Wars; rumors of war; natural and man-made disasters; political, entertainment, and holiday events; exceptional economic fluctuations; lifestyles of the rich and famous; personal milestones—all captivate our interest.

However, for sheer suspense concerning innocence or guilt, right or wrong, and even life or death decisions, hardly anything arrests our attention like a sensational trial that grips an entire nation … indeed, the whole world. Some of which have long-term repercussions.

In the United States, we’ve come to call some of these historical trials: “The Trial of the Century.” It doesn’t matter that, by definition, there can only be one trial of the (a) century. Any court drama that grabs national and sometimes international headlines can be granted that title.

We are mesmerized by high-profile trials because it’s not our fate that hangs in the balance. We even get to choose sides. We reach our own verdict of guilty or innocent and impose our own sentence on the accused, sometimes before the trial begins. Some rely on the facts; others on the personalities involved. Some people like loopholes, others do not. Some put themselves in the place of the accused, or a witness, or a jury member, or prosecutor, or defense attorney, or judge. What would we do and say?

Top 10 Trials of the 20^th Century

That is the title of an article posted online at the website of History Lists. The list was not necessarily arranged according to the author’s opinion as to the historical rank of the trials, i.e. from ten to one in prominence. Some of these were:

• The Scopes Monkey Trial (1925): Should evolution be taught in the public schools of Tennessee as opposed to Biblical creation? Evolution lost that battle. Nowadays in most public-school systems, the Biblical account of creation cannot be taught—only evolution.
• The Rosenberg Trial (late 1940s): Husband/wife Julius & Ethel Rosenberg found guilty and executed (1953) for treason, i.e. espionage in passing secret documents on the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union. The Rosenberg’s maintained their innocence; claiming that they were arrested and convicted because they were Jewish.
• The Nuremberg Trials (1945-46): Twenty-two Nazi leaders such as Herman Goering and Rudolph Hess tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Three were acquitted; twelve found guilty and executed; seven convicted and sentence to life or lengthy imprisonment.
• Lindbergh Kidnapping Trial (1932): 20-month old son of famous aviator Charles Lindbergh kidnapped and murdered by Bruno Hauptmann. Although the title had been casually used before, this case was constantly referred to as, “The Trial of the Century.” Decades after Hauptmann was convicted and executed, legitimate questions arose as to his innocence.
• O.J. Simpson Murder Trial (1995): Another trial with racial overtones. Many African-Americans wanted him to be acquitted even before the trial began. Americans were glued to this televised trial in the same fashion as a miniseries or a daily soap-opera. Hardly any other sensationalized trial generated such agony or ecstasy at the verdict.

Two trials of the 21^st century also garnered international headlines: The Michael Jackson Trial of 2005. And Saddam Hussein’s capture and trial, 2004-2006.

(Charles Lindbergh & his son)

Top Ten Historical Trials That Shook the World

The above titled article authored by Matt Hayes and Igor Itkin, posted on 11-13-2012, can be found in the on-site location of ListVerse.com. The authors expanded the Trial of the Century concept to the top ten trials throughout history. However, this list ranks the ten trials, “that shook the world” in order of prestige, counting down from ten to the one most notable of all. These ten and dozens more can be found on other internet websites.

The authors cite a common denominator for all ten … that of an injustice against the accused. Whether these top ten were chosen because of that injustice or whether the outcome of the trials just happened to include an unjust verdict is difficult to ascertain. Yet one fact stands out: They did shake the very fabric of society at the time, with some of those repercussions continuing to our post-modern world.

Only six of them will be presented … each identified by its’ number rank.

Number Ten – Salem Witch Trials (1692): A few movies and T.V. programs have been aired and numerous books and articles have been written about this infamous trial.

Number Nine – Alfred Dreyfus Trial (1894): Many allege that anti-Semitism motivated the wrongful arrest, trial, and conviction of this Jewish official for alleged treason against France. Several years later, Dreyfus was exonerated on all charges.

Number Eight – Martin Luther’s Trial (1521): Charged with heresy, Luther was imprisoned and excommunicated. He escaped prison and remained in hiding for most of his life. His courage to confront the hierarchy of Roman Catholicism was the foundation of the Protestant Reformation back to the basic truths of the Christian message: Salvation by grace through faith in Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice alone … not by membership in or keeping of unbiblical sacraments of a church organization.

Number Three – Joan of Arc Trial (1431): Another notorious trial of heresy with the Catholic Church verdict of guilty and execution by burning her alive at the stake.

Number Two – Trial of Socrates (399 B.C.): Accusations of corrupting social and moral values.

Number One – Crucifixion Trial of Jesus Christ (around 30 A.D.): Whether a believer in Messiah Jesus or a religious or secular unbeliever, billions were and still are familiar with what is undeniably (in terms of both human and divine impact) the most famous trial of all time.

(Depiction of Martin Luther on trial)

Introduction to the Three Greatest Trials of All Time

The crucifixion of Messiah Jesus ended the first of the three greatest trials of the ages. The other two have not yet taken place. But they, too, will surpass all other court cases because, like the trial of Jesus, each of them directly involves God. Each one was prophesied in the Bible long before the occurrence. Each marks the end and then a new beginning of three epic periods of God’s providential interaction with humanity. They will determine the destiny of all nations and peoples.

The trial of Jesus marked the end of the Old Covenant of Law and beginning of the New Covenant Age of Grace. It is the only event in history in which God, himself, was on trial … literally, not symbolically. The very Son of God (Second Person of the Triune God) stood accused. In the next two monumental court hearings soon to come, many people will be on trial.

Class action trials, so to speak.

The second trial will take place at the end of the Great Tribulation just before the magnificent Millennial Reign of Messiah Jesus begins. In fact, he will be the judge. The verdict of this trial will be imposed on nations of the earth which oppressed and persecuted Jews all over the earth during the final generation of the last days in which we are now living … particularly during the Tribulation period.

The third and final trial of all time will include all raised to life unbelievers, those who are the unforgiven. It will take place at the end of the Millennium … the trial to end all trials. For this will be the beginning of ETERNITY. A glorious timeless and trial-less existence in heaven and the New Jerusalem for all of God’s people.

First Trial: Arrest, Interrogation, Verdict, and Execution of Messiah Jesus

To say that the trial of Jesus Christ was unique (one of a kind) would be the understatement of “the century.” Of any century. Indeed, it was God on trial; for a radical reason with far-reaching, everlasting results.

With his illegitimate arrest, illegal trial, and unwarranted crucifixion, Jesus Christ not only stood trial for mankind; he also suffered the penalty of a sentence for every person who ever lived.

“For the wages of sin is death… (both physical and spiritual)” (Romans 6:23a, parenthesis mine).

However, a verdict that can be overturned by a once for all pardon of sin and guilt (spiritual death—eternal separation from God;) if we only believe and receive the one Person who took that sin and guilt for us … Messiah Jesus.

“…but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23b).

He is the just for the unjust, the righteous for the unrighteous, the innocent for the guilty.

Here are some of the other remarkable differences in the trial of Jesus:

Predicted Hundreds of Years Before It Happened (In Parenthesis, O.T. & N.T. Passages)

The birth, life, death, crucifixion, and resurrection of the Messiah was prophesied dozens of times in the Old Testament. All fulfilled in decisive detail by Jesus of Nazareth. None more so than his trial—from the time he was arrested to when he arose from the grave.

Including but not limited to: rejection by his own people (Isaiah 53:3 … John 1:11); betrayal by a friend—one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot (Psalm 41:9 … Mark 14:17-20); beaten viciously (Micah 5:1 … Mark 15:19); silent before his accusers (Isaiah 53:7 … Matthew 27:12-14); unjustly tried and condemned (Isaiah 53:8 … Matthew 27:1-2); nails driven into his hands and feet (Psalm 22:16 … Matthew 27:35); dice thrown for his garments (Psalm 22:18 … John 19:23-24); given vinegar and gall (Psalm 69:21 … John 19:28-29); buried in a rich man’s tomb (Isaiah 53:9 … Luke 23:50-56). And of course, his resurrection (Psalm 16:10 … Luke 24:1-7, 47).

Prophesied by Jesus, Himself

As recorded in the Gospels, at least three times Jesus predicted his death at the hands of his enemies. How could he have known with any degree of certainty that this would happen, let alone with the details he gave, unless he was the divine Son of God? In the first of these, we read: “The Son of Man must suffer many terrible things… He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead” (Luke 9:22).

By that time, Jesus’s disciples, as well as thousands of the common people and many of the religious leaders, had heard of or had seen first-hand his tremendous teaching and magnificent miracles. Many believed in Him. Yet most still would not accept him as the Messiah, the Son of God. Despite the irrefutable evidence, they chose not to believe. Jesus knew they would reject him, and he knew that the result of that rejection would cost him his life.

Yet, the prophetic announcement was just one of several distinctive features of Jesus’s trial.

Jesus’s Trial from Beginning to End Was Illegal

It’s one thing to accuse and try an innocent person. Sadly, that happens. Even worse: when the innocent is found guilty for any number of reasons, such as inaccurate testimony—either deliberate or inadvertent. In that regard Jesus’s trial was not unique.

However, it’s a seriously different matter when the trial itself is illegal.

Jesus was tried in the middle of the night which was a violation of Jewish law. The Jewish Sanhedrin and its High Priest Caiaphas knew this. They also knew that for serious charges an accused must be brought to the High Council’s regular chambers; they tried Jesus in Caiaphas’ home.

(Jesus and the Sanhedrin, from the movie Jesus of Nazareth)

False witnesses were produced. Normally Jewish trials involved a sophisticated protocol of screening witnesses to assure that true justice would prevail. Nor was a prisoner to be struck or physically assaulted during a trial. In short, the entire trial was conducted surreptitiously without due process, a violation of the Law of Moses that the Jewish officials were so keen to enforce.

Because the religious leaders wanted to kill Jesus (knowing they needed permission from the Romans) before the Sabbath began, they circumvented all the Law’s procedures and principles. To the point where the Sanhedrin elected to cut to the chase and bluntly asked Jesus, “Tell us, are you the Messiah…?” (Luke 22:67; Matthew’s Gospel includes, “…Messiah, the Son of God”).

Jesus was then handed over to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate who further interrogated him. All born-again believers know (or should know) as do millions of unbelievers that Pilate knew Jesus was innocent of the crime of treason (the bogus reason given by the Jews, because they knew a religious violation of the Law of Moses was not a concern to the Romans). Moreover, Pilate could have released Jesus instead of Barabbas according to an annual tradition of freeing one Jewish prisoner on Passover. Do you know or remember what Pilate said and did after he capitulated to the demands of the Jews to crucify Jesus?

“Pilate saw that he wasn’t getting anywhere and that a riot was developing. So he sent for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood. The responsibility is yours!’ And all the people yelled back, ‘We will take responsibility for his death—we and our children!’” (Matthew 27:24-25).

Not only were the Jews responsible for Jesus’s unjust death, so were the Romans (Gentiles). The Jews had the first chance to release Jesus, and the Romans had the last chance. Both were complicit in his death, as are we all.

Thank God! The story doesn’t end there.

“But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) (Ephesians 2:4-5, parenthesis in the text).

The Accused’s Right to Defend Himself; Jesus Was Silent Before His Accusers

The rule of law both civil and criminal (patterned after traditional Jewish law) was ingrained in the Roman Empire. Everyone had the right to a trial and to innocence until proven guilty. In today’s world all democratic nations are founded on this principle.

Would the accused (especially if they’re innocent) remain silent in their defense? At the very least the accused would seek a lawyer or advocate to speak for them.

Concerning the Messiah, Isaiah wrote: “He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. Unjustly condemned, he was led away” (Isaiah 53:7-8a).

In answer to the confrontational demand as to whether he was the Messiah, Jesus did speak. He also answered Pontius Pilate’s question as to whether he was the King of the Jews. Essentially, that’s all Jesus said. Isaiah’s prophesy of the Messiah being silent was a direct reference to the critical component of Jewish law … those accused had the right to speak, or to be spoken for by an advocate. To include as much evidence and time reasonably needed to establish that defense.

Jesus could have responded with a long dissertation demonstrating why he was, in fact, Messiah? He could have quoted passage after prophetic passage in the Old Testament, then cited (for example) three dozen miracles he had performed. Then asserted his rights that the “court” bring in some of those he had miraculously healed from crippling deformities and diseases. He could have produced proof that he was born in Bethlehem as prophesied by the prophet Micah; not in Nazareth as mistakenly assumed by the religious leaders. That he was a direct descendant of King David from the tribe of Judah. And he could have summoned Lazarus to testify that Jesus had raised him from the dead!

In that regard, Jesus did not by any stretch of the imagination offer a defense, let alone extensive evidence that he could have presented. His only reply was that of answering the crucial question of his Messiahship.

Here is part of Yeshua’s response to the Sanhedrin:

“…If I tell you, you won’t believe me. And if I ask you a question, you won’t answer. But from now on the Son of Man will be seated in the place of power at God’s right hand.

“They all shouted, ‘So you are claiming to be the Son of God?’

“And he replied, ‘You say that I am.’” (Luke 22:67-70).

Thus, Jesus was agreeing with them; he was, indeed, The Messiah—the Son of God.

Concerning the question(s) he could have asked them as well as their unbelief, he had already posed several probing questions to the religious leaders during his ministry that they could not answer. In fact, they were dumbfounded at his astounding questions and answers. That’s why the religious leaders were so jealous of Jesus. They also were envious of the common people’s responses to what Jesus said and did. For example: “When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, for he taught with real authority—quite unlike their teachers of religious law” (Matthew 7:28-29).

(Please see Eye of Prophecy article, The Incomparable Power and Authority of Jesus Christ; posted 5-28-16).

Jesus also declined to defend himself in front of Pontius Pilate. Neither Pilate nor any other Roman official or court of law could imagine anyone not speaking up in their defense, especially when the accused’s life hung in the balance.

(Jesus before Pilate, from the movie, The Passion of the Christ. Barabbas is portrayed on the right)

As with the Jewish leaders, the only response Jesus gave concerned Pilates’s question, “…Are you the king of the Jews?”

Part of Jesus’s reply was, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world … You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into this world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true” (John 18:33-37).

Indeed, the offense for which the Jewish leaders tried Jesus was part of the Mosaic Law that warranted the death penalty, i.e. claiming not only to be Messiah, but (even more blatant to the religious leaders) saying that he was God’s Son. Though Jesus was completely man, he was also fully God. Therein lies the rub. If he was exclusively a human being, then he would have been guilty of the charge.

That was/is the crux of the matter. For two reasons: (1) The Hebrew Scriptures unequivocally state that the Messiah is divine (Isaiah 9, Micah 5, other passages). This fact was missed, dismissed, or erroneously explained away by many Jewish rabbis—then and now. Considering Jesus’s claim to be the (divine) Messiah, the very Son of God, the Jewish leaders and people should have closely examined their Scriptures to at least give him the benefit of the doubt. (2) This benefit of the doubt was denied outright despite the extraordinary evidence that Jesus had performed many miracles, not just one or two. For example, would they have believed Lazarus’ testimony? Perhaps. Would it have made a difference? No.

Jesus knew that the hearts of his accusers were rock-hard; their eyes irreversibly blind; ears irrevocably deaf. No matter if or how he defended himself, he would have been condemned. He didn’t speak a word in his defense. The only words he spoke affirmed the accusations.

What other trial in history resulted in the execution (and an excruciating inhumane one at that) of someone who was found innocent by the ruling court?! And this someone wasn’t just some-one. He was and is the Messiah, the Son of God. He is Lord and Savior for those who believe in Him.

Our Redeemer lives!

Jesus Stood Trial and Died Voluntarily

Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd… So I sacrifice my life for the sheep (referring to Israel, the lost sheep). I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold (Gentiles). I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd… I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded” (John 10:14-18, parenthesis mine).

Although Jesus knew precisely what would happen, he did nothing to orchestrate the sequence of events relating to his trial and crucifixion. As the Son of Man, he left that to the inexplicable, incomparable sovereignty of his Father, Almighty God.

As a man, he even asked his Father if there could be another way to accomplish God’s plan of redemption. Do you remember what he said in the Garden of Gethsemane shortly before he was arrested?

“Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will…. (Mark 14:36, NASB). Go ahead and finish Jesus’s words.

Yes, Jesus voluntarily laid down his life. As the Son of God, at any time he could have stopped what was happening to and around him.

Eternal praise to our God and His Messiah that this did not happen! All glory to Yeshua who did not send a legion of angels to annihilate those who had arrested him in the garden! Everlasting gratitude to our Lord for not saying I’ve had enough and stepping down from the cross! All power and dominion to the Son of Man for arising from the grave and conquering death once and for all! Go ahead, say it aloud with me. Amen! (Out of the Abyss, page 219)

Just after he was nailed to the cross, with incredible love even for those who crucified him, we read these stirring words:

Just before Jesus died on the cross, he uttered these amazing words that would forever change the course of history: “It is finished!” (John 19:30).

Those words meant the debt of sin had been paid once and for all.

It was a trial unlike any other before or since; the trial of a lifetime … yours, mine, everyone who has ever lived on this planet. One that determined our destiny of eternal life or death, depending on what we decide about Jesus—who he is and why he died. An unjust trial and sentence willingly endured by Messiah Jesus. His was the greatest sacrifice ever made by the highest price ever paid.

Second Trial: Judgment of the Nations / Trial of the Sheep and Goats

To some extent or another, several prior Eye of Prophecy articles have addressed God’s two universal plans for humanity: (1) Individual redemption for all—Jew and Gentile alike—who place their trust in the only source of salvation, the Jewish Messiah for all people. The final trial/judgment for all people who have died without acknowledging Jesus as Lord and Savior will take place at the end of the Millennium. That is the 3^rd greatest trial of the ages, which will be discussed shortly.

(2) God’s second plan is Israel. It is tied into the first … salvation would come through the Jews and the nation of Israel, specifically through the Messiah. God’s Covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob first and foremost guaranteed that the Promised Land of Israel would always be the permanent inheritance (possession) of their descendants, the Jews. All nations of the earth that bless Israel will be blessed. Those countries that denigrate and delegitimize Israel would be severely punished (Genesis 12).

The final phase of this punishment will take place during the Tribulation culminating in the 2^nd greatest trial in human history at the end of the Tribulation. This is commonly referred to as the separation of the Sheep and the Goats, as announced directly by Jesus. It will usher in his Millennial Reign.

Those who survive the Great Tribulation will stand before Jesus Christ, separated into nations or ethnic groups that supported Israel (the sheep) and those that fought against Israel (the goats).

Prior to this trial, God will have already destroyed the coalition of Gog/Magog nations in the early part of the Tribulation. Then Messiah Jesus will crush the ten-nation coalition led by Antichrist (Nero) near the very end of the Tribulation … Armageddon. (See Eye of Prophecy articles: End of the World Events … In Chronological Order, posted 2-25-17; and Armageddon & Messiah’s Return … An Amazing Sequence of Events, 2-3-18).

“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left” (Matthew 25:31-33).

In the rest of that chapter, Jesus explains the explicit criteria for this trial and the verdict.

Concerning the sheep who generously help the Jews:

(Matthew 25:40)

The brothers and sisters of Jesus are his Jewish kinsfolk in the flesh.

For those in the goat nations, it will be just the opposite. Their hostility toward God’s chosen people will result in: “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life” (Verse 46).

Judgment of unbelievers alive at the end of the Tribulation will be based primarily on their (national) treatment of Israel, as such treatment was though they had done it (good or bad) for Jesus himself—Israel’s King. Both the (sheep/goat) trial of the nations and the Tribulation pre-trial destruction of the armies of these anti-Semitic nations are found in several Old Testament prophecies. Such as:

“I will gather the armies of the world into the valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will judge them for harming my people, my special possession, for scattering my people among the nations, and for dividing up my land” (Joel 3:2).

“The day is near when I, the Lord, will judge all godless nations! As you have done to Israel, so it will be done to you. All your evil deeds will fall back on your own heads” (Obadiah 1:15).

