Post by Rob W. Case on Jul 14, 2008 21:32:22 GMT -6
Editor's Note: What you are about to read are the entire contents of a message I gave at my church on July 6th, 2008. A lot of deep, detailed research went into the compiling of this piece, and I would like to share this hope with you, my well appreciated readers.
God’s plan is like the trilogy of a movie. They are all inner-connected with each other, but each one has its own individual set of stories to tell, and own set of purposes, providing encouragement for those who need encouraging, but to also show God’s power and grace for the benefit of those who follow him. But the common denominator in each of these stories leads to one final result.
The Contents of this Trilogy are…
1. The Old Testament
2. The New Testament
3. God’s Kingdom on Earth
The first in this trilogy is the…
1. Old Testament – The Old Testament foretold the coming of a Messiah that will be rejected, but will rule and reign on this earth. This gave great aide and comfort to the Jews who lived in exile under the Babylonian and Roman empires, or endured intense persecution wherever they were. Why just the Jews? Because God revealed himself to the Jews first, and the encounters of this God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are written within their History books, just as we have seen the influence of God in our older History books. No other god has showed himself and his presence like the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and no other God could offer humanity the degree of joy, hope, and peace that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob could offer.
The Hope:
Psalm 146:5
Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God…
The Jews have seen firsthand, by experience, the hope and power of the Lord. They have seen with their own eyes how God has shown favor towards a people that has been otherwise picked on, captured, killed, and what not. God made them a great people and promised them their own land for which they could build a civilization. Other civilizations have died. The Aztecs and the Mayans were civilizations that once existed, were well advanced in their civilizations, but today, do not exist anymore. The Jews, if you think about it, would not exist today without God’s favor towards them, and would not be remembered if God ceased to demonstrate his supernatural powers and abilities directly to them. But he did. The Jews exist today, have their own land, and in that land, preserved the scriptures and discovered artifacts from their ancient past. The problem with this group of people, just like all of mankind, is their sins, their acts of rebellion against God. But God provided a way to take care of that. God would forgive their sins, but they would have to be obedient, and do something to earn God’s forgiveness. In order to have their sins covered, one had to make a sacrificial offering. This offering would be performed within the confines of a Temple, and in it, they had to sacrifice animals, their main source of food, clothing, and what not for the Lord, and perform a regulated set of rituals. The details of these rituals can be found in Leviticus Chapter 14:24-32 in the Old Testament.
Through Moses, God spoke directly (Numbers 12:8). Through the prophets, God spoke to them within the realm of dreams and visions (Numbers 12:6). Through the prophets, God provided hope to mobilize and energize his people. How did one know who was a prophet and who was not? Well, there was a test. In Deuteronomy 18:21 and onward, we are told by Moses what to look for in properly identifying a true prophet. Basically put, the true test of a prophet was the fulfillment of his words.
Deuteronomy 18:22
If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.
Moses Predicts The Coming Messiah….
Deuteronomy 18:18 (Written Historically between 1250-1200 B.C.)
I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.
Then, as time passed, more and more visions came through more and more prophets, predicting this ultimate future Messiah.
Jeremiah 23:5 (Written Historically in 585 B.C)
5 "The days are coming," declares the LORD,
"when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
and do what is just and right in the land.
Malachi 3:1 (Written Historically in 450 B.C.)
"See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come," says the LORD Almighty.
Isaiah 7: 14 (Written Historically in 700 B.C.)
Therefore the Lord himself will give you [c] a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and [d] will call him Immanuel.
Micah 5:2 (Written Historically in 740 B.C.)
"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."
Hoseah 11:1 (Written Historically in 750 B.C.)
"When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son."
Isaiah 53:3 "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not."
Isaiah 11:2 "The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him--the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord."
Zechariah 9:9 (Written Historically in 520 B.C.)
"Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey."
Isaiah 53:4-6 (King James Version)
4Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Psalm 22:15-17 (Written Historically around 500 B.C.)
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death.
16 Dogs have surrounded me;
a band of evil men has encircled me,
they have pierced my hands and my feet.
17 I can count all my bones;
people stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.
Daniel 7:13 (Compiled from an earlier History in 165 B.C.)
"In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.
The Old Testament is loaded with clues concerning what to look for regarding this coming, promised Messiah.
2. The New Testament—The New Testament showed us the fulfillment of most of the Old Testament prophecies, as the events of what was foretold were actually coming to pass.
Let’s look once again at some of the Old Testament Prophecies, and look at their fulfillment within the New Testament.
