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
ABIATHAR
REJECTION
1 Kings 2:27 ESV – So Solomon expelled Abiathar from being priest to the LORD, thus fulfilling the word of the LORD that he had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.
Matthew 21:42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
I would like to return to Abiathar for one more post, for though he reflected Jesus as a survivor, (Jesus in the Old Testament – Abiathar – 01) he also reflects the Lord’s experience as one rejected.
Remember that Abiathar was a priest that had narrowly escaped the wrath of a crazy king, but in his latter days, he made a decision that was not in his own favor. In the last days of David’s reign, Abiathar decided to break away from his king to follow Adonijah. The rebel son who sought to become King Solomon’s enemy. The son of David who saw his brother Absalom succumb to the hand of God in protecting the reign of David, also tried to wrest the kingdom away.
David’s reign and dynasty was to be extended through Solomon, but Adonijah saw opportunity, and Abiathar got caught up in the possibility of a King Adonijah
All of this history speaks of Abiathar’s mistakes, his ungratefulness, his treachery to the reign of God through David, yet he was rejected by the king, rightfully so, but rejected!
A priest rejected by a king. How shameful!
Jesus, as a priest above and beyond the mere earthly honor of Abiathar, performed no self serving lining up with an earthly political flashpoint, but served God only in His faithful life. He is nothing like Abiathar in this priest’s efforts to gain office through treachery, yet they both suffered rejection, shame and dishonor.
Only how much greater shame the Son of God experienced, for though Abiathar deserved the shame, Jesus only deserves honor, glory and splendor. For His name to be associated with shame, rejection and dishonor only reflects on us, a people who truly do not understand the greatness of the Son!
Honor and accept His ways, for He is beyond our imagination in the goodness He will guide us into.
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.
173
GLORY TO YOUR PEOPLE ISRAEL
Luke 2:32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”
In a post in this series, the Name of God we considered was “Glory of Israel”, and Samuel was addressing King Saul, trying to get through his head that he wasn’t the glory of Israel, he wasn’t the strength or supreme eminence of Israel, and that his throne was not perpetual – As a matter of fact, his kingdom had been taken from him.
Flash forward over 1,000 years into the future from the rejection of the earthly reign of King Saul to the birth of a young peasant girl’s first born.
Mary and Joseph arrive at the temple, with the child being 40 days old for his presentation before the God of Israel when Simeon first laid eyes on this baby. Now it seems God had somehow communicated to Simeon that he would see the salvation of the “Lord’s Christ”. This is no small event that Simeon had been privileged to enter into. The focus of all the prophets, seers, priests and faithful of Israel and beyond had waited for this day, the day when the Savior would be revealed to the world.
Did Simeon have preconceptions? Was he informed by God that he would recognize the Messiah in the form of a baby? Might he have thought that the Messiah would be a man of power that would rise up in the nation, with God providing verification to him at the right time? Even anointed as David was, though somewhat in obscurity until the right time?
All conjecture, but for myself, to think that Simeon would make such a statement over a baby as he did, after waiting to see the “Lord’s Christ”, the Anointed of God, is remarkable.
Jesus spoke no words. He provided no message. He had performed no miracles. He was a helpless baby, dependent upon his parents, held close to his mothers heart. Mary had treasured up many things, pondering truths revealed to her in her heart. Joseph had been spoken to, and now Simeon comes out of the woodwork, speaking of the person of this baby.
Even at His birth, those of the nascent church recognized truth without any argument, without any “evidence” required. They heard the voice of God and knew this baby was the One.
He was, and is, the glory offered to the nation of Israel. Even as the nation of Israel was in the throws of it’s deepest idolatry and legalism, God’s greatest gift was provided to the nation, and not only the nation, but to the world. And one more voice, the voice of an elderly man, was added to the list of witnesses that spoke of salvation from God in the form of a baby.
To those who have yet to trust Him, His person, His words, and His works, glory has also been offered. To those who know not God, glory is offered.
Yet note that Simeon spoke of glory being offered to “your” people Israel. Simeon spoke of glory being offered to Israel, the people of God. They had no idea of the explosive, blinding glory they would experience as His life was lived before them.
Beyond His life, His resurrection only multiplied and magnified the glory they experienced during His life amongst them. Glory upon glory to a people who rejected Him, and yet were offered greater glory than they could have ever imagined!
He truly is good, and He is truly good all the time!
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.
172
Glory of Israel
1 Samuel 15:29 And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.
Samuel, the great prophet of God, the king maker of Israel is facing Saul, Israel’s first king. Samuel is not a happy camper, for Saul has ignored the Word of the Lord by not completely destroying the enemy of Israel. Saul has decided to be religious instead of righteous, for instead of obeying, he sacrifices animals that cost him nothing, in an effort to appease the God who had given him everything.
Nothing good is coming from this decision of Saul’s. Samuel lets him know that the kingdom will be taken from him, that the Lord has rejected him as king over Israel.
Samuel had to tell the man he anointed as king over Israel that his time of authority over Israel, and under God was over. Not only has Saul lost the kingdom, God had already found a replacement.
This has to be a mistake. Saul was desperate and sought to find a solution, yet Samuel makes the statement we are considering this morning declaring God’s unchanging will in this matter.
This is the only time this name of God shows up in the Word, and the term “Glory” in this verse is the term נֶצַח netsach. Of the many Hebrew words that are translated as glory in the Word, this particular word is inclined to the meaning of strength, or eminence, even perpetuity.
An interesting word to remind Saul that he is not the strength or eminence of Israel, and that his reign is not perpetual.
God is the perpetual strength of His people. He is the eminent One, the King of all. He is the Glory of Israel!
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 27:1-12 1 Then David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand.” 2 So David arose and went over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath. 3 And David lived with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal’s widow. 4 And when it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, he no longer sought him.
In our last post, we watched as the existing king of Israel and the future king of Israel faced off after some very embarrassing circumstances for Saul and Abner, along with some very good logic provided by David, the future king.
During the discourse, Saul confessed his sin towards David, and invited him home. (How sweet!)
David, on the other hand provided an argument to Saul of the current situation that was unanswerable, much like the Son of David often provided to those who sought His life!
During this speech of David, and in the middle of one of his claims, he mentioned that if men had stirred up Saul to persecute David, the end result, which was horrendous to David, would be that
1 Samuel 26:19 ….they have driven me out this day that I should have no share in the heritage of the LORD, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’
The men who had stirred up Saul was intending to drive David from the God he loved, from the temple where he sought the Lord, and into a land that was foreign and without the God of Israel.
In our passage today, we find that David refused the kind offer of Saul to return to Israel, and it’s general populace, (along with being within Saul’s grasp at any moment), but that he left the nation completely, knowing Saul was not to be trusted at all, that his words were to be rejected.
So we find David resorting to Achish, king of Gath, in the land of the Philistines.
Now if you have a good memory, this isn’t the first time David has went to Achish. Early on in David’s fleeing from Saul, David showed up at Achish’s doorstep, seeking some refuge of a type. For a brief reminder consider reading 1 Samuel 21:10-15, or Life of David – 12.01 and 12.02
This time, David flees Israel to enter the land of Dagon, the fish god, bringing his 600 men, with their families into pagan territory.
This strategy of David is not uncommon for those who follow the Lord, disappearing for a time to allow their enemies to be taken care of.
Did not the parents of Jesus go into pagan territory to keep the future King of Israel, and Savior of the world safe from a wicked king in Israel? David removed himself from Saul’s grasp, and in doing so, would never interact with him again.
