The Divine Council - Part 6
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Messiah, Son of David
Messiah, Son of David
Shabbat shalom, everyone. Welcome back. Today we will be continuing with the Divine Council series that we’ve been walking through over the last few weeks.
To recap briefly: we’ve studied a lot about the “gods.” I put that in air quotes because these beings are called elohim, in Hebrew, which refers to supernatural beings. Adonai is called Elohim. Angels are called elohim. The disembodied being of Samuel is called elohim. The members of God’s Divine Council are, similarly, called elohim. Once again, it’s a reference to something supernatural.
We look at the various stages of rebellion. The Garden in Genesis 3; the Watchers or Sons of God in Genesis 6; the united humanity at Babel in Genesis 11. In all of these instances, we have acts of rebellion either by supernatural beings or by humans. Because of these events, God decided He wouldn’t have a personal relationship with every human being, but instead, according to Gen. 11 and Deut. 32, He divided up the nations among His divine council, the supernatural beings. From there, as we saw in Gen. 12, He went to Abram, and chose Abram and his descendents to be His own portion. These other beings, however, did not all rule justly, and they too have earned judgment and condemnation, as we find in Psalm 82.
We looked at the image of God being dominion, and being the representative of God. We looked at sacred space, and how certain places and certain lands belong to certain beings, such as Israel belonging to Adonai.
We looked at the Nephilim, the giant offspring of the fallen Watchers, or sons of God, and how they filled the land of Canaan. Then last week we looked at the war and conquest necessary to conquer the land, the destroy the giants, and to reclaim the land of Israel for Adonai and His people.
Today we will continue by looking at the Messiah, the Son of David. That is, the plan as it unfolded throughout Israel’s history, for the Divine Messiah to be the son of David, to come in human flesh, and to live and die and be raised again. That’s what we’ll focus on today, as we begin our trek through the prophecies of the Tanakh in order to set the stage for our journey into the New Testament. I’ve been saying we’ll get there, and today we will make that happen. ;)
Today’s topics (spoiler alert):
The Messianic Expectation
David the Exorcist
The Kingdom Challenge
When we come to the topic of the Messiah, we can immediately open with many questions. For starters, why is it that not one single time does the Tanakh (Old Testament) refer to the promised coming savior as Messiah (Mashiach)? Yet when we come to the Gospels, we see the word used in many places. And by the time Paul wrote his letters, he uses the word on nearly every page.
Another question is, how did Israel know to anticipate the coming of the Messiah? The Jews expected the Messiah to come.
18 John’s disciples reported to him about all these things. Calling two of his disciples, 19 John sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the One who is to come, or should we look for another?”
20 When they appeared before Him, the men said, “John the Immerser sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the One who is to come, or shall we look for another?’ ”
Not even just this, but the Samaritans also expected the coming Messiah. This is evidenced in the Gospel of John, where Yeshua speaks to the Samaritan woman at the well.
25 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I am He, the One speaking to you.”
The people of Yeshua’s day clearly expected the Messiah to come. And when we read through the NT, we can see many examples of Scriptures, from the Law to the Prophets to the Writings, that speak of His coming. I would encourage you to join our study of the book of Acts on Tuesdays if you’re able to do so. We’ve encountered many quotes from the Tanakh in just the first 4 chapters of Acts. This helps to put things into perspective about how many prophetic texts the Apostles interpreted to refer to the Messiah.
One of the greatest examples here is that of Isaiah 53, the suffering servant. It’s only 12 verses, so let’s go ahead and read that.
1 ‘Who has believed our report?
To whom is the arm of Adonai revealed?
2 For He grew up before Him
like a tender shoot,
like a root out of dry ground.
He had no form or majesty
that we should look at Him,
nor beauty that we should desire Him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief,
One from whom people hide their faces.
He was despised,
and we did not esteem Him.
4 Surely He has borne our griefs
and carried our pains.
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
struck by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was pierced
because of our transgressions,
crushed because of our iniquities.
The chastisement for our shalom
was upon Him,
and by His stripes we are healed.
6 We all like sheep have gone astray.
Each of us turned to his own way.
So Adonai has laid on Him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted
yet He did not open His mouth.
Like a lamb led to the slaughter,
like a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so He did not open His mouth.
8 Because of oppression and judgment
He was taken away.
As for His generation, who considered?
For He was cut off
from the land of the living,
for the transgression of my people—
the stroke was theirs
9 His grave was given with the wicked,
and by a rich man in His death,
though He had done no violence,
nor was there any deceit in His mouth.
