christology seesion 5 Web viewFrom His place He shall branch out, and He shall build the temple of...

Fredericksburg Prayer Furnace- The Faithful WitnessChapter 5: The Law, Psalms and the Prophets

I. THE UNFOLDING REVELATION OF GOD

A. As God brings forth the seed promised in Genesis 3:15, we see an unfolding revelation of Himself unto a dramatic climax. We must understand the progression of revelation in the Scriptures leading up to the incarnation to understand the Man Jesus Christ.

B. In Luke 24, Jesus began with Moses and went through all the Prophets, with the disciples on the road to Emmaus and included the Psalms later that day with the rest of the disciples, interpreted to them everything in the Scriptures concerning Himself. This means He started at Genesis chapter 1 and continued on through the Law, through Chronicles and Samuel, Job, Ruth… He arrives at Psalm 2 and unfolds the revelation that David declared concerning the Father giving Jesus all the nations as His inheritance! They feel the tenderness of His love as he opens Song of Solomon and Hosea. They feel the bitter pain of His heart as He opens Jeremiah and Lamentations. I can’t even imagine what was going on as He interpreted Isaiah, Daniel. Zechariah…

C. The Old Testament is more than a collection of random stories! It is the prophetic record of how God brought forth, through the weakness and frailty of men, the Ruler of the kings of the earth.

D. How does God bring about the Promise? He does it through encounter!

1. He displays the luster and beauty of all His attributes in order to fascinate the heart and produce the response of worship. He gets pleasure out of initiating the response of worship and fascination in the human heart. He is seeking the provocation unto worship. It is the rending of the heart, on a thousand levels simultaneously saying, “I love you” and “I am terrified of you” all at once.

2. It is the encounter with the beautiful, terrifying God that produces worship, ushers in faithfulness, and writes the covenant on the hearts of men.

3. He set apart people and a nation, by encounter, unto Himself. He beganunfolding glimpses and whispers of what would be fully revealed in the face of Christ.

a) Abraham

WWW.THEPRAYERFURNACE.ORG

41

The Faithful Witness

(1) Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. – Genesis 12:7

(2) When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between Me and you, and may multiply you greatly." Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, "Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between Me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. – Genesis 17:1-7

(3) "Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, 'Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.'” – Acts 7:2-3

b) Jacob:

(1) And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, "I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For


42

Chapter 5: The Law, The Psalms, and The Prophets

I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." – Genesis 28:12-15

c) Moses: God appeared to Moses in the burning bush and told Moses that he was standing on holy ground. This is the first time “holy” is used in Scripture.

(1) There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up." When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!" And Moses said, "Here I am." "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." – Exodus 2:2-5

II. MELCHIZEDEK: KING AND PRIEST

A. Melchizedek first appeaed in Genesis 14 to bless Abram as he was returning from defeating the kings who had taken Lot and his kinsmen.

B. He was the king of Salem and priest of Most High God.

1. King of Salem- most scholars believe that this is the first direct mention of Jerusalem in Scripture.

2. Priest of Most High God- He was priest more than 500 years before there was ever any mention of a priesthood.

C. He was a king and a priest in Jerusalem., even before Israel was set apart and there was any mention of a priesthood. God chose Jerusalem as an eternal resting place for Himself, to be governed by a king, who would operate His kingdom as a priest.

D. He blesses Abram and brings out bread and wine. Abram gives him a tenth of all that he had. And so the whole Levitical priesthood, in a sense, tithed to him through Abraham. (Hebrews 7:10)


43


E. There is an eternal priestly order that God established from the beginning, of which Melchizedek was a priest and will remain a priest.

F. The writers of Hebrews declare that there is much to say about this eternal priesthood and the subject of Jesus’ priestly ministry after the order of Melchizedek.

G. From the beginning, the image bearers were priestly in their function and existence. Adam was not just the worker of the garden, he was the priest.

The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.- Genesis 2:15

1. The word “keep” is the Hebrew word shamar. This term was used to describe the work of the priests as they “kept” the sanctuary and ministered to the Lord.