Right in the middle of the well-known prophecy that depicts the four Gentile world kingdoms, and the little horn’s (Antichrist Nero) sudden appearance (reappearance or return from the Abyss as found in Revelation 17) at the outset of the Tribulation, Daniel switches to a stunning vision of the Messiah:

“As my vision continued that night, I saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence. He was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey him. His rule is eternal—it will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13-14, italicized to emphasize that Jesus will divinely judge and rule over nations).

Please see Eye of Prophecy article, Messiah’s Ascension & Coronation … Seen Long Before It Happened! Posted 5-27-17.

And the oft-quoted passage: “I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicating drink that makes the nearby nations stagger when they send their armies to besiege Jerusalem and Judah. On that day I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock. All the nations will gather against it to try to move it, but they will only hurt themselves” (Zechariah 12:2-3).

Third Trial: The Great White Throne Judgment

The Great White Throne Judgement was discussed in a very recent Eye of Prophecy article; however, with emphasis on the resurrection of dead unbelievers, only to face their eternal fate. (Resurrections / How Many Will There Be? One, Two, or Could There Be Three? Posted 10-27-18).

This final trial, verdict, and sentence is profoundly personal and permanent as found in Revelation 20:11-15, in contrast to the more corporate punishment of the sheep/goat nations which pertains to the treatment of Israel and the Jews. It ends the Millennial era and initiates the age of Eternity.

One of the exceptional features of this trial is that the verdict is not directly based on the offenses (sin) of those being judged … all unbelievers. Yes, you read that right.

Here is what all unbelievers are being judged by: “…And all were judged according to their deeds” (Revelation 20:13). It doesn’t say according to their sins. In fact, some of these acts were undoubtedly good deeds. Unless done from strictly a selfish motive or gain, no good deed or work (objectively defined by all involved) is a sin.

They were “judged” (measured or cross-examined) on the only defense that unbelievers can and will offer. This argument is based on the most perfidious perception and malignant misconception ever befallen humanity. Which is: The good things I’ve done should be given greater weight than the wrong things.

But the actual sentence (Lake of Fire) was based on something much more comprehensive, one with eternal consequences, which we will see in a moment.

During their life on this earth, what all the unsaved ultimately want to be measured by is their accomplishments, mainly through “good works” which they will try to argue should be enough to merit God’s approval. That will be their defense before Almighty God, who will not beg to disagree during this trial. That disagreement had already been unequivocally quantified:

“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood…” (Romans 3:23-25).

God is both just and fair. He will allow unbelievers at this final trial to be judged (measured) by their works. If anyone can prove to Him that their deeds are enough to earn and reach God’s perfect standard of righteousness, then they’re home free. Or are they?

“No one is righteous—not even one” (Romans 3:10). None of us has any innate or earned righteousness of our own.

“…The Lord is Our Righteousness” (Jeremiah 33:16).

Thus, Messiah Jesus is the ultimate test of those on trial before the Great White Throne of Father God.

When the people asked Jesus what they could or should do to perform works acceptable to God, Jesus summarized the whole basis for right standing with God (righteousness) with these words: “This is the only work God wants from you. Believe in the one he has sent” (John 6:29).

Therefore, the final sentence (Lake of Fire) of all unbelievers is based on what they did or didn’t do about Jesus—who had already been judged by God for their sins and the penalty thereof. That is why we read:

“And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15). The unbelievers standing on trial before God had not accepted the only remedy that could have pardoned them from their sins … trust in the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Jesus holds the keys of death and the grave (Revelation 1:18). He conquered death when he arose from the grave. Only Jesus can unlock the door (prison) of physical and spiritual death.

He is the Book of Life. He said, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25).

He also said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

Summary

The Great White Throne passage doesn’t specify just how this trial will unfold. Will the Lord “cross-examine” every unbeliever one at a time? Though speculation, I would suggest that God will extend the opportunity to all those who want to speak up in their own defense to present their case. Most will simply remain silent, knowing the futility of their defense. Certainly some of the religious among them will step forward to remind the Lord of the great things they did for him.

Everything except the most important … to acknowledge and accept Jesus as their personal Savior. Only then, after it’s too late, will they bow their knee and confess with their mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:10-11).

Jesus mentions them: “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day (Great White Throne Judgment) many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws’” (Matthew 7:21-23, italics for emphasis, parenthesis mine).

And what is the “will of my Father” referred to by Jesus? We’ve already read that: Believe in the one (Jesus) whom God sent.

Things to Ponder

Nobody needs to be tried as a goat or according to their works. No one need be sentenced to the worst fate imaginable—eternal separation from God in the Lake of Fire. A guilty verdict that could have been set aside with the right answer to the life-changing, destiny-altering question posed in Jesus’s deposition of all people. One that must be answered in this life-time on earth.

“But who do you say I am?

“Simon Peter answered: ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God’” (Matthew 16:15-16).

God loves you. Jesus died for you.

Say, “yes,” to him before it’s too late.

The Incomparable Influence of One Man

No other person on the face of the earth has impacted humanity like Jesus of Nazareth. He altered the keeping of time itself and changed the course of history.

Who else healed deadly diseases instantly with a touch or a command; made the lame to leap, the dumb to speak, the deaf to hear, the blind to see, and the dead to rise. And in whose name, his disciples did the same.

Miracles that proved Jesus is who he said he is: God’s Incarnate Son.

His phenomenal Virgin birth into this world and stunning resurrection from a sacrificial death are still celebrated every year by billions, even those who have never received him as their Savior and Lord.

The Christian faith is global … crossing national, social, and racial lines. No other creed on earth claims followers from virtually every nation; religions are restricted mostly to ethnic groups or within the confines of certain countries. But then the Christian faith is not a religion or cult. It is a personal relationship with our Lord and Savior Messiah Jesus.

No other belief system offers a Savior as the exclusive source of salvation, nor do their followers want one. Because that would mean the principles and procedures demanded by their dogmas or religious leaders or philosophical pundits need not be kept and membership in their organization would be unnecessary. If a Redeemer was necessary to do for them what they could not do for themselves, it would mean that the adherents were incapable of earning their god’s favor or meriting eternal life or experiencing a high enough level of self-enlightenment. Which, in turn, would insinuate that their belief system was flawed.

In one of several spectacular visions that John recorded in the book of Revelation, we read this about Jesus Christ and his remarkable redemption for mankind that is truly universal in scope.

“…You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. And you have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth. Then I looked again, and I heard the voices of thousands and millions of angels… And they sang in a mighty chorus:

‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered—to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing’” (Revelation 5:9-12).

This powerful passage is looking back with deep indebtedness to Messiah’s First Advent (appearance); and looking forward triumphantly to his Second Advent (return appearance). Both Advents are the heart and soul of the Christian faith—a New (and better) Covenant birthed from a Judaic Old Testament heritage which also experienced appearances of the Messiah.

(Jesus came first as the sacrificial Lamb of God for redemption. He will return as the Lion from the Tribe of Judah to rule and reign on the earth)

God’s Interaction with People Through the Ages

In last week’s article, we looked at some extraordinary events in which God the Father not only spoke to, but appeared to men, specifically Abraham and Moses. However, when the Lord manifested himself he always concealed his glory (essence of pure light and holiness) mainly through fire or dense clouds. Purpose of which was to protect the on-looker.

We also examined an event in which the Lord appeared up-close and personal to Jacob and even wrestled with him. With convincing evidence that this man was the Lord but could not have been God the Father for the two reasons given: (1) God is Spirit only; (2) unless the Lord veils his glorious presence, no one can look on him and survive.

It was one of several Old Testament events in which the Lord appeared as a man, with the default conclusion that this man could only have been the 2^nd Person of the Trinity, God’s Son, Messiah Jesus. There is no one thing that Judaism takes issue with more than the Christian belief that God has a Son, and his Son was (Virgin) born as a human being. Non-Messianic Jews, both observant and secular, do not believe in the Triune God, despite the Hebrew Scriptures plainly stating that God has a Son.

Messiah Jesus’s pre-birth Epiphanes were prototype previews to prepare the Jews (and Gentiles) for his once-for-all arrival as God the Son in human form. Immanuel … God with us! To overlook or dismiss these marvelous manifestations is to miss the Old Testament revelations of the Pre-Incarnate Messiah—who was, who is, and who is to come again. Whom God’s angels jubilantly heralded at the appointed time in history:

The Jewish author begins the book of Hebrews with:

“Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. This shows that the Son is far greater than the angels, just as the name God gave him is greater than their names.” (Hebrews 1:1-4).

Just a brief commentary on that magnificent passage before we examine some of the Pre-Incarnate appearances of Messiah Jesus.

• The many ways in which God spoke to Old Testament men and women included visions, dreams, audible voice, tangible manifestations of his glory (shrouded to protect those to whom he appeared), through his messengers the angels. AND in human form of God the Son.
• Through the prophets refers not only to God speaking directly to the prophets, but also the prophets’ inspired written record of God’s words to our ancestors. Meaning the ancestors of 1^st century Jews, some of whom were not prophets.
• All of which prepared the way for God’s “final days” revelation of himself directly through His Son. The final days apply to the last age or epoch of God’s interaction with humanity via the New Covenant that the Lord promised through Jeremiah. It is the Age of Grace, in which we are still living; one that will lead directly to the soon-to-come Day of the Lord and Kingdom of God on earth.
• What makes this revelation of God through Jesus Christ different than the Pre-Incarnate appearances of Messiah? Answer: It is permanent, in that the Son of God was born as Jesus of Nazareth, who is still alive; having risen from the dead! He is the eternal God/Man radiating God’s own glory and expressing the very character of God.

That is why God the Father’s last appearance was to the prophet Ezekiel, a younger contemporary of Jeremiah, through whom God had announced the New Covenant. Later, we’ll look at Ezekiel’s exceptional encounter with the Lord.

After Malachi there were no more prophets, until God spoke to John the Baptist over 400 years later. Said John the Baptist about the Incarnate Christ:

“I saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and resting upon him. I didn’t know he was the one (meaning to begin with), but when God sent me to baptize with water, he told me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I saw this happen to Jesus, so I testify that he is the Chosen One of God’” (John 1:32-34, italics for emphasis, parenthesis mine).

Do you remember what God proclaimed at Jesus’s baptism in an audible voice for all to hear?

Correct: “…You are my beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased” (Luke 3:22, NASB).

Though Jesus is God the Son, he lived and spoke as the Son of Man; to validate his appearance to and existence in the world was that of flesh and blood. That he came to do the will of his Father, not the least of which was his excruciating death on the Cross for your sins and mine.

John the Baptist also said this about Jesus:

Just a brief pause to more fully express my love for Messiah Jesus and never-ending appreciation for what he did on the Cross. If you are a child of God, I think the following excerpt from my second book, Out of the Abyss will also be meaningful to you. Referring to Satan’s temptation of Jesus in the wilderness and what is called the Passion of the Christ (in italics):

Yet, it was the temptation scene that dealt the first Messianic blow to Satan’s plans, because that was the devil’s first opportunity to create an antichrist right then and there; to, in one fell swoop, twist and turn the true Messiah into Satan’s messiah.

Eternal praise to our God and his Messiah that this did not happen! All glory to Yeshua who did not send a legion of angels to annihilate those who had arrested him in the garden! Everlasting gratitude to our Lord for not saying I’ve had enough and stepping down from the cross! All power and dominion to the Son of Man for arising from the grave and conquering death once and for all! Go ahead, say it aloud with me. Amen! (page 219).

Examples of Messiah’s Pre-Incarnate Appearances

Time/space only permits examination of a few. Two others were covered in last week’s article: (1) Jacob realized that the man he wrestled with was the Lord. The primary purpose: to confirm God’s perpetual covenant made with Jacob’s father Isaac and grandfather Abraham by blessing Jacob.

(2) The appearance of the Lord as a man to Abraham and Sarah along with two angels in the form of men. Purpose of which was to reaffirm God’s guaranty that Sarah would conceive and bear the promised child Isaac … fathered by Abraham, as opposed to Ishmael through Hagar.

Nothing short of astonishing is that the ultimate Promised Child (Messiah Jesus) through Isaac was the very one who appeared to Abraham that day!

These events also were detailed in a previous Eye of Prophecy article, Does God Really Have a Son? Part II (Posted 11-7-15). A third Pre-Incarnate manifestation of God the Son in that article will be the first of the examples presented in this week’s post. I’m using that episode again because it was the first appearance of God (the Son) as man to more than just one or two people at a time. Though the description in Exodus Chapter 24 is brief, it is nonetheless electrifying. Here is an excerpt from the above-mentioned article (in italics):

Moses & The Seventy Elders

Did you know that the Ten Commandments (along with other features of the Mosaic Law) had been given directly by God to Israel even before Moses ascended Mt. Sinai and received the stone tablets upon which the “finger of God” wrote the Ten Commandments? You can read about that in Exodus Chapter 20. In fact, when God delivered the Commandments to the people, his thunderous voice so frightened them that they pleaded with Moses: “…You speak to us, and we will listen. But don’t let God speak directly to us, or we will die!” (Exodus 20:19).

Prior to that God had given explicit instructions to Moses that the people were not to ascend Mt Sinai or even touch the mountain—upon the pain of death. But then the Lord made a temporary exception that Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders could accompany Moses in a climb up the mountain; for the express purpose of meeting with God to worship him and to celebrate the Covenant that all the people had agreed to, “…do everything the Lord has commanded” (Exodus 24:3). Listen to the short, but stunning description of what transpired:

“Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel climbed up the mountain again. There they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there seemed to be a surface of brilliant blue lapis lazuli, as clear as the sky itself. And though these nobles of Israel gazed upon God, he did not destroy them. In fact, they ate a covenant meal, eating and drinking in his presence!” (Exodus 24:9-11).

Later, God again veiled his presence in a dense cloud of fire and smoke on the mountain. God called (and spoke) to Moses from within that cloud.

Although Moses doesn’t provide a detailed description of “The God of Israel” in this scene, it is fully obvious that who/what they saw was a man… Why can I say that? Because the passage says, “under his feet…” with the clear connotation that they were the feet of a man….

Yet we also know that Moses, himself, was not allowed to look on (the face of) God directly. That fact is inescapably evident from the equally well-known story of what happened when Moses subsequently pleaded with God to, “…show me your glorious presence” (Exodus 33:18).

Why would God make an exception and allow Moses and a group of more than seventy Israelites to stare directly at him and survive? …Or a better question: Was it an exception at all?

There is only one explanation.

Which is the same answer for all the Old Testament appearances of God in human form: It is not God (Spirit) the Father, but rather God the Son who physically appeared to Abraham, to Jacob, to Moses and the elders. And later to Joshua, Gideon, Daniel, Zechariah, and others. Then to arrive for the final time in human form as Jesus of Nazareth…. With the providential purpose to demonstrate that God would appear in human flesh once and for all.

Purpose/Timing of Messiah’s Appearance on Mount Sinai: To ratify and celebrate the Covenant of the Law that included the Jewish festivals and Levitical sacrificial system. Which would be a foreshadow pattern of a far better Covenant, mediated by the heavenly High Priest who came to earth and provided the final (perfect) sacrifice of all time as God’s Son Incarnate. Messiah Jesus was the one man who would perfectly keep and faithfully fulfill the Law of Moses. How appropriate for God’s Son to meet with Moses and the elders on this momentous occasion!

Gideon and Samson

Those who have read the book of Judges know that between Israel’s previous national leader Joshua and Israel’s first king Saul, God chose eleven men and one woman (Deborah) over a period of about 300 years to rescue Israel from her enemies; whom God had allowed to conquer portions of the Promised Land because of Israel’s disobedience. For two of these judges (Othniel & Jephthah) we read that, “The Spirit of the Lord came upon him,” and “At that time the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah” (Judges 3:10 & 11:29, respectively).

Yet regarding Gideon directly and Samson indirectly, something even more dramatic occurred. Most Jews and born-again believers, but also secular Jews and millions upon millions of Gentile unbelievers know at least something about Gideon and/or Samson.

Concerning Gideon, what was that saga? Correct: Gideon twice testing the Lord’s promise through the wool fleece. Also, the Lord whittling Gideon’s army from 32,000 to 10,000 men; then down to 300 elite warriors.

And Samson? An even easier answer: His supernatural strength to (for a time) bring an entire nation to its knees. Philistia—the Philistines, Israel’s archenemy. Until that is: he let Delilah cut his hair. Even then, the Lord returned Samson’s strength to him one last time. With each of his hands pushing against a pillar, Samson brought down a pagan temple, killing more Philistines as he died than when he lived.

Yet, I would venture to say that most people, including observant Jews (even Rabbis) and Christian students of Scripture pay little attention to who it was that appeared and what took place when these two Jewish heroes were chosen to deliver Israel.

Gideon

Beginning with: “The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. So the Lord handed them over to the Midianites for seven years” (Judges 6:1).

As the Israelites did before and would happen after Gideon’s tenure as Israel’s 5^th judge: “When they cried out to the Lord because of Midian, the Lord sent a prophet to the Israelites…” (Verses 7-8).

Followed by the Lord reminding his people that even though He had delivered them from Egyptian slavery, they still followed pagan gods and would not listen to him (Verses 8-10).

Abruptly, God ends his verbal chastisement of the people with a promise to mercifully rescue Israel yet again, this time through Gideon; with a dynamically different beginning to this deliverance. You may want to read the entire account, as only a portion will be provided for sake of time/space:

“Then the angel of the Lord came and sat beneath the great tree at Ophrah … Gideon was threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress…. The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!’” (Judges 6:11-12, emphasis added to show that “the” angel of the Lord appeared as opposed to an angel).

Following Gideon’s response, we read, “Then the Lord turned to him and said, ‘Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!’” (Verse 14). The Lord also said, “…I will be with you…” (Verse 16). *Note: The Lord would use (enhance) whatever courage and initiative Gideon possessed to accomplish a stunning victory over the Midianites.

In this astonishing appearance of the Lord to Gideon, it’s crystal clear that he is not God the Father. Instead, it was a man (the angel of the Lord … also referred to as the Lord) who “sat beneath the great tree…” and spoke with Gideon face to face. None other than the Pre-Incarnate Son of God.

During this opening scene (even before Gideon twice asked God for more signs … the fleece), Gideon also asked for a sign. Here’s what happened after Gideon asked the Lord to wait while he prepared an offering:

“Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and bread with the tip of the staff in his hand, and the fire flamed up from the rock and consumed all he had brought. And the angel of the Lord disappeared. When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he cried out, ‘Oh, Sovereign Lord, I’m doomed! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!’” (Judges 6:21-22).

Do you see what’s going on here? Like those before him, Gideon knew that no one could meet with God “face to face” and live. Whom they described as the angel of the Lord, or a man, or the Lord, or even as God; because they didn’t yet grasp that God also was appearing to them as the 2^nd Person of the Trinity—Messiah Incarnate. Nor did God expect them to know at that time. The Father was preparing them and their descendants for the permanent arrival of his Son in the flesh.

However, by the time the entire Old Testament had been written, the people could and should have made the general composite connection of these appearances to the coming Messiah. Then, specifically after Jesus was born of a Virgin (conceived by the Holy Spirit) and indisputably provided first-hand evidence of his divinity (profound teaching, powerful miracles) neither Jews nor Gentiles to this very day have a valid reason for their unbelief. There are only inexcusable excuses. Especially after Messiah Jesus arose from the dead.

Samson

God’s choice of Samson to be Israel’s 12^th Judge also began with the angel of the Lord appearing. But not directly to Samson; instead to his mother (before Samson was born) and then to his mother and father together. The following verses are enough to show that it was a phenomenal appearance of God’s Son, the Incarnate Messiah.

“The woman ran and told her husband. ‘A man of God appeared to me! He looked like one of God’s angels, terrifying to see… he didn’t tell me his name” (Judges 13:6, italics for emphasis to verify that the person she saw was a man, whose majestic form she could only describe as an angel of God, of which there’s no record that she had ever seen an angel before).

Later, when her husband, Manoah, also met the Man of God and asked him to reveal his name, the Man replied: “Why do you ask my name? … It is too wonderful for you to understand” (Judges 13:18).

(Who else had asked the man who appeared to him for his name, with the Pre-Incarnate Son of God effectively inferring it wasn’t yet time to know his name? Answer: Jacob).

Continuing with the passage: “The angel of the Lord did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. Manoah finally realized it was the angel of the Lord, and said to his wife, ‘We will certainly die, for we have seen God!’” (Verse 21-22, emphasis added).

