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Tag: Psalms

God’s Love Through John – Sign of a Raised Serpent
He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.
Revelation of Jesus Christ to John 20:2 CSB

A Sign for followers of Moses

The Apostle John mentions the serpent in Revelation and also as a sign to the Jews in the Gospel of John. Jesus knew well the symbolism presented to Nicodemus associated with Moses, but He presents a connection to the Cross and what the Lord will teach to all as the purpose of His Incarnation.

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
John 3:14 KJV

You may have missed the familiar symbolism of the serpent in some translations using ‘snake’ or ‘bronze snake on a pole,’ so we will explore this from the Book of Numbers. But first, let’s return to the context of this conversation in John’s Gospel.

“Are you a teacher of Israel…?

We began our look at a theological debate between Nicodemus and Christ Jesus which the Apostle John records in God’s Love Through John: Of water and the Spirit. We associate Nicodemus mostly with Jesus’ clear answer to the initial question of the Israelite leader.

John 3:4 KJV Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?

Nicodemus is already old by measure of lifespans of his day. He is a ruler of the council and the most prominent Pharisee of the Temple, who must come to Jesus at night to have this conversation.

He receives reports from others, including Pharisees and other Temple officials sent to John the Baptist, who testified that Jesus IS the Messiah, the Promised One. And Jesus’ bold actions have already made this Messiah even more controversial than John the Baptist.

Most certainly, Nicodemus was either present at the Temple as witness to the earlier destruction by Jesus in the Temple courtyard, either as it happened or immediately after the disruption of the order of ritual sacrifices.

John 2:

15 After making a whip out of cords, he drove everyone out of the temple with their sheep and oxen. He also poured out the money changers’ coins and overturned the tables. 16 He told those who were selling doves, “Get these things out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!”

Do you suppose Nicodemus and other officials of the Temple council had a few questions for Jesus about this incident during the profitable Passover pilgrimage festival? Of course they did.

John records (perhaps from a later memory after the Resurrection), 17 And his disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

He quotes the scriptural songbook of Israel of the day.

from Psalm 69
- 4 They that hate me without a cause…
- 7 Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face.
- 8 I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother’s children.
- 9 For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.
- 12 They that sit in the gate speak against me…
- 19 Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee.
- 21 They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
- 32 The humble shall see this, and be glad: and your heart shall live that seek God.
Zeal for the Temple; and reproaches of those who disgrace the LORD will shame the Son of Man, the Son of God to be lifted on a Cross!

Jesus is well-known to many witnesses. Nicodemus, no doubt, has both seen and heard the evidence of the Messiah, the Son of Man.

So the Jews replied to him, “What sign will you show us for doing these things?”
John 2:18

19 Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it up in three days.”

23 While he was in Jerusalem during the Passover Festival, many believed in his name when they saw the signs he was doing…

The Sign of the Serpent

Numbers 21: CSB

4 Then they set out from Mount Hor by way of the Red Sea to bypass the land of Edom, but the people became impatient because of the journey.

5 The people spoke against God and Moses: “Why have you led us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food!”

6 Then the Lord sent poisonous snakes [fiery serpents – KJV] among the people, and they bit them so that many Israelites died.

7 The people then came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Intercede with the Lord so that he will take the snakes [serpents] away from us.” And Moses interceded for the people.

8 Then the Lord said to Moses,

“Make a snake image [a fiery serpent] and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will recover.”

9 So Moses made a bronze snake [a serpent of brass] and mounted it on a pole. Whenever someone was bitten, and he looked at the bronze snake, he recovered.

A Sign of Healing

The great symbolism of the snake raised in the wilderness connects

to the very power of the Lord and Creator as well as the intercessor for the people; in the wilderness, Moses, and in the presence of Nicodemus, the miraculous intercessor healer, Christ Jesus.

שָׂרָף saraph described as a poisonous serpent (fiery from burning effect of poison) is also the description found of a seraph or seraphim – majestic beings with six wings, human hands or voices in attendance upon God.

… and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
Numbers 21:9b KJV

Are you a Teacher of Israel…?

John 3:

9 “How can these things be?” asked Nicodemus.

10 “Are you a teacher of Israel and don’t know these things?” Jesus replied.

Every teacher of Israel knows that the LORD requires sacrifice as substitution for sin. And all Pharisees knew the significance of the ‘Lamb of God,’ as the Prophet John had witnessed of Christ Jesus.

