The Son of David

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From: HansC
To: Goober_JIL
Date: 4/30/2006 11:16:05 AM
Subject: RE: permission

Hi, Goober.

You can use anything, that I write however you want to. I'd post myself on your site, but I'm really swamped. You've probably noticed that it takes me a little time between posts, because it's tough right now for me to find the time that I need to put them together. I just started work graveyard, plus lots of OT, and there just doesn't seem to be enough time.

But, as I do find time I will press on. Thank you for the encouragement.

Hans

all of HansC's material will be posted in it's entirity, unedited, and in quotes.

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I'm going to try something a little different here, hopefully it works out, it will be somewhat of a different foremat.

The Son of David

Proverbs 30:5
Every word of God is tried; He is a shield unto them that take refuge in Him. (JPS Tenakh)

The Bible is God's message to man. It was written thousands of years ago by men as they were inspired by God. Man was the instrument and God was the author. God knew that men would seek after Him, but also that many false religions would arise seeking to obscure the one true God.

History records numerous false prophets that have mislead countless masses of humanity down paths of destruction. We also have the records of a great diversity of gods such as the gods of Greece, Egypt, Mesopotamia , China and numerous others.

So that humanity would have a record of the truth concerning His creation and who He is, God told His prophets to write what He spoke. The Bible is that record. It is not merely a collection of Jewish histories, stories, songs, and laws. It is the very words of God bearing witness to Himself.

In the Bible, God reveals Himself in an ever-unfolding more revealing way with the passage of time.

One of the main themes of the Bible, starting in Genesis, is the promise of a coming deliverer. As we read through the Scriptures, the mystery of the identity of this deliverer is slowly unveiled.

Let's look at the Scriptures and slowly put this puzzle together.

Hans

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Creation

1.) The Creation of Man

Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth (JPS Tenakh)

What is man? Why was he created? We must first answer these questions before we can understand why man needs a deliverer.

The Scriptures tell us that God spoke the worlds into existence. First God created the heavens and the earth and all therein, and then He created man.

When Adam, the first man, opened his eyes he was full grown, his eyes fell upon a world of wondrous primordial beauty and glistening pristine splendor. Adam, was created in the image of the creator, nothing else in the universe could make that claim.

What does it mean to be in the image of God?

Dr. Arthur Kac, says in his book, The Messianic Hope, " Since man is a person, and since he was created after God's likeness, it follows that God, too, is a person, and God breathed into man something of His own personality. From this Biblical concept man reasoned that certain characteristics of personality must be common to God and man. This does not mean that Biblical man considered himself equal to God. God is the Creator, man is the creature. God is self-sufficient, man is not. Biblical revelation proclaims a God, who is a living, dynamic, Divine personality deeply involved in the welfare and destiny of the world He created.

It is because of certain characteristics of personality shared in common by man and God that discloses a yearning to communicate and commune between the two."

We can also say that man is in the same class or type of being as God. God is a spirit and so is man. God is a spirit being, who lives and functions in the spiritual realm. When God does something He does it by His Spirit. Moses tells us in the creation narrative, that " The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."

Man is also a spirit being, who happens to inhabit a physical body.

Since God is a Spirit, the only way you can experience Him is in your spirit. Man was created to have a spiritual relationship and fellowship with God.

Hans

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As far as the body, being our house, there are just a ton of Scriptures that address that issue.

II Corinthians 5:1
For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (KJV)

God in His Word refers to our body, as "our earthly house", to say that our body is not our earthly house is to go against the Scripture in preferance for our own theology, knowledge and understanding.

Let's go by what the Scripture says.

Your Body is not the real you. We merely posses our bodies. They are not who we really are and do not constitute our real nature. This flesh which we temporarily inhabit, due to the fall of man has embedded within it, it's own set of desires. It seeks to have it's own way and that'?s where the struggle for the Christian lies.

You are not the flesh nor are you the body, you merely inhabit it.

I Corinthians 9:26-27
so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection

beateth the air....
Here Paul essentially says that He knows where the struggle lies. He"s not swinging wildly, but he knows where to hit. Notice where He strikes.

I keep under my body....