10 Yet it pleased Adonai to bruise Him.
He caused Him to suffer.
If He makes His soul a guilt offering,
He will see His offspring,
He will prolong His days,
and the will of Adonai
will succeed by His hand.
11 As a result of the anguish of His soul
He will see it and be satisfied
by His knowledge.
The Righteous One, My Servant
will make many righteous
and He will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give Him a portion
with the great,
and He will divide the spoil
with the mighty—
because He poured out His soul to death,
and was counted with transgressors.
For He bore the sin of many,
and interceded for the transgressors.
Which of these verses uses the word Messiah? None.
Which of these says the servant would be the Son of God? None.
So how can we be so certain - aside from our own personal understandings and theologies - that these verses refer to Yeshua?
17 So was fulfilled what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying,
“He Himself took our sicknesses
and carried away our diseases.”
25 He was handed over for our transgressions and raised up for the sake of setting us right.
24 He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we, removed from sins, might live for righteousness. “By His wounds you were healed.”
25 For you like sheep were going astray,
but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.
27 So he got up and went. And behold, an Ethiopian eunuch—an official who was responsible for all the treasure of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians—had traveled to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was now returning. Sitting in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah.
29 The Ruach said to Philip, “Go, catch up with this chariot.”
30 Philip ran up and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone guides me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of Scripture that he was reading was this:
“He was led as a sheep to slaughter;
and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so He opens not His Mouth.
33 In His humiliation justice was denied Him.
Who shall recount His generation?
For His life is taken away from the earth.”
34 The eunuch replied to Philip, “Please tell me, who is the prophet talking about—himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he proclaimed the Good News about Yeshua.
In all of these instances, we see the apostles (Matthew, Paul, Peter, and Philip) all using references to Isa. 53 in various ways to indicate that the passage was fulfilled in Yeshua. So the question was, how can we be sure that this passage really is about Yeshua? Especially when there are so many anti-Missionaries these days trying to claim otherwise? Well for starters, we have the NT telling us that these passages are about Yeshua. And we know that we should expect that, right? Who better to explain these prophecies, than the ones to whom Yeshua explained them Himself?
24 Some of those with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women said, but they did not see Him.”
25 Yeshua said to them, “Oh foolish ones, so slow of heart to put your trust in all that the prophets spoke! 26 Was it not necessary for Messiah to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” 27 Then beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them the things written about Himself in all the Scriptures.
If anyone is qualified to tell us what these passages mean, it’s those to whom Yeshua explained them. Amein?
So we have some passages like Isaiah 53. We also have others from the Psalms. Psalm 22, for example, which Yeshua makes reference to during the crucifixion. We have references to things that Yeshua claimed about Himself, such as Yeshua in Luke 20:42 quoting David in Psalm 110, “The Lord said to my Lord...” We see this clarified once again in Acts 2:34, again asserting that it was about Yeshua, not about David.
But it is a fair question to ask: why not make it plain and simple? Why not just have prophecies about the Messiah in plain terms? Why make everything so…cryptic? I believe Paul gives us the answer to that in 1 Corinthians.
6 We do speak wisdom, however, among those who are mature—but not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 Rather, we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery—a wisdom that has been hidden, which God destined for our glory before the ages. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it—for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
Let me repeat a couple of these points. God’s wisdom in this matter was a mystery which He had hidden. None of the rulers of this age understood it - and mind you, this word is αρχων in Greek, a word Paul uses to refer to rulers both natural and supernatural - for if they had understood, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. See, this is why it can sometimes be hard to see Yeshua in some of the prophecies that are attributed to being about Him. It was by design. The plan required that the rulers of this age did not already have that knowledge.
We sort of saw this same thing in Luke 24 already, right? Yeshua had to explicitly show the disciples and open their understanding to where He was prophesied.
The Messianic Expectation
But some of this was a common belief among the Second Temple era Jews. Many of the Qumran documents, the Dead Sea Scrolls, anticipate the coming of the man of righteousness. Even the Samaritans expected the Messiah to come.
The Rabbis, after spending many years pouring over the Scriptures, would eventually develop a theology of two Messiahs. One they saw in the picture of Joseph. A lowly suffering servant, who would go through much trial and tribulation on behalf of others. Just as Joseph was sold into slavery, falsely accused, imprisoned, before ultimately being restored, they believed the same could happen to the Messiah.
