Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.
I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.
SEEING JESUS IN
Aaron
Tempted
Exodus 32:1 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
We all know of Aaron’s failure before the Lord in succumbing to the pressure of the Israelites. He actually created (or oversaw the creation) of Israel’s first idol, while Moses was speaking with God on the mountain.
Aaron was tempted, and as he fell in this temptation, he produced a situation that spread far beyond his own life. The repercussions of falling into this temptation was the potential wiping out of the entire nation. Yet Aaron, and the nation, due to Moses intercession, escaped judgement.
Obviously Moses is a type of the Lord in this instance, and we shall get to him, but in Aaron, we find a man who was tempted. He felt the pressure of the crowd, the influence of the multitude, and fell to the coercion, rejecting the truth Moses spoke to him.
Jesus also was tempted, not only in the wilderness all alone, for 40 days, in a weakened condition, but also in the multitudes, in large groups and gangs that had death on their minds. He stayed the course, even to death, knowing that the temptation to save His own skin would doom not only the nation, but the created world.
He was tempted, yet without sin!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
52
BEGINNING OF WISDOM
Psalm 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!
This description of our Savior is the third time He is associated with a beginning.
In the last two posts, we have seen that when “beginning” was referring to the Christ, it was related to the new creation, the church, and to His mission and sacrifice.
Not so here for Psalmist speaks of the beginning of wisdom as the attitude of the fear of the Lord.
We understand the fear of the Lord is the Old Testament motivation for all obedience to the commands of God. Whether it is a holy reverence or a soul quaking fear is not the focus of this post.
The focus of this post is to consider the ultimate “beginning of wisdom” to be best displayed in the Savior Himself.
We know He is the sinless Son of God, obedient in all his actions and attitudes before Hs Father. His fear of the Lord was consummate, for He never looked to the right or to the left. Only on the Father.
The term “beginning”, though often denoting the first in time, may also speak of the first in place, order or rank. Given this, it would be easy to understand that the beginning of wisdom was best exemplified and lived out in the Messiah.
He is the beginning of wisdom.
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
51
BEGINNING OF GOD’S CREATION
Revelation 3:14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.
In our last post we considered Jesus as the beginning of the church, as Paul was writing to the Colossians.
In this portion of Scripture, John is describing our Savior as the beginning of God’s creation. Again. let us be careful to not assume Jesus had a beginning (other than as a man) and was not One of the eternal persons in the Trinity.
As the audience is the church of the Laodiceans, I have always considered the creation John refers to here as the church, very much of the same vein of truth as Paul expressed in Colossians 1:18
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.
Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.
1 Samuel 17:17-18
17 And Jesse said to David his son, “Take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers. 18 Also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. See if your brothers are well, and bring some token from them.”
Jesse sent his youngest son into a war zone. According to my calculations, Jesse still had five sons at home, of whom David is the youngest.
Why send David?
Jesse sent the future king of Israel into a war zone. How long ago had it been that David was anointed to be King of Israel?
Why send David?
Jesse sent the family shepherd into a war zone. Were the other four brothers busy working for the father?
Why send David?
Jesse sent David into a warzone to provide supplies for his brothers and superior, and to “spy” on the conditions of the army of Israel. ”Spy” may be too harsh a word for this errand but the result is the same. Jesse was curious about the conditions his sons were experiencing, and Jesse’s concern for his older boys brought David into an unsafe situation.
So why send David. Did not Jesse have a servant that was trustworthy, but somewhat expendable? It turns out in our next passage, we find that David, prior to leaving on this mission, found a keeper for his sheep. Jesse had servants!
Was Jesse revealing how he saw David, not as the future King, or as his youngest son, but just as another servant, one whom was already busy performing shepherding tasks for him and service to the king. Note that David had just been described as having returned from the king’s service in our previous passage.
In all of this conjecture, I find that David’s anointing made no difference to those about him. Nothing changed in the eyes of the family towards the youngest son of Jesse. The promise of God on David may have only created further friction within the family.
Forgetting motivations and family interactions within David’s family, it is always good to see the Lord Jesus pictured in the Old Testament. In this very passage, we see the Son being sent by the Father into a warzone for the sake of His own. We see the Son providing sustenance for those of His people. We will see that He was rejected by those he came to serve, and entered into a battle all alone, was mocked and ridiculed and faced certain death in front of the enemy. He entered battle without the conventional defensive and offensive battle gear, but that which was simple and effective.
This story of David and Goliath is truly amazing as a historical incident in the nation of Israel, a time that set the nation on a course of great success both politically and militarily. Only more so is this story worth considering if we see Jesus in the midst of it, and consider how these stories of a young shepherd boy pre-shadowed the true King of Israel.
His story is the greater story, for He is the Greater David.
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.
I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.
SEEING JESUS IN
Aaron
A Brother
Exodus 4:14 Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses and he said, “Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.
Hebrews 2:17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
It is interesting that Aaron is first called out as a brother of Moses. Earlier we met a priest by the name of Melchizedek, which for reasons beyond our topic today, was not chosen to represent the nation of Israel as high priest. Some may think Melchizedek would have passed on by now, but I tend to think differently!