.The "I" has to control the body. That's the challenge. The flesh is basically an "it" that a person is challenged to keep under control. Paul does not identify with his body. The real Paul is on the inside, the flesh is the vessel that he inhabits.

bring it into subjection....

Here Paul straight out refers to the body as "it", and that he brings "it" into subjection. The real Paul is the spirit man inside, the body is the vessel that he possesses.

Paul makes a clear distinction between himself and his body, his house, refering to it as "it".

Hans

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2.) Adam's Dominion

Man was also created to govern a portion of the universe under God. In Genesis, God gave Adam dominion over the earth and everything in it.

Genesis 1:29-31
God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food.
And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for food: and it was so.
And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning , the sixth day. (JPS Tenakh)

After the creation God rested and saw that it was very good. Today we see that all is not very good. In the beginning, man did not toil or work over the ground. He simply ate what was growing. He didn't kill animals or eat meat. The animals didn't eat meat either, everybody was a vegetarian.

Man didn't kill and neither did the animals, God's creation was perfect and harmonious.

If we examine the history of mankind and the world today, we have to say that it doesn't look very good.

Just a short perusal of the record of man's wars against his fellow man, the destruction of lives through disease and natural disasters leaves us with a pretty grim picture.

What happened to the beautiful and harmonious scene in the garden of Eden? What caused this tremendous change from very good to very bad? The Bible tells us that shortly after the creation of man a sudden and terrible change took place.

To understand this terrible change, how it came about, and what its consequences were, we need to look into the instructions that God gave Adam.

Hans

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3.) Death Hath Dominion

Genesis 2:16-17
the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (JPS Tenakh)

God told Adam that He could eat from any tree that he desired, with one exception. If he did eat from that tree, he would die that very same day. If Adam ate from that tree, death would claim dominion over him that same moment.

If Adam ate not only would death claim dominion over him, but since Adam had guardianship over the whole planet every thing that was under Adam would then also fall under death's domain.

Genesis 3:1,7-8
Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden.....when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves girdles.
And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden toward the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. (JPS Tenakh)

The devil, which was inhabiting the snake, had deceived Eve into disobeying God. Adam, also disobeyed because he loved his wife. Their disobedience resulted in their death that same day.

The death that they experienced that day however was not physical death, but rather spiritual death.

Today many people think of death as ceasing to exist, from a Biblical standpoint that?s not true. From a Biblical standpoint "death" means to be "cut-off" or be separated. When a person dies physically they are separated or cut-off from the physical world.

Adam and Eve were cut-off spiritually from God the day they sinned. They once could walk and talk with God face to face, but no more, they were cut-off and separated from God.

God said they would die the same day that they disobeyed Him, and that is exactly what happened, their sin caused them to hide themselves and separate themselves from God.

They died that same day. Death took dominion over them and the entire planet that same day.

We know that Adam died physically 930 years later. His physical death was merely an eventual outworking of what had taken place in his spirit on the day that he sinned and death took dominion over him.

Adam and Eve had a free will and could therefore freely chose good or evil. God told them what would happen if they decided to disobey Him, to chose to disobey and brought death upon themselves.

Adam was created with spiritual life so he could freely commune with God, but when he and Eve sinned, they were transformed. Instead of spiritual life inside of their spirits, spiritual death had taken its place.

Death now had dominion over them.

Hans

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4.) Paradise Lost

This is from Milton's Paradise Lost, but I thought it would be fun to look at it here, with the understanding that this is Milton's dramatic take on the story.

"Thus Eve with countenance blithe her story told;
But in her cheek distemper flushing glowed.

On the other side Adam, soon as he heard
The fatal trespass done by Eve, amazed,

Astonied stood and blank, while horrour chill
Ran through his veins, and all his joints relaxed;

From his slack hand the garland wreathed for Eve
Down dropt, and all the faded roses shed:

Speechless he stood and pale, till thus at length
First to himself he inward silence broke.

O fairest of Creation, last and best
Of all God's works, Creature in whom excelled

Whatever can to sight or thought be formed,
Holy, divine, good, amiable, or sweet!

How art thou lost! how on a sudden lost,
Defaced, deflowered, and now to death devote!