But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of My sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to minister to Me. – Ezekiel 44:15

H. The chief vocation of Adam was to minister and keep the presence of the Lord in the Garden sanctuary.

I. We see this in his sons who are offering sacrifices of worship to the Lord in Genesis That priestly line was kept through the generations and relocated to Jerusalem some-where between Genesis 2 and 14.

J. Melchizedek was a prophetic foreshadowing of a King and Priest to come, Who would bring the bread and wine of His own body to bless all the descendants of Abraham, both natural and those grafted in.

K. In the exchange between Abraham and Melchizedek a transfer of the priestly ministry took place, and the descendants of Abraham would carry it on for a season, until another Priest would come in the order of Melchizedek and restore it to all men once again.

III. ISRAEL

A. From this day forward the Promised Seed would come through Abraham and bless every nation. God had to choose a nation who would bear that prophetic promise,


44


like a woman in labor, for thousands of years.

B. Jesus established the nation of Israel by displaying His power and glory and wonder.

1. The plagues of Egypt were an awesome display of God’s power and might as He reduced to nothing the most powerful nation on the earth at that time .

a) He brought them out of Egypt and backed them up against the Red Sea just to show off His power and display His wonder.

b) He brought them into the wilderness and followed them in a cloud by day and a fire by night. Their clothes never wore out. Food came up from the ground every morning; water came out of rocks… miracle after miracle, encounter after encounter.

c) The Lord referred back to these events every time Israel forgot the Lord their God. These encounters were hallmarks in Israel’s history.

2. Sinai- the Lord descends.

a) Exodus 19- The Lord descended on Mt. Sinai and made a Covenant with the people of Israel by awesome encounter.

b) The Lord gave the Law and the Tabernacle to Israel on Mt. Sinai so

that He may dwell among His people. (Ex. 25:8)

c) God prophecied that His encounter and covenant with Israel would bring forth a whole kingdom of priests. This was impossible within the parameters he was setting with the Law. We see the plan of God through the ages whispering through, “I am going to restore the image bearers.” (Exodus 19:5-6)

3. Within Israel, God would set apart a holy people, the priesthood and the Levites. They were holy (set apart) to the Lord. These would serve as placeholders and a foreshadowing of the great priesthood to come. Every intricate detail of the tabernacle was a prophetic picture of the ministry and the person of Jesus Christ. Even the very set up of the tabernacle was in the shape of a cross.


45


4. The Law was given and the Lord set up a system of atonement (compensation) which required a death and a blood sacrifice to cover the sins of the people.

IV. THE LOSS OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

A. We must understand the propensity of the human heart to forget God and wander from His ways. We must stare boldly at, and declare, that which condemns us forever apart from the severe mercy and grace of Jesus.

B. As God continued to unveil Himself to the nation of Israel, the visitations were not enough to sustain love. They could not remember the knowledge of the glory of God, and they could not maintain the witness of His glory to the earth. God’s contention with humanity has always revolved around the knowledge of God and the response of worship that it produces in His people.

1. The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs. –Judges 3:7

2. "But they forgot the LORD their God; so He sold them into the hand of Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them.” – 1 Samuel 12:9

3. They forgot what He had done, the wonders He had shown them. – Psalm 78:11

4. “I will punish her for the days she burned incense to the Baals; she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but Me she forgot, declares the LORD.” – Hosea 2:13

5. My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children. – Hosea 4:6

6. “Does a maiden forget her jewelry, a bride her wedding ornaments? Yet My people have forgotten Me, days without number.” – Jeremiah 2:32

7. “This is your lot, the portion I have decreed for you," declares the LORD, "because you have forgotten Me and trusted in false gods.” – Jeremiah 13:25

8. "Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Since you have forgotten Me and thrust Me behind your back, you must bear the


46


consequences of your lewdness and prostitution." – Ezekiel 23:35

C. He must go to the heights and depths to win a Bride. We see the progressive revelation of the heart of the Bridegroom as the day nears when The Second Person of the Trinity would come Himself and propose once and for all time. He would offer His love for a Bride to choose and show His glory to be seen by all.

V. OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECIES

A. Acts 10:43 declares that “all the prophets bear witness” concerning Jesus’ first and second coming. Let us look at a few of the OT Scriptures that bear witness to Jesus’ first coming.

1. Genesis 3:15 - “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."

2. Genesis 15 - God makes a covenant with Abram and with his “offspring” referring to one, not to many. This promised One would come through Abraham’s seed and all the promises would be fully realized in this “offspring”. (Galatians 3:16)

3. Genesis 22:8-18 - The Lord Himself would provide the sacrifice that would bring forth the promise.

4. Genesis 49:8-9 - The promised seed would come from the tribe of Judah.

"Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father's sons shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion's cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. Binding his foal to the vine and his donkey's colt to the choice vine, he has washed his garments in wine and his vesture in the blood of grapes…”

5. Exodus 12:13 - When the judgments of God are breaking out on the earth against His enemies, His people would need the blood of a spotless lamb to cover them.


47


“Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”

6. Exodus 25-28 - Every aspect of the Tabernacle of Moses was a foreshadowing of the ministry of Christ.

7. Numbers 24:17 - “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth.”

8. Deuteronomy 18: 15-16 - This coming one would not only be a king but a new prophet like Moses.

9. The King coming would be from David’s family and be called the “Son of David.”

“When your days are over and you go to be with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for Me, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be My son. I will never take my love away from him, as I took it away from your predecessor. I will set him over My house and My kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever." - 1 Chronicles 17:11-14

"Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: 'The LORD is our righteousness.'”- Jeremiah 23:5-6

B. Isaiah is called “the prophet of the beauty of the Lord”. During his prophetic ministry he received some of the most stunning visions of the person and ministry of Jesus.

1. The promised seed would be born to a virgin and the coming king would be a little child.

“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child


48


and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” - Isaiah 7:14

2. This child would be the administrator of the kingdom of God and the government of Israel. He would not only represent God, but He is God.

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.” - Isaiah 9:6-7

There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wis-dom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowl-edge and of the fear of the LORD. His delight is in the fear of the LORD, and He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears; but with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. - Isaiah 11:1-4

3. Isaiah 52:13-15 – 53:1-12 - The conquering King first comes as the suffering servant and makes intercession for the transgressions of the people by his blood; being marred beyond human resemblance to pay the price for their rebellion.

4. Isaiah 61- Jesus’ mission statement in Luke 4:16-21

C. Jeremiah 31:31-34 - All would know the Lord and would draw near, not exclusively the Levites.

D. He would sit on David’s throne forever as a priest. (Psalm 2; Psalm 110)

“In those days and at that time I will cause to grow up to David a Branch of righteousness; He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In those days Judah will be saved, And Jerusalem will dwell safely. And this is the name by which she will be called: ‘THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.' For thus says the LORD: David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel;


49


nor shall the priests, the Levites, lack a man to offer burnt offerings before Me, to kindle grain offerings, and to sacrifice continually.” - Jeremiah 33:15-17

Then speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, saying: “Behold, the Man whose name is the BRANCH! From His place He shall branch out, and He shall build the temple of the LORD; yes, He shall build the temple of the LORD. He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on His throne; so He shall be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.”’ - Zechariah 6:12-13

E. The book of Psalms records many prophetic passages of the coming Messiah. Many of these Jesus quotes Himself, or the New Testament writers quote about Him.

1. Psalm 2

2. Psalm 22

3. Psalm 24

4. Psalm 31

5. Psalm 88

6. Psalm 45

7. Psalm 102

8. Psalm 110

9. Psalm 118:22-23

10. Psalm 132:11-12

F. Micah 5:2-5- But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting. Therefore He shall give them up, until the time that she who is in labor has given birth; then the remnant of His brethren shall return to the children of Israel. And He shall stand and feed His flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD His God;


50


and they shall abide, for now He shall be great to the ends of the earth; and He shall be their peace.

G. Zechariah 3:8-9- “Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring my servant the Branch. For behold, on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with seven eyes, I will engrave its inscription, declares the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day.”