In tractate Sanhedrin of the Talmud, for instance, there is a debate about the timing of the coming of Messiah. Mind you, this was written a few hundreds years after Yeshua came, but it gives an interesting illustration. Rabbi Joshua quoted Zechariah 9:7, which speaks of the king coming “lowly, riding on a donkey.” A symbol of humility. He then quotes Daniel 7:13, saying, “Behold, one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven.” They asked him what the meaning of these two contrasting images was, and R. Joshua explained, “If Israel is worthy, Messiah will come with the clouds of heaven. If Israel is not worthy, He will come lowly riding on a donkey.”
Elsewhere in the same tractate of the Talmud, Rabbi Yochanan says, “The son of David will come to a generation that is either entirely righteous or entirely wicked.” Both of these are taken from Isaiah, 59 and 60 respectively. 59 says the truth was lacking, and there were none who were righteous. Yet 60 says “then all your people will be righteous and will possess the land forever.”
There is also the development of the belief of two Messiahs, one known as the son of Joseph (again, the suffering servant) and the other the son of David (the conquering King). The Rabbinic opinions are varied, but in general, there was the belief that either one would come and not the other, or that they would both come at different times. A later belief developed even, that said just as Joseph was not recognized by his brothers, so the Messiah would not be recognized by the Jews.
There are many other such references, and many different interpretations. That is, after all, what the Talmud mainly consists of: varying interpretations and decisions. But the various beliefs about the two Messiahs - ben Joseph and ben David - are fascinating to me because they both encompass so much of what we know to be revealed as Messianic content from the New Testament. The primary distinguishing feature, however, being that the suffering servant IS the conquering king, the son of David. They’re two appearances of the same Messiah, not the coming of two different ones.
Now, I don’t read all this to say the Talmud holds the answer here. But as I said, I do think it is a good illustration about how some Messianic beliefs came about. Let’s look at another one, one that will help us connect why this discussion is relevant to our study of The Divine Council.
Let’s start by looking at Matthew 15, so go ahead and turn over there. We’ll start at verse 21, and will be specifically reading about the encounter Yeshua has with the Canaanite woman.
21 Now Yeshua left from there and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman from that district came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, O Master, Ben-David! My daughter is severely tormented by a demon.”
23 But He did not answer her a word. And when His disciples came, they were urging Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us.”
24 But He responded, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
25 So she came and got down on her knees before Him, saying, “Master, help me!”
26 And answering, He said, “It’s not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
27 But she said, “Yes, Master, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
28 Then answering, Yeshua said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed in that very hour.
This woman calls Yeshua “Lord, son of David” when she begs Him to rid her daughter of a demon. Does anyone find that curious? There are a few other places that Yeshua is referred to as the son of David, almost all of which are in the synoptic Gospels. In almost all of the instances where He is called the son of David, it is in reference to someone asking Him for healing from some sort of illness or from demonic oppression. In the case we just read for the Canaanite woman, the latter was the case.
It was a belief among some Jews - due to the diversity of views, it’s not fair to say all - but it was a fairly common belief that David was an exorcist. Psalm 91 - go ahead and turn there, and we’ll read the whole thing - was understood by some to be a reference not merely to divine protection from physical calamity, but to divine protection from supernatural ones as well.
1 He who dwells in the shelter of Elyon,
will abide in the shadow of Shaddai.
2 I will say of Adonai,
“He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.
3 For He will rescue you
from the hunter’s trap
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with His feathers,
and under His wings you will find refuge.
His faithfulness is body armor and shield.
5 You will not fear the terror by night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the plague that stalks in darkness,
nor the scourge that lays waste at noon.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
and ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only look on with your eyes
and see the wicked paid back.
9 For you have made Elyon your dwelling,
even Adonai, who is my refuge,
10 so no evil will befall you
nor any plague come near your tent.
11 For He will give His angels charge
over you, to guard you in all your ways.
12 Upon their hands they will lift you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread upon the lion and cobra,
trample the young lion and serpent.
14 “Because he has devoted his love to Me,
I will deliver him.
I will set him securely on high,
because he knows My Name.
15 When he calls on Me, I will answer him.
I will be with him in trouble,
rescue him, and honor him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him
and show him My salvation.”
In the Aramaic paraphrase of this Psalm, the Targum, we find some interesting interpolations, or additions to the text based on the way they viewed it. For example, verse 3 as we just read above says, “He will rescue you from the hunter’s trap.” The Targum interprets the “you” here, to be Solomon. In fact, this whole Psalm is understood to be essentially a poetic message from David to Solomon, about demonic entities. Here’s a slide to show some of the ways this text was interpreted:
[SLIDE]
In verse 2, it doesn’t say “I trust in God” but rather, I trust in the Memra of God, that is, the “word of God.” I believe this Aramaic term, Memra, is part of what John had in mind in writing the opening of his Gospel, that the “Word” of God was with God, was God, and took on flesh. But that’s more of a side-note here.
In verse 5 the Targum expands both the terrors of the night and the arrows that fly by day, to include references to supernatural beings. And then in verse 10, the promise that “no plague will come near your tent” is expanded to include “plague or demon.”
Now you may recognize this Psalm, not only because we’ve played the Sons of Korah version of the song of the Psalm numerous times, but also from Matthew chapter 4. During Yeshua’s time in the wilderness, this Psalm is one of the ones quoted by Satan to Yeshua, to tempt Him. Why would Satan quote this Psalm in particular? I believe it is because he knew, and Yeshua did as well, that this Psalm was an exorcistic Psalm. It was part of a collection of writings - Biblical, paraphrased Biblical, and extra-Biblical - that were believed to be written against evil spirits. So Satan, being a rebellious spirit himself, quotes it, knowing that Yeshua would have the understanding that it was a Psalm that promised protection against evil spirits (such as the devil himself). It was a sort of self-aware statement, where Satan says, “Look, You already know You’ll be protected.”
David the Exorcist
Now to be sure, there were other writings as well, like I mentioned, that were used at Qumran for this purpose. Multiple fragmented Qumran texts, among the Dead Sea Scrolls, were used for exorcisms.
Similarly, Josephus mentions knowing a man named Eleazar who used incantations passed down by Solomon to exorcise demons as well. Solomon was featured in numerous ancient texts as an exorcist.
(Side note: I am not in any way suggesting we attempt to do this today, as Scripture does not call for us to use incantations and such. I am merely pointing out that people did hold these beliefs. The same as I mentioned last week that some Jews wore amulets with certain verses of Scripture inscribed on them to ward off evil spirits).
So knowing all of this, then, does it make sense why people believed that the Messiah, the Son of David, would be an exorcist? I believe so. I believe that’s why we see such an emphasis placed on Yeshua not only miraculously healing people - which He did - but also specifically coming out against demonic entities and casting them out. This to fulfill what they had come to believe was indicative of the son of David, the one having power over evil spirits. But let’s study one more passage before moving on. Go ahead and turn, scroll, tap, slide, or swipe over to Matthew 16.
Backstory time. The Pharisees and Sadducees had been testing Yeshua again. Go figure, right? That happened a lot. They asked Him for a sign, and that’s where He declares that they would not be given a sign “except for the sign of the prophet Jonah.” He then warns them of the leaven of the Pharisees. Now we come to verse 13.
13 When Yeshua came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
14 They answered, “Some say John the Immerser, others say Elijah, and still others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”
15 He said, “But who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17 Yeshua said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven! 18 And I also tell you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My community; and the gates of Sheol will not overpower it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will have been forbidden in heaven and what you permit on earth will have been permitted in heaven.” 20 Then He ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Messiah.
Now, there’s a lot to these verses. There are a lot of different pieces we could spend a significant amount of time on. But I’ll stick with just a couple. First things first, let’s establish our Biblical geography. Verse 13 says they were where? Caesarea Philippi. And why is that significant? That’s the Roman name, but it wasn’t called that before Roman occupation. This was the region of Bashan. You should recall from last week we studied someone from the land of Bashan. Who was it? Og, the king of Bashan. A giant (of the Rephaim). And what mountain did I mention last week was in the northern region of Bashan, that would be significant for us? See, y’all gotta start taking notes here, you never know when I’ll spring a pop quiz on you.
Hermon! Mount Hermon. The place that it was said the sons of God descended in Genesis 6. The place where many if not most Jews believed was a place of curse, since that’s even what the name Hermon means. This was a place with a supernatural history associated with it, and is only mentioned in the Gospels in this particular event.
Now during the conquest of Alexander the Great in the 4th Century BCE, there was a shrine in a cave near the edge of the Jordan here just south of Mount Hermon, dedicated to the pagan god Pan. Pan was the god of forests and deserted places (wastelands), as well as flocks and shepherds. You may be making a couple connections here already.
