioned 16 times, but at every mention the Lord is either providing for him or protecting him. This makes the Lord the star and David/man the costar. The pertinent sixteen words are “my”, “I”, and “me”.
I have to say, Psalm 23 is hard to set aside! It is chock-full of delectable morsels, each of which fits the old commercial, “Bet you can’t eat just one!” But the hour is late, so we will have to pause now. Not to worry. We will finish the meal tomorrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86
Filed under: Church Age Tagged: 1 Corinthians 15, burial, death of Jesus, pasture, Psalm 23, sheep, shepherd, tomb
June 18, 2015
Bible Trilogy II – Part 1
NEWS FLASH!!! Acts: Volume 8 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want [Psalm 23:1].
Today we begin the second portion of our Bible Trilogy. The first portion came from Psalm 22 and had to do with the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus.
We noted in the first portion that three events marked the Gospel:
Jesus’ crucifixion
Jesus’ burial
Jesus’ resurrection
We direct you to 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 for Biblical affirmation of this truth.
The second portion of our Biblical Trilogy comes from Psalm 23 and has to do with the burial of the Lord Jesus, His time in the tomb. Since the first portion came from Psalm 22 and the second portion comes from Psalm 23, I’ll give you five guesses whence the third portion comes…
Anyway, back to the second portion. Psalm 23 makes reference to “the valley of the shadow of death”. The phrase furnishes an excellent depiction of Jesus, during the time His body was in the tomb. Jesus walked through the valley of the shadow of death and conquered death on our behalf.
Over the centuries many theories have erupted from the minds of men, which supposedly explain where Jesus was and what He was doing during the three days His body was in the tomb. One such theory, for instance, is what has taken the title “Apostles Creed”— though the true apostles of Christ never uttered it, and the Holy Spirit of a truth did not inspire it.
Don’t get me wrong. The Apostles Creed recites some quite true and good Bible concepts. But it is still man’s words, not the living and breathing Word of God. The creed can only affect man’s head, his intellect, not his heart. It can make the old sinner behave better, but it cannot effect a new creation or bring the new man to maturity.
In the Apostles Creed a reference is made to Jesus, claiming He “descended into hell”. Did He? Whay are you looking at me? I asked you first! Okay, if you insist, I will give you my answer. What does the Bible say?
That’s right. It doesn’t. The Bible reveals to us that Jesus died on the cross as the once for all sin offering on behalf of all mankind. His corpse was placed in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb for three days, after which time Jesus rose out of death.
When we finite creatures known as human beings theorize what happens in eternity, the best we have to offer is guess work. We really haven’t a clue as to whether what we assert is the truth or not. How can we? We can’t. The truth is from eternity and we’re not.
All we can really know about eternal truths is what the God of eternity reveals to us. Even that truth is limited, but not by God’s truth, mind you. It is limited by our limited capacity as finite creatures to grasp the unlimited revelation of the Word of God.
I see the shadows forming and the sun setting. Let’s pause for today and spend some time with Jesus. We will continue this study on the morrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86
Filed under: Church Age Tagged: 1 Corinthians 15, burial, death of Jesus, pasture, Psalm 23, sheep, shepherd, tomb
June 17, 2015
Bible Trilogy I – Part 2
NEWS FLASH!!! Acts: Volume 8 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.
My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? [Psalm 22:1]
We concluded our last study at the foot of the cross. Darkness covered the earth from noon to 3:00 PM. The darkness was the visible reality which depicted a spiritual truth. The spiritual truth was that Father God turned away from looking upon His Son because the Son became a sin offering on behalf of mankind.
Huh? That doesn’t compute! How can God turn away from God because God has sin on Him and God cannot even look upon sin? Oh, my aching head! Everything is spinning in circles and I am becoming quite disoriented. Can someone please explain this bizarre concept to me? I am confused.
Uh, that would be no. Can’t explain it. It is a Bible mystery. We only know that it is true because the Word of God tells us as much. But it is beyond the comprehension of finite minds because it is spiritual truth, the truth of eternity. And that is something we finite creatures have no experience with, rendering us incapable of grasping it fully.
But not to worry. We believe this truth by grace through faith because the Lord teaches it to us, and we trust Him to tell us only the truth. No sooner did Jesus cry out the words of Psalm 22:1, than He released His Spirit, surrendering His life all the way to death so that sinners can live.
Indeed Father God did forsake the Son of God, but not as the Son of God. Rather, Father God forsook Jesus as the Son of man. This was essential because Jesus the Son of man became a sin offering for mankind. God is righteous, so He cannot tolerate sin. Sin is the refusal to obey the Word of God. Sin requires God’s judgment of death.
If God overlooked sin, any sin, even a so-called peccadillo, He would no longer be righteous. Such a prospect is an impossibility because God cannot deny Himself. He is righteous. He cannot be otherwise.
Ergo, when Jesus the Son of man became a sin offering on man’s behalf, God the Father turned away from Him, rejecting Him because God must reject sin. God judged sin in His own Son. He did forsake Jesus the Son of man for a time, as He judged mankind’s sins in Jesus.
We’ve already gone down this road further than perhaps is advisable. As finite creatures we cannot really grasp the extent of Jesus’ death on our behalf. We mustn’t attempt to explain it more than is revealed in Scripture. It is revealed, and it is explained; but the explanation is tempered with moderation because the truth is vast and unfathomable. Let us believe, without thinking we know it all.
Read Psalm 22. As you do so, consider the prophetic import. Meditate on the crucifixion of Jesus and how Psalm 22 depicts that historic event. Your meditation will bring the psalm alive, and you will find yourself in deep and stirring worship of our God.
Lord Jesus, we appreciate you even more, now that we’ve pondered anew your death on our behalf. Thank you for loving us that much. We love you in return because you first loved us…all the way to death on a cross. Make us like you, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86
Filed under: Church Age Tagged: atonement, Calvary, cross of Christ, crucifixion, Golgatha, mystery of the Bible, Prophecy, Psalm 22, sin offering