H. Zechariah 9:9 –Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.

I. Daniel receives an angelic visitation in Daniel 9 that prophesies of the coming Messiah to the very year that Jesus would go to the cross.

VI. OLD TESTAMENT THEOPHANIES - CHRISTOPHANIES

A. The Angel of the Lord and the Captain of the Lord of Hosts. The Angel of the Lord shows up throughout the Old Testament. This is a theophany of the pre-incarnate Christ. He receives worship as God and speaks as God.

1. Genesis 16:9-11- the Angel of the Lord shows up to Hagar in the wilderness.

2. Genesis 18- Jesus shows up to Abraham with two messengers.

3. Genesis 22:11-15- Jesus provides a ram in the bush.

4. Genesis 32:24- Jesus wrestles with Jacob all night and lets Jacob win.

5. Exodus 3:2- Angel of the Lord appears in a flame of fire in the midst of a bush.

6. Numbers 22:22-35- Jesus shows up to the most powerful sorcerer in the land and commands him to speak only what the Lord has him speak.

7. Joshua 5:13-6:2- The captain of the Lord’s hosts appears to Joshua.


51


8. Judges 6:11-14- Jesus shows up to Gideon and gives him courage.

9. Judges 13:3-22- Jesus appears to Samson’s parents.

10. Daniel 3: 24-25- Jesus shows up in the furnace with the three Hebrew men.

11. Zechariah 3- The angel of the Lord appears in a vision to Zechariah with the high priest Joshua, and promises to cleanse Israel.

VII. CHRIST AS THE MANIFESTATION OF GOD TO THE PATRIARCHS

A. I believe that the patriarchs not only hoped in the promise of the coming Messiah, but had a revelation of Jesus Himself and what He would accomplish. Jesus is “the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world”, and the Patriarchs put their trust in Him before His manifestation in the flesh.

By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. - Hebrews 11:24-26

For he [Abraham] was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God… - Hebrews 11:10

B. Jesus declares in John 5:45-46 and John 8:56 that both Moses and Abraham encountered Him, and saw visions of His First and Second Coming.“For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.” –John 5:45-46“Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” - John 8:56


52


A. Psalm 2 and Psalm 110- David heard two Trinitarian dialogues about the human reign of the Messiah (Ps. 2; Ps. 110). In Ps. 110 God showed him that one of his future descendants would be his Lord. This refers to Jesus, in His humanity as the Son of David, being exalted to God’s right hand. David understood a coming greater sacrifice to pay for sin, and that the tabernacle was a foreshadowing of God dwelling on earth again. Therefore he could walk into the Holy Place and eat the bread of the Presence. (I Samuel 21:3-6)

B. Genesis 28:12-13/John 1:51- Jacob saw the ladder coming down from heaven with angels ascending and descending on it. Jesus declared to Nathaniel that He was, in fact, that ladder and they would see more than a dream, they would see Him standing in Jerusalem re-uniting heaven and earth in Himself.

C. Isaiah 6:1-6; Isaiah 53/John 12:41- John tells us that Isaiah saw the glory of Jesus.

D. John 3:14 - Christ was the bronze serpent lifted up in the wilderness and all who looked upon him lifted up would be healed and saved from the plague.

E. Christ is the Rock that was struck to give drink to the weary in the wilderness.

"Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink."- Exodus 17:6

Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. – 1 Corinthians 10:1-4

F. Jesus is the manna from heaven; the provision to the hungry and weary in the desert.

Just as the Israelites drank from the Rock in the wilderness, so we now drink from Christ, the very Wisdom and Word of God. Christ is the pre-existent divine Wisdom, eternal Son, and Mediator of creation that revealed Himself in Israel’s history and now mediates redemption through His life, death and resurrection as the Lord of Glory and the King of Kings.


53



54

christology seesion 5 Web viewFrom His place He shall branch out, and He shall build the temple of...

Documents

Transcript of christology seesion 5 Web viewFrom His place He shall branch out, and He shall build the temple of...