Month: June 2020

Jesus in Genesis:

If you love Bible prophecy, you’ll love of the Old Testament because that’s where most prophecy is located. Jesus jumps off the pages of the Old Testament with messianic prophecies in almost all of the 39 books, starting with Genesis.

1. Seed of the woman – Jesus is the seed of the woman mentioned in Genesis 3:15; New Testament fulfillment is recorded in Galatians 4:4 – But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman (Mary), born under the law.

2. Blessing through Abraham – God tells Abraham through his seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Jesus is a direct descendant of Abraham who will bring salvation to mankind. New Testament fulfillment is in Galatians 3:16 – Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ.

3. Of the tribe of Judah – In Genesis 49:10, God tells us the Messiah will descend from the tribe of Judah, the fourth son of Jacob, and through King David. The New Testament corroborates this in Revelation 5:5 – But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.”

There are at least seven other messianic prophecies in Genesis: 9:27, 12:3, 17:19, 18:18, 21:12, 22:18, and 26:4. Some of these prophecies are redundant but all were fulfilled and documented in the New Testament in the order listed in Luke 6:36, Matthew 1:1, Romans 9:7, Galatians 3:8, Hebrews 11:18, and Galatians 3:8 (twice).

6. John 1:29 – “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John the Baptist, the prophesied forerunner for the Messiah, made this proclamation upon seeing Jesus for the first time.

John 1:35 – “Behold the Lamb of God!” John the Baptist sees Jesus the next day and again announces to the world who Jesus is, the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One of God. God always repeats what is important for us to know. The lamb metaphor maintains the progressive thread of revelation. These verses show us who is the typified Lamb.

7. Isaiah 53:7-8 – “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.

He was taken from prison and judgement, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken.” An angel of the Lord instructed the evangelist Phillip to go to an Ethiopian eunuch on the way home and help him interpret Scripture. When the official of Queen Candace asked the meaning of the above verses Phillip told him the good news about Jesus (Acts 8:35). This shows that Jesus the Lamb is the promised Christ.

8. 1 Peter 1:18-21 – “Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”

This pivotal passage is foundational for the progressive doctrine of the Lamb because it looks both backward and forward. Peter reaffirms the necessity, provision, character, and slaying of the lamb as previously mentioned. Peter then identifies the Lamb as Jesus. Peter goes on to give further revelation of the resurrection of Christ.

9. Revelation 5:6-8 – “And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and the golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.” This reveals the enthronement of the Lamb of God in heaven.

10. Revelation 22:3-5 – “And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: they need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.”

Chapters 21 and 22 are the last two chapters of Revelation and they reveal the climax of biblical salvation history. This shows Christ’s everlasting kingship. It also corresponds to the promise of everlasting kingship progressively revealed in each of the covenants God made with Israel from the Abrahamic through the Davidic and on to the New Covenant based on the blood of Christ.

The Bible is God’s progressive revelation of Jesus Christ, each revelation building upon the one before until they reach a climax with the second coming of Jesus Christ to set up His millennial kingdom on the earth. God’s redeeming love is revealed as God and man meet in the one who is the God-Man (Jesus). Not only does God reveal His truths progressively through the Bible, He actually revealed these truths progressively in history as well. All salvation history is progressive and is meant to parallel Scripture. We should all read the Bible remembering that God is laying out His salvation plan in the Bible by progressive revelation of Jesus Christ alongside world history. God’s use of the Bible doctrine of the Lamb is an example of progressive revelation whereby He uses a lamb as a metaphor for Christ. God uses the backdrop of history to progressively reveal that Jesus is the perfect lamb without blemish who will die on the cross to redeem mankind. Please note the ten Bible passages that follow:

1. Genesis 4:4 – “Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and their fat (a lamb). And the Lord respected Abel and his offering”. This shows the necessity of the shed blood of the lamb.

2. Genesis 22:13 – “Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son”. This shows it is God who will provide the sacrificial lamb.

3. Exodus 12:23 – “For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood (of a lamb) on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses and strike you”. This shows the blood of a slain lamb protects those it covers.

4. Leviticus 22:21 – “And whoever offers a sacrifice of a peace offering to the Lord, to fulfill a vow, or a freewill offering from the cattle or sheep (a lamb), it must be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no defect in it”. This shows the sacrificial lamb has to be perfect and without blemish.

5. Isaiah 53:6-8 – “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.

He was taken from prison and from judgement, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken”. This reveals the sacrificial lamb God will provide for the forgiveness of our sins is a person.

