Friday, May 12, 2006
A Mélange
I have been writing for three days…sounds biblical, eh? God affirmed the upcoming teaching on Jonah through my friend’s prayer. But first…A Mélange
As we wait for the next step in God’s providential involvement in earth’s history, we read and remember Daniel’s pictures of the future. Unlike much of the prophets’ writing on the first coming of the Lamb for the one final atoning sacrifice, Daniel was given insight past Immanuel to the apocalyptic coming of Christ as King. It can get confusing…for the writers, certainly. As time distances us from the actual events, God’s history Book becomes a bit more clear and as Mrs. Schaeffer writes, seeing through a glass darkly is still seeing something!
As previously posted in Isaiah 53, the prophet Esaias clearly wrote about the unfair judgment of the Lamb and His substitute death for a sinful people. Daniel wrote a contrasting vision of a coming Messiah and King! Prophets of honor, they wrote exactly what God had told them. How could this mysterious Savior be both of these things? The mix couldn’t be seen for what it was until Jesus Himself clarified. There is this huge gap and we are living in it! Daniel’s Seventy Weeks (a series in archive 4 &5/05, so check out subsequent posts) tried for a broad view but who could discern it? It would be like a blind entrance into some of our present day controversies. Try watching CBS and then listen to Fox tell “the same” story. “Huh?” Might be your most proficient response! Truthfully, I wish the historians of tomorrow all my best. May the truth prevail.
So the Jews were confused when Jesus was right there among them. No surprise there! But some weren’t. The truth was out there to be found. Luke 4:15-20, Jesus read in the Synagogue on the Sabbath with divine revelation for those who would hear. “And there was given (He didn’t choose the book, see?) Him the book of Esaias and when He opened the book, He found the place where it was written, ‘The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.’ And He closed the book, and gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the Synagogue were upon Him. And He began to say to them, ‘This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.’”
But Isaiah 61 continues where Jesus left off! “…and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair…
Vv. 8 & 9 “For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity.
In My faithfulness I will reward them and make an everlasting covenant with them.
Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the Lord has blessed.
For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow,
So the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.” ~Amen
This remaining section was left unread that day and its likeness has not yet been seen in all of human history. Jesus stopped reading where he did to stress…this Word of God is happening right here and now. For the rest of it, the world will have to wait.
Jesus said He’d be back. So we wait.
Marvin J. Rosenthal has a new CD, The Redemption of the Earth (drop me a comment for more info), part of which he published in the latest Zion’s Fire. Revelation 4 and 5 are the topic but it blends nicely with Chapter 61. A meager one sentence summary: Jesus will be our go’ el (the ancient Hebrew tradition of redeeming a widowed bride of a family member, see Ruth), our Kinsman-Redeemer when He, the only One who can redeem earth, comes for His Bride.
As we wait for the next step in God’s providential involvement in earth’s history, we read and remember Daniel’s pictures of the future. Unlike much of the prophets’ writing on the first coming of the Lamb for the one final atoning sacrifice, Daniel was given insight past Immanuel to the apocalyptic coming of Christ as King. It can get confusing…for the writers, certainly. As time distances us from the actual events, God’s history Book becomes a bit more clear and as Mrs. Schaeffer writes, seeing through a glass darkly is still seeing something!
As previously posted in Isaiah 53, the prophet Esaias clearly wrote about the unfair judgment of the Lamb and His substitute death for a sinful people. Daniel wrote a contrasting vision of a coming Messiah and King! Prophets of honor, they wrote exactly what God had told them. How could this mysterious Savior be both of these things? The mix couldn’t be seen for what it was until Jesus Himself clarified. There is this huge gap and we are living in it! Daniel’s Seventy Weeks (a series in archive 4 &5/05, so check out subsequent posts) tried for a broad view but who could discern it? It would be like a blind entrance into some of our present day controversies. Try watching CBS and then listen to Fox tell “the same” story. “Huh?” Might be your most proficient response! Truthfully, I wish the historians of tomorrow all my best. May the truth prevail.
So the Jews were confused when Jesus was right there among them. No surprise there! But some weren’t. The truth was out there to be found. Luke 4:15-20, Jesus read in the Synagogue on the Sabbath with divine revelation for those who would hear. “And there was given (He didn’t choose the book, see?) Him the book of Esaias and when He opened the book, He found the place where it was written, ‘The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.’ And He closed the book, and gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the Synagogue were upon Him. And He began to say to them, ‘This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.’”
But Isaiah 61 continues where Jesus left off! “…and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair…
Vv. 8 & 9 “For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity.
In My faithfulness I will reward them and make an everlasting covenant with them.
Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the Lord has blessed.
For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow,
So the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.” ~Amen
This remaining section was left unread that day and its likeness has not yet been seen in all of human history. Jesus stopped reading where he did to stress…this Word of God is happening right here and now. For the rest of it, the world will have to wait.
Jesus said He’d be back. So we wait.
Marvin J. Rosenthal has a new CD, The Redemption of the Earth (drop me a comment for more info), part of which he published in the latest Zion’s Fire. Revelation 4 and 5 are the topic but it blends nicely with Chapter 61. A meager one sentence summary: Jesus will be our go’ el (the ancient Hebrew tradition of redeeming a widowed bride of a family member, see Ruth), our Kinsman-Redeemer when He, the only One who can redeem earth, comes for His Bride.