Teachers of the Law and the Prophets recognized the challenge of the analogy of Jesus. Jesus next addresses the association of the healing of the Cross and the Resurrection to Nicodemus.

John 3:

13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven —the Son of Man.

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

To be continued…
October 10, 2018
A River of Redemption Flowing from Eden – Redeemer
For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and at the last he will stand upon the earth. – Job 19:25 ESV

Redeemed from what?

Scripture records that Job is a righteous man. Can you say that? Most assuredly, I cannot.

A great and powerful leader loves God and does everything right, yet the Lord permits Satan to test him. He has everything a man could ever want, but then the Lord takes it away. Job loses everything except his life.

And how does he respond?

Job cries out to the Lord to be saved from miseries which have come to him in the flesh of this life (and his miseries are many). Yet hear Job’s assurance of judgement by a just God.

19:25 וַאֲנִי יָדַעְתִּי גֹּאֲלִי חָי וְאַחֲרֹון עַל־עָפָר יָקֽוּם׃
19:26 וְאַחַר עֹורִֽי נִקְּפוּ־זֹאת וּמִבְּשָׂרִי אֶֽחֱזֶה אֱלֹֽוהַּ׃
And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: – Job 19:26 KJV

Though he dies he will see God his Redeemer, face to face. In a word: resurrection. Judgment, face to face judgment by God!

Our return to dust

The Lord’s original curse against man does not dissuade Job from hope of seeing his Redeemer on the day of his judgment. Job repents before God acknowledging that he knows that he is dust.

Do you? Have you acknowledged before God that you are only dust?

By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.” – Genesis 3:19

Redeemers

What is a Redeemer? (It’s certainly another important concept this world has relegated to triteness, as in ‘redeeming coupons.’)

Redeem – to buy or pay off, buy back, recover, exchange or convert (as in the blood of an animal for sin or money for a sacrificial animal), to discharge or fulfill a promise or a debt, to make amends for (some wrong), obtain release by a payment, restoration; theology: to deliver from sin and its consequences by means of a sacrifice offered for the sinner.

Job was a righteous man, yet he knew he would face his redeemer after his death. Have you had enough to have cried out to your Redeemer?

Earlier in this series I referred to Joseph as a redeemer not only Israel, but also of Egypt by saving them from famine. Joseph was purchased and no ransom was paid for his release. With God’s help Joseph paid for his own redemption.

Many look to Moses as a redeemer of the Hebrews, saving them from slavery. Moses had been born into slavery under imminent threat of death, but the Lord rescued the Hebrew boy into the household of Pharaoh. He escaped when discovered buy returned when called by the Lord. Moses freed the Hebrews from slavery under Pharaoh. The Lord used Moses to save His covenant people, but Moses did not pay a ransom for their return.

The Lord saves David and other later kings of Israel and Judah. In fact, it is always the LORD who intervenes in these and other rescues of mankind. Even Noah had been rescued by God.

From Noah, Abraham, Jacob and Joseph before the Law, to Moses, David and kings after the Law you will read of sacrifices made to the Lord. All of these faithful men recognized their own need for a Redeemer for their sins.

If you have never considered your own need for a Redeemer, you may want to weigh the significance of its antonym as it could apply to your soul at the Judgment without a Redeemer:

Antonyms
1. abandon.
Strong currents of these last days

Have you plead to the Lord for mercy? ‘Oh Lord, do not abandon me.’

Though requirements of the Law placed severe penalties upon those disobedient to the Lord, Moses assured the faithful:

“Be strong and courageous; don’t be terrified or afraid of them. For the LORD your God is the one who will go with you; he will not leave you or abandon you.” – Deuteronomy 31:6

In Psalm 16, David offers an assurance similar to to that of Job:

10 For you will not abandon me to Sheol;
you will not allow your faithful one to see decay.

God warned Adam and Eve that on the day they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that they would surely die. Adam died. So did Eve and their sons, daughters and descendants, except the family of Noah.

So did Eve and their sons, daughters and descendants, except the family of Noah. And all mankind from Adam until now has sinned, every one of us.

Surely we will also die; then as Job said, we will be resurrected to the Judgment.

