Escaping the Corruption of the World

On By TimIn 2 Peter 01, Eternal Security, Salvation1 Comment

There exists a vast difference in between the ones who escape the corruption of the world and partake of the divine nature and those who escape the defilements of the world for a season.

Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who have received a faith as precious as ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.
Grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

2 Peter 1:2

In the introduction, Peter is established the tone. That tone is to Peter is encourage other believers to hold fast. Not that they might lose out on eternal life at some future time, but to ensure their own maturity in the faith. To grow to maturity ought to be the goal of every Christian.

At the beginning of this epistle, Peter establishes a premise. Sometimes that premise is blurred by the particular translation of the Bible used which may lead to some insecurities. Because of this, I prefer a literal word-for-word translation. This helps me to grasp the nuances in word meanings being translated. It also helps to have tools available to try and understand the subtleties in the original language that do not translate clearly. Taking the extra time for a bit of a deeper dive helps to ensure right division of the Bible.

With that said, let’s dive in!

His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who has called us by His own glory and excellence, by which He has given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, so that through these things you might become partakers of the divine nature and escape the corruption that is in the world through lust.

2 Peter 1:3–4

At the outset, Peter is saying that Christians have everything they need no to live godly lives. These come by the promises of God. Promises that you have no part in save to receive them. He keeps them, even in light of what you do… Because it’s His word. His word is not made void by the freedom He has bestowed on us.

Because we have these promises, we escape the corruption of the world and become partakers of the divine nature. That statement is loaded with lots of stuff to unpack. Note the phrasing, escape the corruption. The corruption is in the world through lust. Think of the word lust as desire and intense craving.

Focus on the word corruption. It is the Greek word phthoras which does mean corruption and can also mean destruction. The destruction is ultimately death. That is the end result of sin. But the Christian escapes this.

For this reason make every effort to add virtue to your faith; and to your virtue, knowledge; and to your knowledge, self-control; and to your self-control, patient endurance; and to your patient endurance, godliness; and to your godliness, brotherly kindness; and to your brotherly kindness, love.

2 Peter 1:5–7

Peter then provides a prescription for the saved person who has eternal life. Keep in mind that God has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. The outline is indeed doable by every Christian.

It is self-explanatory in nature. Faith is required to get eternal life and forgiveness is sins, it is also necessary to live a Christian life. It’s not faith alone. We add virtue onto our faith.

Virtue is excellence of character… Blamelessness. Add knowledge to virtue and then self-control. Self-control is different than virtue and comes after. Patience, godliness, kindness then follow, and finally love.

Most of us get it backwards. We think we love first. Peter is telling us that we cannot truly love without all of those things that come orderly before.

For if these things reside in you and abound, they ensure that you will neither be useless nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 1:8

The discussions that sometimes revolve around 2 Peter tend toward who is really saved. The reality is Peter is encouraging us to be useful and fruitful. This is not unlike much of the Bible, which itself teaches us how to be useful to God. Yes, first we need to be saved. Being useful and fruitful comes with maturity.

Virtue Revisited

I need to say more about virtue. It is a word that conveys an idea of blamelessness. Paul helps us to understand this idea of blamelessness and from whence it comes. He calls it a gift.

But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if through the trespass of one man many died, then how much more has the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. The gift is not like the result that came through the one who sinned. For the judgment from one sin led to condemnation, but the free gift, which came after many trespasses, leads to justification. For if by one man’s trespass death reigned through him, then how much more will those who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:15–17

Righteousness is the quality of being in accordance with God’s requirements. It’s to be blameless in the law. Paul says this gift comes freely by Jesus to any who want it. Recall what Peter said, He has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. We don’t add to it, not maintain it. We simply cannot!

It is this gift of righteousness that leads to justification of life. Meaning you and I as Christians can stand blameless in the presence of God. It’s like me saying “Just as if I’d never sinned!”

Strong’s Dictionary gives us some additional insight to this word virtue (Greek aretē.) It means excellence of character, whether that excellence is intrinsic or attributed. As Paul showed, righteousness is attributed to us by God as a gift.

There is another sense conveyed by virtue… It is the idea of valor. Valor is the strength of mind needed to resist fear and brave danger. Think about that. God has given you that strength of mind.

Adding Virtue to Faith is Then Easy

If you are a Christian… You are saved. You have eternal life. Nothing can move you from that position. Fear can trick you but you don’t have to succumb to it. We resist that fear.

When the enemy comes and tells you you’re not doing enough and therefore not valuable to God, know it’s a lie. It’s designed to make you afraid. Resist it the fear, and the enemy has to flee.

God sent His Son Jesus for us. You and I have value and worth far greater than you can imagine.

The journey from faith to virtue is easy. God gives it to us. It means those that have eternal life by faith cannot be removed from it. If there’s a struggle on whether you can lose the gift of eternal life and your salvation, it stops here. And the text is going to show us that clearly.

Blind and Shortsighted in Forgetfulness

But the one who lacks these things is blind and shortsighted because he has forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.

2 Peter 1:9

When we forget who we are, and more to the point… Whose we are… It can lead to shortsightedness. Remember, you and I are already cleansed from former sins. Yes that is true. Yet it goes beyond former sins. Remember Peter saying that we might become partakers of the divine nature?

Paul says we already are.

And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has resurrected together with Him, having forgiven you all sins. He blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us and contrary to us, and He took it out of the way, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed authorities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them by the cross.

Colossians 2:13–15

We are already resurrected with Him. There is no way that can happen unless we are already partaking of the divine nature. Not only that, we are forgiven all sins. These are not just the former sins, but all of them!

Whatever claim the enemy had on us is gone. That’s the freedom of the Christian life. That’s the virtue that we courageously stand in now. We are immovable. We cannot sin enough to lose out on anything God has already given to us. Why would any of us really want to do that?

Now knowledge is added to the virtue. So what now?

Add the rest, self-control, patience, godliness, kindness, and love.

Calling and Election

Therefore, brothers, diligently make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never stumble. For in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly provided for you.

2 Peter 1:10–11

We make our calling and election sure. That is not about salvation. It’s about being useful, useful to God. He has given to every one of us unique gifts to be of service to Him. It is our responsibility to know what these things are and how to employ them for His glory. That is making sure your calling is to a particular place of service. Your election is to be useful to God… Not just saved.

Championing Us

Therefore I will not be negligent to always remind you of these things, though you know them and are established in the truth that is present with you. I consider it right, as long as I live in this body, to stir you up by reminding you, knowing that soon I will take off this body, even as our Lord Jesus Christ has shown me. And I will also be diligent to make sure that after my death you will always remember these things.

2 Peter 1:12–15

We all need encouragement. It ought be a strong part of our lives to encourage and admonish others in the same love that Peter does. We do that by reminding ourselves and others of all of these things.

Warnings

But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. Their judgment, made long ago, does not linger, and their destruction does not slumber.

2 Peter 2:1–3

This discussion takes a darker turn away from encouragement. Peter is instructing as he exposes false teachers and those led astray by them. These deny the Lord that bought them. Does that mean they have lost salvation?