What turmoil David must have endured, for we know that he literally cut himself off from his family, for he had lost his wife Michal to Saul’s instability, he lost access to his best friend Jonathon, all of the relationships he has forged while fighting for Israel under Saul’s kingship were done, other than those he was now traipsing into foreign land. Certainly a time of David’s life that offered him the temptation to despair.
On top of all his turmoil, he would no longer enter the temple, no longer be where the Lord resided, and to be before Him. He would be amongst weak, foreign, lifeless god’s who mocked the True God and His followers.
David’s strategy worked, for we see in the 4th verse, Saul no longer sought David, since he had fled to Gath.
Could we conclude that when David claimed the men that forced him to the land of other gods, that in reality, those men, or that man was to be cursed for doing so?
Let’s reread 1 Samuel 26:19
1 Samuel 26:19 Now therefore let my lord the king hear the words of his servant…. if it is men, may they be cursed before the LORD, for they have driven me out this day that I should have no share in the heritage of the LORD, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’
David was delivering Saul his own curse, in that Saul was the reason David fled his nation, and had entered Philistia, a land that was rife with other gods.
Saul intent may have been to corrupt David, but we know that he came out of Philistia stronger and more passionate for the will of God than when he entered. We shall see David enter struggle after struggle, disappointment topped with despair, but he came out of the land of the Philistines ready to reign and to bring glory days to the nation.
What man planned for evil, God used for good. Does that sound familiar? Very much so, for God orchestrates our lives through the good and the bad, to bring about His will.
The best example of this is of course the Lord Jesus, for He entered the worst possible condition, that is the taking of His life, the violent removal from the land of the living, to only arise to greater glory, greater authority and greater power.
He did not stay in the land of the dead, but arose to provide entrance into the land of the living for all His followers.
May we give thanks to our Son of David, no matter our own situation. If it be difficult, look to Him, for He is orchestrating the good even as we follow Him.
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.
171
GLORY OF THE NATIONS
Isaiah 66:12 For thus says the LORD: “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip, and bounced upon her knees.
To determine the glory of the nations may take many forms. It may be the fantastic roadway systems developed for the safe travel of the nations population. Remember I am a highway engineer so trust me – the highways are incredible – but enough of that.
Other characteristics that might be considered a glory of a nation may be the massive buildings built, the wealth generated for it’s people, the stable social order established, the religious fervor of the people, the integrity of the political process, the righteous laws established, the fair and equitable enforcement of those laws, the societies attitude towards life, both in the womb and next to the grave, the freedom of the citizen to express their thoughts freely. We could go on and on in how some may describe the glory of a nation.
Each of these are valid characteristics for a nation to be judged by in our world.
Note that in Isaiah, as he is describing Jerusalem, representing the new Israel, he speaks of the Glory of the Nations being extended over Israel like an overflowing stream.
Incredible. Thinking in earthly terms, the message may be understood that all the valuable characteristics, possessions and attributes of the greatest nations will impact Israel like an overflowing stream, that Israel will be inundated by the greatness and glory of each of the gentile nations characteristics! She will be elevated to her greatest position. How wonderful!
Yet let us consider an alternate view, a view that may honor God from a different point of view.
Two millennium ago, an itinerant Rabbi taught of God, of the love and care the Father had to those who would repent and follow. The following He attained became threatening to the powers that were, and eventually, all fell away. Yet after His murder and resurrection and within the next 40 years, the new, true Israel flooded the populace of the existing Israel with a new life, with a new understanding of God and His saving nature, and the Glory of the Nations, the One who is the Savior of the world inundated the physical nation of Israel.
The true Israel exploded in life, and while the political/national/religious life of the established Israel faded and eventually ceased to exist, the true Israel continued to grow exponentially, covering all the known world.
The Glory of the Nations is Jesus, and as the resurrected One, He has led the overflowing stream of life and righteousness not only over the people of Israel, but over all the nations.
The nations of the world, including Israel today, have one true Glory in God’s eye.
His name is Jesus!
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.
170
GLORIOUS NAME
Nehemiah 9:5 Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, “Stand up and bless the LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.
We spoke of the term Glorious in our previous post, and of my surprise of the original way this Hebrew term began to describe glory.
For this post let us consider that the very name of God is glorious, not that we call God Glorious, as though people call me Carl, but that His name is glorious.
So, what is a name at it’s core?
A general name is to define a person place or thing as someone, something different than an other. A general name is simply a designation of convenience to identify someone or something.
For a personal name, (for God is personal), the name may describe or identify an individual in his or her most intimate manner, in an effort or manner to designate that person from all others by way of a personal relationship.
When I am in a crowd, and I hear my personal name “Carl”, one head turns to the direction the voice came from. My personal name is used by those I work with, those I have the honor of being friends with, those who relate to me in business matters and the such.
Now, from my personal name to my familial name, there is a filtering of those who apply. When I hear one calling me Dad, (or Daddy), there are few that this applies to, and when I hear it, I come a running.
Then there is the name that I respond to because of who speaks it. When the love of my life says my name, whether it be Carl, Sweetie, Hon or other, I recognize it and respond. She is the only one who may say any of my names and I respond singularly to her because of who she is.
All this rambling about names is my weak effort to describe the reality of relationships in how we relate to one an other.
For God, in the context of this passage, the name that is glorious is “LORD”. For a quick review of LORD, see Names of God – JEHOVAH (LORD) – 2.
He is the One who depends on no-one, is self existent, all powerful, all knowing and never changing. The name “LORD” is glorious in and of itself, for it describes the indescribable.
How my reader would like to consider His glorious name (general, personal, familial, spousal )in his or her life is dependent on their relation with the Savior Jesus, for He revealed the name of God in it’s fullest sense, and provided us the avenue of knowledge to know the LORD.
How glorious is His name to you?
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 26:21-25
21 Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will no more do you harm, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Behold, I have acted foolishly, and have made a great mistake.” 22 And David answered and said, “Here is the spear, O king! Let one of the young men come over and take it. 23 The LORD rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness, for the LORD gave you into my hand today, and I would not put out my hand against the LORD’s anointed. 24 Behold, as your life was precious this day in my sight, so may my life be precious in the sight of the LORD, and may he deliver me out of all tribulation.” 25 Then Saul said to David, “Blessed be you, my son David! You will do many things and will succeed in them.” So David went his way, and Saul returned to his place.
Here we go again.
Saul confesses his error before David, somewhat in similar fashion as he did in 1 Samuel 24:16-21. There are differences though. Other than an admittance that he had sinned, and the invitation for David, his son to return to the family, Saul only speaks of his living the life of a fool. How utterly sad.
Then Saul tries a different tack. He invites David back into the fold. This is very revealing, for I imagine (and that is all this is – my imagination) that Saul is thinking – if I can’t capture this threat to the throne, maybe I can convince him to come back, that my invitation will be sufficient to entice him into my surroundings.
Saul may be sincere, but I fear not. Is it not true that once a man’s word is broken, which Saul has proven on capable of on numerous occasions, only a foolish man would trust enticing words from him.
Proverbs 25:19 Trusting in a treacherous man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth or a foot that slips.
Yes Saul is untrustworthy, and may be sensing his own failures.
This turns out to be Saul’s last interaction with the future king of Israel. A future king that sought to have his kingdom built on allowing God to place him on the throne, and not through acts of violence or treachery.