Aaron was a man that had two descriptions the Lord noted for Moses. One that he could speak well, which addresses Moses claim to limit his ability to represent before Pharoah, and that he was a brother. The fact that he was a Levite comes into the equation later for the priesthood!
Aaron was a brother. One who was of the same “stuff” as Moses, coming from the same family, the same time, the same location, the same history. He knew what it meant to be of the population of an oppressed people. He had heard of the promise of a new land.
Jesus is also of the same “stuff” in that He took on a physical body, experienced hunger, anger, frustration and remaining gamut of emotional impacts a man experienced in the first century, under an oppressive ruler, and yet He knew the promise of a new land.
Note that the apostle speaks of Jesus “made like His brothers in every respect”. We can not claim He did not experience what we go through, both internally and externally, or that we undergo trials beyond His understanding.
He is a Brother.
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
50
BEGINNING
Colossians 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
He is the beginning.
Some may think this refers to Jesus as being created, and would assign to Him an existence other than the truth of His eternality.
This thinking does not makes sense, for in the very verse we are looking at, Paul is speaking of Him as He relates to the church, not of His nature. He is the beginning of the church, the trailblazer, the Apostle sent to rescue us.
We cannot think of Paul or Peter as the ones who started the church.
He is the beginning.
As a man, He began His earthly existence in a cradle, for He needed a body to sacrifice for our rebellion. In a body, He related to those around Him, led by example, showed His character, and finally offered up the body created for Him.
He is the beginning.
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
49
BEAUTIFUL AND GLORIOUS
Isaiah 4:2 In that day the branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel.
We haven’t spoke of the Branch of the Lord yet, as we are looking at His names in an alphabetical order, but suffice to say, Isaiah is speaking of the Messiah when he speaks of the Branch.
He shall be beautiful and glorious.
Beautiful. This Hebrew term often translated as glorious, or glory in our Old Testament. Using this term, Isaiah is bringing us a varied description of beauty, for this term is very closely associated with the thought of glory.
But what is glory? If I met you on the street, and asked you “What is glory”, could you answer without using the term glory?
Glory. This Hebrew term speaks of glory, honor and abundance, and is used 200 times in the Old Testament.
The term rose from a root meaning of heaviness or weight, and this root meaning may be associated with abundance combined with authority.
In my thoughts, for someone to be glorious in ancient times, meant he had abundance, for he was most likely a ruler of some kind, and he suffered no loss of want. He had weight, not only as a man who had physical abundance, but moral and or authoritarian influence. To be glorious may have had a visual aspect to it, but if we consider the root meaning of the word to have continued in its usage, the term likely meant the weight of authority the owner was able to wield.
In all of this conjecture, it makes sense to this believer that when I hear of glory, I think of authority, and not necessarily beaming rays of light.
Our Savior has all authority; His influence has no limits and He has no competitor in His beauty(glory) and glory(authority).
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.
Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.
Let’s continue with the life of David, and his relations to two men who influenced his life greatly.
1 Samuel 17
12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years. 13 The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle. And the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 14 David was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. 16 For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening.
Consider Jesse the Ephrathite. To be from Ephrath was to come from an historic location. Many who may be reading this may be surprised to find that Ephrath is the same place as Bethlehem.
Let’s go back to the first verse of the first chapter of the first book of Samuel. You see, Samuel’s ancestor came out of Ephrath, and we know that a very famous King was to be born in Ephrathah.
Micah 5:2 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 of old, from ancient days.
Jesse, the father of David, found his place in Israel in the little town of Bethlehem. An old man by the time David shows up on the scene, with numerous children prior to the future kings birth. An old man with a large family, in a small, seemingly insignificant town. With his nation on the brink of yet another war.
It turns out that there were at least 7 son’s of Jesse before David came on the scene. David, at the time of his anointing, was the eighth son of Jesse. As we mentioned earlier, David’s relationship within the family is not as clearly described as we might want it. If you haven’t been following my journey through David’s life, consider reading Life of David – 3.04 for some hints as to the family dynamics David lived within.
The first three sons followed King Saul to battle. These three soldiers had recently experienced the anointing of David to be the future King of Israel, yet they followed after King Saul into battle. A bit of conflict? Might this speak of the brother’s faith, or even of their jealousy? Of course this may have been more a factor of age than political difference, yet it makes me wonder of the relationship David had with his brothers.
I think as we venture a bit further into the story we will find that at least one of the brothers was undergoing a sampling of the green-eyed monster, a wee bit of jealousy. But I am getting ahead of myself.
Consider the heart of David in that when he was requested of King Saul, David did not forget his father. If there was some relational difficulties between David and the family, David’s actions did not reveal this. He could have justifiably stayed with King Saul, but he returned to his father, going back and forth between his father’s needs and the king’s needs.
David went back and forth, from Jesse, a man that may have “ignored” his son at times, possibly favoring his first born, or the elder brothers, to King Saul, a man who could not ignore David, but instead became his lethal enemy.
David served them both.
May I remind you that another King lived as a servant, a King that humbled Himself beyond our imaginations. A Man who gave to His enemies, even as He suffered and died. The Greater David came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for all.
