Bloodline #3

Start with the Slide of

a. Charles Knowles Nobles - Farmer/9 children with his wife

b. Beverly Newton Nobles - Baptist Preacher/Newton Theological Institute

c. Benjamin Heartley Nobles - Free Will Baptist Preacher

Slide of the Scroll

Lk 24:25–29 - 25 Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” 27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.

28 Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther. 29 But they constrained Him, saying, “Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.” And He went in to stay with them.

The Necessity of Blood

The reason for the color of redemption’s thread fills the pages of the books of the law, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy: blood. Because death entered the world as the cost of sin, it makes perfect sense that the physical representation of life would be required to pay for it. As a central aspect of His law, God required that sin be paid for in blood. Poured out on the altar to acquit the individual and on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant to absolve the nation, animal blood flowed freely in God’s system of atoning sacrifices. But day after day, year after year, it became readily apparent that there could never be enough blood to completely cleanse the sin of the world.

A COSTLY CLEANSING

Jesus was needed – Heb. 10:11  And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.

Spirit-Led Conscience

5 ‘And it shall be, when he is guilty in any of these matters, that he shall confess that he has sinned in that thing; 6 and he shall bring his trespass offering to the LORD for his sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin. (Leviticus 5:5-6)

Definition of Sin: Sin is an ugly word. Most people hate it, marginalizing its importance or simply denying its existence. But the plain truth is that sin impedes any relationship we as fallen creatures could have with God.

Leviticus opens with seven chapters answering the question, How can I approach God?

God wants a relationship with you, but His holiness makes it impossible for you to approach Him the way you would another person. Relativists say that all paths lead to God, but God’s Word says that He is exclusive: Lifeblood is required to approach Him.

In the Old Testament, God’s response was to have Israel come to Him through the blood of animal sacrifices.

People couldn’t just waltz in through the curtains of the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle and have a chat with God; they needed a blood sacrifice and a priest.

God established a series of offerings that allowed a possible relationship with Him.

The sin and trespass offerings were mandatory because sin requires payment (Heb. 9:22), and everyone sins.(Rom. 3:23)

The New King James Version Chapter 9

And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.

The New King James Version Chapter 3

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

We are sinners by nature and by choice.

A Tale of Two Goats

7 He shall take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 8 Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for the LORD and the other lot for the scapegoat. 9 And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the LORD’s lot fell, and offer it as a sin offering. 10 But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make atonement upon it, and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness.

(Leviticus 16:7-9) READ MORE OF THE CHAPTER

The annual Day of Atonement: a solemn observation of sin’s cost and the need for forgiveness.

Aaron, as the high priest,

· made an offering for himself and his family,

· and then brought out two goats. One had a good future, and the other, a bad one.

· One goat was let loose, and

· the other was killed—a perfect anticipation of New Testament atonement.

One goat was sacrificed because the wages of sin is death; the other went free, covered only by the priest’s bloodied handprints and a confession on the people’s behalf—given life, just as the apostle John later described: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. (1 John 1:9).

That second goat was sent out of sight, and the people celebrated its disappearance—because, as David later said, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12).

Jesus’s first words from the cross were, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34). It’s noteworthy that, first and foremost, He addressed our greatest need: forgiveness. Centuries before, Yom Kippur made this clear. However, whereas in the Old Testament sins were never completely removed but only covered for a time, under the new covenant, Jesus took away the sin of the world once and for all for those who receive Him.

Life is In The Blood

The life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul. (Leviticus 17:11)

Sanctification: sanctification” is a translation of the Greek word hagiasmos, meaning “holiness” or “a separation.”

· In the past, God granted us justification, a once-for-all, positional holiness in Christ.

· Now, God guides us to maturity, a practical, progressive holiness.

· In the future, God will give us glorification, a permanent, ultimate holiness.

These three phases of sanctification separate the believer from

· the penalty of sin (justification),

· the power of sin (maturity), and

· the presence of sin (glorification).

Animal sacrifices were an acceptable substitute under the old covenant, and the key phrase in the law is right here in Leviticus, a book where blood is mentioned more than 400 times in 357 verses: “the life of the flesh is in the blood.”

Spiritually, the power of sacrificed blood shows the sanctity of life. It was the distinguishing factor for Israel as it became one nation under God.

Because of the process of Atonement, the Jews were restricted from eating anything with Blood in it.

This was so ingrained in Jewish culture that Jesus shocked the Jews when He told them,

“Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:54).

The startling metaphor came from an even more surprising truth: True life can come only by Jesus’s death. His once-and-for-all sacrifice paid redemption’s ultimate price.

Spiritual cleanness comes from belief in the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse you from sin; it’s not tied to what you eat.

Because Jesus completed and fulfilled all the requirements of the law. He blotted out “the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross” (Colossians 2:14 KJV).

Consider the tedious, endless nature of the old covenant system. There was always one more sacrifice, one more lamb, day after day, year after year: “According to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission [of sin]” (Hebrews 9:22

Leviticus makes one fact abundantly clear: Redemption’s cost must be paid in blood. The Levitical system, however, demonstrated that no amount of animal blood or human giving could permanently erase sin’s debt.

EVERY NUMBER HAS A NAME

LORD, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.

2 Before the mountains were brought forth,

Or ever You had formed the earth and the world,

Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

(Ps 90:1–2)

Numbers shows this

See:

Slide #3 Wilderness

Slide #4 - the children

Both Leviticus and Numbers have a wilderness setting. Their stage is the desert wasteland between Egypt and the promised land of Canaan. But whereas

the central theological theme of Leviticus is atonement,

Numbers focuses on the faithfulness of God to fulfill His promises to give the progeny of Abraham the land of Canaan.