David understood the truth of the Lord’s faithfulness, of how the Lord reward’s us out of our decisions in life. Living a life of self centered desire, walking over others to get ahead, and focusing on my own wants will lead to a life God cannot bless. With that said, it must be reiterated that in all things God is abundantly gracious to us in our circumstances, no matter our decisions, yet it is for us to act properly for the blessings to be released in greater ways.
David said he would not put out his hand against Saul, and that Saul’s life was precious in his sight.
Is not David expressing God’s own thoughts towards His enemies, and expressing the very actions of the Son of God as he proved God’s thoughts. He did consider our lives precious, and not only kept death from falling on us, but took the death we deserved. He is of course the Son of David, and in His life, He exhibited decisions David made here with added grace and added mercy, culminating in His own sacrifice.
Consider verse 24 in relation to God honoring David’s life due to David honoring Saul’s life. David looked to God for salvation from tribulation, and protection.
1 Samuel 26:24 Behold, as your life was precious this day in my sight, so may my life be precious in the sight of the LORD, and may he deliver me out of all tribulation.”
Alas, not so with the Son of God, at least in regards to His earthly life. He went through death, even as He saved others, even to save others.
The truth is still the truth, for as we read in verse 23
1 Samuel 26:23 The LORD rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness…
Jesus has been rewarded for a sinless life and a sacrificial death, by way of being raised from the dead, and being lifted to the highest position. He is the King, and as Saul spoke the last words to David, may the same be considered for our Savior.
1 Samuel 26:25 ESV – Then Saul said to David, “Blessed be you, my son David! You will do many things and will succeed in them.”
Jesus succeeded in all His actions, and is the Most Blessed!
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.
169
GLORIOUS SPLENDOUR OF YOUR MAJESTY
Psalm 145:5 On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
To meditate is to dwell, to settle the mind on a subject or topic and reside on that topic. To consider the topic, to review the topic, to ask questions and to accept the message, to understand how the topic impacts your life or to realize how little you know of the topic.
Or name of God in this post is the double description of the King.
Let’s try to dig into this name of God and find a thought to carry into our day to dwell on, as the psalmist dis in his day.
MAJESTY
Majesty speaks of authority and dignity, of royalty, nobility and elegance. To be majestic was to imply that the majestic one was higher, better, greater, stronger than those he reigned over. To be majestic did not allow for a democratic choosing of a leader, but of the right to rule due to bloodlines, to lineage, to the identity of the one ruling.
This was the picture provided in the Old Testament of the earthly kings, that the dynasties had the right to reign. God actually strengthened this thought by promising the eternal reign of David’s Son on the throne. David’s Son, who was faithful to God would reign eternally. Not only through a bloodline, but by actually being higher, better, greater and stronger than those He reigned over.
He is the only One deserving of Majesty as He sits on the Throne of the Kingdom of God, and over all of creation He is the King.
Yet this name includes two superlatives that are attached to majesty.
GLORIOUS
When I first found that this Hebrew word spoke originally of weight, I lost my bearing. Yet I dug a bit and found that during the establishment of this word meaning, a majority of those in authority also ate well, thereby associating weight (glory) with awe, magnificence, wonder or astonishment.
To be glorious implied a “weight” of being, an otherness from the ordinary, different than those around them, separate and of greater (implied) value.
Of course, as this term is brought into the discussion of God, this implied meaning becomes absolute, for He is different, sinless, without weakness, ignorance or foolishness. He is completely and without argument other than us, and yet He has bonded with our lives in the Son.
He has taken on our flesh (Hebrews 2:14) , that He may die to bring us to God.
SPLENDOUR
Splendor describes beauty, carrying the idea of beauty associated with glory, majesty and honor. All three of the terms we are looking at in this passage have much overlap, as though the psalmist could not find the words to completely describe the object of our worship.
The combination of splendor and majesty is common in the Old Testament, with both the Hebrew words being found in 8 different verses of the Old Testament.
But as mentioned above, the psalmist can’t hold back from his description of our God in this passage. The combination of these three terms are found only twice in Old Testament verses, with the second verse being
Psalm 21:5 His glory is great through your salvation; splendor and majesty you bestow on him.
Although the words are found in Psalm 21:5, the combination of these three terms in relation to the name of God may only be found in our verse today.
As you meditate on the name of God today, consider our Savior, for He is the GLORIOUS SPLENDOUR OF MAJESTY.
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.
168
GLORIOUS ARM
Isaiah 63:12 who caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name,
As New Testament believers, we have the privilege of understanding the Old Testament from the standpoint of being in Christ. The entire Old Testament open up for us as we have found the key of understanding, the Person who is the focus of all that happened in the former days.
I previously pictured verses like our topic passage, exhibiting a massive, literal and muscled arm that Isaiah describes in this verse. I am way too literal at times but I fear that we sometimes interpret the Old Testament as 21st century believers and not as the ancient Hebrew recipients.
So how would an ancient Hebrew believer, contemporary to Isaiah understand this passage? How would the Old Testament Hebrew understand Isaiah’s use of “glorious arm?”
Throughout the passage, Isaiah is speaking of the Lord’s mercy to the nation, and uses word pictures, even metaphors of strength to describe God’s saving work for the nation.
I understand the Hebrew prophets to write in a poetic form, and to make use of figures or images that provide dual meanings for those reading the message. The prophets of old would also use a form of poetry called parallelism. This form of poetry would be developed by repeating the same message as the previous line, but with greater force, or with a richer picture to wedge itself in hearer’s mind.
When Isaiah started the portion of Scripture for our verse, He mentioned the Holy Spirit (twice) and of course God the Father was the subject of the deliverance of the people of God. When the deliverance was attributed to God’s Glorious Arm, it seems obvious to my understanding that Jesus is the subject.
He is the One who executed the deliverance, who completed the work, who was the One who accomplished the feat of rescue, who fulfilled the work planned. To further identify the Glorious Arm in this passage, the Savior is referred to in verse 8, and the Angel of His Presence in verse 9.
Consider the One who compared Himself as meek and lowly, as the Glorious Arm, the One who is able, and has performed the work of our salvation.
He is the Glorious Arm.
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 26:17-20
17 Saul recognized David’s voice and said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And David said, “It is my voice, my lord, O king.” 18 And he said, “Why does my lord pursue after his servant? For what have I done? What evil is on my hands? 19 Now therefore let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If it is the LORD who has stirred you up against me, may he accept an offering, but if it is men, may they be cursed before the LORD, for they have driven me out this day that I should have no share in the heritage of the LORD, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’ 20 Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth away from the presence of the LORD, for the king of Israel has come out to seek a single flea like one who hunts a partridge in the mountains.”
David has demolished Abner with words. He has nothing left at this time, being shamed in front of his men, and in fron t of the king, whom he is directly responsible for. A terrible situation for Abner.
Saul now takes the lead in conversing with David.
David lays the base complaint out. Why are you after me? What have I done to you to make this way? What evil have I performed? Make it make sense King Saul, for I am still unsure what I have done to deserve this.
And without waiting for response from Saul, David continues with an either / or statement that leaves Saul in the dust.
The Lord is stirring you up to chase me.
Men are stirring you up to chase me.
A simple either / or argument. Nothing brought into the discussion that is emotion laced, with feverish arguments, personal attacks, screaming, shouting and cursing, (although being separated by the fields, I am sure the voices were raised to be heard). I get the impression that David is addressing King Saul from a standpoint of logic. Not a discussion based on emotion, as all dependence of David being related to Saul, and of their personal relationship has been clearly jettisoned at this point!
