(#6 Session 4) Day 4 - Jesus Christ (The Man)

Shalom Aleichem and welcome to my bi-monthly blog!

Today, as we turn to the New Testament, we begin here with a most challenging section, for who can adequately talk about Jesus Christ our great and awesome Lord and Saviour? As we recall some of the key truths we have learnt so far about Jesus (as well as others that I did not have the time to go into detail here but you can read up on your own), I wonder if our list matches that of our Lord’s when He explained to the disciples who were on the way to Emmaus what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself. Let us begin ...

Jesus is God.

Jesus is the Word (Logos) made flesh. He is the Rhema through whom God spoke Time and Creation into being and is also the fullest revelation of God to Man (Heb 1:1-3).

Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End (Rev 1:8, 21:6, 22:13). He existed before time and will bring all Creation into eternal Shalom in Him.

Jesus is the true Light foreshadowed in the First Day of Creation that drives out all darkness.

Although Jesus is God, He is also fully human. He is the true Son of Man promised to Adam and Eve immediately after the Fall to crush the head of Satan.

Jesus is the true Noah bringing us everlasting comfort and rest, the true Ark that lifts us out of the flood of God’s final judgment foreshadowed in the Second Day of Creation.

Jesus is the true Dry Ground that rescues us out of the sea of sin and death foreshadowed in the Third Day of Creation.

Jesus is the fulfilment of God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Jesus is the true Isaac, the Son of Promise.

Jesus is the true Jacob, the first among the elect or chosen of God.

Jesus is the promised Messiah spoken of in the prophetic names of the 10 generations from Adam to Noah and the 12 Tribes of Israel.

Jesus is the suffering Lamb of God (Messiah ben Joseph) and victorious Lion of Judah (Messiah ben Judah).

Jesus is both King and Priest foreshadowed by King Melchizedek of ancient Jerusalem.

Jesus is the true Moses, leading us out of bondage and slavery to sin.

Jesus is the blood of the true Firstborn sacrificed so that God’s judgment will pass over us.

Jesus is the Greater Light foreshadowed in the Fourth Day of Creation.

Jesus is the fulfilment of the Law, meeting its requirements on our behalf and enabling us to live by its standard of love through the help of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is the true Tabernacle of God with Man, opening a new Way through the torn veil of His body into the Truth and Life of the very Holy presence of God (Heb 10:19-20). He is the true Sacrifice on the altar, the true Waters of cleansing, the true Bread of life, Lamp of truth, Incense of intercession, and Mercy Seat.

Jesus is the true perfect High Priest and all-sufficient Sacrifice taking away our sins once and for all time.

Jesus is our true Sabbath Day rest foreshadowed in the Seventh Day of Creation when He returns during the Millennium.

Jesus is the fulfilment of the seven Feasts of God - the true Passover Lamb who lived a sinless (unleavened) life, the firstfruits among the elect, the Giver of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, our Hope of redemption when He returns at the Last Trumpet, our Perfect High Priest and Sacrifice on the Day of Atonement, and our final and eternal Tabernacle.

Jesus is our true Eighth Day Sabbath giving us eternal rest in His presence.

Jesus is our true Hanukiah, giving light to the world at His conception.

Jesus is our true Sabbatical Year of rest and Jubilee Year of freedom from our debt of sin.

Jesus is the true Manna from heaven and Water of Life from the Rock of our salvation during our wilderness journey here on earth.

Jesus is the true Red Heifer sacrifice, sold for the price of a female slave and crucified outside the camp by Roman soldiers to cleanse us.

Jesus is the Bronze Snake that was lifted up for our salvation.

Jesus is the true Prophet referred to by Moses, making Jesus our Prophet, Priest and King.

Jesus is the true Joshua who leads us into the Promised Land of eternal rest.

Jesus is our true Kinsman-Redeemer by becoming a man so that he can redeem us as a near kin/relative, paying the full price by dying on the Cross.

Jesus is the prophesied Son of David who fulfills God’s covenant with Israel’s greatest king to establish David’s throne forever.

Jesus is the one whom the Prophets spoke of - the Messiah who would come as a Suffering Servant and King of Kings, the Righteous Branch that would remove sin in one day, the Root of Jesse, Immanuel (“God with us”), a Stumbling Stone to Israel and Judah but a Cornerstone of Zion, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace, Light to the Gentiles, Redeemer, Son of Man, Rock cut out not by human hands that struck the feet of iron and clay and became a mountain over the whole earth, the Good Shepherd that would be smittened and rejected … the list goes on and on and on.

Link to presentation.

(#5 Session 4) Day 4 - Reflections (Gift of Prophecy)

Shalom Aleichem and welcome to my bi-monthly blog!

As we wrap up our journey through the Old Testament Prophets, I want us to reflect on this highly misunderstood and misused gift - especially in this day and age of lies and deception - the gift of prophecy.

Paul tells us that prophecy is a spiritual gift that we should especially “eagerly desire.” The Greek word for prophecy (Propheteuo) used here more accurately means to “speak forth by divine inspiration” - in other words, to proclaim God’s Rhema in His Kairos. Many think prophecy is about predicting the future. While the word can carry this meaning and some prophecies do contain a predictive element, the spiritual gift of prophecy is mainly a gift of proclamation (“forth-telling”), not prediction (“fore-telling”).

Earlier, we learnt that the purpose of the Issachar B7D Fellowship was to repair, rebuild and rescue.