Thank Him for His loving kindness today, for His safeguarding of your life, for the blessing of knowing Him and His goodness.
Praise the Lord.
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
48
BAPTIZER
Luke 3:16 John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. John 1:32-34 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” Acts 1:5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
I imagine John the Baptist was a bit of a fiery preacher, calling the Pharisees a brood of vipers and speaking of wrath to come. So when John described the One coming as the One who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire, I was somewhat surprised to hear of what (or Who) He will baptize with.
First, He will baptize with the Holy Spirit. No one but God Almighty has the authority to baptize with the Holy Spirit. It is not as if the Holy Spirit was to come upon someone in order to provide authority or power for a certain task, as in the Old Testament. This is the next level, where God would create a new humanity on the day of Pentecost.
Secondly, He will baptize with fire. Now some think this refers to the tongues of fire in Acts 2, which it might, but the audience at the time had just experienced John’s teaching of wrath. The message those in attendance heard was likely a continuation of wrath-speak. If fire refers to judgement, the audience heard of the One who had the power of judgement over their lives, and of the One who was able to administer wrath.
Both of these modes of baptism speaks of the authority and power of our God, of our Savior who came down to make us a new person and to rescue us from the very fire He’ has the power to administer.
Think on Him today. Listen to Him and as He speaks to you, honor His name by following His lead.
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
47
BANNER OF LOVE
Song of Songs 2:4 He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.
In our last post, we saw that a banner was some signal or indicator for rallying about, and was in the context of battles.
As the King is wooing His love in this chapter of the Song of Solomon, we find the author speaking of a banner over her, a banner that is above the young woman, giving out a message to rally about. As mentioned, this rallying point of a banner is not in the context of war, but of love.
This banner was to draw this young woman into His arms, to declare His commitment to her, to entice her to be His.
Is it not the very same for us, who have come to enter His banqueting house, who have come into His church, that we see the Banner as one that provides the message of love?
His banner over us is Love, and He has won us to Himself by His self sacrificial love. Let us remember that as we are in His banqueting Hall, His message hasn’t changed.
His banner over us is Love, and the Lord Jesus Christ is the Banner we are to look to, to rally about, and to understand the message for His Bride, is that He is Love
1 John 4:8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.
Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.
The passage before us is the set up for the famous chapter telling the story of a young shepherd taking out a giant of an enemy! Even the most unread Christian has heard of the story. It is very familiar to many, but as we venture through, I believe we will see some details and truths that will be a blessing and challenge for us to consider.
1 Samuel 17:8-11 8 He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” 10 And the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
In our last post we spoke of the advantage Goliath had over the nation of Israel, of this dominant stature, his body armor and his multiple offensive weapons, even his assistant who provided additional defensive protection through carrying a shield. It is crazy how this man who had every advantage left nothing to chance! This fella is the proverbial bully, ganging up on his intended victim and having all the protection he can muster for his own security.
And as all bully’s do, he turned to verbal threats and taunts.
At first, he simply began by asking the nation of Israel to send out a single person to fight against him. A man. One man that would fight Goliath, assuming the fight would again be on Goliaths term’s. Hand to hand battle, a fight to prove who was the greatest warrior between the two nations.
It was a simple proposition. Two armies don’t have to enter into a war of attrition. One man need only die to provide the decision of the war. One man to be offered on the battle field to save the entire army from much death. Of course this situation favored the one offering it, but that is beside the point!
One man to represent the nation, that would be sent to certain death for their sake. If Goliath won – and it was obvious he would – Israel, though in bondage to the Philistine’s would experience a form of peace. A period where they would serve the Philistines instead of die in battle.
Tempting?
Surely the King of Israel was considering his options. That is until Goliath stepped in it.
Yes Goliath defied the ranks of Israel. Note that in verse 10, Goliaths taunt was
“I defy the ranks of Israel this day.”
Yet when David heard it, he heard something different. I am reaching ahead in our study a bit, but it speaks volumes to the perception David had, and what Goliath’s intentions were.
vs 26 For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
David understood that to defy the “ranks of Israel” is to defy the “armies of the Living God.”
In David’s mind, to be an approach upon the people of God is to be an approach on the Living God.
Let me try to explain this in a New Testament example. A man was on the hunt for some New Testament believers, those who entered the kingdom of God by belief in the True King, and this man was pulled up short by the King. And what did the King ask him?
Acts 9:4 And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”
Saul was hunting down Christians, those of the “ranks of Israel”, and Jesus equated this with attacking the Living God.
The connection between the Father and His people is indistinguishable in the Father’s mind, and as such we would do well to consider that as we interact with those who call on the name of the Lord. We are called to love our brother and sister, and to do no harm. No gossip, no lies, no hurt.
But I digress.
Goliath was entering into dangerous territory when he defied the ranks of Israel, when one who was sensitive to the honor of God heard it, that is. He spoke his taunt for days prior to David’s appearance, but once David showed up, heard the taunt, understood the intent and decided to do something, the curtain began to close on ol’ Goliath.
