IN CHRIST: Walking Armed for Battle 3

Narrative [Descriptive] (1 Samuel 17; Acts 5.1-11); [Prescriptive] …well none in OT/NT History…, (Exodus 20.1-17 [LAW}, Ten Commandments & reinforced in NT [Gospels, Letters])

[[And like last week, I ask you to open your Bible and turn to each of these passages with me…like sword drill! And for those who might think this is too juvenile…please recognize that others within our family might not have as extensive a background in church, etc.—so let’s encourage one another.]]

PROPHECY [OT & NT]

“Call to the Truth…Repentance & Prediction”…BOOKS= Isaiah - Malachi; Revelation

Prose [Sermonic]

Micah 2.

Micah 2:1–2 “Woe to those who dream up wickedness and prepare evil plans on their beds! At morning light they accomplish it because the power is in their hands. They covet fields and seize them; they also take houses. They deprive a man of his home, a person of his inheritance.”

Micah 2:3 “Therefore, the Lord says: I am now planning a disaster against this nation; you cannot free your necks from it. Then you will not walk so proudly because it will be an evil time.”

Micah 2:6 ““Quit your preaching,” they preach. “They should not preach these things; shame will not overtake us.””

Micah 2:11 “If a man comes and utters empty lies— “I will preach to you about wine and beer”— he would be just the preacher for this people!”

Micah 2:12–13 “I will indeed gather all of you, Jacob; I will collect the remnant of Israel. I will bring them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in the middle of its pasture. It will be noisy with people. One who breaks open the way will advance before them; they will break out, pass through the city gate, and leave by it. Their King will pass through before them, the Lord as their leader.”

[Proclaiming the truth of God to the people of God = Here is the condition of God’s people…Here is what God says about it…Here is how God’s people respond…Here is what the prophet says is the preaching they deserve/want…Here is how God ultimately restores his people.]

Apocalyptic [Judgment; Symbolic/Figurative]

Revelation 6.

Revelation 6:1–2 “Then I saw the Lamb open one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” I looked, and there was a white horse. Its rider held a bow; a crown was given to him, and he went out as a conqueror in order to conquer.”

Revelation 6:3–4 “When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” Then another horse went out, a fiery red one, and its rider was allowed to take peace from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another. And a large sword was given to him.”

Revelation 6:5–6 “When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and there was a black horse. Its rider held a set of scales in his hand. Then I heard something like a voice among the four living creatures say, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, but do not harm the oil and the wine.””

Revelation 6:7–8 “When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and there was a pale green horse. Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following after him. They were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill by the sword, by famine, by plague, and by the wild animals of the earth.”

[Deeply figurative language depicting reason for and consequences of JUDGMENT]

Revelation 19.

Revelation 19:11–16 “Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True, and with justice he judges and makes war. His eyes were like a fiery flame, and many crowns were on his head. He had a name written that no one knows except himself. He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. The armies that were in heaven followed him on white horses, wearing pure white linen. A sharp sword came from his mouth, so that he might strike the nations with it. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will also trample the winepress of the fierce anger of God, the Almighty. And he has a name written on his robe and on his thigh: King of Kings and Lord of Lords.”

[Direct and clear contrast to the ‘other’ rider of a white horse…is the true and living Lord the Righteous JUDGE]

[Apocalyptic is definitely scary…& hope (awe) inspiring!]

LAW

“The Books of Moses, God’s Expectations, [[The Pentateuch;]]” BOOKS = Genesis - Deuteronomy [THE Law of God]

Prose (Direct Commands)

Leviticus 19. [19.1-37]

Leviticus 19:9–10 ““When you reap the harvest of your land, you are not to reap to the very edge of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not strip your vineyard bare or gather its fallen grapes. Leave them for the poor and the resident alien; I am the Lord your God.” [Harvesting Welfare]

Leviticus 19:11–12 ““Do not steal. Do not act deceptively or lie to one another. Do not swear falsely by my name, profaning the name of your God; I am the Lord.” [Ten Commandment Repeat]

Leviticus 19:13–14 ““Do not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages due a hired worker must not remain with you until morning. Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but you are to fear your God; I am the Lord.” [Social Rightness]

The paradigmatic (‘for instance’ examples; else we get to the Pharisaical legalism of exact letter of the Law) nature show us how challenging it is to live up to God’s expectations (standards, requirements)—AND…how great it is that he used the Law to show us the standard and call us to himself, the only one who can open the door to us for a relationship with him [& eternal life].

Narrative (History, Story)

Exodus 3.

[Exodus 3.1-22]

Exodus 3:1–3 “Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire within a bush. As Moses looked, he saw that the bush was on fire but was not consumed. So Moses thought, “I must go over and look at this remarkable sight. Why isn’t the bush burning up?””

Exodus 3:4–5 “When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called out to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses!” “Here I am,” he answered. “Do not come closer,” he said. “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.””

Exodus 3:7–10 “Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people in Egypt, and have heard them crying out because of their oppressors. I know about their sufferings, and I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the territory of the Canaanites, Hethites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. So because the Israelites’ cry for help has come to me, and I have also seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them, therefore, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh so that you may lead my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.””

God did exactly what he told Moses he would do. So, when establishing the core of the Law came about…

Exodus 20:1–3 “Then God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. Do not have other gods besides me.” [Prose; Direct Command]

[[Concluding Law reminders from Fee & Stuart - p. 180.]]

CONCL—

2 Timothy 3:17 “…may be complete, equipped…”

Ephesians 6:17b “Take…the sword of the Spirit—which is the word of God.”

Take = receive, accept, welcome

James 1:21 “Therefore, ridding yourselves of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.”

INVITATION:

Salvation

Assurance (“I know who holds the future;” We see this in the Prophets)

Direction (God shows us his expectation & plan; We see this in the Law)

2 Timothy 3:16–17 CSB

All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

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