The Lord Stirring Saul
First suggested reason David provided to Saul, as to his reason for hunting him down, is that the Lord is behind this action. Did David seriously consider this to be a possibility, for he had been crowned by God, had been informed of Saul having lost the kingdom, and was being led by God through this persecution.
But consider the wisdom of David in this offering. Saul must come to a point where he is to be shaken from any assumption he is doing the Lord’s work. If David has done anything offensive to God, and Saul is seeking the Lord’s will, a sacrifice may be performed to make things right.
The solution in David’s mind was based on the revealed will of God. For Saul, this option was simply unacceptable to agree to, since a sacrifice would allow David to live, and provide Saul no righteous opportunity to eliminate this young upstart!
Men stirring Saul
Only other option was that men were stirring up Saul to take David out of the picture. When I say men, I am including Saul as a source of the stirring up, and think David is simply offering this argument to honor the king.
If this continual effort to cut David’s life short is “of men”, of which Saul is providing ample evidence of being controlled by, the option is only worse for Saul.
v 19 …may they (whichever man is responsible for this injustice) be cursed before the LORD, for they have driven me out this day that I should have no share in the heritage of the LORD, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’
Both David and Saul understand that the war is strictly between two men, two kings, a worldly king and a non-worldly king. Between righteousness and non righteousness.
And David makes it clear.
If this continual persecution is of man, they are to be cursed of the Lord, for this aggression towards David is the commitment of extreme prejudice, jealousy, envy, hatred and self preservation. Nothing righteous or of God can be found in this action, for it drives a man of God away from the very God he is to worship. David is forced to leave the promised land to enter foreign lands, and if he is able to be in Israel, he can not be near the temple.
For David, all things centered around God. His argument before the king of Israel was logical and plain, provide straight forward conclusions to the two options provided, and left Saul without any response.
Consider the strength of David in his communication to the most influential men in Israel, Abner and Saul, and how he stripped them both of any ability to defend themselves in their actions.
The Son of David was only greater in His delivery of questions, of His provision of options within a situation, and of His conclusions to situations faced by those who hunted Him. He strictly and consistently appealed to truth, and left His opponents without response.
All of this is so awesome, for I too love to strip those who may be my enemy of any response to an argument. I often thought of myself as one who brought the gun to a knife fight, metaphorically speaking, when entering a discussion with one I may disagree with.
This is sin. Note that David showed respect to the King, and sought to dull the argument when possible without taking the sting out of the point being made. (I refer to David speaking of “men” goading on Saul when all knew the motivation was sourced from Saul himself!
For the believer, the weapons of our warfare are not characterized by pride, self worship, competitiveness, or the abuse of truth.
We are to speak the truth in love, even when addressing our enemy, realizing we are fighting for the person we are speaking to, and not against him or her.
Remember my friend, we follow the One who is full of GRACE and TRUTH. A massive challenge to present the truth in grace can only be met when we are constantly listening to His guidance and voice.
Are you listening or formulating arguments?
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
Amos
Knowledge of God’s Secrets
Amos 3:7 “For the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.
Ephesians 3:5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.
There is an element of Christianity that claims God almost requires their permission to act, that they are the creators of their own prosperity. One of the verses that this group rely on is our passage above, wresting it out of context and using it for their own benefit. The leadership of this group claim privilege beyond any saint or prophet of old. God is looking to warn His people of the judgement coming, and with this intent, Amos speaks of God revealing this secret to his prophets. Nothing more than that for Amos.
Ephesians 3:5 speaks to this limitation of the Old Testament saints and prophets. For the New Testament era, Paul does provide teaching regarding the knowledge revealed to His apostles and prophets. This greater revelation though is of the mystery of Christ, but Paul defines this mystery. This mystery is of the combining of the Gentiles and Jews into the Body of Christ.
For us who have readily accepted this truth, to call it a mystery seems to be dated since it is such an established truth. Yet even in the era we live in, God has not revealed everything to His people. The Word has provided revelation beyond anything we deserve, yet there are many things God is still holding close to the chest from us.
We are to be thankful for His revealing of the One who can and does share in the knowledge of God’s secrets. for He is worthy, and rightly to be considered the One who is the Knowledge of God’s Secrets.
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.
167
GLADNESS OF YOUR NATION
Psalm 106:4-5 Remember me, O LORD, when you show favor to your people; help me when you save them that I may look upon the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation, that I may glory with your inheritance.
Psalm 106 is a psalm in which the author recounts the many instances of Israel’s rebellion. In verse 6 and continuing for 40 verses, the psalmist speaks of Israel’s failure. Psalm 105 speaks of God’s mercy and mighty acts for 40 verses, and this chapter speaks of the many times Israel has forgotten God wandering into sin.
Psalm 106 is a psalm that speaks of the nation’s weakness and tendency to wander. The psalmist knows his content and cry of admission, but before he recounts the failed history of the nation, and his own life, he begins with verse 4 &5. He cries out to God in verse 4 for national help, for a national salvation and for favor to be shown to His people.
The psalmist cries this out for three reasons in verse 5. He is asking for the favor of the Lord that he (the psalmist) may…
1. look upon the prosperity of your chosen ones, 2. rejoice in the gladness of your nation, 3. glory with your inheritance.
He knows that though God has been offended by their rebellion, the only hope they have is the mercy of God. Once granted by God, the psalmist will take part in experiencing the prosperity, gladness and glory of the nation, of the people of God.
Hundreds of years after the psalmist passes, God provides this mercy in the person of the Lord Jesus. He is the personification of all of God’s mercy towards Israel, in the midst of their sinful behavior, and as believers today, we know that in His coming and dying for the nation, He is, for those who will see, the very Gladness of Your Nation.
He is the Gladness of His Nation, the church spread throughout the earth!
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.
166
GIFT OF GOD
John 4:10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
Can Jesus raise a curious mind? Can He bring interest to the forefront. Does He not draw people out of their self involved little world to see bigger pictures?
The Samaritan woman is one of my favorite characters in the early chapters of John, only for the sake of Jesus choosing her to openly confess His Messiahship. Dang – He hadn’t even told the disciple as yet, though they openly expressed their suspicions.
A question for my reader. Is Jesus asking her one question or two? Is it the same question?
Is it equal in intent to say that the gift of God is He that is asking for water? Is He equating in this verse that He is the gift of God? I realize He uses the word “and”, expressing commonly the addition of a thought.
But might He be a Hebrew prophet (and much more) and follow in the tradition of speaking one truth, and then clarifying that truth with another statement. It is very common in the proverbs, and in the prophets.
I had a chance to discuss this form of communicating in a post a few years back called Did Jesus go to Hell? When you arrive to that post, do a quick search for poetry and the paragraph will pop up.
Nevertheless, as we know from passages later in John, and throughout the New Testament, and Old, Jesus is the gift of God to undeserving saints and sinners.
This woman was simply the first to hear it from His own lips. What a fantastic story of her redemption and release from bondage.
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 26:13-16
13 Then David went over to the other side and stood far off on the top of the hill, with a great space between them. 14 And David called to the army, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, “Will you not answer, Abner?” Then Abner answered, “Who are you who calls to the king?” 15 And David said to Abner, “Are you not a man? Who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not kept watch over your lord the king? For one of the people came in to destroy the king your lord. 16 This thing that you have done is not good. As the LORD lives, you deserve to die, because you have not kept watch over your lord, the LORD’s anointed. And now see where the king’s spear is and the jar of water that was at his head.”