But until then, all of Israel were dismayed and greatly afraid! Imagine the disbelief David’s faith faced as he entered the camp. A lone believer. A single, young teenager amongst his nation’s greatest warriors
How incredulous!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.
I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.
SEEING JESUS IN
Aaron
Day of Consecration
Exodus 29:4 You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water.
Luke 3:21-22 21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
To enter into God’s presence, Moses was to wash the priest in front of the tent, prior to their entering. Before their ministry before the Lord would start, the priest had to be cleansed.
Now as we know, much of the Old Testament included pictures and themes would be shadows representing the Lord Jesus when He appeared on the earth. I am confident that my readers can see the parallel of how this worked out 2000 years ago in the Lord’s life.
Of course the cleansing was personally unnecessary for the Lord in that He was clean before the Father prior to entering into ministry. His baptism was the public outworking of this Old Testament image for those who were present and for us who read the Word.
Prior to His formal entrance into ministry before His Father, the Lord Jesus associated Himself with us, and with this image of the first priests, undergoing the outward expression of cleansing before the Father.
After this cleansing, Jesus was to embark on a most remarkable ministry as the ultimate High Priest in the presence of the Father, even to the point of offering Himself as the ultimate sacrifice.
He is the Consecrated One and has been formally introduced to His creation as the Priest to be before the Holy One, bring One acceptable sacrifice – Himself – before the throne of God.
He is the Consecrated One.
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
46
BANNER OF ISRAEL
Psalm 60:4 You have set up a banner for those who fear you, that they may flee to it from the bow. Selah
The background to this psalm is the victory over Edom in the wars described in 2 Samuel 8:3-14. It seems that while Israel was fighting to the north and east, they were flanked by three nations (Edom, Philistia and Moab) to the south, coming in from the rear, with Israel suffering serious losses and falling into confusion.
David speaks of a banner being lifted up, for those who fear God – the true Israel – to rally about.
When under fire all around, those who fear God will realize the banner has been lifted up for us also.
The Banner of Israel was lifted up to defeat the enemy, and to show the way for battle.
The Banner of Israel is our rallying point, for when we are overwhelmed, we need to return to the simple message of the One who hung on the cross, for all to see.
The Banner of Israel is naturally the focus of those who fear God, and as we focus on Him, we come to find strength in Him and encouragement from fellow soldiers to continue the battle.
Look to the Banner of Israel as you live your day for Him.
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
45
BALM OF GILEAD
Jeremiah 8:22 Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?
What in tarnation is balm? And is there something special about Gilead?
The background to the question Jeremiah asks is the utter upcoming destruction of the nation of Israel. The nation created by God, and sustained by God through many trials and terrors is now on edge of captivity. God’s mercies through the ages have been many, and they have been rescued by the Father many many times.
Yet Jeremiah fears the worst, for he is calling out to the nation to seek out the balm of Gilead, a medicinal oil that was well known for it’s healing properties in the nation of Israel.
Of course Jeremiah was not referring to the literal balm (or oil) of Gilead, for he is speaking of the sickness within the nation of Israel. This sickness, which would bring about the captivity of Israel, was not simply skin deep, but a matter of the heart. The literal balm of Gilead was known to treat surface cuts, heal burns, and relieve pain by soothing the hurt areas on the body. Jeremiah is somewhat sarcastic in this verse, referring to the balm as if that would be the minimum effort for healing on the part of the nation. Yet as we know, no literal balm of Gilead could have healed the nation, but our Balm of Gilead, our Great Physician is able to heal, and He is the One Jeremiah is pointing to in our verse.
A little later in Jeremiahs ministry in chapter 46:11, he calls on the nation to retrieve this balm from Gilead.
Go up to Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt! In vain you have used many medicines; there is no healing for you.
In our day and age, the balm of gilead may be purchased online. Whether it is the actual balm referred to in our verse, I will leave that to my gentle reader. No matter, for we all need to seek out our Balm of Gilead, the Great Physician, the One who heals hearts and not simply relieves pain on a surface.
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
Paul is amazing in his instruction, for as some of my dear brothers may suggest, to follow after the Christ is to give up all possessions, to sell your stuff and leave it all behind. For some this is the appropriate call on their lives, and to those so called, it is a high calling.
Yet Paul does not leave the rest of us without a responsibility in relation to the riches in this present age. To be rich in this present age – a phrase that speaks of the source or foundation of the riches, as opposed to the time we experience the riches. He is instructing Timothy to admonish those who have accumulated “things of this world”, material wealth, goods and investments with the following instruction . As we consider this passage, we can see that Paul is speaking of two worlds that the believer lives in, the material and the spiritual.
If a believer is not called upon to physically leave behind his goods to follow the Master (which also has a trap of producing a prideful attitude), the saint is then challenged with the requirement to prioritize his goods to a much lower level in the believers life.
Note what it is that Paul focuses on. Two “don’ts” and three “do’s”.
Don’t be haughty
A large (or medium, even a small bank account) is no reason to consider yourself better than a brother in the Lord. As I speak to my brothers in my blog, we tend to measure our success in life with the toys we have.
This is a mindset that needs to be rejected.