LORD, the hope of Israel,
all who abandon you
will be put to shame.
All who turn away from me
will be written in the dirt,
for they have abandoned
the LORD, the fountain of living water. – Jeremiah 17:13

A Redeemer and Judge

Our Redeemer was before Eden and was in Eden. He IS a river of righteousness, pure waters springing forth which refresh the soul and give life to dust.

John 1:2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created through him… 3:5 Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit.

John 4:13 Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. 14 But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again. In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up in him for eternal life.”

John 5:24 “Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.

25 “Truly I tell you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live… a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done good things, to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked things, to the resurrection of condemnation.

Christ Jesus! He IS our Redemption, for He has sacrificed His own blood as payment for our sins. Jesus the Son of Man sacrificed His life as payment for mine. He IS the river of life, springing forth from before Eden and cleansing our sins.

Beloved brother of dust and sister of sin, will you plea to our Redeemer for His great mercy?

Then he showed me the river of the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the city’s main street. The tree of life was on each side of the river…
Revelation 22:
August 21, 2018
A River of Redemption Flowing from Eden – Justice
Contemplation of Justice by James Earle Fraser – US Supreme Court building

Justice

At the beginning of this series I outlined topics which included justice. Here we will explore their linked applications.
- Commandment
- Law
- Justice
- Judgment
- Penalty and Sentence
- Redemption
Justice – n. 1) fairness. 2) moral rightness. 3) a scheme or system of law in which every person receives his/ her/its due from the system, including all rights, both natural and legal. – source: dictionary.law.com

The multi-branched tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

“but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.” – Genesis 2:17 CSB

Paradise by Lucas Cranach the Elder – painter, draughtsman, printmaker and court painter – 1530

We move now from relatively calm waters of Adam knowing the difference between good and evil to a more tumultuous current of original sin flowing through the generations.

Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the LORD your God is giving you. – Deuteronomy 16:20

Justice in the Egypt of Joseph and Moses

Recent research from Yale Law, The Representation of Justice in Ancient Egypt, confirms concepts of justice learned by the Hebrews. I have quoted it extensively below.

The concept of “law” and “justice” are intimately associated with the proper behavior of kings and were embedded in every royal ritual.

Ma’at Ancient Egyptian goddess of justice

Could common citizens expect an example of morality from their leaders? Even the Pharaoh and King?

In a word, ‘yes.’ According to research of ancient civilizations predating Rome and Greece, a natural ‘connective justice’ was presumed in law.

The imperfect branches of connective justice

Again, the research of J.G. Manning in the Yale Journal of Law & the Humanities:

Ma’at (“connective justice,”) governed personal moral behavior, as can be seen in religious texts, as well as the proper relationships between gods and men, between kings and society, and between individuals. Thus it literally connected everyone from the gods, through the king, down to the lowliest farmer. It was the mirror of the divine order of the world and also the foundation of private ethical behavior. Ma’at was the most persistent and pervasive idea in ancient Egyptian society.

Importantly, the most visible and the longest lasting image of Ma’at in
a private context, at least to the modem observer, is the famous “last
judgment scene,” in which an individual faced his or her mortality by
having his or her life deeds weighed in the balance against the symbol of justice, the ostrich feather, in front of all of the gods in Egypt.

If found wanting, the person’s soul was devoured and his or her existence was extinguished. On the other hand, if found “true of voice,” one gained eternal bliss in the afterlife. This was not the public representation of state justice, but, rather a more intimate depiction of the expectations of private moral behavior.

Do you recognize this universal connection to the truth in the Law given to Moses on Sinai by the Lord God?

Delegated authority of the Law

Application of law ultimately leads back to the same question Adam would have to judge after gaining ‘knowledge of good and evil.’

What is right? Is this good or evil in the eyes of the Lord?

Basic precedents of law include English Common Law and other fundamental documents.

Sir William Blackstone
- US Constitutional Law
- of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, … and secure the Blessings of Liberty … ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
  - The Bill of Rights & evolving societal amendments
- Religious Law
Hammurabi a Babylonian code of law

The contemporary legal systems of the world are generally based on one of four basic systems: civil law, common law, statutory law, religious law or combinations of these. However, the legal system of each country is shaped by its unique history and so incorporates individual variations.[1]

A Stream Towards Justice

We have examined the role of authority in the law. It is here that the roles of God, government, family and community all come into play.