David’s beef is with Saul, but in this portion of Scripture, David takes on Abner.
Let’s take a moment to consider who Abner is.
First off, he is the “general”, or commander in chief of Saul’s troops. He is first cousin to the king, and he it is who brought David to Saul after his giant killing! He eventually became a king maker when Saul’s army was defeated at Gilboa, and setting up Saul’s (weak) son Ish-bosheth, he essentially became a power broker in the Northern Kingdom.
It is assumed he was at the battle of Gilboa, in which his king died, and for a period of 7 years, was the military leader David would have to face when war broke out between Israel (Ish-bosheth) and Judah (David).
One other item that seems pertinent to this short time considering Abner is the type of culture he existing in. Israel, and the surrounding nations were based on an honor/shame based society. Throughout the Word, shame appears twice as often as guilt. Honor appears over 115 times in the Old Testament. All this to provide a background to David’s message to Abner – not King Saul.
David – “Will you not answer, Abner?”
Although this is the literal translation, and provides us the formal request from David to discuss the previous (unknown) entrance and theft of the Kings spear and water bottle, I really like the NLT, where it catches, what I think was David’s intended message
David – “Wake up, Abner!” (NLT)
Of course Abner responds, hopefully understanding that the camp had been infiltrated with the spear and jug gone!
Abner – “Who are you who calls to the king?”
Again, the NLT brings out a possible intent of the response from Abner.
Abner – “Who is it?”
Having opened up a line of communication, David brings his volleys of questions, all based on the shame associated with failing to guard the king.
David – “Are you not a man? Who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not kept watch over your lord the king? For one of the people came in to destroy the king your lord.
Abner, David implies, you have a reputation of being a man’s man, a fighter, a general, a leader. Is this true? You have a reputation that is unlike any other in Israel. You are the top of the pile, the confidant of the king, the protector of the throne! No one in Israel is like you.
If that is true, why did you let down the guard, ignore the safety of the King. As a matter of fact Abner, by allowing the enemy in the camp, it appears the enemy has more respect for the king than you. The enemy, (David and his cohort), only took a weapon, which could have easily been used against the king, and a jug of water. They respected the king’s life, even proving their allegiance to the king over your own.
What shame! What an utterly devastating attack on Abner!
David continues with Abner, pronouncing a death sentence on him, depending on the Lord for the timing and occurrence. Death was deserved.
David was kicking sand in Abner’s eyes and he did it very effectively. All the camp of Israel, all 3,000 soldiers of Ahab, may have heard this message. If not, the rumor mill would provide the details for all to know.
Abner received a gut punch to his life at this time is his military career. I wonder how it all washed out in the end, as Abner and David face off in future conflicts.
Let me ask my reader. Golly – let me as my reader a bunch of questions!)
Do you think we as a society have walked away from a honor/shame based society?
How about as God’s people?
Do you personally relate to the social valuation of honor and shame for your life?
Might the assigning of shame perform any benefit to the bearer of it?
Could this shift be related to the hardening of our conscience as our society slips further and further from the Word of God?
Thoughts that keep me up at night. Have a good day, and be thankful for a God who is honorable, and seeks to keep us from shame! May His name be praised!
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
Amos
Tradesman
Amos 7:14 Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor a prophet’s son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs.
Mark 6:3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
Amos had no qualifications for the position of prophet, at least in the eyes of the ruling class. His message to Jeroboam, the king of the Northern Kingdom had been relayed to king Jeroboam by Amaziah the priest of Bethel. See Amos 7:10-13. The message contained harsh judgment on the king and that the northern kingdom would be taken away captive.
Amaziah, the priest then took the position of protecting the apostate king, and warned Amos off to Judah, the Southern Kingdom. Go cause trouble to the south, for that is where you come from. Don’t bother us in the north!
Amos response? I’m a nobody Amaziah. A simple herdsman, and a picker of fruit. A farmer, not professional priest with all the adornment and pomp. A simple man, who has been called by God to head north, to provide a warning to this nation, to supply a Word of the LORD to the people who have walked away from Him. I am no danger to you! How dangerous can a farmer be? I am here to provide a message of deliverance from doom!
How like the Master, who until He took on His ministry of warning and providing the Word of the LORD to His generation, was a simple carpenter, a builder of “things”, a man who worked with His hands.
He acquired no institutional learning other than the mandatory training of all Jewish boys. He learned of the Torah, the Law and Jewish history from His family, and some formal schooling where He may have learned the three “R’s”, that is reading writing and ‘rithmetic.
Other than that, Jesus was untrained (thankfully) of any institutional process. His training came from time with the Father. Copious focused times with the Father, receiving His mission, not unlike Amos, to provide warning and the Word to a nation in trouble.
Amos and Jesus were untrained tradesmen, who heard the call of God and did not let some man made requirement for earthly education stop them from fulfilling their God given ministry.
Are you a highly trained professional Christian? Be thankful for your training, for God can use it, but understand from the example of Amos and Jesus, the crucial training for ministry is directly from the Lord.
Are you a tradesman, possibly a layman in the church? Be thankful for such an example as we see in Amos and our Lord. Be careful in dwelling only under the LORD’s direction. For we also need to understand from the example of Amos and Jesus, the crucial training for ministry is directly from 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.
165
GENTILES HOPE
Romans 15:12 And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.”
I have developed a listing of names to pull from as I write this series and last night as I glanced at the next name to consider, I saw our topic – Gentiles Hope. For some reason I was thinking of the mystery made known to the Gentiles, found in Colossians.
Doh.
Maybe it was that the term “Gentiles” may be a mysterious word to some of my readers. To be a gentile is to be a non-Jew. I’m a Gentile – at least I was. (Biblically, there are three types of folk on earth. Consider 1 Corinthians 10:31 )
You may be a gentile. If so, and we had been born over 2,000 years ago, we had no direct link to God Almighty unless we submitted to the Jewish faith. Some Gentiles knew nothing of the Jewish faith, being so distanced from the land of promise. (Somewhat like today, with so many lost unknowing of the Christ and His church). So to be a Gentile was to be a non-Jew. And Jesus is the Hope of the Gentile.
Paul, as the Apostle to the Gentiles, begins a portion of Romans 15 developing the Old Testament promise of God bringing in the Gentiles into a living relationship with Him.
Let’s get the flow of Paul’s message in the previous verses.
8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs,
9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.“
10 And again it is said, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.”
11 And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him.”
12 And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.”
Our name this morning is the capstone verse of Paul’s argument, after tripping off many Old Testament verses that speak of Jesus being the answer to God’s promise given to the patriarchs regarding the Gentiles.
Hold up. The Gentiles were always in God’s plan, even within the promise to the patriarchs?
Let’s go way back in time to Genesis, and see what Paul is speaking of.
When God chose Abraham, the promise of the Gentiles Hope was provided.
Genesis 12:3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
That promise refers to the Gentiles, even before they were separated from the Jewish nation. All of the families of the earth!
Consider also, that God narrowed down to One Man the Gentiles Hope, that through the verses above, God doesn’t mention that the Gentiles will have hope in a religion, or a system of approaches to God, or a law, or even a specific lifestyle. The Hope of the Gentiles is a Man, and that Hope has been realized for many Gentiles.
