The Manger In A ‘Tabernacle’

Teaching, ,

“And the Word became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile) among us; and we [actually] saw His glory, (His honor, His majesty), such glory as an only begotten Son receives from His father, full of grace (favor, loving-kindness) and truth.” AMP

THE MANGER:

Luke 2:7: “And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.”

Verse 12: “And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”

The majesty of this scene is only matched by its simplicity: The Creator of heaven and earth had come to deliver Mankind from Death and He was wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger, a feed trough in a stable for cattle.

A Barn or a Tabernacle?

In context of the New Testament times, was this stable an Old English or Early American barn? I don’t think so. In Biblical times, it was probably a ‘booth’, such as was built for the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles. The instructions for this celebration are recorded in Leviticus 23:39-43:

(39) Also, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days: on the first day shall be a Sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a Sabbath.

(40) And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days.

(41) And ye shall keep it a feast unto the Lord seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month.

(42) Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths:

(43) That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I AM the LORD your GOD.

Keeping this Feast would have resulted in hundreds of these ‘booths’ in and around Jerusalem and Bethlehem. The Hebrew word for ‘booths’ is Succoth. It is defined as: booths, cottage, covert, pavilion, tabernacle, and tent. It is most familiar to us in its usage as “tabernacles.”

These “Tabernacles” were also used for cattle:

This word is used in Genesis 33:17: “And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him an house, and made booths [succoth] for his cattle, therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.” From this passage we know that these ‘booths’ or ‘tabernacles’ were also used for sheltering animals and so would have contained a manger, or feeding trough.

In Biblical context, it is likely that Christ was born in one of these succoth – a tabernacle, a temporary shelter. As He was “an Israelite born” He probably lived there for the seven required days, thus fulfilling the law. After the seven days in the ‘succoth,’ on the eighth day they took him to be circumcised, Luke 2:21.

He is said to have “tabernacled” among us, John 1:14, Amplified Version:

“And the Word became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile) among us; and we [actually] saw His glory, (His honor, His majesty), such glory as an only begotten Son receives from His father, full of grace (favor, loving-kindness) and truth.” AMP

God hid His glory for a while in a stable, a succoth, as foretold by Psalm 27:5: “For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion, in the secret of his tabernacle [succoth] shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.” The stable became a royal pavilion for a while.

Jesus shared with us the human condition of the brevity of this life in the flesh: He was born in a “tabernacle.” He thus exemplified the true meaning of the Feast of Tabernacles; that is, that our flesh is merely a temporary abode:

“For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (2) For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven. (3) If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. (4) For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. (5) Now He that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit,” 2Corinthians 5:1-5:

Peter also saw his earthly body as a temporary tabernacle: “Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance; (14) Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me,” 2Peter 1:13-14.

Jesus became our ‘tabernacle’ as foretold by the Prophets.

His Body is “the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, and not man,” Hebrews 8:2.

 His Body fulfilled Amos 9:11: “In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will built it as in the days of old.”

Isaiah 4:6: “And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and rain.”

Revelation 21:3: “And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.”

Jesus is our Immanuel, “God with us.”

A Body Thou Hast Prepared Me

Teaching, , , ,

The Old Testament is a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ.

So how did all of the Old Testament sacrifices bring us to Christ? Why did they slaughter so many animals and go through ceremonial burnings and disposals? Was all of this just in order to do what God had commanded them to do in the ceremonial laws? Yet, God later rejected even these very ceremonies. Why?

“When Christ came into the world he said, ‘Sacrifices and offerings thou hast not desired, but a body hast thou prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings thou hast taken no pleasure.  Then I said, ‘Lo, I have come to do thy will, O God’ as it is written of me in the roll of the book.”  When he said above, ‘Thou hast neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings’ (these are offered according to the law), then he added, ‘Lo, I have come to do thy will.’  He abolishes the first in order to establish the second.  And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”  (Hebrews 10:5-10 RSV, quoting from Psalm 40:6-8.)

So what did all of the sacrificial laws and ordinances foreshadow? Answer: The ritual, ceremonial law was only types and shadows to bring us to understand the sacrifice of Christ.

What sacrifices does God require of us?

Are we still to offer sacrifices to God? What could we possibly give to God Who is the Creator and Giver of all things?  The answer is that He has graciously provided us with the sacrifice that pleases Him most, our bodies. He has given us our bodies for a sacrifice.