Foretold in Old, 700 B.C
Isaiah 7: 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Fulfilled Historically around 3-6 B.C.
Matthew 1:18 "This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit."
Foretold in Old, 740 B.C.:
Micah 5:2 "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."
Fulfilled Historically around 3-6 B.C.
Matthew 2:1 "After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod..."
Foretold in Old, 520 B.C:
Zechariah 9:9 "Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey."
Fulfilled in New, between 30-33 A.D.:
John 12:13-14 "They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, 'Hosanna!' 'Blessed is the King of Israel!' Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written."
Foretold in Old, 500 B.C.
Psalm 22:16, 18
16 Dogs have surrounded me;
a band of evil men has encircled me,
they have pierced my hands and my feet.
18 They divide my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.
Fulfilled in New, between 30-33 A.D.
John 19:23-24
23When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. 24"Let's not tear it," they said to one another. "Let's decide by lot who will get it."
This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said,
"They divided my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing." So this is what the soldiers did.
And I can go on and on with detail after detail……
The accounts which were written in the books of the New Testament revealed, way beyond a reasonable doubt, plenty of details for which we could be able to properly identify who the Messiah is by name, example, and by fulfillment. By the time the Messiah was clearly identified, all seemed well… or was it really? The Messiah was identified, but mankind was still in her sins. How could the Lord establish a Kingdom with his creation when his creation would continue to perish, and whose bodies would return to dust? You couldn’t establish a very effective kingdom that way.
So Jesus clarifies some details from the Old Testament which may have been otherwise unclear. I think the people who lived in Old Testament times had diverse ways of interpreting these scriptures. Sure, they knew that there was to come a Kingdom and in that Kingdom, the Messiah would rule and reign. That was the hope. That was the hope of those who lived in exile, under the Babylonian Empire right up the Roman Empire. I think the people between that span of time could have interpreted the Old Testament prophecies as God sending a Messiah to be King on earth, just to be able to rule and reign, while at the same time, removing people’s sins by having man confess their sins to him and the Messiah forgiving them based on men asking him to forgive them. But there is another element which seemed to be a bit unclear. Remember when I mentioned some of the verses which describe things like, “He was despised and rejected by men,” “he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities,” “he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows?” Well this could mean anything. This could mean persecution. This could mean possible mental or physical harm by the Pharisees. No, there was a much more radical approach here, and Jesus reveals it in Matthew 16:21-28.
Jesus Predicts His Death
21From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
22Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!"
23Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."
24Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25For whoever wants to save his life[h] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 27For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. 28I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."
So obviously the disciples or anyone were unaware that he was going to be crucified and be killed. You can tell within the dialogue that he is clarifying that this does two things…
1. In the physical realm, it covers the Rejection part, and clarifies the harsher details within Psalms, and Isaiah.
2. He reveals that he will be the sacrificial Lamb of God.
On the part between Him and God, he says that he must die for mankind’s sins, but mankind doesn’t fully understand the overall meaning behind this radical plan. Mankind is not fully aware that Jesus came to necessarily die for man’s sins. The most they knew is that he would be pierced. After all, In Psalms, it says, “they pierced my hands and feet,” and in Zechariah 12:10, it says, "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son." This could have been interpreted as an emotional pain (like one might say, “Oh, you stabbed me in the back.”), it could have meant physical pain, but it did not specify certain death. They were not fully aware that Jesus would physically rise from the dead to show them something that would eventually lead them to accept and understand the purpose behind the whole plan and how, by accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior, and believing in his death, burial, and resurrection, they would be saved from Hell and from their sins. They are unaware of all this by this point.
When the disciples experienced the prophecies of Jesus being fulfilled firsthand, they still knew the who, the what, and the when, but right after Jesus unleashed the Holy Spirit, they now had access as to why, why all of this was necessary. It was revealed to them the purpose for all of this. To get as many people as possible saved, God would do whatever he thought he needed to do to provide mankind a chance to enter into the Kingdom of God. He would patiently wait until the last person he knew would get saved got saved, and by the spreading of the Gospel into all nations, see how many would prepare for the coming Kingdom of the Messiah.
When Jesus was on earth, he built on the prophecies of the Old Testament, foretelling the people of his day, and for future generations, details of his return.
Jesus said….
Matthew 24:37
As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
Matthew 24:27
For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
John 14:2-3
2In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
Matthew 24:30
30"At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.
And then he adds….