Here, we are further called to release God’s Word to His people - to prophesy to those whom the Lord calls by proclaiming His Rhema in His Kairos, which is NOW. It is not about predicting the future - when Christ will return - but speaking forth about the present - understanding the signs of the times and in so doing knowing what God wants us to do. As Paul put it here, the purpose of prophecy is to “strengthen” (our resolve to act), “encourage” (us to keep going when we face obstacles and trials), and “comfort” (us when we suffer because of our obedience to Jesus). It is to “edify the church.” God’s Rhema is meant to stir us into action as one Body of Christ, to preserve the faith of our brothers and sisters until Jesus returns.

We can expect ridicule and persecution - even from within the Church. Jesus said, “Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also … “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (Jn 15:20, 16:33). We have already been warned. May God give us the conviction, the character, and the courage to take up the Cross of Christ and follow Him.

Link to presentation.

(#4 Session 4) Day 4 - Prophetic Narrative & Rhema (Part 3 - Day of the Lord & Coming of the

Shalom Aleichem and welcome to my bi-monthly blog!

Previously, we saw how the Old Testament Prophets warned Israel that God would soon discipline and exile His people. Not only that, God would use the very enemies of Israel as His instruments of discipline before these pagan nations were in turn judged by Him for their wickedness and cruelty. All these took place according to God’s word during the Assyrian, Babylonian and Roman exiles. But that was not the end. The time is almost upon us now when Israel and the Church - the Commonwealth of Israel - will again be severely tested and disciplined by God for their unfaithfulness. God will allow a satanic kingdom to rise up in these end times to threaten Israel even as more and more believers worldwide suffer at the hands of an increasingly Apostate Church that has fallen away from God. All these events will culminate in a final showdown between this evil kingdom of man and God’s kingdom on earth just outside the gates of the Holy City, Jerusalem, when Jesus will appear in the sky and return to save His people on this appointed day -

The Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord is something mentioned by many of the Old Testament Prophets. It refers to the end of the world as we know it. To the Jews, it is that great day when the Messiah would come to deliver Israel from its enemies and usher in His eternal rule. To Christians, it is the glorious Second Coming of Jesus. Yet the Prophets had described it as a dreadful day, because it was the day when God’s discipline of His wayward people and judgment of His wicked enemies would reach its climax. It is the day when Jesus will return to put an end to the Antichrist’s last-ditch attempt to destroy Israel in the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem, which is also known as the Valley of Decision. On that day, God will decide who are truly His - disciplined yet loved by Him and therefore awaiting deliverance - and who are reserved for judgment, condemnation and destruction. Like the Jewish day that begins at sunset, it will be a day that starts in darkness and night first before giving way to the glorious dawn of Jesus’ Millennial rule. Jesus Himself told us that He would return like a “thief in the night.” Be careful what we wish for because we may not be ready for it!

But take heart! Even as God’s judgment unfolded for His enemies, the Prophets reassured Israel that there was ultimately comfort, hope and restoration for God’s people following His discipline. We saw this in the past, and will see it again in the future.

In God’s Kairos, a faithful remnant of Jews returned from exile to rebuild the nation and the Temple, preparing the ground for Jesus’ first coming 2,000 years ago. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, the way of salvation and restoration was open to all mankind. Now in these last of last days, God once again brought about the return and regathering of the Jews in 1948. After a period of discipline during the Tribulation, Israel will acknowledge its Messiah at Jesus’ appearance and be fully restored as His Kingdom on earth during the Millennium and into eternity. The Church, which experienced a similar restoration during the Reformation, will also be comforted with this hope of final and eternal restoration as the Bride of Christ in the New Heaven, Earth and Jerusalem.

Now, central to the entire narrative of the Old Testament Prophets was their prophecy of the Messiah as the Suffering Servant and Redeemer at His First Coming, before He returns on the Day of the Lord as the future King of Kings - Jesus Christ.

There are at least 353 Old Testament prophecies that have already been fulfilled by Jesus at His first coming. We can be sure that He will fulfill the rest when He returns. In fact, all of creation and history, and God’s plan and purposes as revealed in the Bible, are about Jesus. May the same be said of our lives - how we think and live, our perspectives and priorities, each day. May Jesus not only be our Saviour and Redeemer but also our Lord and King, reigning on the throne of our hearts, the only one whom we love with all our heart, soul and mind. Jesus is not only our Ark who rescues us from eternal judgment, but also our Temple (Jn 2:18-21) that commands our wholehearted devotion.

The last few prophets of the Old Testament - Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi - urged the exiles to finish rebuilding the Temple because - as the verse above tells us - the Messiah’s coming would very much be linked to the Temple’s existence. God would also send a messenger to prepare the way before Him, and yet we are told that His coming would be sudden/unexpected. This was what exactly happened when Jesus first came. Although announced by John the Baptist and accompanied by various signs and wonders, the people still rejected and crucified Jesus. The Temple in Jesus’ time was the most magnificent as it had ever been, but tragically the people totally missed recognising their God, their True Temple. As in the past, God will again send another messenger - in fact, He would send two of them (I’ll talk about this next time) - to announce Jesus’ return. But let us not wait until then to believe that Jesus is indeed coming soon, for the message is already being announced to us now. May we rebuild our spiritual temple and community in such a way that we will be ready to recognise and receive our King and not be caught asleep by His sudden return.

Please click here for those who want to study the Prophets in detail.

Link to presentation.