His wife wisely replied that if the Lord had intended to kill them he wouldn’t have accepted their offering. As with Gideon the Lord consumed their offering with fire, but also disappeared just like he did in front of Gideon.

Purpose/Timing of Messiah’s Appearance to Gideon and Samson’s Parents

Returning to Messiah’s Pre-Incarnate appearance to Gideon:

“It is all right, the Lord replied. Do not be afraid. You will not die. And Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and named it Yahweh-Shalom (which means ‘The Lord is peace’)” (Judges 6:23-24, parenthesis in the text).

Almost always when the Bible speaks of peace in Israel (and the whole world) it is in the immediate context of the Messiah. For it is only the Son of God, Messiah Jesus who will finally rescue and save Israel (and the whole world from extinction during the Tribulation). Who will establish God’s Kingdom on earth—a kingdom of justice, righteousness, and shalom … peace.

The immediate purpose for the Messiah’s Pre-Incarnate appearances to Gideon and Samson’s parents was to demonstrate that he would (through these two judges) deliver his people and restore peace again to Israel. He can do such things against all odds, i.e. Gideon’s 300 men against a vast army, or with just one man’s supernatural strength against an entire nation—Samson.

The period of the Judges was a representative forerunner of the subsequent era in Israel’s history with no kings and/or prophets—all the way from Malachi to the present time. Interrupted by the appearance of the Incarnate Messiah himself (Jesus) who would have rescued Israel from Rome had his people not rejected him. They were managed by governors and religious leaders … as it was in the period of the Judges. Even during Israel’s two exiles (Babylonian for 70 years and Diaspora for 1,900 years) Jews sometimes served in high-profile positions as advisors, assistants, administrators, and ambassadors … as did Daniel and Nehemiah.

So, too, modern-day Israel is led by (elected) officials but with one major difference—as a sovereign state reborn from the floods of dispersion and the fires of Nazi death camps. A nation and people now defended by a mighty military … the Israeli Defense Force. Still, the principle is like the time of the Judges. Israel’s sovereign protection is ultimately through God the Father … not by military might alone. And her redemptive rescue (past and future) through the angel of the Lord—God’s Son, the Incarnate Messiah Jesus. With Israel’s final restoration, both physical and spiritual, achieved by that same Messiah upon his return … Israel’s final king, the King of all kings!

Ezekiel’s Remarkable Meetings with God the Father and God the Son

One of the most astounding appearances of God the Father was his last, when Ezekiel gazed upon God’s glory more than once. What made these events even more amazing is that both the Father and the Son (Pre-Incarnate Messiah) were there! It is another familiar passage of Scripture, to include the four angelic Cherubim—the same living beings seen by John as described in the book of Revelation.

In his initial appearance to Ezekiel, God called him to be a prophet. Ezekiel (at the age of 30) even gives us the place and date on which his prophetic ministry began … calculated to be July 31, 593 B.C.

Wrote Ezekiel: “…while I was with the Judean exiles beside the Kebar River in Babylon, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God” (Ezekiel 1:1).

The second appearance took place on September 17, 592 B.C, about six years before the Babylonian Empire destroyed Jerusalem and Solomon’s Temple. During this gap of a little over a year between visions, the Lord instructed Ezekiel—who had been taken captive in Nebuchadnezzar’s second invasion of Israel—to warn Judah of its final destruction, which occurred in 586 B.C.

The following passages demonstrate that both God the Father and Son were present in these two majestic manifestations to Ezekiel, the second of which was a detailed account of God’s Shekinah glory (presence) leaving Solomon’s Temple.

God the Father: Confirming it was the Father because his glory was (similar to Moses) enshrouded by, “…a huge cloud that flashed with lightning and shone will brilliant light. There was fire inside the cloud, and in the middle of the fire glowed something like gleaming amber” (Ezekiel 1:4).

Then in the second incident we read: “Suddenly, the glory of the God of Israel was there, just as I had seen it before in the valley” (Ezekiel 8:4).

Before God’s presence departed from the Temple, we read, “Then the glory of the Lord rose up from above the cherubim and went over to the door of the Temple. The Temple was filled with this cloud of glory, and the courtyard glowed brightly with the glory of the Lord” (Ezekiel 10:4).

God the Son: In these startling scenes there is someone else that Ezekiel beholds. Our first clue is Ezekiel 1:4, already quoted, where he sees in the magnificent cloud of fire and light, “something like gleaming amber.”

Then, he beholds the source of this gleaming amber.

“Spread out above them (the cherubim) was a surface like the sky, glittering like crystal” (Ezekiel 1:22, parenthesis mine).

“Above this surface was something that looked like a throne made of blue lapis lazuli (remind you of Moses and the seventy elders seeing that same kind of beauty). And on this throne high above was a figure whose appearance resembled a man. From what appeared to be his waist up, he looked like gleaming amber, flickering like a fire. And from his waist down, he looked like a burning flame, shining with splendor. All around him was a glowing halo, like a rainbow shining in the clouds on a rainy day. This is what the glory of the Lord looked like to me. When I saw it, I fell face down on the ground…” (Ezekiel 1:26-28, parenthesis mine).

In the subsequent episode, Ezekiel again saw the cherubim, the glory of the Lord, and this (same) man whom Ezekiel also described as a burning flame from the waist down and gleaming amber from the waist up (Ezekiel 8:2).

Later, the man appears once again with the Lord (the Father). Ezekiel writes: “Then the glory of the God of Israel rose up from between the cherubim, where it had rested, and moved to the entrance of the Temple. And the Lord called to the man dressed in linen who was carrying the writer’s case” (Ezekiel 9:3).

God the Father spoke to Ezekiel on subsequent occasions, as well as other contemporary and post-exile prophets but he did not appear to them. However, the Pre-Incarnate Christ continued his appearances up to the time of Malachi, again to Ezekiel on April 28^th, 573 B.C. The setting was Ezekiel’s vision of what would be (in the end times Tribulation) another Temple. In this vision from God, Ezekiel again saw, “…a man whose face shone like bronze standing beside a gateway entrance. He was holding in his hand a linen measuring cord and a measuring rod” (Ezekiel 40:3).

Purpose/Timing of Messiah’s Appearances to Ezekiel

To prepare Israel for the Old Covenant yielding to the New Covenant prophesied by Jeremiah a few years earlier. Exemplified by the fact that the Lord’s glory (presence) had left the Temple and wouldn’t reappear until (in the form of) the Messiah would arrive as prophesied by Isaiah and other prophets. But only for a short time, because the 2^nd Temple would also be destroyed (foretold by Daniel, also by Messiah Jesus) and the Temple would then be embodied as Messiah himself.

Jesus is the heavenly Temple, of which the earthly tabernacle and temple were but patterns. With the 3^rd person of the Triune God, the Holy Spirit, indwelling all believers in Messiah. Concerning Jewish and Gentile believers alike: “Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord” (Ephesians 2:20-21).

Individually, believers are:

That’s why both God the Father and God the Son appeared to Ezekiel! For Israel to carefully consider and prayerfully ponder how much better the New Covenant would be. Even more important: to recognize the Messiah of that New Covenant when he arrived as God (the Son) Incarnate.

Still, the Lord gave his people another 600 years or so to prove to themselves and to him that they could keep the Law of Moses as what they perceived to be their source of right standing with God. Which they couldn’t or wouldn’t … nor their ancestors or descendants, right up to this day.

One day soon all that will change. The tens of thousands of Messianic Jews on this planet will become millions upon millions. For you see it won’t be long until, “…all Israel will be saved. As the Scriptures say, ‘The one who rescues will come from Jerusalem, and he will turn Israel away from ungodliness. And this is my covenant with them, that I will take away their sins’” (Romans 11:26-27).

That began when the Incarnate Son of God died on the cross and three days later arose from the dead. And now our generation has experienced the rebirth of national Israel, with the return of Messiah as imminent as ever before. To rescue the remnant of Jews from the Antichrist and Gentile nations during the Great Tribulation and restore Israel spiritually to her God.

All who have believed and received Messiah Jesus as personal Savior will see him as he really is: fully glorified as he was in Old Testament times and on the Mount of Transfiguration.

We will see him as John saw him: “…He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest. His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were like flames of fire. His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves… And his face was like the sun in all its brilliance” (Revelation 1:13-16).

John continues: “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead. But he … said, ‘Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last'” (Revelation 1:17).

And then Jesus said:

Things to Ponder

Of Jesus, the Apostle John wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1, NASB).

“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14, NASB).

There are other Pre-Incarnate appearances of Messiah Jesus. Like the episodes we’ve examined, each was for a special reason. With the ultimate purpose: To demonstrate that neither Judaism nor the Jews should be surprised, dismayed, or even insulted that Jesus of Nazareth claimed to be the Son of God. For at least three reasons:

First: the Hebrew Scriptures irrefutably declare that God has a Son. Second: This Son is the Messiah, because the Bible is equally transparent that Messiah would be divine (Isaiah 9 and other passages). Third: Jesus fulfilled all Messianic prophecies in meticulous detail.

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). And then he said, “…Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father!” (John 14:9).

The Jewish Apostle Paul, who saw the risen Christ after Jesus had ascended to heaven, boldly and beautifully proclaims: “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God…” (Colossians 1:15).

And, “For God in all his fulness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross” (Verse 19-20).

Do you really want to know the Lord and his great love for you? Do you understand God’s only requirement for your redemption?

“Jesus told them, ‘This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent” (John 6:29).

Do you believe Jesus? Do you believe in Jesus?

Then open the door of your heart and invite him to be your Savior and Lord. If you do, God will immediately give you eternal life, because:

“…this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life (I John 5:11-12).

High Holy Days

It’s too early to wish you a Merry Christmas, so I won’t! Although it’s just a matter of a few short weeks before Christmas merchandising begins.

The month of Kislev (November/December) is also when Hanukkah, the Feast of Dedication is celebrated on the Jewish calendar. As important as Hanukkah and Purim (February) are to Israelis and Jews the world over, neither is one of the seven festivals ordained by God in the Torah.

For Judaism and Jews, even the secular among them, four of these festivals bear more significance than the others: Passover, Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot.

Passover is observed during the month of Nisan (March/April). The Christian counterpart is Good Friday and Easter Sunday—when the Passover Lamb of God, Messiah Jesus was slain for the sins of the world, then arose from the dead three days later to seal the New Covenant God made with Israel almost 2,000 years ago. The other three commemorations take place in the Hebrew month of Tishrei (September/October … occasionally into early November), making it the single-most important month of the year for Jews … the High Holy Days.

Rosh Hashana—Jewish (civil) New Year Feast of Trumpets, Tishrei 1.

Yom Kippur—Day of Atonement, Tishrei 10.

Sukkot—Feast of Tabernacles, Tishrei 15-21.

Then one extra-day called Simchat Torah that means Rejoicing in the Torah, which is all the Hebrew Scriptures, but more specifically (especially for Orthodox Jews) the five books of Moses and The Law.

Today’s Eye of Prophecy article posted on September 29^th is the 6^th day of the Feast of Tabernacles, the 20^th day of Tishrei. This is also the time of year in which many Christian scholars (me included) believe that Messiah Jesus was born. Some narrowing it down to the seven-day Festival of Tabernacles.

(Jews celebrating Feast of Tabernacles in a Sukkah, a makeshift hut or tent)

Whatever month/day a person is born is important to them … it’s their birthday!

On a brief personal note, this time of the year is meaningful to me for another reason: my birthday was yesterday, September 28^th. Long before learning what day on the Hebrew calendar I was born; my favorite numbers were and still are three and seven. My email address contains those numbers … 773. When I discovered my Hebrew calendar birthdate, those numbers became even more relevant (for me). I was born on the 3^rd day of Tishrei, the seventh month of the religious (original) Hebrew calendar. And in a Hebrew year that contains two sevens (as does the current Jewish year … 5779).

Jesus’s exact birth date would be great to know. Yet, it is not as imperative (to know) as is remembrance of the fact that he came into this world and why. Sadly, many who honor the Christmas season don’t know why Jesus was born and/or ignore the reason in favor of just celebrating the season. For example: among other magnificent names and titles ascribed to him (such as found in Isaiah 9:6-7), the coming Messiah would be Immanuel—God with us.

“As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. ‘Joseph, son of David,’ the angel said, ‘do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’

“All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: ‘Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means God is with us’” (Matthew 1:20-23, quoting Isaiah 7:14).

Messiah would literally “tabernacle” among his people.

No Sacrificial Offerings … No Redemption

Notably, the Feast of Tabernacles is the final of the seven ordained feasts which makes it exceptional for that reason alone. Sukkot brings together the six previous festivals of the year by remembering everything the Lord did for his people before, during, and after the Exodus. Beginning with Abraham, God manifested himself (appeared), then dwelt among them in the Tabernacle’s Holy of Holies and later the Temple, from the time of Moses to the time of Ezekiel … approximately 700 years.

First, the Lord redeemed his people physically from Egyptian slavery and spiritually from themselves—through the atoning sacrifice of the Passover Lambs. He provided everything they needed in preparation for their entrance into the Promised Land (given to them as a perpetual inheritance) to serve him and to be a conduit of God’s Word and the light of his salvation to all people.

In spectacular fashion, he gave them the Law of Moses with universal moral decrees found in the Ten Commandments (written by the finger of God on stone tablets) as well as civil and ceremonial regulations. Included in the Covenant of the Law was the (mandatory) Levitical sacrificial system; on-going atonement for sins of commission and omission—individually and as a nation. Setting apart Israel from the pagan nations that idolized many man-made gods, whose standards or lack thereof resulted in self-absorption, immorality, slavery to sin and to each other (tyranny).

(Scene from Movie, The Ten Commandments)

Judaism continues to adhere to the Law of Moses as the ultimate means of redemption, despite the loss of the Temple and the all-important sacrificial system. That is the subject of the last two Eye of Prophecy articles: God’s New Covenant with Israel … Minus the Temple, Part I & II, posted 9-8 & 9-15-18.

It’s good that many Jews continue to observe the festivals enacted by their (and our) Creator—the God of the universe; also called the Holy One of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. From the Patriarchs came the Promised Child to bring salvation to the Jew first, then to the Gentiles.

Yet, they keep these festivals without the required sacrifices, most notably Passover, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. Why? Because they are in denial that Messiah has already come; that the New Covenant promised through Jeremiah arrived two thousand years ago with the birth, life, crucifixion, burial, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. That his sacrifice was the once-for-all redemption for sin, freely given to all Jews and Gentiles who would believe and receive him as personal Savior.

The substitutionary sacrifice of God’s Son, Messiah Jesus, not only ended the repeated offerings for atonement, it solved the otherwise unsolvable dilemma of (practicing) Judaism. As first expressed in Eye of Prophecy trilogy Where is the Temple? (Posted 11-29-14 through 12-13-14). And repeated in the articles listed above. As follows:

No Temple, no sacrificial offerings. No sacrifices, no atonement forgiveness of sins. No forgiveness, no redemption. No redemption, no right standing with God.

Except for tens of thousands of Messianic Jews around the world, to this day Judaism cannot or will not make the cause and effect connection between rejection of their Messiah Savior to the subsequent loss of the Temple and sacrificial system. Even though both Daniel and Jesus foretold these ominous events and in the order of their occurrence: Messiah would be killed, then Jerusalem and the Temple destroyed (Daniel 9 and Matthew 23-24).

This week’s article and next week’s sequel will examine one other point of denial or dismissal, one that comes in two parts:

(1) Judaism’s denial that Jesus is the Son of God or even that God has a Son, with a corresponding conclusion that Messiah is not divine. As alluded in several Eye of Prophecy articles and thoroughly covered in two articles (Does God Really Have A Son? Part I & II posted 10-31 & 11-7-15): not just the New Testament, but the Old Testament emphatically and incontrovertibly declare that God does, in fact, have a Son. That the Son is also God, with compelling evidence that God’s Son is the Messiah; therefore, the Messiah is of divine origin.

Although there are more, the most recognizable passages are: Psalm 2 & 110; Micah 5; Isaiah 9. With, of course, New Testament Scriptures identifying Jesus of Nazareth as the Son of God, e.g. Matthew 1, Luke 2, John 1, Colossians 1, Hebrews 1, and many other passages, not the least of which is John 3:16. Plus, the historical fact that Jesus precisely fulfilled dozens of Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah. All in keeping with crystal clear testimony that the true and living God is one God in Three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—as found in several portions of Scripture.

Beginning with Genesis in which the Lord says, “…Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us…” (Genesis 1:26, emphasis added). Culminating with the last book of the Bible: Revelation—in which God, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus Christ (the Son) are all mentioned.

(2) Accordingly, most Jews, even those knowledgeable in the Hebrew Scriptures, have overlooked, minimized, or dismissed altogether several amazing Old Testament events that had one thing in common: In addition to God’s appearances to people (in other than bodily form), the Lord ALSO appeared on select occasions as a man. What has been termed: Pre-Incarnate Appearances of Messiah Jesus.

It’s not just non-Messianic Jews. Many students, teachers, and commentators of the Bible don’t always grasp or differentiate between the distinct ways in which God communicated or interacted directly with people in Old Testament times. Meaning which Person of the Godhead—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit appears and/or speaks to someone (however, with consensus that the Holy Spirit never appeared, rather He “came upon” people or inspired the writers of Scripture). Or the difference between an angel of the Lord and the Angel of the Lord who manifested themselves in human form on special occasions.

I suppose an Orthodox rabbi would respond: If Christians would simply discard their belief that God has a Son and the Holy Spirit is not the third Person of the (non-existent) Trinity, then there wouldn’t be any confusion over the Lord’s palpable appearances to people.

That skeptical viewpoint is precisely the point (theme) of this and next week’s article that begs the question: How does one explain those differences considering what Scripture plainly teaches about God (the Father)? To wit: God is Spirit; moreover, no man or woman can look on God and live to tell about it. In many of the Lord’s manifestations as a man, the person or people to whom he appeared voiced relief that they did not die from that direct encounter with the Lord. Why did they not die when they knew from even before Moses’ era that a face to face (so to speak) meeting with God would be fatal?

We’ll look at both types of the Lord’s astounding appearances; this week focusing on God the Father’s direct meeting with people. (Plus, a third means of God’s indirect interaction with people through angels). With an emphasis next week on the powerful Pre-Incarnate Epiphanes of the Son of God—Messiah Jesus.

God (the Father) Speaking and/or Appearing to People

Normally these engagements were with the Patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—or God’s prophets; in visions or dreams or audibly (or personally!).

Regarding the non-tangible events, the Bible is not always clear whether God the Father spoke to someone externally (audibly) or they internally processed the Lord’s message through inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Nor does that really matter, as Scripture plainly indicates the person heard precisely what God was saying, sometimes answering back. Frequently, the Lord conversed in the first person … I, my, me. God even spoke to a child, although the child didn’t at first know that it was the Lord speaking to him. Do you know the name of that child?

Correct: Samuel. Who would grow up to be one of Israel’s greatest prophets.

Beginning with Adam and Eve, who experienced first-hand the awesome presence of God in the Garden of Eden; with the obvious implication that the Lord spoke with them from the time they were created, though they could not see him. Obvious, because right after they sinned against God, we read the following with the clear connotation that Adam and Eve weren’t at all surprised that the Lord showed up and spoke to them. In fact, they foolishly hid themselves thinking the Lord wouldn’t find them.

“When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the LORD God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the LORD God among the trees. Then the LORD God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’ He replied, ‘I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.’ ‘Who told you that you were naked?’ the Lord God asked…” (Genesis 3:8-11).

You probably know the entirety of that scene, one that changed mankind’s destiny; yet one that God would remedy with his awesome plan of redemption and restoration.

Later the Lord spoke audibly to Cain. Do you know or remember the reason? Hint: It had to do with the first murder in the world.

Next up was Noah and again the subject was sin and wickedness, but not Noah’s.

“So God said to Noah, ‘I have decided to destroy all living creatures, for they have filled the earth with violence. Yes, I will wipe them all out along with the earth! Build a large boat…’” (Genesis 6:13-14a). Before, during, and after the Great Flood, the Lord spoke to Noah several times.