No. As we have already witnessed in Colossians, sin has been nailed to the cross and taken out of the way freeing humanity from the grips of the enemy. The Lord bought the lot of Adam’s race, every single human that has, had, or will have life. To deny that is to never ever come to salvation and receive the gifts of eternal life and righteousness. I admit, it’s a simple conclusion, but it’s right there. It is the truth. That’s why the writer of Hebrews put it this way:

Therefore we should be more attentive to what we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken by angels was true, and every sin and disobedience received a just recompense, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation, which was first declared by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him?

Hebrews 2:1–3

Considering the immeasurable generosity is such a gesture, how do people ignore it as if nothing really happened?

It would be the height of arrogance and indifference. It’s easy to understand why people go to perdition. And Peter does not have kind things to say about these types of people and the ideas they share with others.

For when they speak arrogant words of vanity, they entice by the lusts of the flesh and by depravity those who barely escaped from those who live in error.

2 Peter 2:18

Remember, the first phrase… Escape the corruption (phthoras.) Peter uses the same idea of escape again. This time it is to describe those who barely escape from those who live in error. I think he is speaking of Christians. These false teachers entice believers with religion. Religion is the idea that people can make themselves presentable to God by abstaining from sin.

Promised Freedom

Although they promise them freedom, they themselves are slaves of corruption, for by that which a man is overcome, to this he is enslaved. For if after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and then turn back from the holy commandment that was delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb, “The dog returns to his own vomit,” and “the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mud.”

2 Peter 2:19–22

Freedom is contrasted with the enslavement to corruption. Instead of teaching reliance on the promises of God, the false teacher offers a semblance of freedom that is really slavery.

These teachers have themselves not yet escaped corruption (phthoras) but are still slaves to it. Remember what Paul said:

Do you not know that to whom you yield yourselves as slaves to obey, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?

Romans 6:16

Stepping out to sin is presenting yourself as a slave to it. Sin leads to death… The (phthoras) destruction.

Back to the text in 2 Peter, these false teachers seem to escape the defilements of the world. Defilements in the Greek is the word miasmata. It’s different than phthoras, and is only used this once in the entire New Testament. The single usage connotes it has some significance.

Miasmata means shameful deeds, or what we would call sins. In other words, it seems these are escaping sins. But it only seems for a bit as they return to the carnality of the world.

When a person hears the Gospel of Jesus Christ presented they receive the knowledge of Him as Savior. What they do with that is of paramount importance as Peter hints at.

Let’s consider an example. It’s like when people come to church. They might enjoy the time of worship and even get something from the message given. They may even enjoy the fellowship and kindness that abounded. Then they leave and not applying what they heard. They are not changed. Yet, for a short period of time in church… They escaped the defilements of the world in the shelter of the Spirit present in the body of Christ. They did not repent, were not saved, and they did not receive eternal life. These go back to their carnality.

The part of having not known the way of righteousness the becomes condemnation. Each time the Gospel is ignored it hardens the heart. At each iteration it will become easier to not respond. That is why the latter state is worse not hearing.

Escape the Corruption

Christians escape the corruption and become partakers of the divine nature. It is escaping destruction. And such can never become corrupted again. Therefore losing eternal life and salvation are not possible.

Those that escape the defilements can sometimes be described with a term I like, “churchians.” These are folks who go to church and try to live a good life by not sinning, somehow thinking those things give them credibility. Some even shame others for not living like they do. Self-help and motivational therapy is not Christianity. Doing good deeds is not what makes a Christian. Neither is keeping the law or obeying commands. Don’t fall prey to the quaint religious language.

A Christian is one who believes in the One Whom God sent… Jesus. It’s His name we bear. It’s I solely in Him Who we trust. We know He lived, died for our sins, and spent three days in the grave. That was not the end… For He rose again as Victor over death.

Believing that is what makes one a Christian. Jesus keeps those who are His. Those things don’t come by following a set of rules.

Circumcision is Forever

On By TimIn Colossians 02, Eternal Security, SalvationLeave a comment

In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which also you were raised with Him through the faith of the power of God, who has raised Him from the dead.

Colossians 2:11–12

One of my favorite things about Scripture is the precision in the words used to convert an idea. There is no wiggle room for shenanigans, though many may try. Take what Paul says above. He chose his words carefully. Clearly, he is talking about salvation. Read it again, even the tenses of the verbs are significant.

In Jesus, the believer is circumcised. The body of fleshly sins is put off. It’s taken away. The verb tense for circumcised, buried, and raised is aorist. This converts that an action has accurate occurred in the past and it is not undone, with continuing effects to present and beyond.

That word circumcised is used deliberately… In three forms. That signifies grave importance, which provides tension for a pertinent questions.

Can what is circumcised away be reattached or regrow?

No. It doesn’t. Circumcision is forever.

The airiest verb tense also provides more tension. Tension that leads to more questions.

Does the one who has already been raised ever become unraised?

How does one who is already raised from the dead go back to being dead?

No.

So tell me… How does one lose salvation?

And by lose, I mean go away by whatever means one can dream up.

The Red Heifer

On By TimIn Jesus, Numbers 192 Comments

And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying:

Numbers 19:1

As it is, we cannot begin to understand the significance of a passage without examining the surrounding context. Remember, never read a Bible verse alone.

Moses is given instructions by God for a specific offering. This offering presents some peculiarities. It is the strangeness that emphasizes significance that ought draw our attention. There is something important here to discover. If it is weird, it’s important.

Rebellion

Working backward from Numbers 19 to Chapter 15, Moses gives some additional background detail about what is offered here. The significance of the tithe is also remembered. There is one law for both Israelites and foreigners in the camp.

Remembering the Torah, laws were given for unintentional sins and the remedy for those. For those whose sin is intentional, removal from the camp was the remedy. Then there is the penalty of some sin that requires removal from the camp and immediate execution.

With this basis, things become onerous. I think the response of the people to these will reveal that burden they carry. Understand… The place of sin is outside of the camp and outside the fellowship with the people of God.

As Moses continues to provide some context The institution of tzitzit or the tassels worn by Israelites is detailed. Simply put, these symbolized someone who was under the covenant. (There is a post on the significance of these here: Tassels on Garments.)

As rebellion is, some of the Levites rose up in opposition to Aaron and Moses. They wanted part of what they perceive as the glory of leadership. It seems they wanted the opportunity to lord over people, as they clearly misunderstood the roles of Moses and Aaron. Moses instituted a way to verify whom God had chosen as leaders.

As the rebels chose to participate in the way Moses offered, he then proclaimed judgment on them. They are separated and the ground opened up and swallows them. The rest of the rebellious were consumed by fire.

The next day the people complained about all of the death around them. Remember, they had laws given to them about avoiding dead bodies. The significance of the death around them was caused by deliberate sin.

Moses stands between the rebels and the judgment of God. Before it was stopped by the atonement Aaron provided, the ensuing plague killed 14,700 people. Almost all in the camp would be close to a dead body and in danger of becoming unclean.

Moses then commanded that each leader of the 12 tribes bring a rod on which the name of the tribe was written. These were placed before the Lord. God would signify His choice by the rod budding. Aaron’s rod budded and it brought forth fruit. This rod becomes a testimony to any who would revel in like fashion.

I have provided a summary. Please read the chapters for yourself for details. See what God leads you to find.

Moving forward, the Israelites understood that there was a really big problem. They are now afraid to approach the tent of meeting and to draw near to God. They saw those who approached the Tabernacle before and had died swiftly.