Paul is speaking of our current attitude toward others in this verse, based on the riches of this present age.
Don’t hope in material goods
Paul then breaches our faith, or our hope for the future, based on the riches we have accumulated. This is tantamount to opposing our faith in God. Each of us who have material goods needs to wash our minds and hearts of any detrimental hope we may have in our savings.
Wisdom dictates we store up for the future, that we do what we can to prepare for the future, yet our hope is not on the material goods we accumulate, but on the God who gives us the strength each day to work, love and care for others.
Do good
Paul speaks of our actions to enter into as one who may have trusted in his goods. Do good. Simple. He simply speaks of doing good, and leaves it up to the believer to find opportunities to “do” good.
Be generous
The next two “do’s” are better described as who we are to become, and not exactly specific (or even general) actions or works we are to enter into.
It is a state of being, to “be” generous. When an opportunity arises that can be taken care of, a generous man will do what he can to relieve it. It will be an automatic response, not necessarily a calculated response.
Be ready
Not only are we to be generous, but we are to be ready. This speaks of continuing in the attitude of generosity.
In all of this charge to the rich of this world, Paul instructs Timothy to inform the rich that this life will produce a “good foundation” for the future” in order that the rich maytake hold of life.
May take hold of life?
Isn’t he speaking to believers? Do they not have in their possession the life of God by faith in the Messiah? What is all this talk of a foundation for the future, of them leading lives that produce conditions to take hold of life?
Am I suggesting that providing generous gifts to charities and churches will get you to heaven? Not so! There is only one way and we all know it isn’t by our actions.
And yet, it is our actions that prove we have the life.
How are your actions and attitudes lately? Have you considered the life you are living in relation to Paul’s exhortation to Timothy?
Do good – Paul did not put any limits on this command, and be generous as the Lord directs.
Grab the life in this life. Paul gives us the instructions on how to do it!!!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you would like to receive daily posts from Considering the Bible, click on the “Follow” link below
As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.
Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.
The passage before us is the set up for the famous chapter telling the story of a young shepherd taking out a giant of an enemy! Even the most unread Christian has heard of the story. It is very familiar to many, but as we venture through, I believe we will see some details and truths that will be a blessing and challenge for us to consider.
In our last post on this upcoming victory of David over the giant, we considered the nation attacking them and the location of the battlefield. The Philistine army was encamped within the boundaries of Israel, choosing the location to their advantage, waiting for Israel to show up.
Until we get to the internal concerns of the Israeli armed forces, lets take a minute to consider the problem they were facing.
Goliath.
1 Samuel 17:4-7 4 And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 5 He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. 6 And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. 7 The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. And his shield-bearer went before him.
It turns out that Goliath, although the most famous of giants, was not the only giant to be roaming the area. There appeared to be multiple giants in the region, a descendant of Rapha. During David’s reign, many of the giants fell, and there may be a lesson in that for us.
One victory spurs on additional victories. One bold move by a young shepherd emboldened other warriors to take on giants. I can hear the apostle Paul speaking of this same concept in Philippians
Philippians 1:14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
There is some debate as to whether Goliath was a Philistine, or hired as a mercenary to fight for them.
His appearance, and his boasting brought about fear and trembling, working the very effect the Philistines were seeking to have.
Consider that Goliath was over 9 feet tall. For the sake of getting a feel for the scale of this man’s height, I would refer you to Robert Wadlow. In the past, I have visited Ripley’s Museum and seen a statue of Robert Wadlow, the tallest man in recorded history. His height reached 8′ 11″.
To be dwarfed by a giant like Wadlow had an impact on me, yet his bearing was that of a thin man, a man that was not of the warrior bearing as Goliath. To see Goliath, a warrior decked out in all the defensive armor as Goliath must have intimidated everyone. Surely this was Goliath’s greatest psychological power over his combatants.
And yet Goliath did not simply depend only on his natural stature, but also on his weapons of warfare, both offensive and defensive.
His defensive protection included a helmet of bronze to protect his head. As we know from the account of the battle, it didn’t help him against David’s stone. He also wore a bronze coat of mail, or body armor weighing over 120 pounds. His final protective equipment was that of armor on his legs. He was suited out for every conventional protection, taking no chances in any battle!
His offensive weapons included a javelin and a spear. It appears the javelin may also be understood to be the sword that David turned on Goliath, chopping his head off! The spear alone is described as massive, with a head equivalent to 16 pounds.
On top of all of this protection, Goliath had an armor bearer, holding a shield before him. This guy was intimidating and protected.
Goliath left nothing to chance! He was larger, stronger, more experienced, more confident, over protected and trained in wielding the sword and spear. For those who heard of his challenge, it must have seemed to be a suicide mission.
Everything was playing out for Goliaths goals. He knew he had the advantage, and everyone around him knew he had the advantage. He had every physical advantage, had the upper hand in psychological warfare, and came against a nation that wasn’t able to equal his challenge.
It was a slam dunk for Goliath. Even if King Saul came out to battle, Goliath still had the advantage. Remember that of all the men of Israel, Saul was the tallest, and as the King, he should have led the country into the fight Goliath demanded!