In the post-Flood era, Abram (God later changed his name to Abraham) was the next person with whom God spoke: “The LORD had said to Abram, ‘Leave your native country … and go to the land that I will show you’” (Genesis 12:1, capitals in the text as in many other passages because it was YHWH, himself speaking).

Whenever LORD is capitalized in Scripture (over 6,000 times), it is a substitute for Yahweh, God’s Holy Name … I AM.

In the next five verses of Chapter 12, we read that Abram obeyed the Lord and journeyed to this land, called Canaan at the time. Later we’re told that Abraham’s faith in God and obedience to what the Lord told him to do was “credited to Abraham as righteousness;” right standing with God—forever (Genesis 15:6). It is this same faith (trust) that is the basis of redemption for all people—first in God’s promise of the Promised Child (through Isaac), then in the Promised Child, himself—Messiah Jesus whom God sent at his appointed time in history.

Some forget that Abram and his family (virtually all the people of his time) worshipped many gods … polytheistic. I’ve convinced that one of the reasons—most likely the main or only reason—that Abraham believed it was, in fact, the LORD (the true and living God) who had graciously chosen him to be the progenitor of a nation in a land promised to Abraham and his descendants was because God spoke to him. No other (man-made, non-existent) god had ever spoken to anyone. They can’t … they’re not real. However, hundreds of times we read in the Bible that, “God said.” Or, “I, the Lord, have spoken.”

Soon after Abraham and his family (including Lot) arrived in Canaan, something even more breathtaking took place—though most people including observant Jews and even we believers in Yeshua tend to take for granted. We do so because we read that God spoke to people so often, which is amazing enough; but is not quite the same thing as what comes next in Abraham’s life.

“Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, ‘I will give this land to your descendants.’ And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the LORD, who had appeared to him” (Genesis 12:7, italics for emphasis). Where and why did Abram build an altar? He built it there because the LORD appeared to him (there).

Astounding! God appeared to Abraham, but not bodily. Otherwise Scripture (as it does in many scenes in which the Lord shows himself in person as the Preincarnate Christ) would have said so. Nor does that chapter tell us how the Lord’s appearance was manifested. Later, however, when the Lord appeared again to confirm His covenant with Abram, God’s presence was revealed in a “flaming torch” (Genesis 15:17).

And, of course, many—both believers and unbelievers—know that God tangibly appeared to Moses in/from a blazing bush. A bush that burned without being consumed; the purpose of which was to protect Moses from God’s glory. Even then, Moses could only get so close to the bush. Obviously, this was no ordinary fire. Nor any ordinary god!

“There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of the bush… When the LORD saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, ‘Moses! Moses!’

‘Here I am!’ Moses replied.

‘Do not come any closer,’ the Lord warned. ‘Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ When Moses heard this, he covered his face because he was afraid to look at God” (Exodus 3:2-6).

Before Moses knew that it was the Lord God talking to him from the fire, he began by saying, the angel of the Lord (appeared to him).

The word angel means messenger. That is what angels are: messengers and agents of God who speak and act on behalf of the Lord. In just a few seconds, Moses knew full well that it was God himself who was there, speaking to him … not one of God’s angels. This is one time when the angel of the Lord turned out to be God. However, notice that God wasn’t there in bodily form, another indication that it was God the Father who met with Moses.

Face to Face

God spoke with and appeared to Moses far more than any other person in history. So much so, Scripture tells us in the context of Moses’ eulogy: “There has never been another prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face” (Deuteronomy 34:10).

When the Lord summoned Moses’ brother and sister (Aaron and Miriam) to stand in front of him alongside Moses, he admonished them for challenging Moses’ authority: “And the Lord said to them, ‘Now listen to what I say: If there were prophets among you, I, the Lord, would reveal myself in visions. I would speak to them in dreams. But not with my servant Moses. Of all my house, he is the one I trust. I speak to him face to face … He sees the Lord as he is…” (Numbers 12:6-8).

However, whether these face-to-face encounters were on Mt. Sinai or at/in the Tabernacle or elsewhere, Scripture is abundantly clear that God’s presence (his holy, brilliant, lethal light… as he is) was veiled by a dark cloud or fie. Why? Because no man can look directly at God and survive.

In the scene just described, the Lord told them to meet him at the Tabernacle. “Then the Lord descended in the pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the Tabernacle. ‘Aaron and Miriam!’ he called, and they stepped forward” (Numbers 12:5).

As many people know, it was in a pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night through which God (his very presence) led his people for forty years in the wilderness.

The one time that God permitted Moses to look at God’s unshielded glory, he was not allowed to look at God straight on.

“Moses responded, ‘Then show me your glorious presence.’ The Lord replied, ‘I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will call out my name, Yahweh, before you … But you may not look directly at my face, for no one may see me and live … As my glorious presence passes by, I will hide you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and let you see me from behind. But my face will not be seen’” (Exodus 33:18-23).

*Note: God the Father is Spirit … always has been, always will be. That’s why he sometimes used anthropomorphic terms, ascribing human features to himself, i.e. hand, face.

(God’s glory passing in front of Moses took place when Moses climbed Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments on stone the second time)

From Abraham’s time (even before God told/reminded Moses) those who subsequently believed in the Lord—including the entire nation of Israel during Moses’s ministry and thereafter—knew that no one could look on the LORD and live to tell about it.

Thus, Scripture is unequivocally clear that whenever God’s actual (proximate) presence appeared to people, his glory (the very essence/holiness of God) was concealed in some fashion. For example, when the Lord met with Job, he spoke and protected Job from God’s glory through a whirlwind.

God the Father’s manifested appearances ended with the prophet Ezekiel, who witnessed “the glory of the LORD” depart from Solomon’s Temple, even before the Temple was destroyed some six years later. At the beginning of his ministry, Ezekiel witnessed God’s glory that radiated from within, “…a huge cloud that flashed with lightning and shone with brilliant light. There was fire inside the cloud, and in the middle of the fire glowed something like gleaming amber” (Ezekiel 1:4).

Yet, there are several other events in which the Lord appeared to someone as a man. Was this man, God? Answer: Yes and no. Yes, he was God. No, he was not God the Father. He was God the Son. The Bible is not contradicting itself, as Scripture is equally transparent that God is Three in One.

In the remainder of today’s article and in the entirety of next week’s sequel, we’ll look at some of these remarkable occurrences. Beginning with one of the most well-known stories in the Bible. Talk about “face to face!” This encounter was so up-close and personal that the person touched God.

I’m thinking that some of you already know which one.

Read with me a portion of this extraordinary episode: “This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break…. Then the man said, ‘Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!’

But Jacob said, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’

‘What is your name?’ the man asked.

“He replied, ‘Jacob.’

‘Your name will no longer be Jacob,’ the man told him. ‘From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won.’

‘Please tell me your name,’ Jacob said.

‘Why do you want to know my name?’ the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there.

“Jacob named the place Peniel (which means ‘face of God’), for he said, ‘I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared’” (Genesis 32:24-30, parenthesis in the text).

There’s no doubt whatsoever: Jacob knew that this mysterious man was God. Who but the Lord had the authority to change Jacob’s name to Israel or Abram’s name to Abraham, or Sarai to Sarah? Who but God had the sovereign power to bless Jacob, thus confirming God’s covenant with Abraham, then Isaac, then Jacob. A covenant that would create an entire nation, a nation that would be called Israel. In the context of when this scene took place, it’s also deductively evident that Jacob wanted the man’s (God’s) immediate blessing to spare Jacob from the wrath of his brother Esau, whom he would meet that very day.

What Jacob didn’t know, nor others who had subsequent encounters with the Lord in human form during Old Testament times: this man with whom he wrestled was the Incarnate Son of God. The God/man who could have easily defeated Jacob in a minute but wanted to test Jacob’s perseverance to obtain the blessing. The same man who would arrive once-for-all as Mary’s child—the Son of God, Son of David, and Son of Man (Messiah) to establish God’s New Covenant with Israel. A Covenant that would also extend to Gentiles who believed and received this man as their Lord and Savior.

That’s why Messiah (Jesus) didn’t reveal his name to Jacob. His entrance into the human race that he created, permanently taking on human form and bearing a human name (in addition to all his divine titles) wouldn’t take place until the appointed time, over a thousand years later.

God Interaction Directly with People Via His Angels—angelic beings

In lieu of God the Father or God the Son (whose description is sometimes the angel of the Lord, as opposed to an angel), some of the Lord’s messages to or actions on behalf of people came through angels. With these angels appearing either as a man or in their actual angelic form (heavenly beings/bodies), depending on the situation.

One example of angels in the form of men were the two who met with Abraham and Sarah. Along with a third man, who was clearly the Lord himself—the 2^nd Pre-Incarnate appearance of Christ to Abraham. The first being that of Melchizedek. (See Eye of Prophecy article, Melchizedek … A Man of Mystery! Posted 3-3-18).

Abraham knew convincingly that this third man was the LORD, because he called him by that very title. And exclaimed during his intercession for Lot and his family: “…Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?” (Genesis 18:25).

An example of angels materializing (crossing dimensions) in their created form is first found in the book of Genesis following God’s indictments against Adam and Eve. “So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden … After sending them out, the Lord God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life” (Genesis 3:23-24).

(See Ezekiel Chapters 1 & 10 & Revelation 4, for description of Cherubim–living beings–which are somewhat accurately depicted in this painting)

One other well-known scene is that of angels (as angels) descending and ascending on Jacob’s stairway or ladder; a real occurrence but experienced as a dream or what could be termed a vision while asleep … rather than a fully conscious (awake) encounter. Also, when Gabriel approached Daniel in real-time and place and conveyed to him some of the most astonishing end-times revelations found in the Bible (see Daniel 8 & 9).

Something I hadn’t fully realized until writing this article: There aren’t that many instances in the Old Testament in which angels appear to men in their angelic form. At least not compared to the number of Pre-Incarnate appearances of Messiah Jesus. However, there are several angelic appearances in the New Testament, including Gabriel to Mary to announce that through her the Messiah would be conceived by the Holy Spirit. And before that, Gabriel’s announcement in the Temple’s Holy of Holies to Zechariah that he and his wife Elizabeth (in their old age) would conceive a son whose name would be John (the Baptist).

And not the least of which are angels appearing at the birth of Jesus, in his anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane, at his resurrection, and immediately after his ascension back to heaven.

“So they went in (to the tomb), but they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus. As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes. The women were terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground. Then the men asked, ‘Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead!’” (Luke 24:3-6).

Although appearing as men, their dazzling attire left no doubt that they were angels.

He is risen, indeed!

Things to Ponder

Yeshua never sinned. He perfectly kept and faultlessly fulfilled the Law of Moses. Thus, he alone qualified as the once for all substitutionary offering to atone for our rebellion against God. The Father accepted that incredible sacrifice; the innocent for the guilty, just for the unjust, righteous for the unrighteous and will pardon the penalty of sin (eternal death—separation from God) for all who believe and receive His Son as personal Savior.

From the time when Jesus of Nazareth came into this world and altered time itself (B.C. to A.D.), the greater majority of people have refused to believe that Jesus is both man and God.

Yet unbelieving Gentiles ascribed human characteristics to their pagan gods, e.g. Zeus, Venus, Mars. Modern-day comic-book (and other genre) movies do the same thing. Both super heroes and super villains are imbued with supernatural powers, able to transform themselves into whatever suits the writer’s and director’s fancy and whatever entices audiences. With an underlying implication that is anything but subtle: these characters possess God-like features in the flesh. But when it comes to the real thing, the real-deal; so many dismiss and even ridicule any thought that God would become man through the Son.

Most Jews to this day believe it’s an anathema to claim that God has a Son; thus, except for Messianic Jews, they do not believe that the coming Messiah (for believers, His return) is Divine.

As we’ve seen and will see more of next week, this conflicts with the indisputable evidence found in the Hebrew Scriptures: God appeared to men not only as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but also in the form of a man. When that happened, the people whom the man met in person recognized that they had come “face-to-face” with God. Yet, this man couldn’t have been God, the Father, because God is Spirit, and no one can look on him and live. Moreover, when God the Father (his glory) did appear before men, it was never in bodily form.

Why is it so difficult to apprehend and accept clear Biblical truth that God is one God in Three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? Especially when we see perceptible examples (albeit not totally adequate to explain the Trinity) in nature. Such as water in three forms—liquid, ice, and gas. Or the essence of the sun itself, visible only by its burning rays (light) and felt only by its heat.

“Christ is the visible image of the invisible God…” (Colossians 1:15).

The people involved in these direct Old-Testament encounters didn’t realize at the time that their face to face meeting with the Lord was the 2^nd Person of the Godhead, the coming Messiah. Nonetheless, by the time the entire Old Testament was written, all of God’s people could have and should have known that the man who appeared personally to some of their ancestors was Divine—the Lord. Just as King David said he was.

While teaching in the Temple, Jesus presented David’s astounding proclamation regarding the Son of God (Psalm 110) as a question … a probing challenge. In doing so, he identified all three Persons of the Godhead:

“…Why do the teachers of religious law claim that the Messiah is the son of David? For David, himself, speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, said, ‘The LORD said to my Lord, Sit in the place of honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies beneath your feet.’ Since David himself called the Messiah, ‘my Lord,’ how can the Messiah be his son?’” (Mark 12:35-37).

Jesus’s question was rhetorical. The answer was obvious. David had already announced that God has a Son (Psalm 2). And this Son (of David) was also David’s Lord, as much as “the LORD” (God the Father) was David’s Lord.

Though David’s Lord was a descendant of David, he also preexisted David. As the prophet Micah later said: “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel will come from you, one whose origins are from the distant past…. And he will be the source of peace” (Micah 5:2 & 9).

Messiah Jesus said the same thing regarding himself and Abraham. “Jesus answered, ‘I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I AM!’” (John 8:58).

Don’t miss next week’s sequel. More of God’s physical appearances to people will be identified, some of which even ardent students of Scripture sometimes fail to recognize as the Pre-Incarnate Messiah (Jesus).

Hopefully, with two significant results: (1) To demonstrate especially to the Jews and Judaism that these appearances were a prototype preview to prepare 1^st century Jews (and Gentiles) for the stunning reality of God in human form—in the person of God’s Son. (2) The correlation of these encounters to God’s choice of Israel and the Jews to accomplish his magnificent plan for them, for the entire human race.

Judaism Is Still in Denial … Of What & Why?

The good news about the Good News (Gospel) is that tens of millions of Gentiles and tens of thousands of Jews have accepted Messiah Jesus as their personal Savior and Lord in just the past 50 years or so.

The not-so-good news: Despite the stark reality that the Temple and the Levitical Sacrificial System ceased to exist in 70 A.D., most Jews hold on to some form of Judaism—Ultra-Orthodox, Orthodox, Conservative, Reformed, Liberal, or even secular (Jewish identity without religious overtones). Yet, there’s no workable way to circumvent the fact that Old Testament sacrifices (in and near the Tabernacle, then later the Temple) were an integral feature of the Law of Moses—required by the Lord as the Hebrew Scriptures explain in extraordinary detail.

Contemporary Judaism is still in denial that without sacrificial shedding of blood there can be no atonement for sin. Thus, redemption (of which they’re never sure of) for today’s Jews involves a variety of practices, principles, and promises that not all Rabbis agree on, i.e. those which are essential or just recommended. Such as observing Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement … a few days from now on September 19th) for sins to be forgiven and for each Jew to remain inscribed in the Book of Life. However, the Biblical Day of Atonement required animal sacrifice (as did all the other sacred festivals) plus the Scapegoat on Yom Kippur. See Eye of Prophecy article: Yom Kippur / With or Without Atonement? Posted 10-15-16.

Even more consequential: Denial that the New Covenant prophesied by Jeremiah has already come to pass; two thousand years ago, when Israel’s Messiah was crucified (shedding his blood), buried, but then arose from the dead. A once-for-all sacrifice to permanently replace the Levitical system as the ultimate avenue of atonement.

Through the ages, God’s punishment of his special possession Israel and his chosen people the Jews has been severe. For the very reason that they are his chosen people. To whom much is given, much is required. To the extent that some Jews have said (paraphrasing): “Do we have to be so chosen!” Or, in one of my favorite films (top five), Fiddler on the Roof; the main character’s playful (yet solemn) request of God. Said Tevye, the milkman:

“I know, I know. We are Your chosen people. But, once in a while, can’t you choose someone else?!”

(Scene from Fiddler on the Roof, released in 1971; Tevye–played by actor Topol–in the foreground)

So, too, were God’s bountiful blessings equally serious (generously good, sincerely special) in prospering and protecting Israel when they as a nation trusted Him to provide their needs and obeyed his commandments, all of which were fair and just.

In Leviticus Chapter 26, we find the blessings of God for obedience; but also, four phases of God’s (seven-times over) punishment of Israel for disobedience … each stage harsher than the one before. With, however, the same reason for God’s increasingly tough discipline of his people: “And if, In spite of all this, you still disobey me (verse 18); If even then you remain hostile toward me and refuse to obey me (verse 21); And if you fail to learn the lesson and continue your hostility toward me (verse 23); If in spite of all this you still refuse to listen and still remain hostile toward me” (verse 27).

The final consequence was, by far, the worst: “I will scatter you among the nations… Your land will become desolate and your cities will lie in ruins” (Leviticus 26:33).

That is precisely what happened some 600 years later when Assyria conquered and exiled Israel’s ten northern tribes; only after several prophets warned Israel to return to the Lord. Warnings that fell on deaf ears. Then 136 years later, Babylon crushed the remaining two southern tribes (Judah and Benjamin), utterly demolished Solomon’s Temple, and marched most of the survivors to Babylonia.

Nonetheless, through the prophet Jeremiah, God promised that the exiled punishment of the southern kingdom would last only 70 years, which is exactly the lapse between Judah’s deportation to Babylon and completion of the 2^nd Temple in 516 B.C. In his mercy, God had given his people another chance to trust, and obey him. Which they did … sort of, intermittently and only for a few decades.

By 400 B.C., they had (as a nation … most Jews) again abandoned the Lord in heart and spirit, having become legalistic. Not sincerely loving and faithfully following the Lord; rather that of lip service through rote sacrifices based more on pagan-like superstitions and wrong suppositions (just do the sacrifices and God is obligated to protect and prosper us). See the book of Malachi. Followed by 400 years of silence until the Lord spoke to Israel once again, stirred the people’s conscience, and prepared the way for Messiah through John the Baptist.

The Jewish leaders sent priests and Temple assistants to interrogate John.

“…Are you the Prophet we are expecting?”

“No.”

“Then who are you? We need an answer for those who sent us. What do you have to say about yourself?”

“John replied in the words of the prophet Isaiah: ‘I am a voice shouting in the wilderness. Clear the way for the Lord’s coming!’” (John 1:21-23).

“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He is the one I was talking about when I said, A man is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me’” (John 1:29-30, also see Micah 5:2).

Not Once, But Twice

Then in 70 A.D. the unthinkable happened. For a second time—incredibly on the same calendar day (9^th of Av) when Solomon’s Temple was demolished—the 2^nd Jewish Temple was destroyed.

Once again, the Jews were evicted from the Promised Land of Israel, this time by the Romans. As they eventually realized: this dispersion would be far more austere and longer-lasting than their first exile. God’s discipline administered seven-times over continued until the Gentile domination of the Jews (which was the means of chastisement) would come to an end. Which took place in the miraculous Six-Day War of 1967; Jerusalem was liberated, and the Holy City reunited with the Holy Land of reborn Israel.

Moses wrote about this more devastating exile, as also contained in Leviticus 26. From this additional prophetic description, it’s evident that the Lord is not restricting Israel’s punishment to what would inevitably happen to them at the hands of the Assyrians and Babylonians.

“And for those of you who survive, I will demoralize you in the land of your enemies. You will live in such fear that the sound of a leaf driven by the wind will send you fleeing. You will run as though fleeing from a sword, and you will fall even when no one pursues you… You will die among the foreign nations and be devoured in the land of your enemies. Those of you who survive will waste away in your enemies’ lands because of their sins and the sins of their ancestors” (Leviticus 26:36-39).

In conclusion of this long-term punishment, the Lord states: “…At last the people will pay for their sins, for they have continually rejected my regulations and despised my decrees” (Verse 43, italics for emphasis).