Caesarea Philippi = Bashan
Around 15 years before Yeshua’s birth, the Roman emperor Augustus gave the district of Panias (again, dedicated to Pan) to Herod the Great, who built a temple of white marble and dedicated it to Augustus (a place which Josephus refers to as Paneas and Panium). When Herod died, the region passed to the rulership of his son, Philip. Philip expanded and renamed the city Caesarea Philippi, for Caesar Tiberius and himself, Philip. Archaeologists have since discovered more than 20 different temples on and immediately around Mount Hermon. It was, needless to say, a hotbed of religious activity.
Now again, as I mentioned previously, this area of Hermon, Bashan, was thought to contain a gateway to the underworld. It was known in OT times as the “place of the serpent” and was thought to be ruled by the lord of the dead. Here Yeshua stands and declares that the ekklesia that He would build would not be overcome by the gates of Sheol (Hades, or hell). It was essentially a declaration of war on the powers of darkness. He was reclaiming the land for the kingdom of God, and His Kingdom which He was building.
Even the idiomatic language He uses with regard to Peter is one of dominion and rule. He uses the phrase “binding and loosing.” This was a phrase not uncommon for the Rabbis as halakhic / legal terminology. If a Rabbi had determined that a certain rule or prohibition was to be followed, it was said that he had bound the commandment. And if he were permitting something, then it was said that he was loosing it. So here in Matthew 16, Yeshua is essentially granting Peter halakhic authority, that is, the right to make decisions for the newly founded ekklesia. And if you find this interpretation hard to swallow, consider that just two chapters later in Matthew 18, Yeshua repeats this phrase to the other disciples in the very context of governing the assembly.
15 “Now if your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that on the testimony of two or three witnesses every matter may be confirmed. 17 And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, he is to be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18 Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.
It’s worth pointing out that the “you” here, whatever “you” bind, is the second person plural. He’s speaking to the disciples (per Mat. 18:1) and He reiterates this granting of authority to them.
The Kingdom Challenge
In fact, the chapter that is sandwiched betwen 16 and 18, Matthew 17 is the transfiguration. Where Yeshua took Peter, James, and John up on a “high mountain” (likely Hermon, though it doesn’t say), and is transformed before them. He appears white as light, His face shining like the sun. Once again, the voice from heaven declares, “This is My beloved Son.” Or perhaps even something akin to “This is My Son David.”
So what’s the point of this whole episode in Matthew 16, at the “gates of hell”? Well, I’ll give you Dr. Heiser’s theory, and personally, I find it the most compelling. That Yeshua did this intentionally, to declare war, to bait the enemy. If you track forward the timeline of Gospel events, this is only a few months before Yeshua is crucified. After years of ministering, He is nearing the end. In fact, if Peter’s offer of making three tabernacles or booths - sukkahs - for Yeshua, Moses, and Elijah at the transfiguration are an indicator that this transpired in the Fall during Sukkot, then going forward there’s only about six months left before Yeshua would be crucified.
Yeshua tells the Disciples to keep it to themselves. Could it be He did so, so as to ensure that the powers that be would seek His death even without this physical witness? Since surely the beings that inhabited that very mountain also witnessed the event of the revelation of the Divine Son.
As we read from Paul earlier, the powers that ruled did not know what would happen. But they do not seem to have liked the challenge from the Son of David.
Now on that note, getting back to our Davidic narrative, there are a couple other points to make and parallels to draw, and we’ll close.
In addition to Yeshua’s own biological heritage, His genealogy which both Luke and Matthew declare stems from David (discrepancies therein aside), He was otherwise known as the Son of David for His miracle-working and exorcising of demons. And it was important that the Messiah be the son of David.
For one, because God promised that David would rule, and his descendants after him would have the throne. In fact, even the heavenly declaration that Yeshua was the “beloved” Son of God found early in Matthew and Mark, has hints of Davidic language. The name “David” means, “beloved.” So it’s almost as if God were saying, “This is My Son David.”
But More than just that, it is also because it was the Davidic King that was to be the prefigured image of the Kingdom of God. When David ruled, the Kingdom was united. Israel and Judah were divided during Saul, but David united them. David was to rule righteously. Between the kingdoms of both David and Solomon (a man whose very name basically means shalom, “peace”), we have a complete Israelite Kingdom and monarchy. Between their rules, the land prospered; it saw peace. Solomon built the Temple, and the Spirit of God moved and rested inside it. Solomon possessed wisdom and wealth.