Thank you Jesus for providing not only the Hope of the Gentiles, prior to your arrival, but Hope for the Gentiles even as we have come to know You.
From one Gentile to my fellow Gentiles. Hope in Jesus, for He is your only hope of eternal 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.
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.
164
FULLNESS OF GOD
Colossians 1:19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell
God dwelling with man. He has sought many ways to dwell with man.
Creation comes to mind. God provided an idyllic environment (‘cept for one tree) that would provide both man and woman opportunity to be with Him, to know Him and to love Him.
Man rejected the offer of dwelling with God.
Oh but then there was the opportunity to obey, or to be in tune with that fragile conscience, and to seek God through prayer. During the time of Seth, people began to call on God. Promising for a time, yet in the background the general population was deteriorating. Did you know that at Seth’s death, Noah’s birth was only 14 years later? That is incredible, and speaks of the seeming downgrading of the population, to the point that full scale judgement was to fall during Noah’s time.
So it seems that man rejected the offer of dwelling with God again.
Ok, so with Noah a new arrangement, a new start, a realization that rejecting God and His presence ends in catastrophe. And yet by the time God was about to call out a nation for His own name, only one man was found that seemed intent to know God.
What is going on? I though we were generally good people?
So mankind rejects the offer of dwelling with God again.
That man I just mentioned, Abraham, well he wanted to follow God, and He is considered the Father of our faith, rightly so. He was groundbreaking in his relationship with God, and God found someone that sought Him
But as we all know, he lived in a time when most around him rejected God, knew nothing of God and they mocked Abraham as he seeking God.
So mankind rejected the opportunity to find dwelling with God. Again.
From Abraham, a family began, a dysfunctional family (like mine) made up of men and women that wandered and rejected God for the most part. As the family grew into tribes, a young man was rescued from the reeds in order to provide another opportunity for God to dwell with man. Eventually God rescued the tribes through this man, delivered them to a new land and provided them a tabernacle. The tabernacle housed the very presence of God. This was truly a huge step on God’s part to take, and the privilege the Israelites were granted was beyond any nation on earth.
Yet we know that the nation rejected the dwelling of God, rejected all the counsel, became apostate, was taken into captivity, rescued and brought back to the land. Mercy upon mercy, yet the nation became hardened, trying to create a sense of dwelling with God, all the while rejecting Him.
So mankind rejected the opportunity to find dwelling with God, even upon privilege and the exhibition of tremendous mercy. Rejection again.
A baby born to a young girl. A highly unlikely solution to the problem, for He had no training, no status, no riches or obvious advantage. Yet this little child actually was the dwelling of God. And let me make this a bit clearer. It pleased God to dwell in this child, even as He grew into a young man.
Man generally rejected the opportunity to dwell with God, and yet God was continually reaching out to man in so many ways. It wasn’t simple indifference on the part of so many, but outright rejection of the opportunity to experience the dwelling of God.
Granted, there were saints in the Old Testament that experienced God dwelling with them, being with them, training, teaching, comforting, guiding, feeding them. Yes there were many great men through the ages.
But I can find nowhere in the Word a statement describing any saint as experiencing all the fullness of God. Not only that, but that God was pleased to dwell fully in the man.
Oh the Spirit may have been with David and Isaiah, Moses and Jeremiah in mighty ways, empowering them to do mighty acts for God. Yet at times it seems the Spirit was willing to pull back, to leave for a period of time. Even David was fearful of the Spirit leaving him.
Nothing like that with Jesus though.
God was completely comfortable in the body of the Lord, residing in Him. Jesus – God and human. Consider what it means when Paul states that it pleased God to dwell completely and without reservation, fully in the flesh and blood body of the man Jesus. No reluctance, no hesitancy, no struggle. To dwell completely and fully. Not a portion of the Spirit, but without any doubts or uncertainty.
It has been the intent and desire of God since creation to dwell with man. That Man is Jesus, and He is the only One who has experienced this. Only as we seek Jesus, do we have opportunity to experience God’s dwelling, for God’s dwelling may only be found in Jesus.
Are you pleased to dwell with Jesus?
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 26:6-12
6 Then David said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Joab’s brother Abishai the son of Zeruiah, “Who will go down with me into the camp to Saul?” And Abishai said, “I will go down with you.” 7 So David and Abishai went to the army by night. And there lay Saul sleeping within the encampment, with his spear stuck in the ground at his head, and Abner and the army lay around him. 8 Then Abishai said to David, “God has given your enemy into your hand this day. Now please let me pin him to the earth with one stroke of the spear, and I will not strike him twice.” 9 But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand against the LORD’s anointed and be guiltless?” 10 And David said, “As the LORD lives, the LORD will strike him, or his day will come to die, or he will go down into battle and perish. 11 The LORD forbid that I should put out my hand against the LORD’s anointed. But take now the spear that is at his head and the jar of water, and let us go.” 12 So David took the spear and the jar of water from Saul’s head, and they went away. No man saw it or knew it, nor did any awake, for they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from the LORD had fallen upon them.
A deep sleep. Oh what a wonderful gift from God to have a deep sleep. Especially for Saul, for this provided an opportunity for David’s expression of mercy to be performed.
Imagine David and Abishai sneaking into the camp, and one of Saul’s 3,000 men stirs, wakens and alerts the camp. The entire army is about to wipe David and Abishai off the earth! All of David’s intentions would go up in smoke! But let us start the passage starts. David is looking for a volunteer to enter the camp of the enemy. Abishai, a willing soldier, and David’s nephew jumps on this opportunity.
Now a bit of understanding of who Abishai was. He was a most honored commander of the second rank of David’s officers, a giant killer like his uncle (2 Samuel 21:15-17), the brother of Joab and Asahel, and eventually took part in the killing of Abner, which David condemned, even pronouncing a curse on him. He was a mighty man of valor and was experienced in battle, to the point of wielding his spear to kill 300 men in battle (1 Chronicles 11:20, 2 Samuel 23:18). In one battle, Abishai killed 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt (1 Chronicles 18:12). Talk about your killing machine – this guy was an ultimate soldier!
So naturally it is safe to assume that by entering the camp of king Saul, Abishai was intending to spill some blood! As this is the first time Abishai shows up in the narrative, he may not have been in the cave when David showed mercy to the king previously.
I love it where Abishai asks so politely to murder the king. He is so committed to David, that even the actions he wants to do, for the sake of David, is subject to David’s wishes and not his own nature of the “killing machine” we find later in his life!
1 Samuel 26:8 Then Abishai said to David, “God has given your enemy into your hand this day. Now please let me pin him to the earth with one stroke of the spear, and I will not strike him twice.”
David stops Abishai, relating his decision to the anointing on Saul as being a government ruler, a king over Israel. Saul’s life continued on this occasion based on the status, or calling he received from God, and not his personal character or righteous/unrighteous acts.
David saw three viable options of Saul’s death.
The Lord will strike Saul
His day will come to die
He will go down in battle
Remember now, that David has received the anointing to be the next king. Could he not reason that Saul had lost the status of rightful king, no longer being the anointed? That as the called of God, David represented God and may act as the Lord’s representative, striking Saul?
Maybe. I know many may use this reasoning, in order to get an end result they wish for, but David was exercising faith in God in this act of mercy, and establishing the importance of stability within his own kingdom based on God’s will for the nation. God would raise and lower kings on His timetable and manner.
David, in the middle of 3,000 men, and with the king, his greatest enemy at his feet, took the time to explain his faith to his nephew. Again, David establishes his faith in front of his men, a faith that allows for mercy, a faith that is counter cultural, and that seems ridiculous. Why waste this opportunity?
David took the spear and the water jug. The Lord kept the army of Saul asleep. And I can just imagine Abishai scratching his head as he follows his Master through an army intent on killing them.
There will be times in our lives, at least in my life, where I have been completely flummoxed at what God was doing. As I sought to follow Him through an army of enemies (both physical and spiritual), I scratched my head bald for trying to understand.
But He is the Master and though some experiences may be confusing, some experiences may be counter cultural, some experiences against our nature, and some experiences seem to be opportunities lost, there is One whom we need to follow, whether we understand or not.
After all, Jesus is the anointed, ever living King! Let’s trust Him as we are in the midst of multiple enemies, living for Him.
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.
163
FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH
John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Jesus is full of grace and truth.
To be full is to be complete, lacking in nothing, thoroughly permeated, filled to the brim, perfect.
He is spoken of as being full of the Holy Spirit.
Luke 4:1 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness.
To be full implies there is no room for anything else in the vessel. In our verse, John speaks of Jesus as being full of two characteristics, and by stating this, he may be thinking of an Old Testament passage that refers to the same two characteristics that God described Himself as being.
Exodus 34:6 The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
Steadfast Love. חֶסֶד cheçed. Kindness, favor, mercy. As God passed by Moses, one of the descriptions he heard was of the kindness and mercy of God.
Faithfulness. אֶמֶת ʼemeth. Faithfulness, firmness, truth. The second descriptor of our God that Moses heard, that John recounts to us of Jesus is that of reliability, sureness, faithfulness and truth, that which confirms to reality! He must conform to reality, for He is the source of all reality, and as the fruit so is the tree!
So as John was describing the Prophet from Nazareth to his readers, He continued linking Jesus with the eternal, calling Him out as the Lord of Lords, the God of gods. Linking Him with the God Moses wrote of, abounding in grace and truth, unable to fit anything else into His nature. Abounding, full of grace and truth.
In all of Jesus actions, the base motivator is grace and truth. Combined, for without truth, the actions have no lasting stability, and without grace, the actions become harsh, hard and without life.
No, He is a God who loves, acting out of a gracious, truth based nature! He is Full of Grace and Truth. He proved it while walking amongst us, and if you know Him, He continues to prove it to us daily in our lives for His glory.
Thank you Jesus!
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.
162
FRUIT OF YOUR WOMB
Luke 1:42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!
What is it to be “Fruit”.
A simple question, no? Fruit is that which comes from something, a positive (usually) effect of some originating source.
Consider an apple. No an orange – Let’s consider an orange – I like oranges better! Where do oranges come from? An orange tree of course. The orange is the “fruit” or product, or natural result of the orange tree.
This is the general definition of fruit, but of course in this instance we are speaking of a ladies womb.
For the creation of life within a womb, when fertilization occurs, the baby is fully potential, having a genetic code that is complete, and the tiny cells immediately and rapidly divide and multiply for 9 months within the womb. At some determined time, the aggregated cells (I call it a baby!) are ready to be physically separate from the mother, although still completely dependent on her. This child will mimic the mother, or father in many ways, carrying characteristics that cannot be denied. Strengths and weaknesses, sinful tendencies and selfish leanings.
As we all know, the fruit is the product of the source, right?
The womb is a small, but expandable, completely dark, warm environment that is protected by the mother. The womb is a place where miracles happen, life erupts and grows, a newly created soul is created.
A created soul, a spark of life created, right?
Except for one singular time. One solitary time, an exception is made regarding the creation of a soul.
I would offer to my reader that in this case, the soul was not created. He – Jesus – has been from everlasting to everlasting and is no created soul. He is the giver of life to each and every person on earth.
He resided in a safe warm environment, the womb of Mary, the source of life for each of her other children. Under the care of Mary, He was protected, growing as everyone of us did in the womb, increasing in physical size, yet with a self that had been severely limited (by His own choice) in order to be the Servant Messiah, the Son of Man, and Son of God. For a time on earth, He was safe and secure from those who would hunt Him down. Protected for a period of time, only to be born to die, to face an inevitable crucifixion.
The incarnation, on it’s own, is an incredible truth, that when meditated upon, and should foster a spirit of humility within each of us.
So many questions arise in my mind, that cannot be answered, and that may never be answered, but let us be content to consider one thing. He is the Fruit of the Womb, the perfect Fruit, the eternal Fruit of Mary’s womb.
He entered this world though the womb of a needy servant, growing into the Man that would be crucified for our sins.
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 26:1-5 1 Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding himself on the hill of Hachilah, which is on the east of Jeshimon?” 2 So Saul arose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph with three thousand chosen men of Israel to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. 3 And Saul encamped on the hill of Hachilah, which is beside the road on the east of Jeshimon. But David remained in the wilderness. When he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness, 4 David sent out spies and learned that Saul had indeed come. 5 Then David rose and came to the place where Saul had encamped. And David saw the place where Saul lay, with Abner the son of Ner, the commander of his army. Saul was lying within the encampment, while the army was encamped around him.
The Ziphites are at it again. They want the kings favor, and have travelled once more to Gibeah to rat out David. See Life of David – 16.02 for the Ziphites earlier effort to provide information to King Saul of David’s whereabouts. As a matter of fact, David and his men are very close to the previous location in 1 Samuel 23:19. were he and his men were hiding amongst the Ziphites in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is south of Jeshimon?
This time, the Ziphites reveal that David is east of Jeshimon. I add a map to let my reader remember that to rat out David required a sizable effort on the part of the Ziphites to travel to Gibeah where the King resided. They had to travel over 26 miles (as the crow flies) to deliver David.
For some reason (desperation, or indifference) Saul did not require verification of the Ziphites information. Last time he sent them home to get more information. This time he simply gathers his 3,000 man army to take on David.
This story is so reminiscent of the earlier effort on David’s life. In that “battle”, David showed mercy to Saul when he had provided an opportunity of vulnerability. Do you remember Saul entering the cave to “concentrate”, in the very cave David and his men were in. Do you remember David stealthily cutting a piece of the kings robe off? Do you remember how Saul reacted to this mercy of David?
Repentance.
Saul repented of his actions based on the mercy of David. So why is he going to do the very same thing he repented of, supposedly repenting in front of his army not long before. As mentioned earlier, Saul was driven by jealousy, and was uncontrolled in his actions. Obviously Saul was not the leader he should be, and this encounter would also provide a chance for Saul to be humbled in the sight of his army.
David had spies actively checking the area for trouble, and sure enough, they found Saul and his army in the general location, providing information to David of the danger. Remember last count, David’s men number 600. Saul has 3,000. Saul has 5 times the men David has. Obviously the wisest action on David’s part is to flee, to find a location other than next to Saul. Saul didn’t stick to his word from the previous encounter. Surely his words were empty, and this constant harassment would never end until one of these men had passed on.
The constant threat of Saul and his army must have been so tiring for David. The temptation to cause pain or suffering to the king surely would be escalating. David had a choice to make.
End it here, take a stand and fight, or run.
But that is a false dichotomy. There is another option for David in this instance. We will get into that option in the next post, but for now, let us remember that when faced with a seeming decision between two choices, it is often true that other options are available. It is not always an “either/or” condition that we are restricted to for decision making. Implied limits on choices actually harm us in our decision making efforts
David was not restricted to two options, but was open to a third, bolder move. Can you guess what it was?