Matthew 28: 20b
And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
What is the end of the age? Simply put, it is the gap of time after Christ’s ascension into heaven and just before his return to earth. In this age, known as the Church age, we have seen the Gospel of Christ communicated into the entire world. The Gospel has touched lives, renewed people’s souls, provided hope, formed prosperous civilizations, freed those in bondage both physically, mentally, and spiritually, and has lasted as long as it has despite the increase in wickedness, the decline of morality, and the rapid growth of a hostile, anti-Christ spirit. This is an age of God’s grace, an age of God’s mercy, an age in which Christ, much like Noah, is leaving the door open to those who believe, just before the storm comes, but it’s only for a limited time. This age of mercy will soon enough expire, and then the storm will come (leaving man to his own devices). That however is another story in itself.
Now, what is the point of me sharing all this, and incorporating the Historical aspects of these Biblical events?
I can explain it only in this way:
Imagine I asked to borrow $20 from you, and I promised to pay you back on Friday. Friday comes, and I pay you back. Two weeks later, I ask to borrow $10 bucks from you, and I promised to pay you back on Tuesday. Tuesday comes, and I pay you back. Then, three weeks roll by. I ask to borrow $5 and promise to pay you back on Thursday. Would you loan me the money? Probably. Why would you loan me the money? Because you have faith in me based on the previous experiences you had with me.
God is the same way. God made a big promise to mankind. He promised them a Messiah, and asked that they believe. They did, and they got what was promised to them. The Messiah came, but came as a sacrifice so that those who accept him as their Lord and Savior could enter the Kingdom. The Messiah then made promises, adding to the promises still yet to be fulfilled even within the Old Testament. Those are what we are waiting upon. Those are the ones we are seeing happening right now. There is still another story in the saga. The third and final one.
3. God’s Kingdom on Earth-- Both the Old and New Testaments lead us to the final area, the point in time for which all of life, humanity, and civilization will be introduced to the coming Kingdom for which Christ will rule and reign on earth forever. Even though our salvation was brought to us physically within the New Testament, and the Church age started and took off there, we are still waiting for Christ’s return, to rule and reign on earth forever.
Think about it; Since all of the Messianic prophecies were fulfilled, we can have faith that more will be fulfilled. Because of this, think of what we can look forward to.
Isaiah 11:2-9
2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of power,
the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD -
3 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;
4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness will be his belt
and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the hole of the cobra,
and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea.
God’s plan is like the trilogy of a movie. They are all inner-connected with each other, but each one has its own individual set of stories to tell, and own set of purposes, providing encouragement for those who need encouraging, but to also show God’s power and grace for the benefit of those who follow him. But the common denominator in each of these stories leads to one final result.
The Contents of this Trilogy are…
1. The Old Testament
2. The New Testament
3. God’s Kingdom on Earth
The first in this trilogy is the…
1. Old Testament – The Old Testament foretold the coming of a Messiah that will be rejected, but will rule and reign on this earth. This gave great aide and comfort to the Jews who lived in exile under the Babylonian and Roman empires, or endured intense persecution wherever they were. Why just the Jews? Because God revealed himself to the Jews first, and the encounters of this God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are written within their History books, just as we have seen the influence of God in our older History books. No other god has showed himself and his presence like the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and no other God could offer humanity the degree of joy, hope, and peace that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob could offer.
The Hope:
Psalm 146:5
Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God…
The Jews have seen firsthand, by experience, the hope and power of the Lord. They have seen with their own eyes how God has shown favor towards a people that has been otherwise picked on, captured, killed, and what not. God made them a great people and promised them their own land for which they could build a civilization. Other civilizations have died. The Aztecs and the Mayans were civilizations that once existed, were well advanced in their civilizations, but today, do not exist anymore. The Jews, if you think about it, would not exist today without God’s favor towards them, and would not be remembered if God ceased to demonstrate his supernatural powers and abilities directly to them. But he did. The Jews exist today, have their own land, and in that land, preserved the scriptures and discovered artifacts from their ancient past. The problem with this group of people, just like all of mankind, is their sins, their acts of rebellion against God. But God provided a way to take care of that. God would forgive their sins, but they would have to be obedient, and do something to earn God’s forgiveness. In order to have their sins covered, one had to make a sacrificial offering. This offering would be performed within the confines of a Temple, and in it, they had to sacrifice animals, their main source of food, clothing, and what not for the Lord, and perform a regulated set of rituals. The details of these rituals can be found in Leviticus Chapter 14:24-32 in the Old Testament.