Much of the imagery that one could use to describe what Eden should have been like, could have been seen in Solomon’s reign. But of course, as we know, Solomon fell, too.
The only way to ensure the promise to David was kept, that his descendant would be king over God’s people, was for the Divine Son of God Himself to be that son of David.
The plan had always been for man to dwell and have relationship with God, in paradise. That’s how Creation started, man was put in the Garden of Eden and had relationship with God. The Tabernacle and Temple were a means of recreating that sacred space. They were - as NT Wright says - a place of convergence, where heaven and earth met. The presence of God dwelling on earth, that’s what the tabernacle and temple ultimately were. And even the symbolism of the tabernacle itself was reminiscent of the Garden. The menorah stood as a sort of tree, its very design being made to resemble a tree with blossoms. The ark of the covenant being covered by two cherubim, just as the guardian of the Garden is said to have been in Genesis 3:24. Ezekiel’s vision of the Temple described a river flowing out of it, like the rivers that flowed out of Eden. The construction of the tabernacle being made with the skins of animals - the creatures dwelling in the Garden - and trees. The many articles being covered in gold, reminiscent of Gen. 2:11-12 telling us the gold of the land of Havilah was good. We also know there were precious stones in that land, mentioned again in Gen. 2:12, just as precious stones were used in the priestly vestments. The temple had even more ornate work, including various kinds of artwork resembling trees and more cherubim, according to 1 Ki. 6:29-35.
We could also track forward to Revelation, examining the New Jerusalem. A city of gold and precious stones even on its very gates. God and the Lamb are its light (like its lampstand), having no need for sun or moon to shine on it. The very dwelling place of God. Once again, the river of life flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb outward through the streets. The tree of life, bearing fruit.
All of these images - and more, but we don’t have time to go deeply into all of them - depict God’s ideal dwelling-place. What Eden once was; what the Tabernacle and Temple were supposed to recreate; and what the New Jerusalem will be.
So how would this all come about? How would new creation come to be, given that man was prone and indeed confined to, sin, failure, and death? As we know, it came about through the death, burial, and resurrection of Yeshua. This restorative action. And we, His followers, will join Him. We do this now in terms of Baptism. I taught on Baptism a few weeks back, so I won’t rehash all of that. But in short, Baptism is a symbolic act of imitating going from death to life. It expresses our own commitment and journey of dying and rising with Him.
1 See how great a love the Father has given us, that we would be called children of God; and in fact we are. For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope set on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
He had to come and suffer and die and rise again, to defeat death. We ourselves look forward to the hope of the resurrection, wherein we “will be like Him” John says. That is the climax of the story, that His Kingdom comes, and we may join Him there. A new creation, in a new Eden. That is why Yeshua proclaimed the “Gospel of the Kingdom.” It started with Him, as the King.
So now once again we ask: why does this matter?
Three primary reasons.
Gospel of the Kingdom
Messiah’s death and resurrection
Kingdom Witnesses
1. It matters that we understand the importance of Yeshua being the King, the Son of David. It matters that we understand how this relates to the Kingdom. Jeff spoke about the Gospel of the Kingdom a couple months back, as part of our Foundations of our Faith series, so I won’t cover that again, but check it out on YT.
2. It matters that we understand why Yeshua’s death was necessary. To deal with sin, but also to overcome death and the grave. To rise again and be able to raise us up as a resurrected nation, who will one day be joining Him in His everlating Kingdom.
3. It matters for the Gospel, not only to understand the Kingdom aspect, but also our part to play. We are to be imitators of Yeshua, and to be reflectors, that point the world to Him. Yeshua gave us a glimpse of what His Kingdom will be like. The dead will be raised again; sicknesses will be removed; blind eyes will see. This is all a glimpse of His Kingdom, and something we are supposed to be witnesses of to this fallen world.
So now we can take some questions. I will go ahead an say, the question about ruling or judging angels will be pushed another week. I’m pretty sure, though, that we’ll get to it next week.
Q&A
Q&A
Aaronic Benediction (Num. 6)
Yeve-re-kakha Adonai
Va-yeesh-merekha
Yair Adonai panav ei-lekha
Vee-chu-nekha
Yeesa Adonai panav ei-lekha
Vaya-sim-lekha, Shalom
Aaronic Benediction (Num. 6)
May Adonai bless you and keep you
May Adonai make His face shine
upon you, and be gracious to you
May Adonai lift up His countenance
upon you and give you peace