Rather, how hast thou yielded to transgress
The strict forbiddance, how to violate

The sacred fruit forbidden! Some cursed fraud
Of enemy hath beguiled thee, yet unknown,
And me with thee hath ruined;"

Hans

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5.) Fallen World

We have seen that humanity is fallen, but it is not just humanity that is fallen, the entire natural world fell with man.

I can't really imagine accurately what an "unfallen" world looks like. It is not just humanity that will be redeemed into a glorious liberty, but all of fallen creation.

People often talk about the beauty of nature, even how they can "feel" God when they view nature, yet, nature is fallen. I also find the purple mountains majesty and amber waves of grain glorious to behold, however, that's all I've ever known.

I don't know what a pre-fallen world looked like. Did the carnivores eat fruit? Were there no biting insects or freaky blood sucker bugs?

It seems that when man fell, not only did man change, but that the laws and appearance of nature also changed.

The commentator, G. H. Pember makes this statement in his work Earth's Earliest Ages,

" In looking at the vegetable world in a scientific point of view, we see many evidences of the great plan upon which the all-wise creator seems to have formed that portion of His works. At the same time there are many marks of what we may call, with reverence, incompleteness.

Thus we see that there is in all plants a tendency to a spiral arrangement of leaves and branches etc, but we rarely see this carried out fully, in consequence of numerous interruptions to growth and abnormalities in development.

When branches are arrested in growth they often appear as thorns or spines, and thus thorns may be taken as an imperfection in the branch.

The curse which has been pronounced on the vegetable creation may thus be seen in the production of thrones in the place of branches- thrones which, while they are leafless, are at the same time the cause of injury to man.

... The spines and hairs on plants are abortive, and so to speak, imperfect portions of plants. The parts are not developed in full perfection in like what may have been the case in Eden, and what will take place when the curse is removed.

Fit objects, then are the thorn and the thistle to remind man of the curse.

Hans

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6.) A Covering of Fig Leaves

So, what did Adam and Eve do about their changed condition? The Bible tells us that they made themselves coverings of fig leaves to cover themselves, so that they could stand before God unashamed.

This was the first man-made religion, man trying to devise a means of covering himself, so he can approach God. Today men do the same thing. They devise rituals of their own imagination and believe that it will hide their sin and nakedness from God.

Because of man's fall, he does need a covering for himself, but God will not accept any type of covering. The term "atonement" means a covering.

God do not accept the "atonement" of fig leaves that Adam and Eve had made. A sin against God had been committed and something much more than fig leaves was required. Blood would be required.

Genesis 3:13-15
God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. (KJV)

Concerning Genesis 3:15, the first mention of a deliverer, the Targum Onkelos, the official Aramaic translation of Genesis, says,

... "and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy son and her son. He will remember thee, what thou didst to him (at) from the beginning, and thou shall be observant to him at the end"

After their sin, Adam had a tremendous problem.

Hans

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7.) The Seed of the Women

God had given Adam the rule of this world, but because of his treason against God, he had forfeited his right of rulership. That right was stolen from Adam by the devil. Adam could no longer talk to God face to face, he was now spiritually dead, and the devil was now the ruler of the earth.

Adam and Eve desperately needed deliverance from this condition, and we read in Genesis 3:15 the first promise from God of a coming "deliverer".

The expression "bruise thy head" means to "overthrow", as in the overthrow of a kingdom. The seed of the women would eventually overthrow the kingdom of the devil, that's what the Lord was saying in Genesis 3:15.

The strange thing about this verse is that the women has no seed. The seed comes entirely from the man. The only physical way a child could be "the seed of the woman" would be if the mother would not have had any contact with a man to father the child.

She would have to conceive without the seed of a man in her. She would have to give birth, yet still be a virgin, incredible as this may sound, but is anything too hard for God.

Commentator David L. Cooper observes:

"In Genesis 3:15, we find the first prediction relative to the Savior of the world, called the "seed of the woman". In the original oracle God foretold the age-long conflict which would be waged between the "seed of the woman" and the "seed of the serpent", and which would eventually be won by the former.

The primitive promise indicates a struggle between the Messiah of Israel, the Savior of the world, on the one hand and satan, the adversary of the human soul on the other. It foretells complete victory eventually for the Messiah. Some commentators believe that an echo of this promise and Eve's understanding of it is found in Genesis 4:1-- Eve's statement when Cain, her first son, was born; "I have gotten a man even YHWH"

She correctly understood this primitive prediction but misapplied it in her interpreting it as being fulfilled in Cain. It is clear that Eve believed that child of promise would be YHWH Himself.

Some old Jewish commentators used to interpolate the word "angel" in this passage and say that Eve claimed that her son was "the angel of YHWH."

Hans

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8.) The Covering

The Lord YHWH promised to send a deliverer because of the calamity that had befallen Adam and Eve. He would be the "seed of the woman". His purpose was to restore that which was lost, to regain for man what the serpent had stolen.

He would deliver man from spiritual death by paying the price for their sins, and bring man back into fellowship with God.

Genesis 3:21
the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins, and clothed them. (JPS Tenakh)

God still loved Adam and Eve in spite of the fact that they had rebelled against Him. He provided clothing for them by killing some animals and using their skin.

The first physical sacrifice was an animal sacrifice, and the animals were no doubt killed in front of Adam and Eve so they would understand what death meant, since they were now also subject to it.

The fig leaves that Adam had sewed together for clothing would not last very long, and they were totally inadequate to cover sin up in the site of God.

Sin had been committed, and that required the shedding of blood. Only a blood sacrifice could be accepted.

Hans

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9.) The Outcast

Genesis 3:24
So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden the Cherubim, and the flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. (JPS Tenakh)

Man was cast out from the presence of God in a spiritually dead condition. He had a covering of skins to keep him warm, but he would need much more to atone for his sin. Since it was man that committed the crime it would have to be man that would have to pay the penalty. Man would some day be required to fully pay the penalty for sin by his own death, with his own blood.

We saw that man was created in the image of God, meaning that he is a spirit and will have eternal existence, then the death he would have to pay would be one of eternal consequences.

Because Adam and Eve were the first people, their nature was passed down to all humanity. Both were now in a condition of spiritual deadness and therefore all people born after them would inherit the dead spiritual nature within.

The promised Deliverer would have to deliver them from their lost internal condition.

We see this nature starting to work within the first born man Cain, who became a murderer by killing his brother Abel.
The first born murdered the second born.

Why did Cain kill? Because now he had the nature of death inside of Him.

Hans

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10.) All Fall Down

Psalm 14:2-3
The LORD looked forth from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any man of understanding, that did seek after God. They are all corrupt, they are together become impure; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (JPS Tenakh)

God declares that there is no one that does good, that all have fallen short. All men have become corrupt all have inherited Adam's fallen nature. Spiritual death has gripped all men, and none can lose that grip.

I Kings 8:46
for there is no man that sinneth not, (JPS Tenakh)

There is nothing that man can do to change his internal nature, only God can do that. Before that nature can be changed, an atonement or covering for sin had to be made. What does God require for an atonement?

Leviticus 17:11
For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that maketh atonement by reason of the life. (JPS Tenakh)

We see God's opinion of the subject, it is the blood that makes atonement. After sin has been committed, nothing can remove the stain of guilty sin except the shedding of blood.

Saying prayers, going to temple, being good, helping others, feeling sorry for yourself, never doing it again, these are all good, but none of this will atone or cover your sins.

God demands and requires blood. However, if a man pours out his own life blood to pay the penalty for sin, then he would be dead spiritually and physically. This is no solution either.

Hans

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11.) Animal Sacrifice

God instituted animal sacrifices to give humanity a temporary atonement. By temporary atonement, I mean that an animal sacrifice does not permanently take away your sin, because you must repeat the sacrifice every year, and more than that depending on how much you transgress God's laws.
In animal sacrifices, the animal is really a substitute for man. It should be the man pouring his blood out on the altar; instead the animal is taking his place and dying for him.

Genesis 4:2-5
And again she bore his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering; but unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. (JPS Tenakh)

Cain tried to sacrifice vegetables to the Lord, however, vegetables could not atone for sin, since God requires blood. God had no respect to Cain's sacrifice of vegetables, but unto Abel's sacrifice of blood He did have respect.