The children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “Behold, we expire, we perish, we all perish. Anyone approaching the tabernacle of the Lord will die. Are we all to perish?”

Numbers 17:12–13

Is there a remedy for death?

This results in a new lesson.

The Red Heifer

And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying: This is the statute of the law which the Lord has commanded, saying: Tell the children of Israel that they will bring you a healthy red heifer, which has no blemish, and on which a yoke has never gone, and you will give it to Eleazar the priest, and he will bring it outside the camp, and it will be slaughtered before him.

Numbers 19:2–3

Moses instructs them to bring a healthy red heifer. This is the first time that a sacrifice is specified to not be male. That is something significantly different that beckons our attention. In my opinion, this hints back to the first rebellion recorded. It came by way of Eve. She fell prey to the same rebellious desire, coveting something that was not hers.

For God knows that on the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasing to the eyes and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

Genesis 3:5–6

In the way God works, watch as every single detail of sin is undone.

Not only is the sacrifice female, it is to be unblemished. The additional qualification of the color red narrows the availability. This is also the first time that the color of the animal to be sacrificed is specified. Hidden just behind the English the Hebrew word for red. It is adom. It comes from the same Hebrew root word that is the English Adam. And it points to the rebellious nature of Esau whose descendants are called Edom.

The heifer was not to have been yoked. That means, the animal must not have been placed under subjection to anyone or anything. This offering did not have a burden. This conveys the idea that the offering is innocent. The yoke is also a symbol of slavery.

This heifer was given not to Aaron the High Priest, but to his son Eleazar. He was to take it outside of the camp where it was to be offered. As we’ve learned, the place of sin is outside of the camp. It’s also the place where the wages of sin are collected… Death.

What we are encountering is a picture of something significant. God is giving Moses a picture of the remedy for rebellion. With the Hebrew word parah (translated to heifer) we have a nod to offspring (fruitfulness.) Think seed and by cow female seed. The age of the heifer entails that it did not have progeny. (To be honest, this part hurts my brain. I mean, I see the connection, but I also see that it may be contrived. Nevertheless, the ideas are in play just under the surface of what is written.)

Now consider the assent to purity, and one removed to the place of sin. This was a sin offering by the significance of it being out of the camp (Exodus 29:14, Leviticus 4:12.) Yet the high priest did not perform this… His son Eleazar did.

And Eleazar the priest will take from its blood with his finger and sprinkle some of its blood directly before the tent of meeting seven times. Then it will be burned in his sight. Its hide and its flesh and its blood, with her dung, will be burned.

Numbers 19:4–5

For those who have read through the Torah, there is a significant derivation from other sacrifices. This one stands alone, and being in the Book of Numbers provides yet another.

The sin sacrifices spoken of in Exodus 29 and Leviticus 4 were young bulls slaughtered at the entrance to the Tabernacle. In Numbers 19 the red heifer was removed to the place outside the camp and where she was offered. The blood was then sprinkled at the entrance of the Tabernacle.

Another difference with the previously instituted sin sacrifices the priests placed their hands on the head of the sacrifice. From Leviticus 16:21, this is an indicator of imputation. That is placing sins from the person (people) onto the sacrifice. Without that conditional gesture, we clearly see the notion of unconditionality here.

All of this sacrifice was consumed. It was burned whole… Except for the few precious drops of blood sprinkled at the entrance to the way to approach God.

This sacrifice is outside of Leviticus where the rest are given. Leviticus outlines the use of bulls, goats, oxen, sheep, and doves for sacrifice. It provides the methods and uses. These laws never employ the sacrifice of a female. Oddly, no sacrifice was established for intentional sin. And our Israelites knew this.

Other Unique Facts

And the priest will take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet and throw it into the midst of the burning of the heifer.

Numbers 19:6

Cedarwood, hyssop, and Scarlett thread have been mentioned before in the Torah. It is in the purifying ritual for a cleansed leper (Leviticus 14:1-32.) This is a significant reminder of what has already been established. These three are used with blood and running water to purify. In contrast with the red heifer ritual, these three are thrown into the fire to be consumed.

As leprosy is symbolic of sin in the Bible, this is yet another indication that the red heifer is to be a sin sacrifice. The ritual for purifying the leper connects to another with some more significance for us, and that is detailed in Leviticus 16 on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. In both rituals, there is a dead offering and a live offering. The simplistic deduction from both is that something has to shed blood for the other to be free.

In other words, something had to become sin and then be obliterated. The significance of being free from sin is the release of the live offering.

The Puzzle of the Red Heifer

As mentioned, this sacrifice is one ordained outside of Leviticus. It has intricate connections to the purification of the cleansed leper and atonement. Its placement seems to defy logic. It is radically different from every other sacrifice in the Bible.

Then the priest will wash his clothes, and he will bathe his body in water, and afterward he will come into the camp, and the priest will be unclean until evening. He who burns it will wash his clothes in water, and bathe his body in water, and will be unclean until evening.

Numbers 19:7–8

Encountering this, a question ought to come to mind. How did these men become ritually unclean?

Of course, they came into contact with a dead carcass. I think there is a bit more. With the entirety of this heifer appointed to be consumed in fire, and the fact that the slaughter happened outside the camp, this heifer came to embody rebellion.

A man who is clean will gather the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place, and it will be guarded for the assembly of the children of Israel for water of purification. It is for purifying from sin. He that gathers the ashes of the heifer will wash his clothes and be unclean until evening, and it will be for the children of Israel and for the foreigner that lives among them, for an eternal statute.

Numbers 19:9–10

The weirdness continues. These ashes have some importance that would cause them to be guarded well. Just as Jesus in the tomb was guarded well. These ashes must be kept pure. Yet everyone who came into contact with them became unclean. The ashes were for the people of Israel, God’s chosen portion. (Which context demonstrates is a mixed multitude with one law.)

These ashes would be for water of purification. Yet oddly, the person gathering them would then also become ritually unclean.

Waters of Purification

He that touches the dead body of any man will be unclean seven days. He will make himself clean on the third day, and on the seventh day he will be clean. But if he does not make himself clean on the third day, then the seventh day he will not be clean. Whoever touches the body of any man that is dead and does not purify himself defiles the tabernacle of the Lord, and that person will be cut off from Israel. Because the water of purification was not sprinkled on him, he will be unclean. His uncleanness is still on him.

Numbers 19:11–13

Now we get a hint as to what is being accomplished.

This is the law, when a man dies in a tent. Each person who comes into the tent and all that is in the tent will be unclean seven days. Every open vessel which has no covering fastened on it is unclean. Whoever in the field touches one that is slain with a sword, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave will be unclean seven days.

Numbers 19:14–16

These ashes would be used to purify the unclean person after such is cleansed.

For an unclean person they will take from the ashes of the burnt sin offering, and running water will be on it in a vessel. A clean person will take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and splash it on the tent, and on all the vessels, and on the people who were there, and on him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave. The clean person will splash on the unclean person on the third day and on the seventh day. And on the seventh day he shall purify himself, wash his clothes, and bathe in water; and he will be clean at evening.