Thus, the nation that would bring forth the Messiah would have a homeland

Romans 9 I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, 2 that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my [a]countrymen according to the flesh, 4 who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; 5 of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.

Slide #5 - The Tabernacle

Remember Your Deliverance

10 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘If anyone of you or your posterity is unclean because of a corpse, or is far away on a journey, he may still keep the LORD’s Passover. ... 12 They shall leave none of it until morning, nor break one of its bones. According to all the ordinances of the Passover they shall keep it. (Numbers 9:10, 12)

God told Moses to tell them to Remember their Deliverance

Numbers 9:1-5

Now the LORD spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying: 2 “Let the children of Israel keep the Passover at its appointed time. 3 On the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, you shall keep it at its appointed time. According to all its rites and ceremonies you shall keep it.” 4 So Moses told the children of Israel that they should keep the Passover. 5 And they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, at twilight, in the Wilderness of Sinai; according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did.

Fulfillment

John 19:36 36 For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, “Not one of His bones shall be broken.”

fulfilling Ex. 12:46; Numbers 9:10-12; Psalm 34:20

just like at Passover, God wants His people to remember and celebrate His deliverance, which was a key part of His overarching plan to save us from sin and restore our relationship with Him.

Look Up To Live

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

(Numbers 21:8-9)

See John 3 – 9 Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”

10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? 11 Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

The New King James Version. (1982). (Jn 3:9–21). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

Seeking Asylum

then you shall appoint cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person accidentally may flee there

(Numbers 35:11)

God’s mercy and heart for justice often took physical form. He gave instructions that when the people of Israel eventually crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land, they were to establish cities of refuge where those who killed someone by accident could seek asylum.8 They could safely reside in those cities either until the community judged the case, or until the death of the high priest, at which time they were set free.

What a striking image of Jesus Christ, our Great High Priest, whose death set us free from a just condemnation. The lowest of the low could find safety in a city of refuge, and we can do the same today in Christ, no matter what we’ve done, our wandering hearts redeemed because of His great love for us. In Christ, we’re more than just the teeming millions of mankind; we’re names that He wants written in His Book of Life

THE ULTIMATE PROPHET

The One

I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. 19 And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him.

(Deuteronomy 18:18-19)

God sent many prophets to Israel over the years, revealing His word and will. All of them were training the ears of His people to hear His voice and obey in anticipation of the ultimate prophet: the Messiah. Here, through Moses, He made mention not of many prophets but of one. All of God’s prophets spoke God’s words, but this capital-P Prophet would be different. He would do that and more.

The Jews anticipated the arrival of this Prophet from this point on. That’s why, thousands of years later, they asked John the Baptist if he was Elijah, who, along with Moses, was one of the most highly regarded prophets in Israel, and then if he was “the Prophet”—the Messiah (John 1:21). That was a direct reference to this prophecy. And when Stephen, the first martyr, testified before the Jewish leaders, he quoted this passage as being fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Moses was telling the Jews to expect a coming Messiah. Even Jesus said as much: “If you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me” (John 5:46).

The Messiah would be God’s ultimate spokesman, His final Word, expressed in human form, on the most important issue people face: forgiveness for sin and restoration to relationship with their Maker. God’s final word with regard to salvation is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the fulfillment of more than 350 prophecies about the Messiah, predictive promises given through multiple sources over thousands of years about God’s plan to redeem mankind from sin’s clutches. And one of His final statements was “It is finished,” announcing that the transaction for salvation had been completed.

God’s perfect prophetic record is perfectly expressed in His Son. And just as God’s perfect track record underscores His trustworthiness, Jesus Christ can be trusted with the most important matters in your life—salvation and sanctification (and everything else as well). When you’re His, there’s nothing you can’t bring to Him, nothing you can’t put in His hands and trust to His care

Choose Life

 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live

(Deuteronomy 30:19)

God made it simple to follow Him. He gave Israel His law, and the command to study it and live it out. The people didn’t need to have a mystical vision or make a far-off pilgrimage; they could draw close to God simply by choosing to obey Him. “The word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it” (Deuteronomy 30:14). He allowed all people to have the power to choose Him or to turn away.

God’s words are right there at your fingertips—and the choice that Moses laid out is even closer, a matter of your own heart. Once you’ve heard with your ears, you must listen with the core of your being. God sets the choice before each of us: life or death, blessing or cursing, good or evil. Of course, He wants you to choose life because it’s the best choice. It will bring blessings of a life filled with peace, joy, and fulfillment. Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep,” and that those who choose Him “will go in and out and find pasture” (John 10:11, 9). Choosing Jesus as Savior is a one-time event, but choosing to submit to His lordship is a daily decision.

I read about a building in the Midwest with a pitched roof. If the rain falls on one side, it drains off and eventually ends up in the Great Lakes, and then the Atlantic Ocean. If it runs off the other side, it goes to the Ohio River, and then to the Gulf of Mexico. One breath of wind in either direction makes a huge difference in the end. Similarly, one choice can change your life and your eternal destiny. Redemption’s tapestry is filled with such momentous decisions.

The way to God is still simple: Choose the life that Jesus Christ offers. Paul quoted this passage from Deuteronomy, concluding “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). If you haven’t already made that choice, you can do so right now—and if you have, you’ve been connected to the bloodline of Christ. You are on the road to heaven, the path of God’s blessing. And once you’re on that journey, you can help others see the importance of that one simple decision. Israel would resolve to follow God and entered the Promised Land because of it—a foreshadowing of the rest anyone can have upon choosing Jesus Christ.