The basis of all law is the authority by which it is given. Justice requires effective application and fair administration of remedies by a righteous and impartial judge. – Roger Harned

A commandment comes directly from Almighty God. Call it ‘religious law,’ but an absolute over-riding Authority connects God’s word to man’s actions.

Hebrew followers of Moses heard the Lord speak directly and were afraid. Even so, they disobeyed the direct command of God even before Moses later descended Sinai with the stone tablets – the Law, carved by the finger of God in stone.

This inviolable Law would be carried in the Ark of the Covenant; not as reference, but as witness to their own promises to God. Yet many would violate (trespass) their solemn covenant promises to God many times and in many places throughout the long history of Israel.

Penalty of the Law

Even though prescribed specifically for certain violations in specific contexts of the Law, ‘penalty’ is not mentioned by name in the King James Version of the Bible. The overriding issue, simply, is innocence or guilt and not particularly the punishment.

A divine sentence is in the lips of the king: his mouth transgresseth not in judgment. – Proverbs 16:10 KJV

Have you ever considered that the ‘sentence’ of the court is the spoken judgement against the convicted violator of the law?

Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. – Ecclesiastes 8:11 KJV

Perhaps you have even noted the legal principle of a right to a speedy trial in the wise advise above.

Now note the usage of the Hebrew root for the consequence of guilt:

דָּם – dam
- blood (342x),
- bloody (15x),
- person (with H5315) (1x),
- bloodguiltiness (1x)
- bloodthirsty (with H582) (1x),
- vr blood (1x)
Again, this goes to the higher authority of Almighty God. Perhaps a good Biblical example of commanded penalty would be ‘capital punishment.’

“Whoever sheds human blood,
by humans his blood will be shed,
for God made humans in his image.
Genesis 9:6 CSB

“But you, be fruitful and multiply; spread out over the earth and multiply on it,”[Gen. 9:7] God commanded Noah and his family who were spared by the judgement of the earth.

Looking upstream through the generational sins even in the time of Moses, redemption from bloodguilt against God hardly seems attainable.

Kings and Nations under God

And what cause soever shall come to you of your brethren that dwell in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and judgments, ye shall even warn them that they trespass not against the LORD, and so wrath come upon you, and upon your brethren: this do, and ye shall not trespass. – 2 Chronicles 19:10 KJV

reign of Jehoshaphat ~873–849 BC

From later records of Israel (and Judah after David), we learn of the continued importance of the Law or Commandment of God to this ‘chosen’ nation. The above quote from 2 Chronicles is recorded in the time of Jehoshaphat, in the 9th century Before Christ.

Note the distribution of authority given by King Jehoshaphat to others from 2 Chronicles 19:

A King’s delegation of justice

4 Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem, and once again he went out among the people from Beer-sheba to the hill country of Ephraim and brought them back to the Lord, the God of their ancestors. 5 He appointed judges in all the fortified cities of the land of Judah, city by city.

6 Then he said to the judges, “Consider what you are doing, for you do not judge for a mere mortal, but for the Lord, who is with you in the matter of judgment. 7 And now, may the terror of the Lord be on you. Watch what you do, for there is no injustice or partiality or taking bribes with the Lord our God.”

8 Jehoshaphat also appointed in Jerusalem…
- some of the Levites and priests
- and some of the Israelite family heads…
Delegated authority from the Lord to the King, then to officials responsible for religion, for community and for family. Even warning of how to manage outsiders (foreigners and servants), all under delegated authority of the Lord through others. Not freedom, as we know it. Certainly not license to choose whether to obey or defy any law or regulation.

10 For every dispute that comes to you from your brothers who dwell in their cities—whether it regards differences of bloodguilt, law, commandment, statutes, or judgments—you are to warn them, so they will not incur guilt before the Lord and wrath will not come on you and your brothers. Do this, and you will not incur guilt.

11 “Note that Amariah, the chief priest, is over you in all matters related to the Lord, and Zebadiah son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, in all matters related to the king, and the Levites are officers in your presence. Be strong; may the Lord be with those who do what is good.”

God will judge

God is a righteous judge
and a God who shows his wrath every day. – Psalm 7:11
He will judge your people with righteousness
and your afflicted ones with justice. – Psalm 72:2

Psalm 111:9 Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
⁹He has sent redemption to his people.
He has ordained his covenant forever.
His name is holy and awe-inspiring.

To be continued…
August 17, 2018