From the passage and in historical hindsight, we know that this scattering among the nations was different than (in addition to) the Babylonian captivity for at least two reasons: (1) Length of time vastly longer than the 70-year Babylonian captivity. However, encoded in Leviticus 26 was the precise duration of this discipline, discernible only by realization that the seven times over (four separate phases) represented an actual measurement of time. (Please see Eye of Prophecy trilogy: Seven Times Seven to the 4^th Power, followed by The Omega Generation. Posted 1-25-14 through 2-15-14).

(2) Harshness of the punishment that exceeded anything experienced during the seven decades in Babylon. During the Babylonian exile, the Jews were treated with relative kindness by their captors. The Babylonians certainly did not demoralize their Jewish captives. Nor in their captivity were they devoured by the Babylonians, i.e. deprived of property, persecuted, or randomly killed just because they were Jews, or killed at all. Nor did the Jews (other than growing older) “waste away” in Babylon.

Not so after the Diaspora inflicted by the Romans. Jews were banished to multiple countries (that part of Leviticus says, many nations as opposed to just one nation—which would be Babylon). Although some prospered, for nearly 2,000 years they collectively were mocked, bullied, harassed, oppressed, mistreated, and murdered in the aggregate millions by Muslims, Crusaders, Eastern European and Russian pogroms, Inquisitions, and the most horrendous of all—the Holocaust.

As painful as it is, God’s chosen people the Jews must ask themselves: Why did the second destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple result in a bitterer and longer (by far) punishment than the exile to Babylon? For that matter, what might the Jews have done so wrong in the first century that would result in God withdrawing his protection of them, and for so long.

Many Jewish scholars (rabbis) contend that the factional disunity among 1^st century Jews is what (exclusively) caused their demise. However, that same kind of dissension existed before the Babylonian captivity. Furthermore, the Old Testament prophets are clear that it was Israel’s defiance of God and rejection of his prophets (messages) that led directly to the nation’s punishment at the hands of Babylon; not internal disunity—which was only a by-product of disobedience. It was also rejection of God’s final Prophet, greater even than Moses, that precipitated the devastating Diaspora at the hands of the Romans. This Prophet was also Israel’s final High Priest and ultimate King. He was none other than the long-awaited Messiah.

(Depicts Roman destruction of 2nd Jewish Temple & Jerusalem)

Moreover, what are the repercussions absent their Temple and the Levitical Sacrificial System? If Judaism is to be practiced properly as found in the Law of Moses, these (and other) questions need to be addressed with a great deal of uniformity among today’s Jews … which they have not.

Is There a Correlation Between Israel’s Rejection of the New Covenant & the Loss of the 2^nd Temple?

The answer is Biblically and historically crystal clear: because Israel as a whole (although thousands did believe) rejected their Messiah … Jesus of Nazareth. This was even more evident after the Temple was destroyed, because they had missed or ignored Daniel’s prophecy that not only would it be razed again, but Messiah would arrive before the Temple’s demolition.

Here is an excerpt from Eye of Prophecy article: Who is Messiah? (Posted 3-29-14; also detailed in a few subsequent articles).

“After this period of sixty-two sets of seven, the Anointed One (Messiah) will be killed, appearing to have accomplished nothing, and a ruler will arise whose armies will destroy the city and the Temple….” (Daniel 9:26).

This verse is quoted mostly for the benefit of God’s chosen people, the Jews, but also for Gentile unbelievers. Even if you ignore or overlook the historical evidence of Jesus’s claims to be the Messiah (Son of God), his teachings, his miracles, and his awesome, miraculous resurrection from the dead, this prophecy in Daniel came to pass in its totality when the Roman Generals Vespasian and Titus attacked Israel and Jerusalem under the direct orders of Nero Caesar. Of equally profound significance: this passage tells us that the Messiah will be killed BEFORE Jerusalem and the Temple are destroyed. If you have any regard for historical facts whatsoever; and especially if you are a Jew that believes that the Torah … for Christians what is called the Old Testament … is the Word of the true and living God, then you must agree that Messiah, himself, arrived on the scene of history before 70 AD.

In the Eye of Prophecy trilogy: Where is the Temple? (published 11-29 through 12-13-14), a thematic premise based on God’s Law given through Moses was stated and amplified in all three articles. As follows:

No Temple, no sacrificial offerings. No sacrifices, no atonement forgiveness of sins. No forgiveness, no redemption. No redemption, no right standing with God.

Here is an excerpt from Part I of that trilogy, which prefaced that premise (in italics):

But with this article … meant to dutifully challenge (with consideration, courtesy, respect, and even reverence) the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with a poignant but probing question: Where is the Temple?

What happened to it? How can any Jew embrace and practice Judaism without the ancient sacrifices, which is the fundamental reason the Tabernacle and then the Temple was built in the first place? Did the loss of the Temple affect the very core of the Jewish faith? If so, how and to what extent? …has God also done away with the very heart of his redemptive plan for mankind through Israel—reconciliation and salvation by the sacrificial shedding of blood?

Where is the Temple? isn’t meant to be answered by a literal location. Because we know that the Temple isn’t (anywhere). It’s gone. But why? Was there a more far-reaching purpose why God allowed the Temples to be obliterated? …Who, if anyone; or what, if anything, has replaced the Temple for two thousand years?

In short, how can the Jewish faith function without adhering to the entire Mosaic Law; which clearly was an equally balanced two-tier foundation of: (1) Obedience to God’s Word … pillars of laws, commands, decrees, regulations. (2) Sacrificial Offerings … the cornerstones of atonement by, blessing from, and relationship with God … how (else) can a Jew or anyone be reconciled to God?

The answer is found in the New Covenant; however, to this day most Jews still deny that it has arrived. Although the 9^th of Av is still mourned by millions of Jews, implications over loss of the Temple are not written about or discussed much at all even among observant Jews. Both religious and secular Jews long for Messiah to come, to bring about Israel’s final redemption, yet they differ as to what that redemption is or how and why it will come about. Nor is there much interest or effort in Judaism to match up this redemption with the New Covenant announced by Jeremiah.

(Please see the second-most visited Eye of Prophecy article to date: Where is Messiah … Is He Already Here? Posted 6-25-16).

The first century Apostle Paul—a devout Jewish Pharisee whose life was dramatically changed by his personal encounter with the risen Christ—passionately wanted his people to realize that the New Covenant had arrived. Wrote Paul:

“Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved. I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way (the New Covenant), they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law (Old Covenant). For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God” (Romans 10:1-4, parenthesis mine).

Here is an excerpt from Part III of Where is the Temple? (In italics):

The Lord fully understands the natural bent of mankind: That of trying to earn God’s favor, trying to merit salvation and eternal life by performance, by innate worth, by good works; instead of simply agreeing with God and accepting his grace … the wonderful, matchless gift of God’s own Son as a substitutionary sacrificial payment for all the wrong things we have done.

Thus, God gave the Law for two reasons: (1) as dependable as the conscience of man can sometimes be, it is not constantly adequate or endlessly reliable to unerringly distinguish right from wrong. Hence, it was necessary to establish universally objective moral and spiritual laws (summarized in the Ten Commandments) so that no one would excuse immoral behavior by saying they didn’t know it was (for example) wrong to steal. (2) To give men and women every chance possible to earn their salvation by obeying these laws perfectly. But because no one has ever kept the Law in every point, the Law ended up sentencing us to everlasting death.

How sadly ironic: the only thing earned is physical and then spiritual death (separation from God forever). “For the wages of sin is death….” (Romans 6:23a).

As asked and answered by Paul, “Why, then was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised….” (Galatians 3:19) Paul goes on to identify this ultimate child of promise as Messiah Jesus.

Things to Ponder

Summarily revisiting the first heading of this week’s article: Judaism Is Still in Denial … Of What & Why?

Of what? Of the overwhelming evidence that the New Covenant (of Grace)—implemented when Messiah Jesus died on the cross and arose from the dead—was providentially connected to and resulted in the subsequent destruction of the Temple, because God’s people rejected their Messiah.

Why (still in denial)? Because Judaism still clings to the Law of Moses as the ultimate means of redemption, despite the cessation of the Old Covenant sacrificial system.

Yet, we must not as many have done—particularly through the insidious Replacement Theology that falsely claims the Christian church has replaced Israel physically—ever stop longing and praying for Israel’s final redemption. Beginning with one Jewish heart at a time, culminating with the entire remnant of Israel being saved.

“Did God’s people stumble and fall beyond recovery? Of course not! They were disobedient, so God made salvation available to the Gentiles. But he wanted his own people to become jealous and claim it for themselves. Now if the Gentiles were enriched because the people of Israel turned down God’s offer of salvation, think how much greater a blessing the world will share when they finally accept it” (Romans 11:11-12).

Again, the Apostle Paul says: “For since their rejection meant that God offered salvation to the rest of the world, their acceptance will be even more wonderful. It will be life for those who were dead!” (Romans 11:15).

*Footnote: Eye of Prophecy articles that have two or more parts (published in successive weeks) are normally planned. But not all of them. Originally this week’s article was not intended to be in two parts. As the author, it’s sometimes difficult to choose between the better continuity of one article (read in its entirety) that perhaps is too long. Versus extending the topic over two (or more) articles with the undesirable possibility that only one of them will be read.

I’ve chosen the two-part option with optimistic expectation that you won’t miss next week’s article. To even more fully grasp this all-important subject of salvation to the Jew first that is so intricately linked to what they think and have done about the loss of the Jewish Temple and Old Covenant Sacrificial system of atonement. And most of all: whether they recognize that their Messiah has already come as Savior, sent by his and the Father’s great love for his people (and the whole world). And will soon return … this time as King and Judge.

Are you familiar with one or both terms, Times of the Gentiles and Fullness of the Gentiles?

Bible teachers and students sometimes use these terms interchangeably or may even ascribe the same meaning to both. One expression originated with Jesus himself; the other coined by the Apostle Paul some thirty years later.

Although both designations end with “of the Gentiles,” they are different. What makes them different is the prophetic setting which defines them and determines their significance. Each phrase relates specifically and separately to one of the two remarkable plans that God has conceived for humanity, which I’ve mentioned in a few previous Eye of Prophecy articles. Scripture is abundantly clear that God relates to all people, individually and as nations, in the parameters of these two providential plans.

Before either blueprint was implemented, God gave humanity the opportunity to determine if we could and would fully appreciate the reason for our very existence. Which was to revere and worship the Lord by: thanking him for life itself; obeying his instructions that would mean the difference between life and death; trusting (faith) him to provide for all our needs, both physical and spiritual. In short, to experience the full benefits and blessings of a paradise on earth … forever.

Both plans were conceived before “the foundation of the world” because God knew what would happen. Like any parent, but infinitely more so, God wants people to love, trust, and obey him because they want to, not because they’re forced.

Thus, he gave men and women that which is essential to the very core of our existence; which we value above all else to the point of dying if necessary to gain and maintain it—Liberty. It is the freedom to choose—right from wrong, good from evil, life over death. Not freedom from God; but freedom with God. It is as theologians call it: Free Will.

That purpose came to a screeching halt when Adam and Eve decided they would devise their own rules and determine their own fate. Although they had God-given authority over nearly all the Garden of Eden, they would expand that control by touching and eating from the one small part (tree) of the Garden off-limits to them. They believed Satan’s lie when he said they wouldn’t die if they ate the forbidden fruit; instead they would be like God himself. It was a fateful decision, to say the least.

Borrowing from the titles of John Milton’s two epic masterpieces, it would be Paradise Lost, but Paradise Regained. God would not leave mankind without a redemptive remedy that would restore men and women back to where they began—intimate fellowship with God who created us … body, soul, and spirit.

God’s Two Plans for Humanity … One Spiritual, The Other Physical

First Plan—Spiritual: Personal Redemption through Messiah Jesus.

This individual salvation for all people would be made possible through one man—the 2^nd (perfect) Adam … Romans 5—as first announced in Genesis 3:15.

Then again by Moses: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him” (Deuteronomy 18:15).

Then God said: “I will personally deal with anyone who will not listen to the messages the prophet proclaims on my behalf” (Verse 19, italics for emphasis).

For every person, salvation is personal (John 3:16).

As are the (eternal) repercussions if so great a salvation is spurned (John 3:36).

Some 1,300 years later, Moses (along with Elijah) heard these same words from God. Words spoken for the benefit of three Jewish disciples (Peter, James, and John) as well as the whole world. “As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed so that his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light. Suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared and began talking with Jesus … a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him’” (Matthew 17:2-5, italics for emphasis).

Every person is given the freedom but also the responsibility to make that choice: To listen to Messiah Jesus or not. To believe him (or not) when he says: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

God’s Plan of Salvation is the simplest of plans. Yet people make things so complicated, what with all the irreligious existential philosophies or religious rules and regulations. The common denominator of which is trying to agnostically attain some enlightened plateau of paranormal self-realization or to religiously please or appease their god(s) with good works or ritualistic observances.

You can throw out all the metaphysical maneuvers along with religious ruminations that people have concocted, through which they have attempted to categorize (with descriptive names and titles and the such) belief systems. That won’t work with God. That’s not His way (See I Corinthians Chapters 1 & 2).

God’s plan of personal salvation is so basic that he has divided humanity into two categories … spiritually.

People are either: Saved or Unsaved.

That’s how he sees us and relates to us. We are born unsaved—spiritually dead. We are saved when we listen to Jesus who said that we need to be born-again (spiritually … John 3:3-8). By agreeing with Scripture: “And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).

The Christian faith is not a religion, it’s a new-birth restored relationship with God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—the way it was in the beginning.

Second Plan—Physical: Through a People (the Jews) & In a Land (Israel)

To accomplish the First Plan, God called Abraham to begin a nation through whom God would reveal himself (recorded in God’s Word, the Bible) in extraordinary detail. A people chosen to bring the truth of God’s attributes and salvation to all nations. The inclusive essence of that truth and the exclusive source of that salvation would be the Messiah (Jesus) who is the: “visible image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15). He is the Son of God who, “…radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God…” (Hebrews 1:3).

The nation of Israel with its capital Jerusalem would be the land promised by God to Abraham and his descendants FOREVER. This unilateral covenant that God made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was unconditional. As opposed to the conditional Covenant of Law given through Moses that mandated the people’s obedience to God to remain in the Promised Land. Because Israel abandoned the Lord, he substituted the Covenant of Law with the Covenant of Grace.

“The day is coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife, says the Lord” (Jeremiah 31:31-32 … Jeremiah goes on to explain this New Covenant).

It’s vitally important to understand that the New Covenant of Grace would replace the Mosaic Covenant of Law—NOT the Abrahamic Covenant. God told Abraham that covenant would be in perpetuity: “…from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant; I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God” (Genesis 17:7-8).

As there are two categories of people (spiritually) in God’s Plan of Salvation, so there are two groups of people (physically) in God’s Second Plan for mankind.

People are either: Jew or Gentile.

Consequently, the Bible distinguishes between God’s interaction with Israel and with Gentile nations. Historically, Scripture explains in detail Israel’s inception and rise to prominence as a great nation, then her decline leading to two agonizing exiles. As well as numerous prophecies that God would restore Israel as a nation and bring the Jews back to the Promised Land from Gentile nations all over the world.

Nowhere in the Bible does it state or even imply that the physical nation of Israel and her people the Jews would be replaced by the Church—the spiritual body of believers … the saved. Several Bible passages, including Romans 9, 10, & 11, explain explicitly that Israel’s formation, restoration, and perpetual existence is corporeal in God’s plan and execution of that plan. The Church via spiritual rebirth in the New Covenant does not under any circumstances or conditions take the place of national Israel’s inheritance derived from her original birth and rebirth.

Although the two plans are distinctive, they’re both based on a rebirth.

Distinguishing Between the Two Plans

It’s imperative that we distinguish between God’s heavenly rebirth (spiritual) plan of salvation—which makes believing Jews and Gentiles one in Messiah—and God’s earthly rebirth (physical) plan for Israel as the nation from where Messiah Jesus comes and from where he will rule and reign in the Kingdom of God.

Thus, when the Jewish Apostle Paul states that, “For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.… There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you” (Galatians 3:26-29); he is referring to God’s spiritual plan that was set in motion by the Lord’s Covenant with Abraham (the second plan).

That spiritual feature relates exclusively to Abraham’s faith in the ultimate purpose for God choosing him (and his descendants to bring the Messiah); a faith that would “save” Abraham and all peoples (Jew and Gentile alike) who would exercise that same faith in the ultimate Child of Promise (Messiah Jesus).

“And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith” (Genesis 15:6). Which led directly to the physical component of the Abrahamic Covenant as stated in the very next verse:

“Then the Lord said to him, ‘I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as your possession’” (Genesis 15:7).

Paul cites Genesis 15:6: “In the same way, Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith. The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God” (Galatians 3:6-7).

Does this mean that the Lord has disinherited the Jews and disenfranchised them as a people? Has the Lord abrogated his covenant with Abraham regarding Israel as the land promised to Abraham’s (physical) descendants? Absolutely not, as explained emphatically by Paul.

“I ask, then, has God rejected his own people, the nation of Israel? Of course not! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham and a member of the tribe of Benjamin. No, God has not rejected his own people, whom he chose from the very beginning…” (Romans 11:1-2).

Then he writes, “So this is the situation: Most of the people of Israel have not found the favor of God they are looking for so earnestly. A few have … but the hearts of the rest were hardened” (Romans 11:7).

As in the first century when Paul penned these words, so, too, in the 20^th & 21^st century there have been thousands upon thousands of Jews who have accepted Jesus as their personal Savior. But the clear majority have not. Not yet.

Paul asks another rhetorical question: “Did God’s people stumble and fall beyond recovery? Of course not! They were disobedient, so God made salvation available to the Gentiles. But he wanted his own people to become jealous and claim it for themselves. Now if the Gentiles were enriched because the people of Israel turned down God’s offer of salvation, think how much greater a blessing the world will share when they finally accept it” (Romans 11:11-12).

Therefore, the real children of Abraham—Jew and Gentile alike—are those who have been reborn spiritually by placing their faith in Messiah Jesus, who physically descended through King David’s lineage from the tribe of Judah.

*Note: I’m using the concept of two plans for clearer understanding of God’s purpose and role for the Jews within the framework of God’s plan of salvation, PLUS the unique destiny of Israel as a nation. If someone prefers the alternative of saying there’s one plan with two parts, that’s fine; if, that is, each of the two parts are correctly (Biblically) seen as unique.

Concerning the subject title of this week’s article, one of these plans includes the “Fullness of the Gentiles.” The other relates to the “Times of the Gentiles.”

Let’s examine the distinction. Beginning with:

Fullness of the Gentiles

Quoting one of the most recognized passages in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul states: “For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile” (Romans 1:16).

Why was the Gospel of Jesus Christ (death, burial, and resurrection) first presented to the Jews instead of the Gentiles? The main answer to that question was summarized earlier in today’s article. The fact that the New Covenant (of Grace), as historically detailed and recorded in what we now call The New Testament, was originally prophesied by the prophet Jeremiah specifically to (but not exclusively for) the Jewish people … to Israel (Jeremiah 31).

Other reasons why Israel would be first invited to receive the New Covenant is interwoven with the primary reason why the Lord chose the Jews in the first place—to be the source of salvation’s light and life to all people, beginning with themselves.

Read with me Paul’s expanded answer to the question of why, “to the Jew first.”

“They are the people of Israel, chosen to be God’s adopted children. God revealed his glory to them (during the Exodus, at Mt. Sinai, in the Tabernacle, in the Temple). He made covenants with them (Abrahamic, Mosaic, Davidic) and gave them his law. He gave them the privilege of worshipping him and receiving his wonderful promises” (Romans 9:4, parenthesis mine).

One of the splendid promises God gave to Israel was the New Covenant. Not long after Jeremiah wrote about this Covenant, the Babylonians conquered Judah and tore down Solomon’s magnificent Temple. By that time, God’s glory (God himself) had left the Temple because of the detestable sins of the people, including the priest’s defilement of the Temple (see Ezekiel Chapters 8-11). Even after the 2^nd Temple was built, God’s Shekinah Glory (his presence) never returned. That is, not until God’s Son, Messiah Jesus, visited the Temple during his time on earth. Then in 70 A.D. the 2^nd Temple was destroyed, and the Levitical Sacrificial system ended, still gone to this very day.