The first messianic prophecy about Jesus occurs in the third chapter of Genesis, immediately after Adam and Eve have fallen into sin by eating the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. As God is administering His judgement for their sin He is unveiling His promise of redemption.

Genesis 3:15 – And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.

God is cursing the serpent (Satan) who caused Adam to sin against God while at the same time announcing the gospel and the Redeemer to come. The offspring or seed of the woman referred to here is Jesus Christ – He is to be born of a woman (Mary), but not by man (Joseph), but sired by the Holy Spirit. Satan will bruise the heel of Jesus by making Him suffer and literally nailing His heel to the cross. Jesus will crush the head of Satan by His triumph over death and the redemption of believers through his sacrificial death on the cross and His resurrection. Jesus would defeat death and reclaim what Adam had lost.

In Genesis we also learn of the Abrahamic covenant whereby God promises Abraham that through him all the nations of the earth will be blessed. This is the gospel message given to Abraham. Jesus is that Messiah, a descendant of Abraham, who will bless all nations by bringing redemption and salvation to fallen mankind by His sacrificial death. All the books of the Old Testament after Genesis are a continuation of this salvation history culminating in the birth, crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The coming of Jesus to save mankind is the theme of the entire Bible. Without Jesus the Bible doesn’t make sense.

Some people are put off by the Old Testament because they see a vengeful God portrayed in its pages which does not square with their vision of the kinder, gentler Jesus Christ of the New Testament. The Bible is clear throughout that God is unchanging and that He is one God, not two. The God of the exodus who appeared to Israel by day as a column of smoke and by night as a pillar of fire is the same God who appears in the New Testament as the incarnation of Jesus Christ as the suffering Messiah.

Malachi 3:6 – For I the Lord do not change.

Numbers 23:19 – God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind.

I don’t see a stern and vengeful God at all when I read the Old Testament. I see a loving, kind, gentle and soft-hearted God. I see a God who is repeatedly scorned and rejected by His people yet He remains faithful and patient. God’s forbearance can be seen by His giving Israel numerous chances to obey his statutes. God could have ended history when Adam fell in the Garden of Eden but instead He came up with a plan to redeem fallen mankind. The Old Testament presents God’s love, mercy, grace, and patience on an epic scale. In the Bible God says He loves us but God’s actions in the Old Testament shows He loves us.

James 1:17 – Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

2 Peter 3:9 – The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

With the possible exception of the book of Ester, every book of the Old Testament makes reference to the coming of Jesus Christ to redeem mankind. There are over 60 prophecies in the Old Testament about the Christ, the Messiah, and the man Jesus fulfilled them all as documented in history. Our God is the true God because, as the Author of history, He knows the end from the beginning and He proves it through prophecy. The Bible is one third prophecy (28%) and most of that is in the Old Testament. There are over 1,000 prophecies in the Bible, over 500 of which have been fulfilled as written. No prophecy has failed to be fulfilled at its appointed time. God gives us prophecy not only to prove that He is God but also to let us know what’s coming so we’ll be prepared.

The overarching theme of both the Old and New Testaments is crystal clear: from first to last it’s Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the key to understanding the Old Testament. At first this is not apparent to the average reader. It’s only after reading the New Testament that we are able to look back at the Old Testament and see Jesus clearly in its pages. Our salvation was the message of the Bible and Jesus was the divine vessel through which eternal life was made possible for us. The Old Testament was Jesus prophesied and the New Testament was Jesus fulfilled. We need both testaments to clearly see God’s redemptive plan for us.

The Son of God came down from heaven, took on flesh, and fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies of His birth. There are many ways in which the Old Testament prefigures, anticipates, and predicts Christ and His crucifixion. You may notice that the Bible repeats ideas and themes in different contexts and settings. God does this to show His consistency and faithfulness toward us. The New Testament makes hundreds of references to the Old Testament and Jesus Himself affirms the Old Testament is all about Him. If we have faith in Jesus we must love and revere the Old Testament as part of the eternal Word of God.

Jesus said He didn’t come to do away with the Law but to fulfill it. The Old Testament covenant helps us understand the new blood covenant of Christ Jesus. As Christians we’re lucky we don’t have to look for God or guess why we’re here as do other religions. Almighty God has chosen to reveal Himself to us through general (e.g., nature) and special (e.g., Scriptures) revelations, and that He revealed Himself in person in the incarnation of Jesus Christ.

Romans 1:1-2 – Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures.

Romans 1:19-20 – Because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so they are without excuse.

During His ministry on earth Jesus followed up by telling us exactly who He is. Jesus could not have been clearer:

John 10:30 – I and My Father are one.

John 14:11 – (Jesus speaking) – Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me.