The only slip Goliath made was to defy the Living God. Up until then, everything was going Goliath’s way.
But a young inexperienced teenager heard the slur against his God, and in his inexperience, in his blind faith, in his trusting self sacrifice, he stepped up.
And Goliath fell down.
But I am getting ahead of myself. Our next passage will look at the slurs that Goliath spread, the defiance that became his downfall.
Oh how the mighty have fallen!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
44
AWESOME GOD
Nehemiah 1:5 And I said, “O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,
In our society these days, to hear the term “awesome” brings to mind something that is amazing, that tickles the mind, that entertains or provides a momentary thrill. Sometimes it simply refers to that which is simply eye candy, something that our senses consume but has no lasting beneficial effect.
The term used to carry the meaning of terror, or fear. It would never be associated with light matters such as the taste of a doughnut or the sound of a country song, the appearance of a special effect in a movie or TV show.
For Nehemiah to describe God as an awesome God would illicit thoughts of dread, of reverence in the most holy sense. Nehemiah was not placing our God in the same category as a hamburger, or a new car, something we may consider as awesome today.
A majority of times, this term translated as awesome in our verse is translated as either fear or to be afraid.
To terrify.
A sense of fear that constricts the stomach, weakens the knees, troubles the mind, produces a cold clammy sweat, and encompasses the entire attention of the “victim”. A mind consumed with one source of fear, without any worthy distractions able to wrest it from that source of fear.
This “Awesome” God is the God who Nehemiah describes as the One who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments.
Steadfast love from the very source of fear inducing numbness. How can we ever understand our God? But alas – it isn’t for us to understand our God – but to simply love Him and keep His commandments.
Selah
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
43
AUTHOR OF LIFE
Acts 3:15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.
The Spirit has fallen on the church, and Peter has preached his first sermon with thousands coming to faith. In chapter 3, Peter takes part in the healing of a crippled man, similar to the good works Jesus had performed as He walked amongst them. This miracle continues the wake up call to the people of Israel, grabbing their attention in the very heart of their religious life at the temple.
Peter had their attention, and he had an opportunity to preach, and preach he did.
Can you imagine Peter’s opportunity here to threaten or coerce those who did not believe in the previous sermon. But let us not consider Peter’s motivation to be such, for although he spoke harsh truth, his message was cushioned with an admission of ignorance on the part of those hearing.
As I mentioned, Peter spoke harsh words to those who were present, revealing the contradiction of actions they were committed to just a few months back when they killed the Author of Life. Some translations speak of the Lord’s name as Prince of Life and there may be justification for this, yet to hear Peter describe Jesus as the Author of Life rings true for me.
He had just described the audiences earlier desire to have one who ended life, a murderer, to be released, and now Peter describes Jesus as the One who is the Author of Life, speaking of Him as the originator of Life, the One who created life. As if He created life only to be denied life by those He “authored”.
The Greek term for author (ἀρχηγός archēgós) in this verse speaks of One who goes ahead, is a chief leader, One who leads by example.
In all this contradiction, the Author of Life can’t help but to continue to offer life to those who are ignorant, to those who seek death and reject life.
He is the Author of Life, no matter what we think or do. He is seeking you and will not give up, for He not only has life to share, but is the very Author of Life.
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world–our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
The faith we live is the victory we are granted to walk in and I understand the victory to be a daily occurrence, a battle with the influences of this old world.
A personal story may help me explain my thoughts.
My wife and I were recently out for a meal with some folks and a lady requested if I had seed a recent movie. I understood this movie had an agenda, and I mentioned this to her. Now before we go any further, let me confess this lady is a believer, she attends a conservative church, does many charitable works and confesses the Lord. Yet she found my understanding of the movie to be offensive.
I made a comment to the effect that the movie appealed to her since it fit her worldview. It did not “fit” my worldview as it was peddling what I considered a radically progressive worldview, seeking to normalize an offensive lifestyle unto the populace.
We are both believers, but I would suggest that if my estimation of “the world” is correct, she may not be overcoming “the world” in this area. Now before someone think I am judging harshly, I readily admit my own worldview, or how I perceive truth, is not any better, for I have blind spots and opinions that are in opposition to the faith I confess.
With this being said, I would suggest the faith we have is to be in opposition to the world, that as believers we are to be a counterculture, a people that tests the thoughts being offered to us, filter those thoughts through the Word, and reject all that do not line up with the general teaching of the Word.
But let us not reject out of a position of pride, but handle the position we take out of humble spirit, always seeking to provide a loving answer, a solid response and to act in grace with mercy to those who oppose.
In my study of this verse, I tripped over a Matthew Henry quote that seems to capture many of my suspected thoughts on this verse.
Self-denial is required, but true Christians have a principle which carries them above all hindrances. Though the conflict often is sharp, and the regenerate may be cast down, yet he will rise up and renew his combat with resolution. But all, except believers in Christ, are enslaved in some respect or other, to the customs, opinions, or interests of the world. Faith is the cause of victory, the means, the instrument, the spiritual armor by which we overcome. In and by faith we cleave to Christ, in contempt of, and in opposition to the world. Faith sanctifies the heart, and purifies it from those sensual lusts by which the world obtains sway and dominion over souls. It has the indwelling Spirit of grace, which is greater than he who dwells in the world. The real Christian overcomes the world by faith; he sees, in and by the life and conduct of the Lord Jesus on earth, that this world is to be renounced and overcome. He cannot be satisfied with this world, but looks beyond it, and is still tending, striving, and pressing toward heaven. We must all, after Christ’s example, overcome the world, or it will overcome us to our ruin.
Are you overcoming the world, or is it overcoming you?
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you would like to receive daily posts from Considering the Bible, click on the “Follow” link below
As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.
Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.
The passage before us is the set up for the famous chapter telling the story of a young shepherd taking out a giant of an enemy! Even the most unread Christian has heard of the story. It is very familiar to many, but as we venture through, I believe we will see some details and truths that will be a blessing and challenge for us to consider.
Our first three verses speaks to us of the Philistine nation and the location chosen for this fateful clash of nations.
1 Samuel 17:1-3 1 Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. 2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines. 3 And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them.
It appears the Philistines were confident in approaching Israel, for they had already ventured into the tribe of Judah’s land, had set up camp at Ephes-dammim near Socoh, and waited for the nation of Israel to appear. They were truly the thorn in Israel’s side during and prior to Saul’s monarchy.
If you recall, they were the nation that took the Ark of the Covenant from the nation, suffered debilitating disease in various of their cities and eventually sent it back the Israel.
In thier next battle with the nation of Israel, they met with Israel at Mizpeh, and as the battle was raging, the Lord “thundered with a mighty sound against the Philistines” confusing the enemy and securing a victory for Israel.
Now both of these instances had provided the Philistines proof of a miraculous intervention of the Israeli God, yet we we see them taking on the nation again.
From their first appearance in Judges, with battles over the cities of Gaza, Ashkelon and Ekron, through Shamgar’s killing of 600 Philistines, Samson’s suicidal domination over the nation, and now into Samuel’s and Saul’s time, they were a confident lot of a nation.
Tenacious.
Determined.
I would suggest their determination is best summed up in 1 Samuel 4:7-9
7 the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “A god has come into the camp.” And they said, “Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before. 8 Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness. 9 Take courage, and be men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been to you; be men and fight.”
The Philistines were determined, yet in the face of all the miraculous victories, this determination may be also considered stubbornness. A blind stubbornness that refuses to consider their history with Israel. Wisdom for them may have not been their strong suit.
Nevertheless, here they are, knocking on Israel’s door, picking a fight, using a giant as their secret weapon. This approach has to work, right?
The Philistines chose the location of the battle field, having encamped on the slopes north of the stream cutting through the valley of Elah, in between Azekah and Socoh.
This epic battle took place at Ephes-dammim, so called for the battles waged here. Ephes-dammim actually means “boundary of bloods” and is also referred to as Pas-dammin elsewhere in the Scriptures. The area consisted of a flat valley with two hills running east west along the stream.
Valley east of Azekah. The Philistines would have been encamped on the left, with Israel on the right
As mentioned above, the valley was cut with a stream running through it, though the modern pictures above do not show it. Might this be the stream that David resorted to for his stones? In the very sight of the Philistines?
But who was paying attention to a young teenage Israelite when the Philistines had such might and power by the name of Goliath. Surely the Philistines were confident in their chances against the little nation of Israel, with such a mighty giant on their side.
But we know where their confidence lies, don’t we? (Hint – Not in the Living God!)
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.
I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.
SEEING JESUS IN
Aaron
Anointed with Water & Oil
Exodus 29:4, 7 You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. You shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him.
Acts 4:26 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed–
Acts 10:38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
Aaron (and his sons) were to be washed with the water prior to taking on their priestly robes and the office God called him to. This was one of the actions to be performed on Aaron in their consecration to the Lord. A washing with water, not simply to take the dust off from the day of milling about the camp, but to represent the cleanliness required for the minister if they were to be accepted before God.
A time of dressing the priest, with robes, breastplates, turbans and the ephod prior to the second “anointing”, this time with oil. The oil was to be applied to the head, and we don’t know exactly how much oil was applied. I often think of the oil as coming from a small vessel, possibly only a few ounces, but that is conjecture at best.
One reference in the Psalms speaks of the oil being applied to Aaron’s head and it running down the beard. The Psalmist likens this to unity amongst brethren, but we will leave that discussion for a later time
Psalm 133:2 It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes!
No matter, for the picture of Aaron receiving the water and the oil typifies our Greater Aaron, who took a baptism to identify with His people, and was immediately anointed by the Father with the Holy Spirit, for the ministry He would enter into for the souls of men and women.
His consecration with water was not required to cleanse Him of any filthiness, but to associate with those He came to save. The oil from heaven, the Spirit of God lighting on the Son of Man, signified the power He would minister in, providing proofs of His amazing claims.
He is the Greater Aaron and truly a High Priest, beyond our imagination!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
42
ARM OF THE LORD
Isaiah 51:9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in days of old, the generations of long ago. Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the dragon?