When most of God’s people no longer acknowledged or even cared that faith (trust) in the Lord was the real source of being made right with God—just like Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness (right standing with God)—their Levitical sacrificial system became perfunctorily rote and ritualistic.

When the Jews—socially, politically, and most of all spiritually—stubbornly stopped trusting God to provide for all their needs (instead turning to false gods for security and prosperity), the Lord unilaterally proclaimed, then initiated a New Covenant. One that still was/is based on trusting God, but one in which God provided the (final, once for all) sacrifice himself—his very Son.

Please see, Eye of Prophecy trilogy, Where Is the Temple? Part I, II, & III. Posted 11-29, 12-6, 12-13-14. The theme of those articles was tendered primarily to capture the attention and stir the hearts of God’s chosen people who are still in denial as to how and why the loss of the Levitical Sacrificial System has dramatically affected Judaism, for both observant and secular Jews. The rolling premise in those articles was:

No Temple, no sacrificial offerings. No sacrifices, no atonement forgiveness of sins. No forgiveness, no redemption. No redemption, no right standing with God.

Writes the Jewish author to the Jews in Israel: “But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises. If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it. But when God found fault with the people, he said, ‘The day is coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah” (Hebrews 8:6-8).

The author of Hebrews continues:

“So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever. Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins… For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant” (Hebrews 9:11-15).

Wrote the Jewish Apostle John: “He (Christ Jesus) came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people (the Jews), and even they rejected him. But to all (Jew and Gentile alike) who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God” (John 1:10-13, parenthesis mine).

While on the cross, Jesus spoke these poignant words:

Certainly, his accusers (the Jewish religious leaders) and the executioners (Romans) knew what they were doing to Jesus. Jesus meant they didn’t understand that their wicked actions would result in the very source of their salvation—if they would only repent (change their minds) and receive him as Messiah and Savior. Which some later did, beginning right then and there with the thief on the cross and the Roman centurion.

Even at the cross the first to be saved was a Jew, then a Gentile. It’s highly unlikely that the thief on the cross was a Roman (Gentile) as most Romans in Israel were either military personnel or government officials (and their families). The Romans executed their own by beheading. If by crucifixion it was for treason, not lesser crimes.

Yet in terms of preaching the Gospel—throughout Judea, Samaria, and the Roman Empire—after Jesus ascended back to heaven, it was to the Jew first. The New Testament records the fact that thousands of Jews, including rabbis and priests, did, in fact, believe and receive Jesus as Lord and Savior—their Messiah. Including, three thousand in one day! (See Acts 2).

Sadly, most Jews did not believe Jesus was their Messiah, which led to proclaiming the Good News to the Gentiles.

Grafting Gentiles Into the Tree of Israel

The Apostle Paul compares this mystery—to include Gentiles in God’s (First Plan) of salvation—to a tree, specifically Israel (Abraham’s tree) by saying:

“…God has appointed me as the apostle to the Gentiles. I stress this, for I want somehow to make the people of Israel jealous of what you Gentiles have, so I might save some of them. For since their rejection meant that God offered salvation to the rest of the world, their acceptance will be even more wonderful. It will be life for those who were dead! … For if the roots of the tree are holy (the original tree of Israel planted through Abraham), the branches will be, too.

“But some of these branches from Abraham’s tree—some of the people of Israel—have been broken off. And you Gentiles, who were branches from a wild olive tree, have been grafted in. So now you also receive the blessing God has promised to Abraham and his children, sharing in the rich nourishment from the root of God’s special olive tree. But you (Gentiles) must not brag about being grafted in to replace the branches that were broken off. You are just a branch, not the root” (Romans 11:13-18, emphasis added, parenthesis mine).

A pause here to re-emphasize: The entire Jew-Gentile paradigm that Paul established in Romans Chapters 9-11 (especially the above passage) categorically refutes and rejects the deceptive theory of Replacement Theology. Which speculates that the Church has replaced Israel by (erroneously) thinking that all the promises God made to the Jews as a people and special possession as a nation have been stripped from Israel and arbitrarily transferred to the Church.

Paul continues: “And if the people of Israel turn from their unbelief, they will be grafted in again, for God has the power to graft them back into the tree … So if God was willing to do something contrary to nature by grafting you into his cultivated tree, he will be far more eager to graft the original branches back into the tree where they belong” (Verses 23-24).

This brings us to the meaning of “fullness of the Gentiles” which is how the term is phrased in older translations of the Bible, like the King James Version and American Standard Bible—including up-dated versions of both translations.

In the very next verse, Paul then states: “I want you to understand this mystery … so that you (Gentiles) will not feel proud about yourselves. Some of the people of Israel have hard hearts, but this will last only until the full number of the Gentiles comes to Christ. And so all Israel will be saved…” (Romans 11:25-26, emphasis added, parenthesis mine).

Once the full number of Gentiles (“fullness of the Gentiles”)—the number of which is known only to the Lord—comes to a saving knowledge of Messiah Jesus, then all Israel will be saved.

My Pastor, Mark Martin of Calvary Community Church in Phoenix Arizona, on more than one occasion has described what happens when the “fullness of the Gentiles” takes place.

He said (paraphrasing): Someday there will be one final person (Gentile) who will be saved, and immediately afterward the Rapture will take place. Can you imagine what that person would say. Something like, “Wow, Lord, that was quick! This salvation really works! Thank you!”

That’s not to say that the last person saved just before the Rapture will be a Gentile. He or she could very well be a Jew. In keeping with Paul’s explanation, it means that when the last Gentile (known by the Lord) comes to Christ for salvation, then the Rapture will take place; followed by the Great Tribulation, culminating with “all Israel being saved” … spiritually.

Thus, the fullness of the Gentiles is directly linked to God’s First Plan for humanity. Which is the ongoing individual salvation (rebirth) of both Jew and Gentile. Beginning, however, with the Jews.

Times of the Gentiles

This is not the same as the Fullness of the Gentiles. Rather the Times of the Gentiles is linked directly to Israel as a people and nation—their history, exile, and national rebirth. Then rescue and final restoration during the last phase of the Great Tribulation and the beginning of the Millennial Reign of Messiah Jesus in the Kingdom of God on earth, from Jerusalem.

Care to venture a guess where in Scripture that Times of the Gentiles is found?

Hint: It’s found in just one of the Gospels, even though three Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—record in varying detail the scene containing this expression. A stronger hint: Because the scene takes place on the Mount of Olives directly across the Kidron Valley from Old Jerusalem, Bible scholars and teachers call it, The Olivet Discourse.

Most of the quotes or references to these three gospel accounts of the Mount of Olives Discourse usually concentrate on Matthew’s gospel, for the primary reason that Matthew’s account is the longest and most detailed … the entire chapters of Matthew 24 & 25.

For sake of time/space, I can only summarily state that both Matthew and Mark’s account of Jesus’s stirring explanation of the end times (in response to his disciple’s question, “Tell us, when will all this happen”) was exclusively related to the pre-Tribulation birth pains and the Tribulation itself, culminating with Jesus’s triumphant return to earth in power and great glory.

The disciple’s question was prompted by Jesus’s prophecy that the entire Temple would be demolished. Said Jesus:

(Also in Mark 13:2 & Luke 21:6)

The answer to the question of where “the times of the Gentiles’ is found: It’s in Luke’s Gospel.

“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation in near. Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are in the midst of the city must leave … because these are days of vengeance, so that all things which are written must be fulfilled. Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land and wrath to this people; and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (Luke 21:20-24, NASB, italics for emphasis).

The times of the Gentiles began when Israel and Jerusalem were conquered by Babylon in 586 B.C. That initiated a virtually uninterrupted Gentile subjugation of the Jews and of Israel. Even though a remnant of Jews returned to Israel 70 years later and rebuilt the Temple, followed by rebuilding Jerusalem’s walls a few decades after that; from the Babylonian captivity forward, Israel was never again an autonomous nation. Next came Persia, then Greece, then Rome’s domination of Israel, then exile to the four corners of the earth.

That is, until 1948. When Israel was REBORN as a nation, to prophetically continue (fulfill) the corporeal feature of the Abrahamic Covenant—God’s second plan for humanity.

As detailed in several prior Eye of Prophecy articles, especially in Seven Times Seven (to the 4^th Power), Parts I, II, & III (Posted 1-25 through 2-8-14), followed by the article, The Omega Generation (2-15-14), an amazing prophetic passage in Leviticus Chapter 26 predicts (by applying God’s seven times over discipline of Israel to actual years, beginning with the Babylonian captivity of 586) to the very year when God’s discipline would end. By doing the calculations on the Jewish calendar, that time expired in 1967. Which just happens to be the year when the Jews liberated Jerusalem in the Six-Day War of 1967. That’s when the Times of the Gentiles ended!

No longer will Jerusalem be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles. Never again will God’s chosen people be under the thumb of Gentile nations, helpless to defend themselves. Today, despite her small population and miniscule land mass, Israel possesses one of the most powerful militaries on earth. Never again will there be another Holocaust. Although Antichrist and his ten-nation coalition will invade Israel and Jerusalem (even setting up shop in the outer “Gentile” courtyard of the rebuilt Temple), the Jews will fight ferociously. And they will do so alongside Messiah! (See Daniel 11, Zechariah 12 & 14, and Revelation 11). Also see Eye of Prophecy article, Armageddon & Messiah’s Return … An Amazing Sequence of Events! Posted 2-3-18.

If you read all three gospel accounts of the Olivet Discourse (it’s not found in John’s Gospel), you’ll find a composite account of everything Jesus said. However, like other words spoken or actions taken by Jesus during his ministry on earth, one or more than one Gospel may record different features of what Jesus said and did. With each Gospel containing at least one thing not found in the other three. (Especially with the Gospel of John).

This is no different than any reporter or historian highlighting certain features of a speech or event, with other reporters emphasizing different aspects of what is being said and done. In addition to how much of Jesus’s discourse is recorded in the three gospels respectively, there is sometimes a variation to the order (sequence) of what Jesus said. That is also common with any news source, including contemporary journalism.

Several verses of the Olivet Discourse read virtually the same in all three Gospels, including the first part of the passage already quoted in Luke’s Gospel, in which Jesus warns the inhabitants of Jerusalem to flee the impending danger, i.e. “Woe to those who are pregnant…”

However, as we’ve seen, Luke follows this passage with Jesus’ statement not included in Matthew and Mark. Which is:

Whereas, Matthew and Mark follow Jesus’s warning to flee Jerusalem with the following: “For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short” (Matthew 24:21-22, NASB; also Mark 13:19-20).

Jesus is clearly referring to the Great Tribulation, still to (soon) come. Whereas in Luke’s account, Jesus follows the warning of “woe to those who are pregnant…” with an additional (separate) follow-up description of the brutal Roman demolition of the Temple that took place less than 40 years after Jesus’s prophecy.

What is the reason? Why the difference?

In general terms, the answer has already been explained: The gospels don’t contradict each other, they complete and correlate. But sometimes part of the narrative is not always recorded in all the gospels, nor chronologically identical, nor the sequence of Jesus’s words or actions always the same.

A more specific explanation is that Luke’s gospel was written primarily to and for the benefit of Gentiles; to illustrate that Messiah Jesus is the Savior to the Gentiles as well as to his own people, the Jews. Consequently, Luke recorded the part of the Olivet Discourse where Jesus refers to “the times of the Gentiles’ in the immediate context of the Roman destruction of Jerusalem. But also in the greater context of the Diaspora that would last until the Gentiles no longer had dominion over Jerusalem.

Summary

The Times of the Gentiles has ended. Which is one of the significant prophetic events spoken of by Jesus to signal the birth pains (alongside of all the other signs Jesus mentioned combined with the O.T. Prophets and N.T. Apostles) of the last days—of which this generation is a part.

The cessation of the times of the Gentiles (which took place in 1967) precedes and precipitates—in this same Omega generation in which we are living—the fullness of the Gentiles, when one last Gentile will accept Jesus as personal Savior.

Then boom! The Rapture. Yes, there will be a global noise equivalent to or exceeding a sonic boom. See Eye of Prophecy article, The Shout Heard Around the World (Posted 4-22-17).

Things to Ponder

On the Gentile Gregorian calendar Israel was reestablished as a sovereign nation on May 14^th, 1948. On the Jewish calendar it was the 5th of Iyar. Thus, this past Thursday, beginning at sunset, Israel joyously celebrated its 70^th anniversary!

For nearly two millennia, the ardent anticipation and passionate plea of Jews has been, “Next Year in Jerusalem.”

Through millions of native-born Israelis and well over a million Jewish immigrants, that dream has come true. Millions more (especially from the United States) could return if they wanted to. And one day soon they will (want to).

(One Group of Many Celebrating Israel’s 70th Anniversary)

May 14^th, 1948 marked the rebirth of Israel, a prophetic realization of the Abrahamic Covenant, which was the beginning of God’s plan for Israel to be the center of world attention and the source of God’s blessings to the nations. A land from which God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—would literally live with his people. As he did for hundreds of years before disciplining Israel during the Times of the Gentiles. A restoration of national Israel followed by a liberating reunification of Jerusalem as the eternal capital of Israel (in 1967), the city loved by God above all others.

Have you seen in person or pictures the astounding agriculture accomplishments since the Jews returned to Israel? Heard or read about the tremendous technological advancements in medicine, science, geology, and other fields of physics? Been informed of the new and restored beautiful buildings throughout the cities and towns of Israel? They will only get better, because never again will God’s people be removed from the Covenant Land of Promise given to them by the Lord God.

All these achievements were foretold long ago.

“The time will come, says the Lord, when the grain and grapes will grow faster than they can be harvested. Then the terraced vineyards on the hills of Israel will drip with sweet wine! I will bring my exiled people of Israel back from distant lands, and they will rebuild their ruined cities and live in them again. They will plant vineyards and gardens; they will eat their crops and drink their wine. I will firmly plant them there in their own land. They will never again be uprooted from the land I have given them, says the Lord your God” (Amos 9:13-15, italics for emphasis).

To be followed soon by the national spiritual rebirth of Israel when the Fullness of the Gentiles arrives.

The Unsaved (Jew and Gentile) are living in such a time as this.

The Saved (Jew and Gentile) are living for such a time as this (Esther 4:14).

 

This short, but inspiring video ends with Yom Ha’atzmaut Semeach (Saw-ma’ach)which means Happy Day of Independence

An Intriguing Passage in Scripture

Writing to believers in the first century, the Apostle Peter said:

“But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends. A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day” (II Peter 3:8).

The immediate context of this passage is: “Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. They will say, ‘What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.’

“They deliberately forget that God made the heavens by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water. Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood. And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed” (II Peter 3:3-7).

*Note: According to other passages in Scripture, the “ungodly” are one and the same as all those who are unsaved. They are not just the most wicked among us, on whatever sliding scale such wickedness is gauged. They are those who (as the Apostle Paul said): “…refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them” (II Thessalonians 2:10). Those who have spurned God’s love and grace demonstrated through the greatest sacrificial gift ever given to humanity, God’s Son—Messiah. Those who don’t believe one of the clearest expressions of Biblical salvation:

Peter explains why the Lord might delay his return. “The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectantly as a thief … and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment” (II Peter 3:9-10, italics for emphasis).

“…A day is like a thousand years…” (II Peter 3:8). Based on the simile existing in the passage itself (a day is like a thousand years), it would appear to be exclusively figurative.

Webster’s Dictionary defines simile as: “a figure of speech comparing two unlike things that is often introduced by like or as (as in cheeks like roses).”

Indeed, this comparison of one day to a thousand years is symbolic. One that illustrates the “essential value” of time in the context of a timeless God who is outside of time and who created time itself, contrasted to humanity’s existence and experience in linear time.

But for both specific and general reasons, I’m also convinced that there is a literal association with this analogy of time. One of those (general) reasons: There are a few prophetic passages of the Bible which are both symbolic and literal. Such as Isaiah 65, which will be quoted near the end of today’s article. And in this same book of II Peter (see II Peter 2:12ff).

In II Peter 3:8, the central clue of both figurative and literal application is that he repeats the correlation in reverse. There would be no purpose to reiterate this time-dedicated comparison exclusively for the sake of emphasis, although repetition for emphasis is probably part of the reason. Still, at face value, if a “day is like a thousand years,” then it’s redundantly evident that, “a thousand years is like a day.”

What Peter says to begin with is that, “a day is like a thousand years to the Lord…” It’s, to the Lord that makes this association allegorical. It is a metaphorical measurement of the quality of time as seen by God as opposed to the linear quantity of time experienced by humanity.

On the flip side, when Peter repeats the phrase in reverse, he doesn’t end with, “to the Lord.” Granted, that alone doesn’t conclusively infer that it’s not, to the Lord. Nonetheless, I’m proposing that any question concerning a literal application of this verse (in addition to figurative) will be answered by the end of this week’s article. Meaning that the repeated paradigm with a reversal of the words to “a thousand years is like a day,” is directly for the perspective and perception of people. That a thousand years is not only “like” a day; it can be likened unto a day. In terms of historical events and near-future realization, there are certain “days” in Scripture that are prophetically fulfilled in a span of time that represents and/or lasts for a thousand years.

The Genesis Account

Peter cited the ancient principle (even in his time) of this extraordinary equivalence of time, going all the way back to the Garden of Eden. In fact, Verse 8 begins with: “But you must not forget this one thing…”

Specifically, Peter is referencing the one and only Psalm written by Moses. In the context of the brevity of life compared to the everlasting God who created time and life, Moses writes:

“Lord, through all the generations you have been our home! Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from beginning to end, you are God. You turn people back to dust, saying, ‘Return to dust, you mortals!’ For you, a thousand years are as a passing day, as brief as a few night hours” (Psalm 90:1-4).

Certainly, this is a figurative expression of time from God’s vantage point. Yet in the context of Genesis, the book of beginnings, Moses also knew that a thousand years was emblematic of and could be (depending on the subject or event) extended to both meanings of the word “day” in Scripture. One application is that of a literal 24-hour day, by far the most common use in Scripture. The other is that of a longer period, i.e. days, weeks, months, and years … with such Biblical terms as, “The Day of the Lord.” Or, “on that day.” Or, “in that day.”

We’ll begin by examining this one day/thousand-year parallel as found in Genesis. Prefaced with the obvious observation that the Pentateuch (what Jews refer to as the Torah) was written by Moses. The Torah is a chronological record of major events involving God’s early interaction with humanity; beginning with God’s creation of the universe, life, and time itself; ending with Moses’s death just before the Hebrews crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land.

(The Pentateuch)

Moses wrote Psalm 90 during the same span when God revealed to him an astonishing amount of information. Including but not limited to a genealogy of Adam’s descendants; Noah and the Great Flood; the Tower of Babel; selection of Abraham as the father of God’s chosen people and Israel as the Promised Land; and the lives of the Jewish Patriarchs, including a lengthy account of Jacob’s son, Joseph. Then Moses himself—called by the Lord to deliver the Hebrews from Egyptian bondage, lead them back to the Promised Land, and give them God’s Laws that would identify and separate them from evil pagan practices. Above all, God’s chosen people would be the source of the Messiah to bring light and (eternal) life to both Jew and Gentile.

As we shall see in the second chapter of the first book of the Bible, this thousand years/one day correlation was (still is/will be) a central component of God’s timeless interaction with human beings whose lives are lived chronologically, day-to-day. It is a merger of the timeless with the timed, the infinite with the finite. Although one thousand years is not infinite, for all practical purposes it is when compared to one day.

The word “day” in Scripture almost always (logically so) refers to a literal 24-hour day. For example, many times we read, “on the following day” or “the next day.”

The Hebrew word for day is Yom (pronounced yome). Have you heard the term, Yom Kippur? Do you know what it is? You already know what yom primarily means—a literal 24-hour day. Kippur is the Hebrew word for atonement. Thus, Yom Kippur (this year arriving on September 18^th) is the Day of Atonement. In the King James Version of the Bible, yom is used an astounding 2,279 times in the Old Testament, 139 in Genesis. Including the following passage in which God is speaking to Adam:

“The Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die’” (Genesis 2:16-17, NASB, italics for emphasis).