15. JEHOVAH-SHAMMAH – “The Lord is there” – This name for God appears in the last verse of Ezekiel. Shammah simply means “there” and is a reference to the second coming of Christ. It refers to a future, earthly Jerusalem, the city that our Lord Jesus Christ will rule from for 1,000 years as King of kings and Lord of lords. The name of the city from that day shall be, “The Lord is there.”

Psalm 73:25-26 – Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

When God gave Jerusalem this name He was assuring the people that He, Jehovah, would live there with them. God made us to live in heaven with Him where He will shower us with riches beyond our imagination. We are only visitors here on earth sent for His purpose. We are to seek out God, obey His commands, and witness for Christ to the glory of God.

John 14:2-3 – (Jesus speaking) – In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if i go and prepare a place for you, i will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

NOTE – Much of the information contained in this blog series on the names of God is from Kay Arthur’s book, The Peace & Power of Knowing God’s Name.

14. JEHOVAH-TSIDKENU – “The Lord our righteousness” – This name for God was revealed in Jeremiah, a book of judgement. We are God’s children meant to dwell in heaven with our Father, but we must be righteous because sin cannot enter heaven. We must meet God’s standard of righteousness. The bad news is we can’t attain those standards on our own.

Romans 3:10,23 – As it is written: There is none righteous, no, not one. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

The good news is God Himself will save us and forgive our sins. God will give us a new heart. God will also give us the Holy spirit to indwell us and cause us to obey God’s commands. We can be right with God because He is our righteousness.

Micah 7:9 – I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against Him, until He pleads my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me forth to the light; I will see His righteousness.

At the cross of Calvary Jesus took upon Himself our sins and, in return, gave us His righteousness through belief in Him. Accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior will make us right with God. The righteousness of God is always near as long as we have breath in our bodies. It is never too late to receive eternal life from a loving God if we believe in Jesus and ask God to forgive our sins.

Jeremiah 23:5-6 – Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; a king shall reign and prosper, and execute judgement and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

11. JEHOVAH-RAAH – “The Lord my shepherd” – In the Bible God compares Himself to a shepherd. God paints the biblical picture of a shepherd with his sheep as one filled with both tenderness and promise.

Psalm 23:1 – The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.

Isaiah 53:6 – All of us like sheep have gone astray.

The shepherd is there to protect his flock from harm and to see that all their needs are met. God is our shepherd because He does the same thing for us. Without a shepherd the sheep could not survive and neither can we.

John 10:27 – My sheep hear My voice.

Isaiah 40:11 – Like a shepherd He will tend His flock. In His arms He will gather the lambs, and carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes.

Jesus is the Great Shepherd of His sheep. He is the One who came to seek and to save that which was lost. Jesus is the Shepherd and Guardian of our souls. Jesus is the Chief Shepherd who will one day return in glory with eternal rewards in His hands.

Psalm 100:3 – Know that the Lord, He is God; it is He who has made us, and nor we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Psalm 28:9 – Save Your people, and bless Your inheritance, shepherd them also, and bear them up forever.

12. JEHOVAH-SABAOTH – “The Lord of hosts” – This means “a mass”, as in a mass of heavenly beings, the host of heaven. Jehovah-Sabaoth rules over all the armies of heaven and is Lord over all powers, principalities, and rulers in high places. In today’s terminology God would be called the commander in chief.

Isaiah 14:24 – The Lord of Hosts has sworn saying, “Surely, just as I have intended so it has happened, and just as I have planned so it will stand.”

This name for God was first used by Hannah in a prayer to the Lord before His tabernacle, (1 Samuel 1:11). Hannah turned to God when no other help was available. The moral of the story is we can turn to Jehovah-Sabaoth when we are over matched in our struggles and no other help is forthcoming.

Proverbs 18:10 – The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.

Be of good cheer! God is mighty in battle and awesome in power. We can call upon God to come to our aid in times of conflict and spiritual warfare. The name of God strikes fear in the hearts of demons and makes the very pillars of the universe tremble.

Psalm 46:1 – God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

The best example of this was when David faced the giant named Goliath. David was not afraid because he knew the Lord of Hosts was with him. David felled Goliath with his sling and then cut off his head to the glory of God.

1 Samuel 17:45 – Then David said to the Philistine (Goliath), “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defiled.”

You can expect spiritual warfare to get worse because the enemy (Satan) realizes time is short. God is undefeated in battle. In any battle the victory is His! He’s the one in charge and you can trust Him to come to your aid. No one in heaven or earth – angels or demons or Satan himself – can stand against God.

Psalm 46:7 – The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah