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Wednesday, July 22, 2009

David And Jesus Their Tribulation

In the Book of 2 Samuel beginning in the 15th chapter it talks about how Absalom has ambitious plans of overthrowing his father David and he himself will become king.

David hears of this plan in advance and so he flees Jerusalem, but listen to where he goes.


Verse :23 The king also passed over the brook Kidron,
And verse :30 And David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, and wept as he went, and his head was covered and he walked barefoot.


This is exactly what Jesus did on the night that he was betrayed by a spiritual son - Judas.


John 18:1 When Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth with His disciples over the ravine of the Kidron, where there was a garden, into which He Himself entered, and His disciples.
Matthew 26:30 And after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.



Also notice what happens next David says this:


2 Samuel 15:25-26 If I find favor in the sight of the LORD, then He will bring me back again, and show me both it and His habitation. 26 "But if He should say thus, 'I have no delight in you,' behold, here I am, let Him do to me as seems good to Him."


And then the prayer of Jesus:


Luke 22:42 "Father, if Thou art willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Thine be done."


Both David and Jesus desire the will of God, whatever it may be. They both pray that their hardship may be removed, but their ultimate desire is that the will of God be done.


Meanwhile back in Jerusalem the plot to put David to death is underway, and listen to what one of Absalom’s advisers says.


2 Samuel 17:1-3 I will set out and pursue David tonight. I will come upon him while he is weary and discouraged, and throw him into a panic; and all the people who are with him will flee. I will strike down the king only, and I will bring all the people back to you as a bride comes home to her husband. You seek the life of only one man, and all the people will be at peace."


Several things point right to the life of Jesus and the plot to kill him.


Mark 14:27 And Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away; for it is written, `I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.'


- Hey wasn’t David a shepherd?


What Absalom’s servant said also points to what Caiaphas the high priest would say of Jesus.


John 11:49-52 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all; you do not understand that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not perish." He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.


So Absaloms's advisor is almost speaking prophetically like Caiaphas. - If we would just get rid of this guy the people would be won over and then there would be peace. It would be like bring all the people back to you as a bride comes home to her husband.


What Absalom's advisor and the high priest don't know is that this is for Jesus a fulfillment of scripture.


This gathering of the children of God who are scattered abroad is spoken of in Hosea. The people of Israel (who are described as a bride) are going after false gods, but God will bring her back
Hosea 2:16 "And in that day, says the LORD, you will call me, `My husband,'



So God will once again be reunited with his Bride Israel.


Again Absalom's advisor is saying that killing David would win the people over to Absalom the false king. Just like when they put Jesus on trial the people shouted - we have no king but Caesar. On the contrary hat actually happens though is that in putting the true king to death, Israel (the bride) is won over to the true king.


Also both the plans of Absalom and the Jewish high priest at the time of Jesus are thwarted. When David (the true king) returns from exile he brings with him forgiveness for those who previously had cursed him. So when Jesus returns from the grave he also brings with him the forgiveness of sins.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Raised Accourding to What Scriptures?

Every Sunday we profess our faith in the Nicene creed. And in the creed we say and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; What Scripture is are we referring to in the Creed?

This is a quote from:
1 Corinthians 15:3-4 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures.

Here is the mysterious thing. Nowhere in the Old Testament does it explicitly say that the Christ would rise on the third day. Christ does though make hints to it during his ministry on earth.

Matthew 12:40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Now there is more going on in the Jonah story than you may have seen before. When Jonah gets swallowed by the fish he says.
Jonah 2:1-2 Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish, saying, "I called to the LORD, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you did hear my voice.

Sheol in the Old Testament is the abode of the dead. So Maybe Jonah died maybe he hadn't. But he certainly compares his situation with death. And the of course three days later he is spit out to continue his mission.

I think also that people saw in Hosea 6: 1, 2 an illusion to the resurrection of Jesus. The context is of course important, Hosea is calling Israel to repentance after it has gone astray and is preparing it for exile to Assyria (Just like Jonah was doing). Here is what Hosea says:
Hosea 6:1-2 "Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn, that he may heal us; he has stricken, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.

Now listen to Hosea 11:1 When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. Matthew says that this is a reference to when Jesus went to Egypt and then came back again(Hosea 11:1), but Hosea is saying that this is in reference to Israel. So we see in Jesus the embodiment of Israel, Jesus is the New Israel and Hosea says of Israel (Jesus)" After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him."
Certainly this is a reference to the resurrection of Jesus.

One more reference
Psalm 16:9-10
Therefore my heart is glad, my soul rejoices; my body also dwells secure, 10 For you will not abandon me to Sheol, nor let your faithful servant see the pit.
quoted by Peter in
Acts 2:24 But God raised him up, releasing him from the throes of death, because it was impossible for him to be held by it. For David says of him: 'I saw the Lord ever before me, with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed. Therefore my heart has been glad and my tongue has exulted; my flesh, too, will dwell in hope, because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld, nor will you suffer your holy one to see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.'

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

The Resurrection and Re-creation

A.M.D.G.

With the coming of the resurrection of Jesus comes a new creation. Here are some of the signs of the new creation:
The first thing to notice is that Jesus is raised on the first day of the week, the Gospel of John is introduced with the words "in the beginning" which is to call to our minds the creation story in Genesis. The Gospel of John is ending with a new creation with these words.
John 20:1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark,
This is going right along with Genesis 1
Genesis 1:1-2 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep;

And who comes out of the darkness but Jesus himself who said
John 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

We also see a garden in both Genesis and in the resurrection. John tells us:
John 19:41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb where no one had ever been laid.
So Jesus’ tomb is in a place where there is a garden, which is why in John 20:12-15 Mary is inconsolable and after seeing a vision of two angels sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." Saying this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?" Supposing him to be the gardener.

Now Mary Magdalene thinks that Jesus is the gardener and she is not mistaken. God is the original gardener. It is through Christ the WORD of God that all things were made. And in the beginning of creation in Genesis chapter 2 Adam is created in a garden.
Here the New Adam who is the creator begins his new creation in a garden.
There is another scene here that most definitely points us to a new creation and this happened on the evening of the first day when Jesus appears to the apostles and says
John 20:21-23 "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
Now look at:
Genesis 2:7 then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his face the breath of life; and man became a living being. ( in Hebrew - breath and spirit are the same word)

Both in Genesis 2 and in John 20 are the only times that God breathes on anyone. Christ is restoring what Adam lost through sin, and the apostles are the first fruits of the new creation receiving once again what Adam lost.
This also points to the divinity of Christ with him breathing on the apostles just as God did in Genesis.