TODAY we move forward in time from about 520 B.C. to around A.D. 100 and ‘a great cloud of witnesses’ from the New Testament book of Hebrews. This cloud of witnesses, however, goes back to the Old Covenant and continues until this day.
Previously in SHAKEN 2 “Think carefully about your ways we found political and religious leadership along with all the people once again turning back to the Lord their God who now proclaims HE IS with them.
“Speak to Zerubbabel governor of Judah, saying, ‘I am going to shake the heavens and the earth.
* NOTE: Some commentators question if this epistle or letter to the Hebrews, who’s author is unidentified in its text, was written by Paul or possibly by other A.D. 1st century apostles.
Some excerpts from D-R Bible {pictured with Joseph Biden, a professing Roman Catholic, being sworn in as 46th President of the United States}
Most translations from NASB translation or versions as noted.
God spoke of old by the prophets, but now by his Son, who is incomparably greater than the angels.
The Prophets provided not only a cloud of witnesses to Israel but spoke the very admonitions of the LORD God to a disobedient and unfaithful people.
[1] God, who, at sundry times and in divers manners, spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, last of all,
[2] In these days hath spoken to us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the world.
A List of Fathers of our founding
He again sets a certain day, “Today,” saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before,
“Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts.”
Hebrews 4:7b CSB
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that.
Melchizedek and Abraham – Heb. 7
Aaron & Moses – Heb. 7:11,14
And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us.. Heb. 10:15
Now where there is forgiveness of these things, an offering for sin is no longer required.
Is this justice you demand finally for ones you judge (opponents to your own world view)?
Or do you seek judgment on your own sins, transgressions and trespasses (for which you ask forgiveness)?
The Apostles wrote to a1st century church persecuted for their faith in Jesus Christ.
It was not faith in their failing leaders of government
OR was it faith in a zealous vision of their pastor.
Nor was it faith that their country would come under the LAW of God, their state under a mandate of morality and their community forced into the fellowship of love.
The CHURCH believed GOD in Christ Jesus and it was counted to them as righteousness.
These faithful saints suffered for their hope in the Lord and persevered by grace suffering for a higher community in a heavenly kingdom.
11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
26 For if we sin deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful prospect of judgment, and a fury of fire which will consume the adversaries.
For we know Him who said,
“Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.”
It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Hebrews 10:30-31 CSB
the cloud of Witnesses [Hebrews 11]
From the Douay-Rheims Bible [background of Biden Presidential oath pictured above]
What faith is. Its wonderful fruits and efficacy demonstrated in the fathers.
[1] Now faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that appear not. [2] For by this the ancients obtained a testimony. [3] By faith we understand that the world was framed by the word of God…
Hebrews 11 continues, mentioning these witnesses of faith in the Lord God:
Abel
Enoch
Noah
Abraham
Sarah
Isaac
Jacob [Israel]
Joseph
Moses
Rahab
Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets..
Hebrews 12 – surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses
Exhortation to constancy under their crosses. The danger of abusing the graces of the New Testament.
Hebrews 12 summary from the Douay-Rheims Bible
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith..
Therefore because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was nearby they laid Jesus there.
Joseph rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away.
“Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! – John 1:36
From the day the Son of Man is delivered into the world and laid in a manger the shadow of the Cross foretold Christ’s Sacrifice.
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.. For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.
For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.
Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and take for yourselves lambs according to your families, and slay the Passover lamb.
“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up..
– John 3:13 NASB
The crowd then answered Him, “We have heard out of the Law that the Christ is to remain forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’?
Who is this Son of Man?”
John 12:34 NASB
By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that he who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them.
Now the body of the Son of Man lays lifeless and bloodied, partially wrapped in the shrouds of burial and entombed in darkness sealed away from the living by a guarded stone door.
“Listen, you heavens, and I will speak; And let the earth hear the words of my mouth! 2 May my teaching drip as the rain, My speech trickle as the dew, As droplets on the fresh grass, And as the showers on the vegetation. 3 For I proclaim the name of the Lord; Ascribe greatness to our God!
4 The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and just is He. 5 They have acted corruptly against Him, They are not His children, because of their defect; But are a perverse and crooked generation. 6 Is this what you do to the Lord, You foolish and unwise people? Is He not your Father who has purchased you? He has made you and established you.
“We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
Gospel of John 1:45 NASB
The Pharisees had often come to Jesus before they crucified Him and now faithful men have laid their Messiah in a grave. Joseph, Nicodemus and a remnant of influential Jews believe and follow the Messiah secretly out of fear of their own lives.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.
“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.
“I do not receive glory from men; but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves…
The Pharisees had tested Jesus. Yet most continued to give glory to each other rather than the Messiah who came to teach truth in their midst.
Jesus preached the truth of Scripture to the Jews who claimed to be teachers.
“Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father;
the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope.
For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”
John 5: NASB
The Writings of Moshe
Deuteronomy 32: New American Standard Bible
.. And you drank wine of the blood of grapes..
18 You forgot the Rock who fathered you, And forgot the God who gave you birth.
19 “The Lord saw this, and spurned them Because of the provocation by His sons and daughters.
20 Then He said, ‘I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end will be; For they are a perverse generation, Sons in whom there is no faithfulness.
…
39 See now that I, I am He, And there is no god besides Me; It is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded and it is I who heal, And there is no one who can save anyone from My hand. 40 Indeed, I raise My hand to heaven, And say, as I live forever, 41 If I have sharpened My flashing sword, And My hand has taken hold of justice, I will return vengeance on My adversaries, And I will repay those who hate Me.