Numbers 19:17–19

A bit of the ashes of the heifer is mixed with running water, which is another similarity to the purifying ritual for the leper. This mixture is then sprinkled on the unclean objects and persons on the third day. However the person must finish his cleansing by washing himself and his clothing.

But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person will be cut off from among the assembly because he has defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. The water of purification has not been sprinkled on him. He is unclean.

Numbers 19:20

With all of the connections here, I must also draw attention to the unconditional parts of this and the conditional parts of it. The unconditional part is that this sacrifice is done once outside the camp, the ashes gathered are to provide a perpetual cleansing. One that did not require assembling the tent of meeting. The entire animal was consumed by fire save a precious few drops of blood that were used to secure the opening of the Tabernacle (or the way to the presence of God.)

The unconditional part is that the presence of God is open to all, and one doesn’t need the Tabernacle. Conditional, one must present themselves for the sprinkling of the water of purification, and then cleanse themselves. The way to the purification is open. They were to not fear approaching God.

The one who does not do the conditional part has no fellowship with God’s people. Sin is outside the camp.

It will be an eternal statute to them.
He that sprinkles the water of purification will wash his clothes, and he that touches the water of purification will be unclean until evening. Whatever the unclean person touches will be unclean, and the person that touches it will be unclean until evening.

Numbers 19:21–22

Even the person performing the ritual becomes unclean by touching the waters. It is important to understand that all those who come into contact with the heifer become unclean. It is as if this heifer is the embodiment of sin itself. There is a point here that Paul makes. It is also this very thing about the red heifer that points to Jesus.

He Became Sin for Us

God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

2 Corinthians 5:21

That red heifer was perfect, no blemishes. She was ruddy and red like men are. She was chaste. She had not been yoked to anything and was sinless.

Yet she was removed from the camp as a detestable thing. She was red like rebellious Edom. She was slaughtered without mercy and not in the presence of the High Priest. In other words, she became detestable.

Jesus is perfect. He is adom. He is chaste. He was not yoked to sin. He was removed from the presence of the people as a detestable thing. He was slaughtered in the absence of the High Priest who sent his minions, the Chief Priests. A sprinkling of His blood secured the way to the presence of the Living God. He rose again on the third day, His old body was consumed and given a new body. He gives living water to any.

The Tenth Heifer

As I write, the significance of the red heifer is in the news. I think the importance of this has now been adequately demonstrated.

The traditions of the red heifer go back to the first offered by Moses. There were eight more throughout the times of Israel. Since the destruction of the second temple in 70 AD, no red heifers have been offered.

According to those traditions, there is a tenth heifer to be offered. It is needed for the ashes. The ashes are used to make the water of purification which is then used to purify the temple, the implements, and the priests.

Rabbinical tradition indicates that this tenth and final red heifer would be sacrificed by Messiah Himself. This was first taught by the rabbi Maimonides. To the futurists, we see the significance of not only the future temple but the coming of the Messiah.

It is this rabbinical tradition that came about in the late twelfth century that intrigues me. A tenth heifer, tied to Messiah… Israel is patiently waiting for Him to arrive. How is it that rabbinical tradition that came a millennia after the resurrection of Jesus conjoins the sacrifice of the red heifer with the Messiah?

Jesus IS that tenth red heifer.

This is the picture to the Israelites. There are remedies to unintentional sin. But what of the intentional things we do and how is death remedied?

It was not practical for the wandering Israelites to stop every single time someone sinned or encountered a dead body. Stopping would involve unpacking and setting up the Tabernacle to perform sacrifices. God is connecting the purifying of the leper with the Day of Atonement in a ritual that demonstrates sin is destroyed outside of the camp. There is a way to be purified for anyone who needs it at any time. One had to avail themselves of it.

If that worked for them… How much better do we have it?

But Christ, when He came as a High Priest of the good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood, He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies so that the flesh is purified, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Hebrews 9:11–14

Rest assured, you and I never have to be afraid of approaching God. The way to His presence is unconditionally secured and open to anyone who would avail themselves of it. It is there we are washed with the waters of purification from the Word Himself.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

Ephesians 5:25–26

God’s Gift of Everlasting Life

On By TimIn Eternal Security, Gifts, Romans 11Leave a comment

Don’t let someone bamboozle you.

For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.

Romans 11:29

Said another way:

For God’s gifts and calling never change.

Romans 11:29 (ISV):

In this text, Paul was speaking directly of the privileges granted to Israel he noted by name in Romans 9:4. By extension, it includes the usage of the word gift as previously encountered in Romans. He is demonstrating a biblical principle. The gifts (and calling) of God don’t change. (Which means Israel is still God’s chosen people, righteousness, and everlasting life doesn’t change.)

Now… Considering we’ve gotten this far in Romans, we have already encountered some other truths that have application in that verse.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 6:23

It’s unequivocally true, everlasting life is a gift of God given to the believer. There are other gifts.

But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if through the trespass of one man many died, then how much more has the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. The gift is not like the result that came through the one who sinned. For the judgment from one sin led to condemnation, but the free gift, which came after many trespasses, leads to justification. For if by one man’s trespass death reigned through him, then how much more will those who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:15–17

God expends the gift of righteousness lavishly. That doesn’t change either. In fact, Paul says that gift leads to justification.

But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets. This righteousness of God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all and upon all who believe, for there is no distinction. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith, in His blood, for a demonstration of His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins previously committed, to prove His righteousness at this present time so that He might be just and be the justifier of him who has faith in Jesus.

Romans 3:21–26

This text is the crux of what Paul is teaching. It is a foundational understanding to what transpired at the cross. Note that it says the righteousness of God comes to all through faith and is ON all who believe. We already know that righteousness is a gift of God. And we know the gifts of God don’t change. Meaning that once the gift of righteousness comes upon a person, it doesn’t ever go away or even get marred.

Furthermore, the text says all have missed the mark. But those same all who missed the mark are being justified freely. (Verb tenses matter greatly. Pay attention to them!)

This is a clear demonstration of the righteousness of God. All are being justified freely as God’s gift of righteousness is extended to all.

Having already proven that righteousness is a gift that a believer already has upon them and it cannot change. Likewise, everlasting life is also a gift. But does the believer have that now?

You betcha!

“Truly, truly I say to you, whoever hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has eternal life and shall not come into condemnation, but has passed from death into life.

John 5:24

And if one witness is not good enough…

Truly, truly I say to you, whoever believes in Me has eternal life.

John 6:47

The Contract with Abraham

On By TimIn Genesis 12, Israel, SalvationLeave a comment

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country, your family, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless them who bless you and curse him who curses you, and in you all families of the earth will be blessed.”

Genesis 12:1–3

This is the covenant made with Abram. It is God calling Abram to leave all that he knows. He is to go to the place that God shows to him. This covenant, or to understand better contract, comes with all sorts of stipulations. We could bullet point them.

  • Made a great nation
  • Receive blessing
  • Have a well-known reputation
  • For you to be a blessing

Of course, Abraham believed God and went as he was asked. This is plainly evident in the next verse, “So Abram departed.” He had no proof of anything other than what God told Him would happen. God said “Go.” And Abram left with no discernible delay.

Looking toward the New Testament and the great Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11, we read the retrospect.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out into a place which he would later receive as an inheritance. He went out not knowing where he was going.