Adam had tried to cover up with fig leaves, but God did not accept it. He shed the blood of animals and covered Adam and Eve with their skins.

Cain also tried to by pass the blood sacrifice, but God would not allow it. God has not changed, He still only accepts a blood sacrifice.

People try to do unusual things to get away from or around God's requirement. I saw a picture of a woodcarving of 14th century Jews throwing fish into a river, that had the caption saying that the fish had the sins of individuals upon them. The fish then swam away with their sins, thereby giving the individual an atonement for their sins.

This was a mistaken notion, and their sins were still on them, for God said it is the blood that makes atonement.

Prayer, fasting, vegetables or fish, these can not substitute for the blood that God requires.

Hans

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Promise of the Messiah

12.) First Prophecy

Genesis 3:15
and enmity I put between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; he doth bruise thee -- the head, and thou dost bruise him -- the heel.' (YLT)

This is the first prophecy in the Bible and the first promise concerning the Messiah. As we continue in our look at the Scriptures, God will give us much more on the prophesied deliverer.

It is like putting a puzzle together. God gives us a little here and there, then by putting all the various pieces together we can come to fuller picture.

Why didn't God just plainly state how, why, and when?

God speaks to us in what seems like riddles, because He wants our whole heart. God wants us to earnestly search and seek after Him.

Each promise concerning Messiah adds a little more to our understanding of how God is going to deliver fallen man. In addition to the numerous prophecies, there are many symbols and stories that show us different aspects of Messiah.

But, before coming to any conclusions, let's examine some of these puzzle pieces.

The first prophecy in Genesis 3:15 which states that Messiah was to be "the seed of the women" is real strange, because biologically speaking, anyone born is from the seed of the man, not the woman.

From this we understand that Messiah's birth would be different from that of a normal person.

The Scripture then says Messiah shall bruise the serpent's head. The expression "bruise the head" was used in the ancient Middle East to mean the overthrow of a kingdom, as when one nation conquers another nation.

Messiah would overthrow the serpent's kingdom, that's what the prophecy states. But, where is the serpent's kingdom? It is in the spiritual realm of this world.

He is the one who causes people to worship idols, turn away from the true God, ignore His Word, and to commit evil.

Hans

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13.) The Puzzle Starts to Form

Many times in the Bible, we see evil men of different nations attempting to destroy Israel. These men were inspired by the serpent and were part of his unseen kingdom, unseen, but its influence very much felt.

This kingdom of darkness is what Messiah will overthrow and deliver Adam's ancestors from.

The Scripture goes on to say "Thou doest bruise Him", meaning that in the overthrow of the serpent's kingdom, Messiah shall Himself be injured.

We now have some additional light on Messiah. So, we know that:

1.) Messiah's birth will be unusual.

2.) Messiah will overthrow an unseen kingdom.

3.) Messiah will be hurt in the process.

As the puzzle slowly comes together, we will add more until we can plainly see what God is saying to us in regards to the prophesied deliverer.

God wants us to give our whole heart to the effort of finding Him, and solving the mystery of Messiah, the coming deliverer. A sincere, heart hungry search is what God calls for, nothing short of that will do.

Ecclesiastes 1:13
And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven; it is a sore task that God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith. (JPS, Tenakh)

God promises that if we seek Him with all our heart, then we will indeed find Him.

Jeremiah 29:13
And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart. (JPS, Tenakh)

If a person doesn't seek God with their whole heart, and refuses to study the Scriptures, they will not find God. God will remain hidden, He will not reveal Himself. God calls for sincere seekers.

Hans

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14.) The Jews, God's Chosen People

The Jews are God's chosen people, but chosen for what? They were chosen to bring God's light and life to the world. It was through them that God was going to manifest His love to the world.

Messiah was to be born of a woman, but God was not going to let just any woman give special birth to His Anointed. God would have to single her out.

But before, He could choose the woman, He chose a people. And before He chose the people, He chose a man to give birth to the people.

A man who left all he had to follow the voice of God. This man was to be the patriarch who would father the nation from which Messiah, the Deliverer of the world would spring.

The Jews were chosen to give birth to Messiah, the Light, Life and Deliverer of the World.

Although God knew Abraham's heart, He still needed to prove Him. Abraham's test of faith is a major piece of the unfolding puzzle, in regards to our understanding of Messiah's mission.

Hans

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15.) Himself, the Lamb

Genesis 22:1-2, 7-12
And it came to pass after these things, that God did prove Abraham, and said unto him: 'Abraham'; and he said: 'Here am I.' And He said: 'Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.'..

...And Isaac spoke unto Abraham his father, and said: 'My father.' And he said: 'Here am I, my son.' And he said: 'Behold the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?'

And Abraham said: 'God will provide Himself the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son.' So they went both of them together.

And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood.

And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said: 'Abraham, Abraham.' And he said: 'Here am I.'

And he said: 'Lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him; for now I know that thou art a God-fearing man, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from Me.' (KJV)

There is much that could be said concerning Abraham's trial of faith. How it was to see who Abraham loved more, God or Isaac, and how Abraham did give God his whole heart.

Our emphasis here, however, is on the atonement and the coming Deliverer, and how this incident foreshadows certain events that Messiah will fulfill.

Here again we notice that it is a blood sacrifice which God requires. It was Gods requirement that blood was to be shed for sin.

These animals, though were only a substitute for the person. Abraham was startled that suddenly God would no longer accept a substitute, but wants a human sacrifice, namely Abraham's only son, Isaac.

This time however, instead of an animal dying for Abraham?s sins, Isaac was now to be the substitute.

From this we see that the atonement was to be a blood sacrifice, and also a substitution; that is, one dying for another.

Notice the interesting comment that Abraham made to Isaac upon Isaac's question--that God will provide Himself, the Lamb.

Here was Abraham ready to atone for sin by slaying Isaac, and God reveals to him that God Himself would provide Himself as the atoning Lamb.

There is a double meaning here, as God also provided Abraham with a ram caught in the ticket to sacrifice in place of Isaac.

But here God reveals, that He would eventually give Himself as a Lamb to die the death of atonement for the redemption from the serpent's kingdom of all mankind.

Hans

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16.) Death in the Land of Moriah

The land of Moriah was the special place that God designated to Abraham to be the location where the sacrifice of his son was to take place.

We can therefore expect the final and real atonement to also take place in the land of Moriah. Messiah will atone with a substitutional death in the land of Moriah.

The land of Moriah later became known as Jerusalem, and Mount Moriah was the site of Solomon's temple. By "real atonement" we mean that all other sacrifices in the Bible were merely foreshadows of what was to come.

In these Scriptures, we read that Abraham was to give his only son, and so also the Lamb that God provides will be God's only Son.

Not that God has a Son as in the nature of men, but the relationship between Messiah and God will be as a Father to a Son.

Messiah will be as a Son to God, and God will be as Abraham, a grieving Father,

Though the angel of the Lord was able to stay the knife of Abraham, for Messiah the death will not be stopped.

Hans

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Kingdom of the Serpent

17.) How art thou fallen

Ezekiel 28:13-17
thou wast in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the carnelian, the topaz, and the emerald, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the carbuncle, and the smaragd, and gold; the workmanship of thy settings and of thy sockets was in thee, in the day that thou wast created they were prepared.

Thou wast the far-covering cherub; and I set thee, so that thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of stones of fire.

Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till unrighteousness was found in thee.

By the multitude of thy traffic they filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned; therefore have I cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God; and I have destroyed thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.

Thy heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness;( JPS, Tenakh)

To understand the first chapters of Genesis, we must know the identity of the serpent.

He was not just some cleaver snake that learned how to talk. The serpent was none other than satan, himself. He is a fallen angel, but here he uses the agency of the snake to trick and destroy Adam and Eve.

In this modern age, many doubt the existence of the devil, yet Isaiah, Ezekiel and the other prophets had no such doubts.

They recorded some of his deeds in the Bible so we would know who our enemy is, and from this record we learn some astonishing facts.

Long age, before the age of man, God reigned in heaven. The kingdom was divided into many subordinate parts, with each part being ruled by an angelic being.

The Kingdom can be understood to be somewhat of a hierarchical structure somewhat along the lines of the military, where there are different ranks such as, general, colonel, major, etc, and right down to private.

In God's kingdom, the highest rank of created beings were called arch-angels, the chief among them being lucifer. He had a throne and a kingdom, which was given to him by God, but that was not enough.

There arose a rebellion lead by him.

The Scripture tells us that he was perfect in all his ways, meaning God did not create him as he now is, evil.

Hans

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18.) Down to the Netherworld

Isaiah 14:12-15
How art thou fallen from heaven, O day-star, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, that didst cast lots over the nations!

And thou saidst in thy heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, above the stars of God will I exalt my throne, and I will sit upon the mount of meeting, in the uttermost parts of the north

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.'

Yet thou shalt be brought down to the nether-world, to the uttermost parts of the pit.

Lucifer was a free moral agent, who chose to rebel against God. He became lifted up in pride, because of his beauty and wisdom, and declared "I will ascend into heaven, above the stars of God will I exalt my throne, and I will sit upon the mount of meeting, in the uttermost parts of the north

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High."

Lucifer was not satisfied with his kingdom, he wanted to rule it all and be in the place of God. He won over a third of the other angels to his alliance and mounted a rebellion.

Hans

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19.) Humanity Tricked into the Rebellion

The first incident of humanities interaction with the adversary was in the Eden, when Adam and Eve sin against God.

To fully understand what took place we must know something of the nature of the beings involved.

God rules in the land of the living, while satan has his kingdom in the realm of the dead. By dead, I mean separated from God.

God created Adam and Eve with spiritual life within them. They belonged to God's kingdom, the kingdom of light and life.

But remember that God warned them that in the same day that they sinned, they would die.

That is, if they rebelled against God by disobeying His command, they would in the same day cross over from the kingdom of God into the realm of the dead, where the devil rules.

As long as Adam and Eve were members of the kingdom of life, God was there spiritual sovereign. But that would change.

Satan had become the enemy of God by his rebellion. He wanted to get back at God by temting Adam and Eve to also rebel against Him. When they sinned against God they passed from life unto death, God ceased to be their spiritual ruler and they were cast out of the garden.

Satan became their ruler because they had entered into his kingdom of death and darkness. Since the entire human race was in the loins of Adam, they would not only inherit his spiritual condition, but they would also be subjects of satan's kingdom.

Hans

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20.) Accused Before God

God had in mind to provide the atonement as a means of redeeming us, or buying us back from the kingdom of darkness. God set in motion the laws of animal sacrifice, they being a foreshadow of the coming atonement whereby humanity would be reunited with God.

The purpose of Messiah would be to deliver humanity out of bondage to the kingdom of darkness. Satan, the enemy of God and man, does not wish to lose subjects from his kingdom, so he attempts to prevent people from seeking after God. He tries to dissuade man from accepting God?s atonement, in preference to our own "covering" of good deeds and religious behaviour.

Then if a person does not have the covering of God?s provision, the devil accuses him of sin.

Zechariah 1:1-4
And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.

And the LORD said unto Satan: 'The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan, yea, the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee; is not this man a brand plucked out of the fire?

' Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.

And he answered and spoke unto those that stood before him, saying: 'Take the filthy garments from off him.' And unto him he said: 'Behold, I cause thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with robes.'(JPS, Tenakh)

Here satan accuses Joshua's sinful condition before God. How do we know that Joshua was in a lost sinful condition? It says he was clothed with filthy garments.

The Bible is a book of "types". The event described here deals not so much with physical clothing, but rather with a spiritual condition.

Satan was telling God, that Joshua, the high priest, was filthy, and therefore had no right to appear before the Lord.

Joshua's covering was unacceptable to God, just as Adam and Eve's covering of fig leaves were unacceptable.

This shows us a valuable spiritual truth; that a covering which comes from the hands of man is unacceptable in God's eyes, only God Himself can provide suitable spiritual clothing for us.

God takes away Joshua's iniquity and covers him with robes, symbolic of Joshua's inquity being covered. Joshua now has a proper atonement and is now no longer filthy in his iniquity before God.