20 The LORD will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke, in all that you put your hand to do, until you are destroyed, and until you perish quickly; because of the evil of your doings, by which you have forsaken me.
33 The fruit of your ground, and all your labors, shall a nation which you don’t know eat up; and you shall be only oppressed and crushed always..
45-46 All these curses shall come on you, and shall pursue you, and overtake you, until you are destroyed; because you didn’t listen to the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his mitzvot and his statutes which he commanded you: and they shall be on you for a sign and for a wonder, and on your seed forever.
“I do not receive glory from men; but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves.
a resurrection of judgment…
“Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth;
those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life,
those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.
The words of Jesus – John 5:28-29 NASB
As the crowds had approached Jerusalem for the seven-day celebration they laid palms before Jesus at the gates atop the holy hill.
Now as Jesus lay in the grave, His broken and bloodied Body partially prepared for burial, the public mourning of the faithful must wait for a sacred celebration of the final feast of pecach.
As Jesus lay on a slab of stone in a tomb sealed by a rock rolled before its entrance, faithful Jews knew well the curses of their own disobedience and separation from the Lord their God.
The Prophet Hosea (~755–710 B.C)
Hosea’s name means: salvation, as did that of Moses’ successor Joshua and as does that of the Son of Man known of Nazareth, Jesus.
After this day of irony in the festival feast would come the sorrowful day of mourning on the first day of the week.
Yet the words of Jesus before summoning Lazarus from the grave surly resounded in the hearts of their recent memory.
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.
She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, God’s Son, he who comes into the world.” – John 11:27 Hebrew Names Version
The Silence of this Shabbat
There, as Jesus’ loved ones, family and followers mourned silently during the final feast of the Passover, the preparations of their hearts found no solace in His upcoming burial on the first day of the week.
For they had witnessedthe brutality of sin against the Sinless One on the Cross of Calvary.
The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand. One who believes in the Son has eternal life,
but one who disobeys the Son won’t see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
the Good News of John 3:35-36 Hebrew Names Version
‘What is truth?’ Pilate will soon ask the Creator of all things who came to this world of His creation.
Yet prior to the tragic truth of the trial of His righteousness sacrificed for us, Jesus prays for those given to Him:
“For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.” [CSB]
Christ Jesus, sanctified for us, prayed about truth. So just as we previously defined sanctification [in our last post linked above] let’s define truth as used in scripture.
what is true in things appertaining to God and the duties of man, moral and religious truth
in the greatest latitude
the true notions of God which are open to human reason without his supernatural intervention
the truth as taught in the Christian religion, respecting God and the execution of his purposes through Christ, and respecting the duties of man, opposing alike to the superstitions of the Gentiles and the inventions of the Jews, and the corrupt opinions and precepts of false teachers even among Christians
subjectively
truth as a personal excellence
that candour of mind which is free from affection, pretence, simulation, falsehood, deceit
The Truth of Eternal Life
All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.
3 You return mankind to the dust, saying, “Return, descendants of Adam.”
7 For we are consumed by your anger; we are terrified by your wrath. 8 You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. 9 For all our days ebb away under your wrath; we end our years like a sigh.
But what next?
‘The days of our years are threescore years and ten… OR perhaps eighty, the Psalm reminds us… (OR perhaps a score more, but maybe just 50 years… or a death more sudden).
‘… Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; For soon it is gone and we fly away.” – Psalm 90:10b NASB
Returning to the night of Jesus’ betrayal
The Messiah Jesus came to man — living among us and teaching God’s way.
The Lord looks toward heaven on this night on which He was betrayed. From an upper room in Jerusalem Jesus prays to God our Father. This perfect High Priest stands before His own Altar of suffering and Sacrifice on behalf of those the LORD has chosen.
For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.
John 17:19 NASB
You will die and I will die.
The Son of Man did die… for those whom He sacrificed for Himself.
The witness of Scripture and the Gospel confirm what happened next to the Messiah of God. What will be next for you?
Behind the second veil there was a tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies… only the high priest enters…
11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation..
.. through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
… sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh …
… “THIS IS THE BLOOD OF THE COVENANT WHICH GOD COMMANDED YOU.” …
For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us
AND YES, fellow sinner, you know well from Scripture what is NEXT after DEATH.
28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.
Do You await HIM?
As Jesus our High Priest interceded for them, the Apostles only had hint of what would come next. Certain sacrifice of their Lord and ours! Probably persecution and death for each Disciple of Jesus, the only question being when.
Yet by the Lord’s prayer of protection He sent disciples into a world which hates Jesus, the Christ of GOD; a world which hates the very GOD it denies.
No question about it, ALL will die; but few await death with joyous expectation. Do you await the resurrection of our flesh and joining of your soul and the Spirit of the LORD GOD?
NONE want to face the Judgment of sin – an evil nature woven into our being which cannot face the Very Light of the Lord GOD.
Those who deny God or claim Christ falsely must, in time, face the judgment of having chosen darkness over the Light and Glory of God and of having refused God’s grace of a new choice to turn back to the path of righteousness which leads to life in paradise.
What is True of Christ Jesus?
The Good News of John about Jesus our Savior:
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
“Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.
“This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil…
“But anyone who lives by the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be shown to be accomplished by God.”
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
“I sanctify myself for them, so that they also may be sanctified by the truth.
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
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![Before the mountains were born[c]Or You gave birth to the earth and the world,Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. Psalm 90:2 picture of mountains in mist by lake](https://talkofjesus.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/ps-90-2.jpg)