The Complete Jewish Bible translation interchangeably uses the word “on” (the day). Whether in or on, the face value meaning is that Adam and Eve would die “the day” when they disobeyed God’s command.

They should have died on that very day, but they didn’t. Thus, there’s a problem between what God said would happen and what happened. It is a discrepancy created by the fact that neither Adam nor Eve died “on” or “in” (during) the very day that they ate the fruit.

One alternative explanation is that Adam and Eve were also given the privilege and responsibility of procreation that would continue the human race. However, an argument against that option: the Lord could have carried out the death sentence, then have started all over again by creating another man and woman. Consequently, there must be another reason to explain what appears to be a contradiction why Adam and Eve lived beyond the very day of their disobedience. While keeping in mind that they did, in fact, eventually die.

To better understand what’s going on here, we need to (as with a few other difficult passages of the Bible) compare Scripture with Scripture. To study and apply the whole counsel of God as it were.

The Remarkable Precedent of the Thousand Year/Day Model

In keeping with the solar-day meaning of the Hebrew word yom throughout the Old Testament and used in Genesis 2:17, both Adam and Eve should have died within 24 hours of their disobedience. That is, unless we transfer and literally exchange a (the, that) day to a thousand years!

Let’s examine the evidence beginning with a question that many could answer correctly without a whole lot of mental grinding and facial grimacing.

Who is the oldest man to have lived on this planet?

Answer: Methuselah.

Next question, this one a little harder: How long did he live?

What about Adam? Nine hundred, thirty years (Genesis 5:5).

Other than Enoch (taken alive to heaven by God and spared from the Great Flood) who lived 365 years, the shortest life-span of several men identified in Genesis Chapter 5 was Lamech, who lived 777 years.

Time/space doesn’t permit elaboration on both Biblical and scientific evidence why men and women could have lived that long. Except the most basic reason: the genetic purity of people until the consequences of sin’s disease intensified, thereby shortening life expectancy to what we see in today’s world.

Biblical and secular history yield the following premise: There are certain “days” in Scripture that not only represent but literally are a thousand years, marking millennial epochs of human history.

Regarding the “last days”, this applies to the literal 1,000-year (Millennium) reign of Jesus Christ, which is the glorious part of what is called the Day of the Lord in Scripture. Preceded by the Rapture of believers and the seven-year Great Tribulation, which is (the Tribulation) the terrible phase of the Day of the Lord, described in Biblical prophecy (for example, Joel 3:14).

For now, however, to focus on the amazing fact that not even Methuselah lived to be 1,000 years old. Close, but not quite. Had he lived to be a thousand years old (more precisely 1000 years and one day), God’s pronouncement of death from disobedience (on that day … meaning a thousand years) would have been wrong. And the last time I checked, God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) has never been wrong! He is always right, because he is RIGHT. As in righteous and righteousness. Not just giving us the truth, but TRUTH itself. Not just creating life, but LIFE itself.

“In the day that you eat from it … you will surely die” (NASB) was an expression and application of the Biblical precept that a day (certain days identified in Scripture) literally encompasses one thousand years. Even if God meant that Adam and Eve would die in a more generalized unspecified period (on the day), why did none of our ancient ancestors live to be a thousand years or more? Mere coincidence? I don’t think so.

(Depiction of Adam and Eve Exiting Paradise)

Which is why Peter reminded believers of this one day/thousand-years Biblical paradigm as historical precedence but did so in the context of “the last days” and the “day of the Lord” (recall that he uses that phrase … II Peter 3:10)—Messiah Jesus’ return to earth to complete God’s magnificent plan to make all things new (Revelation 21:5). Beginning with the Millennial reign of Messiah on earth.

From Methuselah to the Millennium

Although Eye of Prophecy article, Messiah’s Millennial Reign … Incredible Changes On Earth! (posted 12-30-17) focused on what the title states, the following excerpt from that article corresponds directly to this week’s subject. As follows (in italics):

Longing for better days ahead is enhanced in multiples of ten, then hundreds, and even thousands. A new decade for years that end in zero—with the average life expectancy in most nations of the world allowing many to see eight, nine, or even ten decades in their lifetime. Some actually experience the beginning of a new century, or have lived for a century or more. However, the human race has undergone only a few transitions from one millennium to another. Including our generation! We have witnessed the first number of the calendar switch from 1 to 2!

Epochs (millennia) of time don’t necessarily take place precisely on the Gregorian calendar year ending with three zeros. Nonetheless, the pivotal milestones of God’s interaction with man—as recorded in the Bible and documented by secular history—in accomplishing his plans for the human race are pretty close to those millennial markers.

For example: God chose Abraham as the progenitor of the Jewish race—through whom the Child of Promise would come to save both Jew and Gentile—around 2,000 B.C., the third millennium. From the tribe of Judah through the lineage of King David, Messiah would descend; David ruled as Israel’s greatest king from 1010 to 970 B.C. … onset of the fourth millennium.

Two thousand years ago marked the fifth millennium of recorded human history, when the miraculous birth of Jesus changed time itself. The number five in Scripture represents God’s grace. And that’s exactly what happened: the advent of the New Covenant of Grace foretold by Jeremiah (Chapter 31). God’s grace through the gift of his Son Messiah Jesus, who died to forgive sin and pardon the penalty of our sins—eternal separation from God. And God only requires one thing of us: to believe and receive the substitutionary death of His Son as the Gospel truth.

Very close to a thousand years after King David, “The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord” (Luke 2:11) was born in Bethlehem. Just a few years and months before the world-changing birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, many Jews brimmed with enthusiasm for Messiah’s arrival. That same Messianic fervor—for believers the Second Coming; for non-Messianic Jews, Messiah’s first arrival—has exploded all over the world once again.

Beginning with the estimated time when God created Adam and Eve (using the Roman, then Gregorian calendar), we became part of the 7^th millennium in the year 2,000. Seven, the Divine Number found throughout Scripture constitutes the conclusiveness, completeness, and providential sovereignty of God’s interaction with his creation. Beginning with the Lord setting aside the 7^th day as a day of rest, remembrance, and recognition of our awesome God and his majestic creation.

The year 2,000 was also the beginning of the third millennium (A.D.). Which is a meaningful milestone correlation to the fact that Messiah Jesus arose from the grave on the third day.

I’m convinced that this one-day-to-a-thousand years model is not only a symbolic comparison, but also a literal time-measurement of and connection to the third-day resurrection of Messiah and his soon glorious return (in this 3^rd Millennium A.D, also the 7^th Millennium overall).

The second Millennium (marked by the year 1000) and sixth overall, was a continuation of the Age of Grace. Six represents the number of man. In the same passage we just looked at, Peter provides the reason why the Lord might (in the 1^st century) have delayed his return—explained by the one day/thousand-year paradigm.

But now the time has come. We are almost eighteen years into the Third Millennium A.D. End-time prophecy is being fulfilled or is unfolding in the 20^th & 21^st centuries in unparalleled fashion since the first century. (See Eye of Prophecy articles, Look Up … Redemption Is Near, Part I & II. Posted 7-11 & 7-18-15, for twelve Biblical prophetic signs occurring in the last 100 years).

The New Testament Third Day

The birth, life, death, and resurrection of Messiah Jesus marked (literally, from B.C. to A.D.) the inception of a new millennium. From the beginning (Genesis) it was the fifth millennium. But it was also the first millennium of the New Covenant, the Age of Grace in which the once for all time substitutionary sacrificial death of God’s Son produced the third-day prototype that will culminate in the magnificent millennial reign of Messiah Jesus in the Kingdom of God on earth. We are at the very threshold of that 3^rd Day (New Covenant) Millennium, which is also the 7^th Millennium from the time that God pronounced judgment on Satan that eventually would restore mankind full circle back to eternal life existence with our Creator and Savior.

Moreover, the resurrection of the Jewish Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, on the third day to bring salvation to Jew and Gentile alike would also match the Old Testament third day restoration of the Jewish nation/people, to the extent that the Lord will once again dwell among his people on earth. Two days in the grave (rising on the third day) experienced by Messiah Jesus; two days (two thousand years) until Israel collectively would be spiritually and physically reconciled and restored to the Lord God.

“Taking the twelve disciples aside, Jesus said, ‘Listen, we’re going up to Jerusalem, where all the predictions of the prophets concerning the Son of Man will come true. He will be handed over to the Romans, and he will be mocked, treated shamefully, and spit upon. They will flog him with a whip and kill him, but on the third day he will rise again’” (Luke 18:31-33).

That’s exactly what happened! How could Jesus have known that, and in such detail? Answer: because he knew it from the beginning, even before the foundation of the world.

Said the Apostle John of Messiah Jesus: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1, NASB).

Wrote the Apostle Paul: “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation … For God in all his fulness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself” (Colossians 1:15 & 19-20).

Continuing with the Third Day:

“But very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. So they went in, but they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus. As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes. The women were terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground. Then the men asked, ‘Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Remember what he told you back in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again on the third day’” (Luke 24:1-7).

That very same Sunday, Jesus suddenly appeared (without going through the door) to some of his disciples who were still hiding in a locked room. Two other men were there, with whom Jesus had traveled on the road to Emmaus.

Said Jesus: “…Why are your hearts filled with doubt? Look at my hands. Look at my feet. You can see that it’s really me. Touch me and make sure that I am not a ghost, because ghosts don’t have bodies, as you see that I do. As he spoke, he showed them his hands and his feet” (Luke 24:38-40).

There’s more! Jesus ate a piece of broiled fish, “…and he ate it as they watched” (Verse 43).

Proof positive: Jesus was alive in the same body in which he died, albeit a resurrected, glorified body that would live forever. Just like the bodies of believers in Messiah Jesus will be raised and transformed to immortal “spiritual bodies,” but bodies nonetheless (I Corinthians 15).

“Then he said, ‘When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And he said, ‘Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day’” (Luke 24:44-46).

During the seven-mile walk with the two men on the road to Emmaus earlier that day we read: “…Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself … They said to each other, ‘Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?’” (Luke 24:27 & 32).

Notice that it wasn’t their ears that burned; although it could have been had Jesus scolded them any more than getting their attention with a reprimand intended not just for them but for all his Jewish brethren, especially those who had rejected him.

Here’s what Jesus said just before explaining from the Scriptures that he was the Messiah: “You foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures. Wasn’t it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory?” (Luke 24:25-26).

From there, the Lord compassionately proceeded to make their “hearts burn” (elation) with a panoramic review of all the Messianic prophecies. The journey to Emmaus would have taken up to three hours. That would have been sufficient time for Jesus to explain, “from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” Not some of the Scriptures, but ALL of them pertaining to Jesus as the Messiah.

Such passages as Genesis 3, 12; Deuteronomy 18; Psalm 2, 22, 69, 110; Isaiah 53, 61; Jeremiah 31; Zechariah 9; Malachi 3, and more. To also include what I’m thinking is a more obscure prophecy, to even the most astute of Bible students. Which is:

The Old Testament Third Day

Read with me:

“Come, let us return to Adonai (the Lord); for he has torn, and he will heal us; he has struck, and he will bind our wounds. After two days, he will revive us; on the third day, he will raise us up; and we will live in his presence” (Hosea 6:1-2, Complete Jewish Bible, parenthesis mine).

By correlation with other Old Testament prophecies and Jesus’ own precise prediction of his death, this is a phenomenal prophecy which providentially links Israel’s discipline by God to Messiah’s suffering, death, and two (Jewish measured) days in the tomb that led to and corresponds with (the two days of) Israel’s final punishment because they rejected their Messiah.

For example: “But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be made whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all” (Isaiah 53:5-6).

A sacrificial death followed by Jesus’s miraculous resurrection that would seal the New Covenant foretold by Jeremiah (Chapter 31).

Question: Is Hosea referring to two literal days?

Answer: Yes, and No.

No, he is obviously not identifying two 24-hour solar days. In the context of his prophecy that is neither feasible, nor is it borne out by Biblical or secular history.

Yes, the two days are literal when transferred and applied to the Biblical premise and principle that (concerning God’s two-part plan for humanity—Israel’s birth and rebirth restoration plus salvation for Jew and Gentile alike through Messiah Jesus) a day becomes a thousand years.

Hosea was a prophet from 753 B.C. to 715 B.C. He not only was one of the prophets that warned Israel of God’s first national judgment on Israel (the ten northern tribes), he also lived to see those tribes conquered by Assyria and exiled to other nations. But Hosea’s “two-days … third day” prophecy would extend far beyond his time.

The two days (two thousand years) could not have begun during that phase of God’s discipline of Israel. Nor could it have begun or continued with the next phase of the Lord’s punishment, in which the remaining two southern tribes of Israel (Judah and Benjamin) were subsequently crushed by Babylon in 586 B.C. The reason is because that exile lasted for only 70 years followed by a return of a Jewish remnant to Israel, where they would once again live and even prosper in their Promised Land. For some 600 years Israel was a nation again and her people had (at least) some measure of autonomy, even under Roman rule. Until, that is, 70 A.D., when the Romans tore through Israel, ravaged Jerusalem, killed hundreds of thousands of Jews, demolished every stone of the Temple, and exiled most of the surviving Jews to the four corners of the earth for … how long?

Correct: (almost) two thousand years.

These are the “two days” Hosea is referring to. What else could they be? The only specific corresponding time-frame directly connected to “a day” in Scripture is that of a thousand years. If a day is (like) a thousand years, then what would two days be? They are two thousand years before the “third day” of Israel’s restoration. That’s exactly what has transpired (with the rebirth of Israel in 1948) and is continuing to unfold before our 21^st century eyes.

(Jewish Celebration of Nov., 1947 UN Resolution 181 Giving the Jews the International Right to Form a Jewish State … Which Was Done in May, 1948)

Summary

The resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day is intricately linked to and an integral part of (cause and effect) God’s chosen people the Jews and his special possession Israel being raised up on the third day, just as God through Hosea said would happen. One that will result in God’s people once again (as in the days of God’s Shekinah glory in Solomon’s Temple) living in his presence. (Read Hosea 6:1-2 again).

“Though I have scattered them like seeds among the nations, they will still remember me in distant lands. They and their children will survive and return again to Israel” (Zechariah 10:9).

Never Again became the somber refrain of the Jews following the horrific Holocaust. The annual memorial of which was solemnly observed this past Wednesday on Yom HaShoah—Israel’s Day of Remembrance.

After nearly 2,000 years, never again will Israel be under the thumb of those who seek to destroy her.

God’s discipline of his people through Gentile nations began to end in 1948 and ended completely with Israel’s triumphant liberation of Jerusalem in the stunning Six-Day War of 1967.

Hardened IDF soldiers wept with joy as they touched the Western Wall at the foot of Temple Mount. Their generals strode in triumph on Temple Mount on which Jews had been forbidden to set foot for decades. Israelis all over Israel danced in jubilation and sang songs of gladness including, Hatikva (Israel’s unofficial national anthem in 1948, officially declared in 2004).

One hundred years after Hosea’s magnificent prophecy of the “third day” (following two days—two thousand years—of God’s heavy hand of discipline) restoration of Israel, another Jewish prophet wrote:

“Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! For the Lord will remove his hand of judgment and will disperse the armies of your enemy. And the Lord himself, the King of Israel, will live among you! At last your troubles will be over, and you will never again fear disaster. On that day the announcement to Jerusalem will be, ‘Cheer up Zion! Don’t be afraid! For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior…” (Zephaniah 3:14-17, italics for emphasis).

Things to Ponder

We are living in the Omega generation, the last generation on the threshold of the 7^th Millennium, 6000 years after God promised in the Garden of Eden that one would come who would conquer evil (Satan) and death itself. And the 3^rd (A.D.) Millennium, 2000 years after the promised Messiah came to earth to fulfill God’s promise of a New Covenant. The 3^rd Millennium that will see a crowning completion of that Covenant, of so great a salvation purchased by the Author and Finisher of that Covenant, Messiah Jesus. Who proved who he is by rising from the dead on the third day.

Among the many spectacular changes (for the better) on the earth during the literal 1,000-year reign of Messiah Jesus (the third day), we read:

“No longer will babies die when only a few days old. No longer will adults die before they have lived a full life. No longer will people be considered old at one hundred! Only the cursed will die that young! … For my people will live as long as trees…” (Isaiah 65:20 & 22).

Sequoia redwood trees often exceed 1000 years longevity.

(Olive Trees in the Garden of Gethsemane, Israel, Reported to be Over 1,000 Years Old … I Walked The Path in This Photo During My Trip to Israel)

Regarding the above quoted verse, here is an excerpt from my book, Out of the Abyss:

“Isaiah and many other Old Testament prophetic books speak often about the complete restoration of Israel and the reign of Messiah on earth… What we see here is that mankind has come full circle, from the early creation of an unlimited lifespan that sadly was preempted by sin, to a future age of extreme longevity. And these references are only to those on the earth. Those of us in heaven at that time will have access to the earth, and we will never die!” (Page 92).

There are some days that last for a thousand years. They are God’s days and they are so very good.

“…For them (Jewish and Gentile believers alike) the second death holds no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him a thousand years” (Revelation 20:6, parenthesis mine).

It’s the year 2018. A new day is dawning!

It’s time to wake up and get ready to meet that day!

Life Is A Mystery…

With perplexing twists and surprising turns, some with happy endings and others not so pleasant.

The best kind of mysteries are those that are solved. Which is why some people like to work daily puzzles. Life is complicated and challenging; but they can solve a picture, or word, or number puzzle by putting the pieces in all the right places. And why many love a good mystery novel or movie, be it romance or crime or both. The best kind of solving is done by someone who knows all about the mysterious plots and enigmatic people that are an integral part of the human puzzle. Especially the one who created the pieces.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).

Although I don’t read murder mysteries, I do watch them on film. Including what is probably the most well-known, if not the most read and watched murder mystery of all time—Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. Or the Sherlock Holmes series by Arthur Conan Doyle.

On the one hand I find murder mysteries intriguing, some even fascinating. And, I fully appreciate the need for real-life detectives to solve murders and for our courts to dispense justice.

On the other hand, I flinch at the idea that we are repeatedly entertained by plots that revolve around murder. Does the sheer number of murder mysteries that saturate literary and film venues desensitize us to the ugly act of murder, couched in the exhilaration of “solving” the crime? With the satisfaction of figuring out whodunnit softening the fact that a brutal killing is the trigger point (pun intended) for such gratification.

I’m wondering if there isn’t enough engagement in and with non-fiction works—especially the Bible—or even in historical novels to stimulate our curiosity and challenge us to seek reality resolutions to life’s mysteries, including our eternal destiny.

To be sure, even the Bible records several incidents of murder; beginning when Cain killed his brother, Abel. We see the worst of what people can do: the premeditated preemption (taking) of a human life created in God’s image. God considers murder (not killing in war or self-defense) a capital crime, punishable by death. Yet, there is no real intrigue nor crime (suspect) to solve in Scripture; except to figure out such things in the greater context of the Mystery of Iniquity.

Indeed, there are mysteries in Scripture. In fact, the very idea and definition of that which is mysterious stems from the Bible. As does the fact that all mysteries mentioned in Scripture pertaining to life and death, redemption and the end times have been revealed or unveiled. That doesn’t mean we fully understand all of them this side of heaven (or hell). But we can know enough to appreciate them and to make decisions where decisions are required.

Mysterious: “1 a: of, or relating to, or constituting a mystery (the ways of God) b: exciting wonder, curiosity, or surprise while baffling efforts to comprehend or identify” (Webster’s Dictionary, parenthesis are in the text).

Notice that the first definition of mysterious relates to “the ways of God.”

Also, Webster’s primary definition of mystery pertains to God. The English word mystery is an almost exact transliteration from the Greek word, mysterion. Most know that the New Testament was originally written in Greek.

Mystery: “1 a: a religious truth that man can know by revelation alone and cannot fully understand.”

Because of the advent of crime novels, Webster’s Dictionary was compelled to include one feature of mystery as: “2 d: a piece of fiction dealing usually with the solution of a mysterious crime.”

Notice, however: Webster’s qualifies that revealed mysteries cannot be fully understood. With, I’m sure, the emphasis on “fully.” If Webster’s Dictionary had said that (any of God’s) revelations cannot be understood at all, then that would be a direct contradiction of Scripture.