Through Moses, God spoke directly (Numbers 12:8). Through the prophets, God spoke to them within the realm of dreams and visions (Numbers 12:6). Through the prophets, God provided hope to mobilize and energize his people. How did one know who was a prophet and who was not? Well, there was a test. In Deuteronomy 18:21 and onward, we are told by Moses what to look for in properly identifying a true prophet. Basically put, the true test of a prophet was the fulfillment of his words.
Deuteronomy 18:22
If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.
Moses Predicts The Coming Messiah….
Deuteronomy 18:18 (Written Historically between 1250-1200 B.C.)
I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.
Then, as time passed, more and more visions came through more and more prophets, predicting this ultimate future Messiah.
Jeremiah 23:5 (Written Historically in 585 B.C)
5 "The days are coming," declares the LORD,
"when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
and do what is just and right in the land.
Malachi 3:1 (Written Historically in 450 B.C.)
"See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come," says the LORD Almighty.
Isaiah 7: 14 (Written Historically in 700 B.C.)
Therefore the Lord himself will give you [c] a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and [d] will call him Immanuel.
Micah 5:2 (Written Historically in 740 B.C.)
"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."
Hoseah 11:1 (Written Historically in 750 B.C.)
"When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son."
Isaiah 53:3 "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not."
Isaiah 11:2 "The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him--the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord."
Zechariah 9:9 (Written Historically in 520 B.C.)
"Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey."
Isaiah 53:4-6 (King James Version)
4Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Psalm 22:15-17 (Written Historically around 500 B.C.)
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death.
16 Dogs have surrounded me;
a band of evil men has encircled me,
they have pierced my hands and my feet.
17 I can count all my bones;
people stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.
Daniel 7:13 (Compiled from an earlier History in 165 B.C.)
"In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.
The Old Testament is loaded with clues concerning what to look for regarding this coming, promised Messiah.
2. The New Testament—The New Testament showed us the fulfillment of most of the Old Testament prophecies, as the events of what was foretold were actually coming to pass.
Let’s look once again at some of the Old Testament Prophecies, and look at their fulfillment within the New Testament.
Foretold in Old, 700 B.C
Isaiah 7: 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Fulfilled Historically around 3-6 B.C.
Matthew 1:18 "This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit."
Foretold in Old, 740 B.C.:
Micah 5:2 "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."
Fulfilled Historically around 3-6 B.C.
Matthew 2:1 "After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod..."
Foretold in Old, 520 B.C:
Zechariah 9:9 "Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey."
Fulfilled in New, between 30-33 A.D.:
John 12:13-14 "They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, 'Hosanna!' 'Blessed is the King of Israel!' Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written."
Foretold in Old, 500 B.C.
Psalm 22:16, 18
16 Dogs have surrounded me;
a band of evil men has encircled me,
they have pierced my hands and my feet.
18 They divide my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.
Fulfilled in New, between 30-33 A.D.
John 19:23-24
23When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. 24"Let's not tear it," they said to one another. "Let's decide by lot who will get it."
This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said,
"They divided my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing." So this is what the soldiers did.
And I can go on and on with detail after detail……
The accounts which were written in the books of the New Testament revealed, way beyond a reasonable doubt, plenty of details for which we could be able to properly identify who the Messiah is by name, example, and by fulfillment. By the time the Messiah was clearly identified, all seemed well… or was it really? The Messiah was identified, but mankind was still in her sins. How could the Lord establish a Kingdom with his creation when his creation would continue to perish, and whose bodies would return to dust? You couldn’t establish a very effective kingdom that way.
So Jesus clarifies some details from the Old Testament which may have been otherwise unclear. I think the people who lived in Old Testament times had diverse ways of interpreting these scriptures. Sure, they knew that there was to come a Kingdom and in that Kingdom, the Messiah would rule and reign. That was the hope. That was the hope of those who lived in exile, under the Babylonian Empire right up the Roman Empire. I think the people between that span of time could have interpreted the Old Testament prophecies as God sending a Messiah to be King on earth, just to be able to rule and reign, while at the same time, removing people’s sins by having man confess their sins to him and the Messiah forgiving them based on men asking him to forgive them. But there is another element which seemed to be a bit unclear. Remember when I mentioned some of the verses which describe things like, “He was despised and rejected by men,” “he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities,” “he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows?” Well this could mean anything. This could mean persecution. This could mean possible mental or physical harm by the Pharisees. No, there was a much more radical approach here, and Jesus reveals it in Matthew 16:21-28.