In our daily lives, when we may be presented with an either/or choice, take a moment and consider alternative actions, alternative actions that would honor God, exercise wisdom and reflect a love for your neighbor.
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
Amos
Booth of David
Amos 9:11 “In that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old,
John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Amos is preaching to the Northern Kingdom, and bringing judgement as a message. The Northern Kingdom was about to fall to the Assyrians, and in the midst of this message, Amos provided hope, a message that spoke of the future kingdom of God, and the tabernacle of David.
The ESV uses the term “booth” to translate the Hebrew סֻכָּה sook-kaw’, and it is typically describing a temporary shelter. Amos is not speaking of the temple built by Solomon, but of a tabernacle.
Consider – Is Amos bringing to the Northern Kingdoms attention the old days, when the ark of the covenant would reside in a collapsible tent, constructed under the care of Moses, with the glory of God manifesting as a pillar of fire or a vertical cloud over it.
For this passage in Amos, the tabernacle (or the booth) of David had fallen. Note that he refers to the tabernacle of David, but I assumed (wrongly) that the tabernacle was associated with Moses in this verse. I need to read the Scriptures for what it says!
Yes, the original tabernacle was built and managed by Moses. The tabernacle of David is something far different.
1 Chronicles 15:1 David built houses for himself in the city of David. And he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.
David, even while the original tabernacle (associated with Moses) stood, took the ark of the covenant from the Holy of Holies, brought it to Mount Zion, pitched a tent, and began a completely new order of worship.
1 Chronicles 16:37 So David left Asaph and his brothers there before the ark of the covenant of the LORD to minister regularly before the ark as each day required, 1 Chronicles 16:38 and also Obed-edom and his sixty-eight brothers, while Obed-edom, the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah were to be gatekeepers. 1 Chronicles 16:39 And he left Zadok the priest and his brothers the priests before the tabernacle of the LORD in the high place that was at Gibeon
Notice that Zadok the priest was in Gibeon, while Asaph and his brothers were to minister before the ark of the covenant, the very heart of the original tabernacle. (Somehow, if I had been Zadok, I think I would have felt ripped off!)
There is so much more to speak of, but Amos is speaking of a tent/tabernacle/booth containing only the ark of the covenant, in Jerusalem, with direct access to the ark for worship.
When James speaks of the tabernacle of David in Acts, there is much more to the word picture than I first imagined. The tabernacle of David represented direct access to the ark, representing God Himself. The tabernacle of David was a simpler, much more humble tent than the original tabernacle. The tabernacle of David was approached by many in Jerusalem, and singing was a large component of the worship.
During the reign of David, the tabernacle of David was a beautiful picture of Jesus, being the approachable Messiah, humble in appearance, available for worship, and lastly, a temporary structure, for the day would come that the tabernacle of the body of Jesus would be tore down!
Thankfully, God raised Jesus from the dead, and from the empty grave, the Messiah restored the tabernacle of David, which we humbly call the church nowadays.
The tabernacle of David, the body of Christ, is open for the remnant of mankind, and for all the gentiles called by the name of the Lord. May the increase of the David’s tabernacle be great, and may we remember that like David’s tabernacle of old, the New Testament tabernacle of David is to be approachable, humble and realize it’s own temporary status on earth.
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.
161
FRIEND OF TAX COLLECTORS AND SINNERS
Matthew 11:19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”
Our last post dealt with God considering Himself as a Friend of Abraham. We spoke of how rare it was for someone to be called a Friend of God in the Old Testament , and that only Moses was somewhat considered the same as Abraham in this select club, that is of being a friend of God.
To be a friend of God in the Old Testament seemed to be linked with trustworthiness, in that both Abraham and Moses were faithful to the call of God on their lives.
As mentioned in the previous post, all that went loosey goosey in the New Testament, for as Jesus rubbed shoulders with those in the nation, He presented Himself as a Friendly One, to the point that the religious leaders of Israel tried to use it against Him.
They noticed that He liked to be around “low life’s”, the “dregs of society” and “losers”. Little did they know that it is those very people who do not have some self imposed understanding of who the Messiah is that actually creates barriers to seeing the truth.
Jesus was called a friend of tax collectors and sinners! Little did the enemies of Jesus understand that to openly be friendly with “sinners” would blow up the church! Flocks of “losers” would rush to be accepted by a God who would exhibit friendliness with then.
The Pharisees had it all wrong. Their pride and obstinance blinded them to the greatest power to influence someone else. Although the Lord’s enemies described Him as a friend of tax collectors and sinners, this didn’t go far enough. As he strode amongst the “unwashed” He cared for them, healing them, listening and teaching a radical love of God, of a simple repentance and faith in God (and not in man)!
Yes, Jesus was a friend of tax collectors and sinners, but it goes far deeper than that. His death of the cruel cross proved that He was a friend of “tax takers and sinless religious judges” – those who hated Him, those who mocked Him and spread slander about Him.
Yes a friend of tax collectors and sinners. But so much more!
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.
160
FRIEND OF ABRAHAM
Isaiah 41:8 But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend;
Abraham was a friend of God. No – sorry, but that is wrong – I have my tenses mixed up!
Consider that the prophet Isaiah is speaking of Abraham as being God’s friend, present tense. Isaiah, hundreds of years after Abraham, is declaring, as so many of the prophets do, that those who have fallen asleep are not without companionship, and that companionship is God Himself.
Abraham is the only person in the Word declared to be a friend of God. Well, sort of. Moses was described as one to whom God would speak to as a friend.
Exodus 33:11 Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.
These two men are the only two men in the Old Testament that are called a friend of God. Amazing.
Consider what it means to be a friend. It must be understood that to be, or to have a friend, two people are involved. Also, I cannot state that I am a friend to someone who hates me. At least I can’t in all honesty call my enemy a friend unless I am seeking to turn them to my friend.
A friend is someone who seeks my best and will avoid inflicting pain on me. A friend is someone I can trust, and that should be able to trust me.
Was it not such with both Abraham and Moses. God requested actions from them, and they sought to comply, and out of a Master/servant relationship, friendship grew. God could, in a sense trust Abraham. He could sort of trust Moses.
But things get all loosey goosey when God comes down to earth. He is not calling anyone friend based on whether He can trust them. Granted, He does speak to His apostles as friends, having experienced a Servant Master relationship with them for a period of time. I think there was an element of trust between Him and His men.
John 15:15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
This relationship of friendship though, seems to be dependent on information provided to them, and not specifically their trustworthiness, as it was with Abraham and Moses.
Things in relation to being a friend of God are morphing a little bit here. But consider Jesus next statement, when His betrayer approaches Him with armed guards.
Matthew 26:50 Jesus said to him (Judas), “Friend, do what you came to do.” Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him.
Jesus knew what was about to happen, and yet He called the man who would become the poster boy of betrayal a friend. This is simply astounding, that He extended friendship to a man who was stabbing Him in the back.
Jesus is the Friend of God, the true Friend of God, in that He has shown by His actions the attitude God has toward those who love God, those who are learning of God, and to those who despise God.
For God, there has only been One who is completely trustworthy, only One who knows all from the Father, and the only One who has exhibited God’s love to the worst of sinners.
Abraham and Moses were called friends of God, only in that they reflected the true Friend of God, Jesus the Messiah.
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.
Considering the Bible 