Hebrews 11:8

By faith Abram obeyed. His faith was not part of the contract. His obedience was not part of the contract. God’s promises were His alone to keep. And Abram believed God would indeed keep them.

Abram took Sarai his wife, Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had accumulated, and the people that they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. They came to the land of Canaan.

Genesis 12:5

He took all of what he had and set out to the place God wanted him to go.

The Land Promised

The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

Genesis 12:7

In addition to the promises detailed at first, God will give to Abram the land to which he was sent.

Now, I know in today’s political climate there is much controversy over this land. Some say it doesn’t belong to Israel, but to Palestinians. But does it really?

Drawing up the Contract

After this the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying,
“Do not fear, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”
But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” Abram said, “Since You have not given me any children, my heir is a servant born in my house.”
Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir, but a son that is from your own body will be your heir.” He brought him outside and said, “Look up toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So will your descendants be.”
Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.

Genesis 15:1–6

I think with this text, we can get a sense of the business acumen of Abram. His negotiating skills are proficient. It might give us a hint as to what his family and business were like in Ur.

That aside, God promised a blessing, many descendants… meaning Abram would have heirs. The negotiations continue:

He also said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess it.”
But Abram said, “Lord God, how may I know that I will possess it?”

Genesis 15:7–8

The terms are given. And they’re pretty one-sided… I would say… Exclusively one-sided.

Establishing the Contract

So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
Then Abram brought all of these to Him and cut them in two and laid each piece opposite the other, but he did not cut the birds in half. When the birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

Genesis 15:9–11

As it was in those ancient days, this is how a contract was made. The Hebrew word for covenant is karath, which means to cut. Animals were cut in half and lain upon the sides of a small ravine. The blood from the animals would drain into the ravine, and the parties to the contract would walk through the collected blood to signify the effectiveness of the contract. The terms for breech… Let this blood be on the one who breeches to contract.

So what did Abram do?

As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram, and terror and a great darkness fell on him.

Genesis 15:12

Well, he did nothing. He went to sleep. The word terror doesn’t describe a feeling Abram had. It is used to describe the darkness of the deep sleep. There is no way Abram could have awakened to be privy to what would happen. It’s a subtle, yet important emphasis that applies today.

Then He said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will live as strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they will be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years. But I will judge the nation that they serve, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. As for you, you will go to your fathers in peace and you will be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation, your descendants will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

Genesis 15:13–16

It’s fascinating to consider that Abram was oblivious to this bit of prophecy. It is recorded for his posterity.

Now, this is important to understand.

When the sun went down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot with a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great Euphrates River—the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

Genesis 15:17–21

It was God alone Who walked amidst the blood of covenant. He alone made the land contract. The terms to honor it are all agreed to by God alone. Abram is asleep.

The Ramifications

If Abram did nothing to ratify the contract. He can do nothing to nullify or void the contract.

This is an important thing to understand. God alone promised the land to Abram. God alone promised an inheritance to Abram. God alone promised blessings to Abram. God alone promised a great name to Abram. God also promised Abram would be a blessing to the world.

We know Abram’s name was changed to Abraham. We know Abraham had an heir of his own bloodline with Sarah. (She was included in that blessing.) We know the blessing to the world came from Abraham… Jesus.

But, Abraham’s descendants took possession of some of the land promised.

God Keeps His Promises

Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, look, the house of Israel says, “The vision that he sees is for many days to come, and he prophesies of the times that are far off.”
Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God: There shall none of My words be prolonged anymore, but the word which I have spoken shall be done, says the Lord God.

Ezekiel 12:26–28

God will do what He says He will do. But it happens in His timing, not ours nor when we expect it. We got a glimpse into that in the word spoken by God to Abram while he slept deeply.

Abram wasn’t privy to the struggles of the future. He believed God, and that God would do as He said, working it all out.

It’s this simple fact that God keeps His promises that led Paul to say this:

I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Philippians 1:6

You Know the Way

“Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going 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, you may be also. You know where I am going, and you know the way.”

John 14:1–4

As Jesus spoke to His disciples, He promised them He would return. He promised them a place. He gives a blessing that you share it with others.

Partakers of the Root

But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among them and became a partaker with them of the root and richness of the olive tree,

Romans 11:17

The Bible teaches us in Romans 11 that we believers are grafted into the Root, Jesus. It says we believers take part in all the promises given to Abram. The same things promised to Abraham are ours and serve as a template or pattern to what God gives the believer.

That’s why you can believe what Jesus says. Our God keeps His Word!

Do You Hear?

Look at how the promises made to Abraham are the template for the promises given to believers by the Risen Savior Jesus.

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give permission to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.

Revelation 2:7

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.

Revelation 2:11

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows except he who receives it.

Revelation 2:17

“To him who overcomes and keeps My works to the end, I will give authority over the nations—
He ‘shall rule them with a rod of iron; like the vessels of a potter they shall be broken in pieces’— even as I myself have received authority from My Father. And I will give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Revelation 2:26–29

He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments. I will not blot his name out of the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Revelation 3:5–6

He who overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My own new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Revelation 3:12–13

“To him who overcomes will I grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Revelation 3:21–22

Abram had an ear to listen. He heard and did as God asked. He believed. His faith led to obedience to what God asked. Yet it wasn’t his obedience that was counted for righteousness. It was his faith.

I will say that if you are saved, God will never not keep His promises to you. Even if you think in some moment of weakness or rebellion… You might walk away… But really?

In Him you also, after hearing the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and after believing in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

Ephesians 1:13–14

It’s that indwelling Spirit that is His promise to us. He cannot be taken away.

If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.

2 Timothy 2:13

Like Israel gets the land, and it is theirs by promise He is going to fulfill, your salvation is yours, by the promise He is going to fulfill.

You Shall Call Me, My Father

On By TimIn John 05, The Father1 Comment

John 5:16–18 (MEV): So the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath day. Jesus answered them, “My Father is working still, and I am working.” So the Jews sought even more to kill Him, because He not only had broken the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.

My Father… Those two words seem to have really set the conspiracy in motion. They were like gasoline on a fire. This is not the first time that John records Jesus using this intimate reference to the Most High God.

Previously in John 2:16, Jesus cleared the temple of money changers and referenced “My Father’s house.” Perhaps in the frenzy, the intimacy was overlooked.

This phrase struck me as interesting, considering the intimacy at a time when God was perceived as distant from Israel. When I checked it out, I think of it a different way. It wasn’t the Father that was distanced from Israel. Israel had placed themselves at considerable distance from the Father. It turns out they missed many things. This one is overwhelming.

Jeremiah 3:14–18 (MEV): Return, O backsliding sons, says the Lord. For I am married to you. And I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. It shall come to pass when you are multiplied and increased in the land in those days, says the Lord, they will say no more, “The ark of the covenant of the Lord.” And it will not come to mind, nor will they remember it, nor will they call for it, nor will it be made any more. At that time they will call Jerusalem, the Throne of the Lord, and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord; nor will they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil hearts. In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given to your fathers for an inheritance.

Jeremiah is prophesying of a future unification of Judah and Israel. It’s a reference to when God fulfills the promises He made to Israel. It is what we would call the end days.

He speaks of peace and the restoration of the Davidic kingdom. It is to be a time of unprecedented peace and prosperity. And it was set right before them.

Jeremiah 3:19 (MEV): But I said: How can I put you among My sons and give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful heritage of the nations?
And I said: You shall call Me, My Father, and shall not turn away from Me.

Some students of the Bible understand that Jesus is called Israel. And in a way, He was doing the same pattern established in prophecy. It was another of those bona fides He gave to us to tell us Who He is. Of course, the religious folk of the day let us know that, too.

You shall call me, My Father.

My version of preference showed exactly the reference being to the Messiah by capitalizing “My.”

It is those details that are often overlooked.

Nevertheless, Jesus’ use of this intimate term ought to have been a sign that the restoration of the Kingdom was upon them. Instead, the nation set out to distance themselves considerably more further away from the Father, as if that could even be possible.

Even as Jesus bears the end of His ministry, and in great anguish… The intimacy continues. It is equivalent to the English word daddy. The repetition conveys importance.

Mark 14:36 (MEV): He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.”

Then Israel succeeded in killing the Anointed One, just as it was said He would be cut off. That set forth a delay in establishing the Kingdom physically to the nation. It also ushered in a time of judgment on Israel.

That judgement to them brought great blessing to Gentiles. These would be included in sharing the blessings and salvation of God to the world.

It’s that intimacy God wants with His people. Is the intimacy set Christian’s proclaim! He wanted that intimacy with them and with us. It is offered to anyone who wants it.

John 1:12–13 (MEV): Yet to all who received Him, He gave the power to become sons of God, to those who believed in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

If you’ve read this far, that right of becoming a child of God is offered to you. Just ask Him.

Romans 8:14–17 (MEV): For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. For you have not received the spirit of slavery again to fear. But you have received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirits that we are the children of God, and if children, then heirs: heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified with Him.

This idea of adoption is so important. He wants you to be that intimate with Him.

Ask.

Tassels on Garments

On By TimIn Faith, Numbers 151 Comment

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them to make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout the generations to come, and they will put a ribbon of blue on the corners of their garments. And it will be for you a tassel, and you will see it, and you will remember all the commandments of the Lord, and you will do them, and you will not follow the lust of your own heart and your own eyes. So shall you remember and do all My commandments, and be holy to your God. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord your God.

Numbers 15:37–41

Living in South Florida offers a chance to encounter Jewish folk regularly. Some of the men wear tassels on their garments. They are whimsically visible, drawing some attention. They serve a designated purpose.

The tassels are white and blue. It is a specific blue color called tekhelet in Hebrew. At the giving of the law, it was a very rare color dye. It was expensive being derived from a specific marine creature. These tassels are called tzitzit which means fringes in English. These tzitzit are attached to the corners of the garment. Corner is the English translation of the Hebrew word kanaph. This is how covering or being under the law enters. Kanaph is related to the protection of a covering. Think like the Psalmist did using a related word, “He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall find protection” (Psalm 91:4.)

The significance of wearing tzitzit is to identify oneself as being under the Jewish Law (keeping Torah.) The four tzitzit encircled the body and would be easy to identify from any direction, even when behind the person.

The Significance of the Fringes

The men of David said to him, “This is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘I am giving your enemy into your hand. You may do with him as seems good in your eyes.’ ” Then David arose and secretly cut off the corner of Saul’s robe.

1 Samuel 24:4

To many of us, we would not understand the significance of such a thing. The next verse offers a clue as to the importance of what David did.

Afterward David’s heart troubled him because he had cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him. For he is anointed of the Lord.” So David dispersed his men by these words and did not let them rise against Saul. And Saul arose from the cave and went on his way.

1 Samuel 24:5–7

David’s heart troubled him because he cut off the corner—the kanaph. David still honored Saul as God’s chosen king. Yet what he did troubled him. David had cut off Saul’s covering, his protection.

David arose afterward and went out from the cave. And he called after Saul saying, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, David had bowed down with his face to the ground and paid homage. David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men saying, ‘David seeks your harm’? This day you have seen with your own eyes that the Lord delivered you today into my hand in the cave. So that some said to kill you, but my eye had compassion on you. And I said, ‘I will not put forth my hand against my lord, for he is anointed of the Lord.’ See, my father! Look at the corner of your robe in my hand. Indeed, I cut off the corner of your robe, but I did not kill you. Observe and see that there is no evil or rebellion in my hand. I have not sinned against you, but you are lying in wait for my life to take it.
The Lord will judge between me and you, and the Lord will avenge me on you, but my hand will not be against you. As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘From the wicked comes forth wickedness,’ but my hand will not be against you.

1 Samuel 24:8–13

David showed Saul that he had no evil intent toward him. By showing the corner of the garment it would prove Saul’s vulnerability. It also shows that David will not avenge himself.

The unspoken significance, and one we would probably miss… This was a visible demonstration that Saul was no longer keeping Torah. He was operating outside of the law and outside of the covering of God. In other words, Saul would practically know that God’s hand is now against him.

When David finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. And he said to David, “You are more righteous than I. For you have rewarded me with good, while I have rewarded you with evil. And you have shown today that you have dealt well with me, when the Lord delivered me into your hand and you did not kill me.
For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him safely go away? Therefore may the Lord reward you well for what you have done for me this day. Now, listen, I know that you will surely be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand. Therefore swear to me now by the Lord that you will not cut off my descendants after me and that you will not destroy my name out of my father’s household.”

1 Samuel 24:16–21

Saul testifies in his own words what the missing corner signified.

Fringes of Jesus

Now consider what happens in the Gospels when we find Jesus on the way to Jairus’ home, there is an encounter we all know well. As people pushed in on and crowded after Jesus on the way…

And a woman having a hemorrhage for twelve years, who had spent all her living on physicians, but could not be healed by anyone, came behind Him, and touched the fringe of His garment. And immediately her hemorrhage dried up.
Jesus said, “Who touched Me?” When everyone denied it, Peter and those who were with Him said, “Master, the crowds are pressing against You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ ”
But Jesus said, “Someone touched Me, for I perceive that power has gone out from Me.”
When the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling. And falling down before Him, she declared to Him before all the people why she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately. Then He said to her, “Daughter, be of good cheer. Your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”

Luke 8:43–48

Did you catch what part of the garment the women touched?

Luke is the only account to provide this small detail. She touched the fringe of His garment. Perhaps it was the only thing she could reach. Mark’s Gospel provides another detail.

For she said, “If I may touch His garments, I shall be healed.”

Mark 5:28

We see her mindset. She believed if she touched His garment she would be healed. Maybe there is just a bit more going on.

The woman is most likely Jewish by the reference that Jesus called her daughter. But, how did she know if she touched His garments healing would come?

It’s that word kanaph. It is translated as corner in some places in the Tanakh. In others it connotes wings… Which are kind of fringy with the feathers. This woman probably knew the Tanakh well. She would know something we might not get because of the way translating works.

Healing in What?

But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. You will go out and grow up like calves from the stall.

Malachi 4:2

These are among the last words of God to Israel before the advent of Jesus. The book of Malachi is prophecy of the last days that would include the coming of the Messiah. Over a century had passed since Malachi wrote these words and when Jesus walked the streets of Jerusalem.

I’m certain you may see the significance in the text. (I dropped the hint.) The woman with the hemorrhage knew the significance of the kanaph. Read it like this: the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its fringes. Sun of Righteousness is considered a messianic title. And Jesus being born under the law would most certainly have tzitzit on the kanaph of His garments. The same tzitzit (fringe) she touched.

The First Miracle

On By TimIn Jesus, John 02Leave a comment

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there. Both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”
Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” Six water pots made of stone were sitting there, used for ceremonial cleansing by the Jews, containing twenty to thirty gallons each.
Jesus said to them, “Fill the water pots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.
Then He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the master of the feast.”
And they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water that had been turned into wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who drew the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom, and he said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and after men have drunk freely, then the poor wine is served. But you have kept the good wine until now.”

John 2:1–10

I assume that all have read this in their Bible. I also assume many have heard it as part of a sermon or teaching. I post it for you as a quick reference and in case someone has not read it.

In the past, I have not paid any real particular attention to it. At least, not until I started reading Beautiful Outlaw by John Eldredge. This account was used to demonstrate the extravagant generosity of Jesus. I had not even considered that thought in the thinking part of my mind, but I guess it would lurk somewhere in the background. As the Spirit of God would have it, looking deeper into what happened at that wedding He revealed something I had not encountered anywhere else. Come with me and see.

The First Sign

This, the first of His signs, Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and He revealed His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.

John 2:11

As John recounts in his Gospel what had happened, he closes this punctual account by saying it was the first of Jesus’ signs. This part of the narrative follows the calling of His first disciples. John’s intent is to promote belief in Jesus by telling of His words and the signs He did.

Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.

John 20:30–31

When reading the Gospel of John, pay close attention to the unfolding revelation. He opens with a testimony of Who Jesus is that parallels and expounds on Genesis 1. Later, we encounter John the Baptizer and his ministry of preparing the world for Jesus. Like Elijah speaking truth, John the Baptizer testifies to the ministry of Jesus, just as the apostle John records.

The Lamb of God

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ I did not know Him, but for this reason I came baptizing with water: so that He might be revealed to Israel.”

John 1:29–31

The apostle John is unique in recording the words of John the Baptizer. “Behold the Lamb of God” that takes away sin. In a way, he points to this first sign at Cana, which then points to another sign.

Let’s go back to Cana.

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there. Both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”

John 2:1–3

John recounts the first week of the ministry of Jesus. After being baptized and calling the first disciples, his small troupe is invited to a wedding. Already, we ought to pay attention to the timing mentioned. John is writing in retrospect, recording this decades after the events occurred. He has hindsight of the events in Jesus’ life, it is likely that there is something more to the phrase than just the narrative on the third day. It is something to keep in mind.

As we continue with the account, trouble arises when the open bar runs dry. Mary (Jesus’ mother) says that there is no more wine. There is then nothing left with which to continue the celebration.

A Mother Knows

Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”

John 2:4

This makes me smile. Not just what seems like abrupt language. What did she expect Him to do?

What did she know?

Even more intriguing… How did she know He could help?

I think the Bible helps us to know.

He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever. And of His kingdom there will be no end.”

Luke 1:32–33

Mary had a special briefing given by a messenger from God. She knew her Son. She knew He is the Anointed One, Son of the Most High. She knew He is forever King. I think she even knew Him as God, having command over material things.

Had He done miracles before this?

We are not given any information on that except for John’s telling us this is the first of His signs. It could be a small attestation when as a preteen, He remained behind at the temple and taught. It is something to consider.

What we can determine is that Mary knew Jesus could readily help in this situation. Jesus affirms this by His response to her. We take Jesus’ response to His mother as somewhat sharp. In the language at the time, it was a respectful address. Jesus is telling her that what concerns her doesn’t concern Him. He continues by letting her know to leave Him alone, His time has not yet come.

My Hour

This is the specific phrase used. It refers to a particular time. This is a reference that leads us to the culmination of Jesus’ earthly ministry. It points us to something future.

As John’s narrative unfolds, Jesus uses this word hour to point to a yet future time. He uses it in speaking with the woman at the well in John 4:21; 23. He uses it again to point to a future time period in John 5:25; 28. (The list continues: John 7:30, 8:20, 12:23; 27, 13:1, 16:32, & 17:1.) John explains the hour:

Now before the Passover Feast, Jesus knew that His hour had come to depart from this world to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.

John 13:1

In my opinion, from reading John’s Gospel, the hour refers to the time period that begins around Jesus’ death and stretches to His return to Earth and the Millennial Kingdom. The hour will be marked with resurrection, I would say multiple resurrections. Yet, I digress.

For the purpose of this sign, my hour refers to the cross as the beginning of it. John is exclusive in his extensive writing of the words and actions of Jesus in the period of time leading to the cross.

That Seeming Reluctance

Did you pick up on the reluctance Jesus demonstrated toward His mother?

Do you think it is significant as a parallel in His hour?

Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray close by.” He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then He said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Wait here, and keep watch with Me.”
He went a little farther, and falling on His face, He prayed, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

Matthew 26:36–39

It is not necessarily the same way, but I think the reluctance to do His mother’s will belies a very human emotional response. That emotion is amplified many times as demonstrated in His hour. In speaking with His Father, He wanted to find a way out. Nevertheless, as the Man, He honored His father by doing what His father wanted, just as He honored His mother’s will.

His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”

John 2:5

It is these few things that leads me to see some things that I think are hidden signs in this sign.

The Specifics

Six water pots made of stone were sitting there, used for ceremonial cleansing by the Jews, containing twenty to thirty gallons each.
Jesus said to them, “Fill the water pots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.
Then He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the master of the feast.”
And they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water that had been turned into wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who drew the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom, and he said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and after men have drunk freely, then the poor wine is served. But you have kept the good wine until now.”

John 2:6–10

Six water pots are filled to the brim. Each can hold a determinate amount of water. I’m not going to go through to the end.

The amount of wine that Jesus made would be the equivalent to 120 to 180 gallons. That is a lot of wine. The master says about the wine, that it is the good stuff and kept until now.

The Sign in the Sign

Consider the specific information given. There are six containers. It is considered by many scholars that six is the number of man. Seven is completion and the number of God, six is just short of that perfection. Humans were made on the sixth day. The number six here points to a human man.

Wine is considered the blood of the grape. Biblically, wine is often a representation of blood. We use the blood of the grape in the Lord’s Supper to remind us of the blood Jesus shed. The wine here ought to also remind us of the shed blood at the cross.

The containers being filled to the brim signify there is no more room for anything else. Think of sufficiency, as the blood of Jesus is sufficient, leaving no room for anything else. More important, had Jesus added something to change the chemical composition of the water, it would easily be detected by overflowing the brim.

Let us consider the quantity mentioned. The amount of wine that Jesus made would be the equivalent of 600 to 900 modern wine bottles. Again, that’s a lot of wine. Especially after the open bar has been emptied out. I don’t think it’s a far stretch to say that the amount of wine Jesus made was far more than sufficient to satisfy all of the guests. Weddings at this time lasted for days, even in the relative austerity the hosts would provide adequate provisions for the length of the celebration.

The wine Jesus made was also considered the best. Like the master of the feast said, the best is usually served first. In this account, the best is saved for last. The best speaks to the efficiency.