Jesus Predicts His Death
21From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
22Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!"
23Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."
24Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25For whoever wants to save his life[h] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 27For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. 28I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."
So obviously the disciples or anyone were unaware that he was going to be crucified and be killed. You can tell within the dialogue that he is clarifying that this does two things…
1. In the physical realm, it covers the Rejection part, and clarifies the harsher details within Psalms, and Isaiah.
2. He reveals that he will be the sacrificial Lamb of God.
On the part between Him and God, he says that he must die for mankind’s sins, but mankind doesn’t fully understand the overall meaning behind this radical plan. Mankind is not fully aware that Jesus came to necessarily die for man’s sins. The most they knew is that he would be pierced. After all, In Psalms, it says, “they pierced my hands and feet,” and in Zechariah 12:10, it says, "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son." This could have been interpreted as an emotional pain (like one might say, “Oh, you stabbed me in the back.”), it could have meant physical pain, but it did not specify certain death. They were not fully aware that Jesus would physically rise from the dead to show them something that would eventually lead them to accept and understand the purpose behind the whole plan and how, by accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior, and believing in his death, burial, and resurrection, they would be saved from Hell and from their sins. They are unaware of all this by this point.
When the disciples experienced the prophecies of Jesus being fulfilled firsthand, they still knew the who, the what, and the when, but right after Jesus unleashed the Holy Spirit, they now had access as to why, why all of this was necessary. It was revealed to them the purpose for all of this. To get as many people as possible saved, God would do whatever he thought he needed to do to provide mankind a chance to enter into the Kingdom of God. He would patiently wait until the last person he knew would get saved got saved, and by the spreading of the Gospel into all nations, see how many would prepare for the coming Kingdom of the Messiah.
When Jesus was on earth, he built on the prophecies of the Old Testament, foretelling the people of his day, and for future generations, details of his return.
Jesus said….
Matthew 24:37
As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
Matthew 24:27
For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
John 14:2-3
2In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
Matthew 24:30
30"At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.
And then he adds….
Matthew 28: 20b
And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
What is the end of the age? Simply put, it is the gap of time after Christ’s ascension into heaven and just before his return to earth. In this age, known as the Church age, we have seen the Gospel of Christ communicated into the entire world. The Gospel has touched lives, renewed people’s souls, provided hope, formed prosperous civilizations, freed those in bondage both physically, mentally, and spiritually, and has lasted as long as it has despite the increase in wickedness, the decline of morality, and the rapid growth of a hostile, anti-Christ spirit. This is an age of God’s grace, an age of God’s mercy, an age in which Christ, much like Noah, is leaving the door open to those who believe, just before the storm comes, but it’s only for a limited time. This age of mercy will soon enough expire, and then the storm will come (leaving man to his own devices). That however is another story in itself.
Now, what is the point of me sharing all this, and incorporating the Historical aspects of these Biblical events?
I can explain it only in this way:
Imagine I asked to borrow $20 from you, and I promised to pay you back on Friday. Friday comes, and I pay you back. Two weeks later, I ask to borrow $10 bucks from you, and I promised to pay you back on Tuesday. Tuesday comes, and I pay you back. Then, three weeks roll by. I ask to borrow $5 and promise to pay you back on Thursday. Would you loan me the money? Probably. Why would you loan me the money? Because you have faith in me based on the previous experiences you had with me.
God is the same way. God made a big promise to mankind. He promised them a Messiah, and asked that they believe. They did, and they got what was promised to them. The Messiah came, but came as a sacrifice so that those who accept him as their Lord and Savior could enter the Kingdom. The Messiah then made promises, adding to the promises still yet to be fulfilled even within the Old Testament. Those are what we are waiting upon. Those are the ones we are seeing happening right now. There is still another story in the saga. The third and final one.
3. God’s Kingdom on Earth-- Both the Old and New Testaments lead us to the final area, the point in time for which all of life, humanity, and civilization will be introduced to the coming Kingdom for which Christ will rule and reign on earth forever. Even though our salvation was brought to us physically within the New Testament, and the Church age started and took off there, we are still waiting for Christ’s return, to rule and reign on earth forever.
Think about it; Since all of the Messianic prophecies were fulfilled, we can have faith that more will be fulfilled. Because of this, think of what we can look forward to.
Isaiah 11:2-9
2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of power,
the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD -
3 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;
4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness will be his belt
and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the hole of the cobra,
and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea.