Hans

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21.) The Accuser

Job 1:6-9
Now it fell upon a day, that the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.

And the LORD said unto Satan: 'Whence comest thou?' Then Satan answered the LORD, and said: 'From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.'

And the LORD said unto Satan: 'Hast thou considered My servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a whole-hearted and an upright man, one that feareth God, and shunneth evil?'

Then Satan answered the LORD, and said: 'Doth Job fear God for nought? (JPS, Tenakh)

Here again, we see the devil accusing man before God. Satan was trying to convince God of Job's unworthiness. A contest was arranged whereby satan would be allowed to afflict Job so that everyone could see Job's faithfulness.

In response to satan's challenge, God answers:

Job 1:12
And the LORD said unto Satan: 'Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thy hand.' So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.(JPS,Tenakh)

Satan proceeds to destroy all Job has, including taking the lives of Job's children. The devil not only hates God, but hates man, God's creation as well.
In response to the terrible calamities that came upon him, Job remarks:

Job 1:21
..the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD (JPS, Tenakh)

The Bible is a perfect book. We must realize however, that it also records statements of people who at times were wrong. The statement that Job made was accurately recorded, but he did not realize that what he was saying was not true.

Job was wrong when he said "The Lord hath taken away". The Lord didn't take anything away from Job, satan did. The Lord did not kill Job's children, the devil did. God was getting the blame for the evil that satan did. Job should have known better, but even today people are no different.

Hans

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22.) Tribulations in a Fallen World.

God still gets blamed for every bad thing that comes along. If someone comes down with a terrible disease and dies, people say it was God's will.

If a natural disaster kills thousands of men and women, people call it an act of God. Satan is the enemy of man, he is the one who steals, kills , destroys and accuses man before God.

The physical laws of this world to a large extent came about in their present form when the fall occurred. At that point, not only man, but the world collapsed into its current fallen state.

That is also the moment when, the devil became, "the god of this world". When we look out upon the world of nature, we need to remember that we are seeing nature in a fallen state, and not how God created it.

Yeshua said that, it was the Father in Him that did the miraculous works. With that in mind, what occurred when Yeshua faced the angry sea that was causing the disciples to fear for their lives? Yeshua rebuked the sea and the Father in Him calmed the storm. If the threatening storm was from God, then God would have rebuked himself.

Yeshua told us a house divided wouldn't stand. The storm was not from God.

The stormy waves on the water in Yeshua's time weren't from God and neither were the stormy Tsunami waves that hit the Indian ocean in late 2004.

God who delivered Job, is the one who delivers us out of calamity. As God delivered Job, so He will deliver all who call upon Him out of the kingdom of the snake.

This is the purpose of Messiah, to "bruise the head" of the serpent by overthrowing his kingdom and offering freedom to the captives.

Hans

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Types of the Messiah

Hidden within the Bible are "types" of the coming Deliverer. Each of these different types shows a different aspect of such things as: the atonement, the nature of Messiah, the nature of man, how Messiah will atone, etc.

23.) The Lamb of God

Exodus 12:21-23
Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them: 'Draw out, and take you lambs according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb.

And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two side-posts with the blood that is in the basin; and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning.

For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side-posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. (JPS, Tenakh)

The Passover is symbolic of the entire world situation. Adam and his race had become members of the serpent's kingdom, but God by a prophesied Deliverer, would overthrow this kingdom of darkness and free man from it.

Adam and his offspring were not sure how this was going to come to pass, so God gradually started revealing what would happen to them.

This was the situation in Exodus. Pharaoh, the evil ruler, and a "type" of the snake, had God's chosen people in the chains and shackles of slavery, in Egypt, a "type" of the kingdom of darkness.

How did God deliver Israel from her bondage to the dark kingdom of Egypt?, by means of an atonement.

In this God is revealing how He will in the future deliver all men from the kingdom of the devil, by the shedding of blood, by atonement.

Every family amongst the Jews in Egypt, was required to kill and eat the Passover Lamb, and then to smear its blood over the door and on the side posts.

Here again, we see God's principle of blood atonement.

Hans

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