The Mediator of the New

This first earthly sign of Jesus was pointing to a future-fulfilling sign. The one when the Lamb of God would have His blood shed for the sins of humanity. It would be a Man. It would be a finite and sufficient amount. None more would be necessary. It would also be an efficient amount to more than satisfy the needs of all. And it would be better than all of the blood of animals shed for sins that came before.

Consider what another writer declares:

Then indeed, the first covenant had ordinances for divine services and an earthly sanctuary. A tabernacle was made. In the first part of the tabernacle, called the Holy Place, were the candlestick, the table, and the showbread. Behind the second veil was the second part of the tabernacle called the Most Holy Place, which contained the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid with gold, containing the golden pot holding the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. Above the ark were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Concerning these things we cannot now speak in detail.
Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests would regularly go into the first part, conducting the services of God. But only the high priest went into the second part once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins of the people, committed in ignorance. The Holy Spirit was signifying through this that the way into the Most Holy Place was not yet revealed, because the first part of the tabernacle was still standing. This is an illustration for the present time, showing that the gifts and sacrifices offered could not perfect the conscience of those who worshipped, since they are concerned only with foods and drinks, ceremonial cleansings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation. But Christ, when He came as a High Priest of the good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood, He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies so that the flesh is purified, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Hebrews 9:1–14

There is no room for another.

For this reason He is the Mediator of a new covenant, since a death has occurred for the redemption of the sins that were committed under the first covenant, so that those who are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

Hebrews 9:15

Knowing all of this, one can be assured beyond doubt, that the work of Jesus is sufficient and efficient to cleanse the conscience from sin for any that ask. The way to approach God is no longer veiled to anyone. Jesus’ blood, and only His blood alone, made the Way.

And just like at the wedding, there was no license for the attendees to be drunk. Jesus was not even concerned of that. There was more than enough for each invited guest to enjoy.

Invited Guests

Jesus and His troupe were among the invited guests at the wedding. As with the hosts of the wedding, God invites people to His wedding feast. Where is that invitation?

Jesus spoke to them again by parables, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding, but they would not come.
“Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited: See, I have prepared my supper. My oxen and fattened calves are killed, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’
“But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his business; the rest took his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. When the king heard about it, he was angry. He sent in his army and destroyed those murderers and burned up their city.
“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the streets, and invite to the wedding banquet as many as you find.’ So those servants went out into the streets and gathered together as many as they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.
“But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man who was not wearing wedding garments. 12 He said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding garments?’ And he was speechless.
“Then the king told the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
“For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Matthew 22:1–14

I make the case that simply by being born of Adam’s race just as Jesus… You, like I am, are invited to the feast. God wanted you in His creation. It follows He wants you in His presence in heaven.

Being an invited guest, you can enter His presence anywhere at anytime. (Really, you’re already there because of that blood Jesus shed. And there is no place anyone can go to escape Him.) Just talk to Him.

He’s listening.

The Divinity of Jesus

On By TimIn Jesus, Revelation 01Leave a comment

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to Him to show to His servants things which must soon take place. He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, who bears record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it, for the time is near.

Revelation 1:1–3

I just encountered this recently. In the first line, we are given a glimpse of exactly what it cost Jesus for us. You can see it in that first sentence.

Consider this: I assume that most reading this know that Jesus is God. But have you ever considered the humanity of Jesus?

He is wholly reliant on His Father. Even in glory, He still depends on the Father for everything.

But here it is, God giving a special briefing to Jesus Christ. He then shared it with John. Who then wrote it for us.

He really is like us in every way. He teaches us through His own example of complete reliance on the Father.

Do Not Fear Them

On By TimIn Do Not Fear, Faith, Numbers 14Leave a comment

If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land because they are bread for us. Their defense is gone from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.

Numbers 14:8–9

Musings from my hammock, literally. I am pondering Psalm 95 and the way it connects to different things. Hebrews 3 cites it, and it points to Numbers 14 and other things.

Significantly, the lessons provided to us is that unbelief exists in juxtaposition of all the works of God around us. Inexplicably, people still deny Him.

As the Day Leads

It reminds me of a small conversation with an atheist this morning. He demanded extraordinary evidence for the extraordinary claim that God is. I told him that his question is the extraordinary evidence he wanted, because he first posits the idea of God to then deny.

It was like that for these Israelis who had left Egypt. Some wanted to choose a leader and go back to Egypt. That aside has significance because in the account, it doesn’t happen. God’s great work of Israel’s salvation from Egypt is not to be undone. Even by those who God had already saved.

Yet these rebels grieved God. He graciously let some live for 40 years witnessing His workings as he provided for them. It’s fascinating to see the patience of God, even when He is grieved by those He graciously saved.

The encouragement is to believe in God and to keep believing in God. First, believe in Him to be saved. Then continue to trust in Him enough to enter the place of rest. That is the place to serve God. You cannot do it without faith. Read that last verse of Hebrews 3… One needs belief to be saved, and one needs belief to serve God.

So we see that they could not enter because of unbelief.

Hebrews 3:19

Bread for Us

There is that phrase “they are bread for us.” I don’t think that the Canaanites will be literal food, per se. But it is a play on the words of the testimony of the naysayers… The ones that saw God’s great works and succumbed to fear in disbelief.

They gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature.

Numbers 13:32

Now, I think their report is real, in that there were real giants. I also believe that those giants did indeed devour the inhabitants literally. I do think that is a reality that is scattered through the Bible and litters the recesses of history.. This is the reality to which Joshua and Caleb are testifying. God is going to overturn those who beset Adam’s race and this is gloriously pictured in this planned conquest of Canaan.

It is a lesson for us today. Like them, we need to believe He is with us.

The Wandering in Sin

As it goes, many of those didn’t believe. They wandered and died. Even Moses grieved God and didn’t enter the Promised Land.

This is still the same struggle for many of us. We wander in a wilderness of sin, never getting to the point in our walk where we serve God.

Does this grieve Him?

Yes.

Does it mean the believer loses salvation?

I don’t think so. The Bible is clear…

Do you despise the riches of His goodness, tolerance, and patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?

Romans 2:4 (MEV):

It is the riches of God demonstrated in His patience with each of us. Read that again, it’s His perfect patience. If you find yourself wandering in the wilderness of sin, turn around. God is good, patiently waiting on you.

An Odd Aside

There is an old English rhyme most of us know. It comes into the conversation…

Fee-fi-fo-fum,
I smell the blood of an Englishman,
Be he alive, or be he dead
I’ll grind his bones to make my bread.

That first line is ancient Gaelic that means behold, food, good-to-eat, sufficient. It attests to the witness of Joshua and Caleb, that the land is plentiful and blessed.

It’s also a nod back to the giants who devoured the human inhabitants of the land. That is a grisly reality that has existed from the Golden Age. It was the time before the flood when the gods lived with man. And they took what they wanted. The grim realities of that age have always been with us. They are handed down in lore. They exist to remind us.

Though the powers-that-be work to rush us all into a new Golden Age. Yes, the even plan to have gods living among humans. Remember, it is God who has already defeated the giants. And we can be assured He is with us now. There is nothing to fear as we enter that Promised Land of rest and service!

On this Thanksgiving Day, praise God for all He has done. His work has been finished since the seventh day when He rested from all of His work.