The Mysterious Plan of God Unveiled

A companion definition of mystery in Webster’s Dictionary is: “2 a: something not understood or beyond understanding.”

For sure there are physical and spiritual phenomenon from the beginning of time that we cannot fully wrap our minds around. Such as the origin and dynamics of gravity. Or the magnificent Trinity of the Godhead. One God in Three Persons … Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

When the word mystery or mysterious is used in Scripture it is always accompanied by the revealing or unveiling of that secret; enough for us to comprehend it as a matter of fact and belief. Especially God’s source of salvation, acceptance or rejection of which will determine our eternal destiny.

Let’s begin with a reference to a mystery in the New Testament, with “full understanding” that the New Covenant—first revealed in-depth by the Jewish prophet Jeremiah in Chapter 31—had replaced the Levitical sacrificial system of the Old Covenant. However, comprehension of this mystery is available only to those (believers) who have believed and received the mediator of the New Covenant … the Jewish Messiah Jesus of Nazareth.

Wrote the Apostle Paul:

“And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather then using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.

“…I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to the world or to the rulers of this world, who are soon forgotten. No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God—his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began. But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord. That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.’

“But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets… no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us… But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it…” (I Corinthians 2:4-14, parenthesis in the text).

Another use of the word mystery is found in the book of Romans. In this passage Paul has just emphasized that the Lord did not completely cast off his chosen people the Jews, nor did they permanently “stumble and fall beyond recovery.” (Romans 11:11). Chapters 9, 10, & 11 should forever silence those who subscribe to Replacement Theology; the grievous error that the true Christian Church has replaced Israel concerning all Old Testament prophecies that speak of Israel’s (the nation of … Jews) physical and spiritual restoration.

Paul is speaking to the Gentile believers: “I want you to understand this mystery dear brothers and sisters, so that you will not feel proud about yourselves. Some of the people of Israel have hard hearts, but this will last only until the full number of Gentiles comes to Christ. And so all Israel will be saved…” (Romans 11:25-26).

Although most of the early Christians were Jews and the Gospel went first to the Jew and then to the Gentile (Romans 1:16), it was a mystery to the Gentile Christians why so many Jews refused to believe in the risen Messiah, Jesus. Some of these Gentile believers had even assumed an attitude of superiority. But only because they didn’t grasp God’s ultimate (mysterious, but nevertheless revealed) plan that only a remnant of Jews would acknowledge and accept Jesus as their Messiah and Savior. That is, until the last days when “all Israel will be saved.”

(See Eye of Prophecy article: Salvation … “To the Jews First” Posted 3-26-15)

Which is why Paul also told the Gentile believers:

“…This message about Jesus Christ has revealed his plan for you Gentiles, a plan kept secret from the beginning of time. But now as the prophets foretold and as the eternal God has commanded, this message is made known to all Gentiles everywhere, so that they too might believe and obey him. All glory to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, forever. Amen” (Romans 16:25-27).

The Gentile Christians needed to remember: They had not replaced the Jews (Israel); rather they been added (“grafted in”) to the prophetic tree of Israel. It was through Israel and the Jews that salvation would come, just as the prophets said. Specifically, salvation was exclusively in the long-awaited Jewish Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, who said himself that salvation comes through the Jews (John 4:22).

Said the Jewish Apostle Peter: “For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, ‘The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’ There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:11-12).

Another remarkable revelation that was no longer a mystery is that both Jew and Gentile are now one in Messiah. No more inequality or separation by status, which also included men and women, slave and free.

“…If the law could give us new life, we could be made right with God by obeying it. But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ … The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian. For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus… There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:21-28).

All these mysteries (revealed) were integral component parts of the greatest mystery of all so wonderfully unveiled. Said the Apostle Paul:

“Without question, this is the great mystery of our faith: Christ was revealed in a human body… (I Timothy 3:16a).

In both the Old Testament and the New Testament, we are told unequivocally that Messiah is the Son of God and God the Son. Thus, Christ (Jesus) is fully God and fully man.

The Mystery of Melchizedek

Particularly to the Jews, I don’t suppose there’s any more mysterious person in the Hebrew Bible (referred to commonly by Gentiles as the Old Testament … Old Covenant) than Melchizedek. Were it not for the New Testament book of Hebrews, the unique relevance of this man would remain a mystery. Which tracks with the oft quoted and reliable premise: The Old Testament is the New Testament concealed; the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed.

Melchizedek is only mentioned twice in the entire Jewish Tanach (Old Testament); both times it is only a brief reference. Yet, the descriptive narrative of this mysterious man is stunning in scope and substance.

Our first glimpse of this exceptional man is found early in the book of Genesis.

“After Abram returned from his victory over Kedorlaomer and all his allies, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). And Melchizedek, the king of Salem and a priest of God Most High, brought Abram some bread and wine. Melchizedek blessed Abram with this blessing: ‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who has defeated your enemies for you.’

“Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the goods he had recovered” (Genesis 14:17-20, parenthesis in the text).

That’s it … just four short verses. As abruptly as Melchizedek appeared on the scene, he was gone. Not to be heard from again until King David mentions him some 1,000 years later.

A brief back story: As you may recall, Abraham had won a great battle against four kings and their armies, probably numbering in the thousands. The reason Abraham went to war (against all odds) was to rescue his nephew Lot and Lot’s family who had been taken captive when the four kings defeated five other kings in battle, including the king of Sodom.

Although not as well-known or remembered as Gideon’s victory with 300 soldiers over thousands of Midianites (Judges Chapters 7 & 8), Abraham was also victorious with only, “…318 trained men who had been born into his household” (Genesis 14:14).

This was no less a miracle than Gideon’s stunning triumph. Which is why Melchizedek said that the Most High God defeated your enemies for you. Obviously, Abraham and his men had to fight; however, unless the Lord had providentially protected and supernaturally supported Abraham, the battle would not have been won.

Who Was Melchizedek?

Abraham’s reverence of Melchizedek’s position and authority is reason enough to attach substantial significance to this man. However, if his appearance to Abraham was the only record of Melchizedek, he would remain an unsolved mystery.

Let’s fast forward a thousand years later to King David who reintroduced Melchizedek alongside (and in the greater context) of the Messiah. David begins this Messianic Psalm by saying (speaking):

“The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit in the place of honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet’” (Psalm 110:1).

This is an astonishing statement made by David, so let’s pause here for a moment. In no uncertain terms, David is saying that the LORD (Yahweh … I AM) is speaking to another Lord (David’s Lord) who would sit at the right hand of the throne of God after the enemies of David’s Lord have been soundly defeated.

Who is David’s Lord?

Believers, both Gentiles and Messianic Jews know that this Lord is the Messiah who would (historically now) arrive 1,000 years later … Jesus of Nazareth. Most observant Jews, including Rabbis, offer sparse commentary on this passage, but it’s evident that some equate David’s Lord to the Messiah. Who else could he be? It’s just that they don’t combine Psalm 110 with Psalm 2; therefore, they dismiss out of hand any such person as the Son of God.

Consequently, some contend that David is identifying the nation of Israel, despite the clear evidence that David is referring to a person, both grammatically and contextually. They make the same mistake in Isaiah 53, by saying that the suffering servant is Israel, not a person (the Messiah). Or that there are (will be) two Messiahs (See Eye of Prophecy article: More Than One Messiah? Posted 12-5-15).

So, let’s switch to Psalm Chapter 2 for a moment.

“For the Lord declares, ‘I have placed my chosen king on the throne in Jerusalem, on my holy mountain” (Psalm 2:6). *Note: The king cannot be (all) Israel, nor will Israel be “placed on the throne in Jerusalem.”

Continuing with the king making a personal statement as to what the Lord promises:

“The king proclaims the Lord’s decree: The Lord said to me, ‘You are my son. Today I have become your Father. Only ask, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the whole earth as your possession’” (Psalm 2:7-8).

Now that’s a mystery! The king is the Messiah, but he is also God’s Son … both man and God. It was a mystery revealed, but also a mystery (partially) concealed until the birth and life of Jesus at God’s appointed time.

That’s affirmed later in the chapter: “Now then, you kings, act wisely! Be warned, you rulers of the earth! Serve the Lord with reverent fear, and rejoice with trembling. Submit to God’s royal son, or he will become angry, and you will be destroyed in the midst of all your activities—for his anger flares up in an instant. But what joy for all who take refuge in him” (Psalm 2:10-12).

Messiah Jesus sometimes quoted the Old Testament when challenged by the Jewish religious leaders or when challenging and correcting their deliberate or careless (inadvertent) mishandling of Scripture. Although Israel ardently anticipated the coming of Messiah, even the observant among them missed or ignored their own scriptures as to who Messiah would be. Which is why they wanted to kill Jesus … because he claimed to be not only the Messiah, but also the Son of God, as well as God (the Son).

Jesus asked the religious leaders a thought-provoking question, directly related to Psalm 110:

“Why is it … that the Messiah is said to be the son of David? For David himself wrote in the book of Psalms: The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit in the place of honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet.’

“Since David called the Messiah, ‘Lord,’ how can the Messiah be his Son?” (Luke 20:41-44).

It was a rhetorical question. The only way that Messiah could be both David’s son (of physical lineage) and David’s Lord is for the Messiah to also be God. To any Jew of the 1^st century or any century to this very day who is sincerely seeking the truth of Messiah’s identity, Jesus’s illustration should remind them of Psalms 110 (which Jesus quoted).

And, of Isaiah’s breathtaking description of the Messiah: “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

And Micah’s powerful prophecy that the coming Messiah would pre-date King David by infinity: “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah (where Jesus was born of a Virgin … Isaiah 7:14) are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel will come from you, one whose origins are from the distant past” (Micah 5:2, italics for emphasis, parenthesis mine).

Said Jesus to the crowd: “Your father Abraham rejoiced as he looked forward to my coming. He saw it and was glad.

“The people said, ‘You aren’t even fifty years old. How can you say you have seen Abraham?’

“Jesus answered, ‘I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I AM!’” (John 8:56-58).

Returning to Psalm 110 and Melchizedek

Now, David brings Melchizedek into the picture.

“The Lord has taken an oath and will not break his vow: ‘You (the king, David’s Lord, the Son of God) are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek’” (Psalm 110:4, parenthesis mine).

Why does David even bring up Melchizedek is this passage?

The answer is found is Genesis Chapter 14 that we already read: Melchizedek is both King and Priest! Messiah would be the everlasting Priest in/after the order (prototype) of Melchizedek. As well as the King who would rule from Jerusalem, whose kingdom would also be forever.

This is remarkable because the Mosaic Law subsequently disallowed anyone from being both a priest and a king at the same time.

Judah’s King Uzziah learned this the hard way. Although he reigned for 52 years (beginning in 792 B.C.), and God used him to prosper Judah both economically and militarily, Uzziah decided he could also be a priest.

“But when he had become powerful, he also became proud, which led to his downfall. He sinned against the Lord his God by entering the sanctuary of the Lord’s Temple and personally burning incense on the incense altar. Azariah the high priest went in after him … confronted Uzziah and said, ‘It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord. That is the work of the priests alone, the descendants of Aaron who are set apart for this work. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have sinned. The Lord God will not honor you for this!’” (II Chronicles 26:16-18).

Uzziah became furious. It was a serious mistake for even the king to enter the outer sanctuary and take on the duties reserved for the priests. It was an even bigger mistake for Uzziah to become indignant, “raging at the priests,” with the clear inference that he knew exactly what he had done, but no one had the right or authority to tell the king how wrong he was.

Here’s what happened while Uzziah was still in the Temple:

“…leprosy suddenly broke out on his forehead. When Azariah the high priests and all the other priests saw the leprosy, they rushed him out. And the king himself was eager to get out because the Lord had struck him. So King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in isolation in a separate house, for he was excluded from the Temple of the Lord…” (II Chronicles 26:19-21).

God obviously had a purpose for the separate roles of kings and priests. The main reason was so that both king and priest could invest substantial time, energy, and God-given gifts in their respective duties. Also, to maintain a divinely designed balance between government and those governed, between the physical and the spiritual. It was NOT for total separation of church from state. To the absurd extent (for example in the United States) of removing plaques of the Ten Commandments from all public places in a nation founded on Judaic/Christian values.

However, I do agree: there should not be a (man-made) “State Church” or a “Church State.” In that regard, terms and concepts need to be defined. (For more extensive details, refer to Eye of Prophecy articles, Separation of Church and State, Part I & II. Posted 4-2 & 4-9-16).

The following Biblical principle is indisputable as borne out by the historical success and rise and fall of nations:

The New and Better Way

Although there are several New Testament passages that speak of Messiah Jesus as the final (only) bridge between God and mankind (Mediator of the New Covenant … Timothy 2:5), the book of Hebrews systematically and succinctly summarizes the resounding role of Messiah as the once for all High Priest after the priestly order of Melchizedek, who was also a King.

Beginning with: “This Melchizedek was king of the city of Salem and also a priest of God Most High. When Abraham was returning home after winning a great battle against the kings, Melchizedek met him and blessed him … The name Melchizedek means ‘king of justice’ and king of Salem means ‘king of peace.’ There is no record of his father or mother or any of his ancestors—no beginning or end to his life. He remains a priest forever, resembling the Son of God” (Hebrews 7:1-3, italics for emphasis).

*Note: Based on the wording of this passage—specifically, resembling the Son of God—most Bible scholars regard Melchizedek only as a symbol or representation of Messiah Jesus. Yet, that application doesn’t go far enough.

For one reason: What these same verses (in italics above) say about Melchizedek (no beginning or end to his life) wouldn’t apply to a mortal man. For another reason: the numerous accounts in the Old Testament of the Pre-Incarnate Messiah appearing to several people such as Joshua and Gideon.

Thus, I firmly believe that Jesus was (is) Melchizedek! And Jesus’s first appearance as the Pre-Incarnate Messiah was to Abraham.

(See Eye of Prophecy articles, Does God Really Have a Son? Part I & II, Posted 10-31 & 11-7-15).

Continuing in Hebrews, prefaced with this observation: As much esteem as the Jews extend to Moses (and Elijah), to this day Israelis in Israel and Jews outside of Israel consider Abraham the greatest of all their ancestors. After all, he is the Patriarchal Father of Israel.

“Consider then how great this Melchizedek was. Even Abraham, the great patriarch of Israel, recognized this by giving him a tenth of what he had taken in battle…. And Melchizedek placed a blessing upon Abraham, the one who had already received the promises of God. And without question, the person who has the power to give a blessing is greater than the one who is blessed. The priests who collect titles are men who die, so Melchizedek is greater than they are, because we are told that he lives on” (Hebrews 7:4-8).

Melchizedek, who was both king and priest, preceded and exceeded the Mosaic Law in both prominence and perpetuity. Understanding this should be of vital importance especially to the Jews; the majority of whom still cling to the Mosaic Law (even without the Levitical sacrificial system of the shedding of blood for remission of sins that ended in 70 A.D.) to make them right with God. They’re in denial over the loss of the Temple and animal sacrifices because they don’t understand or refuse to believe that the Law cannot save them nor was the Levitical sacrificial system meant to be permanent. Twice, God disciplined his people … Babylonian Captivity and Roman Dispersion. Both times the Temple was destroyed. The second-time, sacrifices were ended altogether … to this very day.

Resuming in Hebrews Chapter 7:

“So if the priesthood of Levi, on which the law was based, could have achieved the perfection God intended, why did God need to establish a different priesthood, with a priest in the order of Melchizedek instead of the order of Levi and Aaron? And if the priesthood is changed, the law must also be changed to permit it … What I mean is, our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses never mentioned priests coming from this tribe” (Verses 11 & 12-14).

*Note: As great as the Torah is (specifically referencing the first five books of the Bible), it’s also crucial for non-Messianic Jews (and Gentiles) to read objectively all passages in Psalms and the Prophets relating to the Messiah. Not the least of which are passages quoted earlier regarding Messiah as God’s Son and High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, but also from the tribe of Judah that would produce Israel’s kings. Even Moses records this as part of Jacob’s blessings (prophecies) concerning his twelve sons.

Moving on in Hebrews:

“This change has been made very clear since a different priest, who is like Melchizedek, has appeared. Jesus became a priest, not by meeting the physical requirement of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed. And the psalmist pointed this out when he prophesied, ‘You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.’

“Yes, the old requirement about the priesthood was set aside because it was weak and useless. For the law never made anything perfect. But now we have confidence in a better hope, through which we draw near to God…. Jesus is the one who guarantees this better covenant with God” (Hebrews 7:15-19 & 22).

As stated later in Hebrews: The (Mosaic) system of worship was only a copy, a shadow of the real one in heaven. God told Moses to, “…Be sure that you make everything according to the pattern I have shown you here on the mountain” (Hebrews 8:5b, quoting Exodus 25:40).

The author of Hebrews further explains how much better and more permanent (forever) the New Covenant is:

“But because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood lasts forever. Therefore, he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him…. He is the kind of high priest we need because he is holy and blameless, unstained by sin…. The law appointed high priests who were limited by human weakness. But after the law was given, God appointed his Son with an oath, and his Son has been made the perfect High Priest forever” (Hebrews 7:24-26, 28).

Then in Hebrews 8:1-7, we read the sweeping summary of this magnificent message: Messiah Jesus is the Mediator of the New Covenant between God and man.

“Here is the main point: We have a High Priest who sat down in the place of honor beside the throne of the majestic God in heaven. There he ministers in the heavenly Tabernacle, the true place of worship that was built by the Lord and not by human hands…

“But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises. If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it. But when God found fault with the people, he said…” (the announcement of the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31:31-34 is then quoted).

Summary

With precaution not to stretch the analogy beyond its obvious limitations, we can say in one respect that the Bible (among its other literary genres) is a “murder mystery.” One, however, that certainly is not fictional.

Not long after God created Adam and Eve, they yielded to the, “Mystery of Iniquity” as lawlessness and rebellion is labeled in II Thessalonians 2:7. They believed the lie of the original source of evil, Satan, who Jesus said, “…was a murderer from the beginning … and the father of lies” (John 8:44).

(“…But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil.” I John 3:8)

Even before Cain murdered his brother Abel, Adam and Eve became murderers themselves.

They killed the spirit within them, the human spirit formed by God (Zechariah 12:1) which enabled them to fellowship in and with the very presence of God in the Garden of Eden. Everyone since then has been born with a dead spirit. This is a murder mystery that can only be solved by our spirit being made alive.

Said the Apostle Paul to believers: “Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world…. But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)” (Ephesians 2:1-5, parenthesis in the text).

Jesus explained it this way: “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water (cleansing through the Word of God) and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going (it’s a mystery), so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit” (John 3:5-8, parenthesis mine).

Things to Ponder

Many crime novels, movies, and T.V. shows initially reveal a suspect(s) who turns out not to be the killer, or the killer has an accomplice. Television dramas like Matlock and Murder She Wrote are full of these kinds of plots.

Messiah Jesus was crucified by the Romans because Pontius Pilate finally agreed to the demands of the Jewish accusers to put Jesus to death. That’s no mystery. We know who the suspects were.

And yet it was a mystery because Jesus voluntarily gave up his life. Why and for whom?

Why? Answer: “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son.”

For whom? Answer: “… so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16).

Mystery solved. It was you, me, and everyone who ever lived that drove Jesus to his death. We were all complicit … accessories before, during, and after the fact.

The ultimate reason of God’s plan for the human race is succinctly summarized in the following passage:

“God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure. And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth…

“God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago” (Ephesians 1:9-13).

It is the greatest puzzle problem conflict resolution of all time. Christ doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.

Are you profoundly perplexed and mysteriously maddened with so many questions that seemingly have no answers? Why was I born? Why am I here? What’s really going to happen to me when I die? Why is there so much injustice, terror, war, and murder? Is there anyone who can resolve this mess of a world we live in? Who can solve these mysteries of life and death?

“For the time is coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up a righteous descendant from King David’s line. He will be a King who rules with wisdom. He will do what is just and right throughout the land. And this will be his name: ‘The LORD is Our Righteousness.’ In that day Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in safety” (Jeremiah 23:5-6).

No one else can be what Jesus is. Or do what Jesus has done and will continue to do.

He is King of all kings AND High Priest.

He is LORD and SAVIOR!