In our last post on the Names of God, we considered “Arm of Redemption”, with the psalmist referring back to the deliverance of the nation from Israel
In our current verse, Isaiah cries out to the Arm of the Lord, and in his cry, refers back to the days of old, and the generations long ago, who experienced that same deliverance from Egypt.
Instead of the psalmist referring to the capability of the arm, Isaiah speaks to who the Arm is. It is no angelic arm, though God has angels that are more than capable to cut down entire armies, such as the Assyrian army in the days of Hezekiah. This Arm is OF the Lord. and Isaiah is the only one in the Old Testament who uses this phrase.
The only other place in Isaiah that this name comes up is in the most famous of his chapters, describing our Messiah.
Isaiah 53:1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
Isaiah’s question as to whom the Arm of the Lord has been revealed is answered for us today, for all believers have had the revelation of the Messiah, and may I suggest, the Arm of the Lord has been revealed to all who know the story of the resurrection.
True, believing the message brings tremendous benefits – nay – it brings life and light. Those who have heard the message of the resurrection and rejected it – to them the Arm of the Lord has also been revealed, and it is to their harm and destruction that they reject.
But He has been revealed
It is a question for us all, for the Arm of the Lord in Isaiah’s mind and his message is the Messiah, and He has been revealed.
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
41
ARM OF REDEMPTION
Psalm 77:15 You with your arm redeemed your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
The psalmist is speaking of the deliverance of the nation of Israel from the Egyptian bondage they suffered under for four centuries.
It was not simply God who performed a few miracles to deliver them from the furnace of Egypt, but it was God with His arm.
Seems like a strange description of how the people of Israel were delivered, and I would like to suggest a few possible understandings of this passage.
First off, I made the assumption that the arm referred to the Messiah, and that it was a connection of the Messiah with God in the deliverance of Israel. This may be valid.
My second consideration was that the arm represented strength and as such, it was the strength of God that provided Israel deliverance from Egypt. This may be valid, but I would like to suggest one additional perspective.
Could the Psalmist be describing the deliverance as something that God performed without even breaking a sweat. Hear me out my friend, for it is only the arm of God that is referred to. Could the psalmist be saying something like – You only needed to flex your arm in providing deliverance for the nation.
Did God stand up to deliver Israel? Did He put his back into the effort? I speak as a fool in describing these actions as if God had a back, or even an arm, but as the Psalmist gets specific, it tends to make me ask some silly questions.
Nevertheless, when it comes to the strength, or the power of God, the deliverance of Israel, mighty as it was, is dwarfed when compared with the deliverance supplied through the Messiah, His sacrificial death, resurrection, and ascension.
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.
Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.
Our current portion of Scripture speaks of David, the newly anointed King of Israel, being chosen by Saul’s servants as the One to serve the deposed King. How curious that of all within Saul’s kingdom, David is chosen to be a blessing to Saul. Let’s continue with the passage begun last week
1 Samuel 16:20-23, 17:5
20 And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul. 21 And David came to Saul and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor bearer. 22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.” 23 And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him. 15 but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.
In our last post we began to see the circumstances that Saul fell into in order to provide David the conditions required to prove himself as a warrior and future king, in the very king’s court that he will someday assume. Incredible, but Saul invites the very person into his circle that will become his successor!
As a short review, Saul, in order to provide some relief from a troubling spirit from the Lord, sent his servants to Jesse requesting the service of his son David. Consider Jesse, fresh from coming off experiencing his son being anointed the next king of Israel, and then the current king has his men show up on his doorstep! Talk about suspicious coincidences!
Surely this must be bad! Very bad news for the son of Jesse! No wonder Jesse sent a donkey laden with gifts, along with the son he may never see again. How this must have confused Jesse, not to mention David himself. He had just received a promise form God about his destiny, and now he is entering the very lions mouth!
Nevertheless, David entered Saul’s service , and he served Saul to the point where Saul gained great affection for him, to the point of loving him, and appointing him to be his armor bearer. David was pulled into the inner circle quickly, with Saul seeking to keep him, that Jesse would allow him to remain.
Saul could have kept David, for he was king and had the authority to take as he pleased, but his actions speak of the respect he had for David at this time, and the desire to keep him in his service willingly. This is a redeeming trait in Saul’s life at this time, though it may have been somewhat selfish in order to satisfy his own needs. Whatever motivated Saul, David was becoming the one that Saul depended on in areas of mental health and general service.
Yet note that our last verse speaks of David splitting his time between his father and his king. David did not use this opportunity granted him of being called to a higher position to ignore his previous duties. He did not forget his father’s sheep. He was a shepherd at heart and though he would become a man of war, and a powerful king, his heart is exposed in this little verse. When he could pull away from formal duties for the king, he would seek out the welfare of his father’s sheep.
There is another Shepherd, that in His many duties, is still seeking out His sheep, for that is where His heart is. He is a Savior that is not constrained by time limitations as David was, but our Savior is constantly tending to His Father’s sheep.
He is the True Shepherd, the Greater David, a Kind and Loving King who has bled and died for us. May His name be praised for all that He is and for all that He does!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
Considering the Bible 