Romans 12:1: “I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”  (RSV)

So how do we “sacrifice” our bodies? We present our bodies through an exercise of our will, as exemplified by Christ: “Lo, I have come to do thy will, O God.”  It is by submitting our will to His will in sacrificing our fleshly bodies that we are sanctified, even as Christ made possible: “And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

This means that we are to crucify the lusts of the flesh and bring them into subjection to the will of God:

“And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Galatians 5:24)

To crucify is to kill, deaden, mortify, the Flesh. “For if you live according to the Flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death, [mortify], the deeds of the body, you will live,” Romans 8:13 RSV. It is a matter of Life and Death.

We find specific similar instructions in Colossians 3:5-10: “Put to death, [mortify], therefore what is earthly in you: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you once walked, when you lived in them. But now put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and foul talk from your mouth. Do not lie one to another, seeing that you have put off the old nature, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator,” RSV. We are to put to death the old nature of sin.

How do we live this out in our earthly walk with God?

Answer: Romans 12:1-2: By a LIVING sacrifice: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.” KJV. We are to put on the new nature of Christ.

Jesus said: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it,” Matthew 16:24-25. The cross means “death.” We are to daily deny our flesh; that is the daily “cross” we are to bear.

Yes, it is a conundrum,

A conundrum is a kind of riddle in which some odd resemblance is proposed for discovery between things quite unlike, in this case, between Life, and Death. For John 3:16 promises us eternal Life in exchange for the old carnal nature: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” See also John 6:54; 10:28; 12:25; 17:2-3; Romans 6:23; I Timothy 6:12, 19. IJohn 1:2; 2:25; 5:11, 13, 20, and many other references. We gain eternal Life by submitting to the ‘death’ of our unholy nature.

So the question is:

Are you ready and willing to trade this body of death, the unholy desires, appetites, lusts, and practices for the beauty, power, and glory of Eternal Life? This is what Jesus came to offer us in His glorious Body. Through His death, He purchased Life for every man. He offers us eternal life in His resurrected Body. What a Savior!

 

How Should Christians Counter Terrorism?

Teaching, , ,

‘Christian’ means “Christ-like,” or “a follower of Christ.” Did Christ teach violence?

No. He said:

Matthew 5:38-48: “Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have they coat also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

“Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you: That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sunto rise on the evil and on the good and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For If ye love them which love you, what reward have you? Do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? Do not even the publicans so?

“Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”

Romans 12:17, 21: “Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in he sight of all men…. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Does this leave us, then, as helpless victims?

2Corinthians 10:4-5: {“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds;) Casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”

When Israel’s army was in warfare against the Philistines, they were cowering down before the Philistine giant, Goliath, until David stood up to the threat and agreed to go out against him. King Saul offered David his own armor, but David found that it was not suitable for this battle, (1Samuel 17:38-47.)

David approached the giant with these words: “Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.”

David stated his purpose: “That all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.” This approach and strategy won the battle. The giant was defeated and slain and God was indeed glorified.

For Christians carnal weapons are in vain:

Psalm 33:16-20: “There is no king saved by the multitude of his host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waiteth for the Lord: he is our help and our shield.”

We cannot meet the spiritual enemies on their terms. Christianity cannot go to battle in carnal armor. Neither can we allow them to choose the battlefield. We must deal with the enemy on the spiritual level, and fight with spiritual weaponry. We cannot go into battle without the Lord with us; our strength is in the Holy Spirit.

Psalm 46:8-11: “Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.”

Did the Law End With Christ?

Teaching, , ,

Romans 10:4: “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.”

Does this mean that Christ ended or stopped the Law? No. Let us look at the word end.
The Greek word here is #5056 in Strong’s Concordance. It means “to set out as a goal, a purpose, a point aimed at.” Christ is the goal and purpose of the Law.

Galatians 3:24-25 shows this purpose: “Wherefore the Law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.” The ‘schoolmaster’ has brought us to Christ, the goal, and purpose of the Law.

Jesus said: “Think not that I am come to destroy the Law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law till all be fulfilled,” Matthew 5:17-18.

The Old Covenant of the Law was with the Fleshly Israel, and was broken by them thereby making it obsolete.

Jeremiah 31:31: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:

Jeremiah 31:32: “Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord.”

The promise of the New Covenant was: “But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel ; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people,” Jeremiah 31:33, quoted in Hebrews 10:16 and in Hebrews 8:8-10.

The New Covenant was to exceed the Old Covenant, not to nullify it.

Whereas the Old Covenant was about external, fleshly actions and works, the New Covenant was to exceed it by also being internalized, a matter of the heart, a spiritual reality in motive, in thought and in intent. The born-again Spirit finds it a delight, not burdensome.

It is more serious to transgress the New Covenant than the Old: Hebrews 10:26-31:

“26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. 28 He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: 29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance [belongeth] unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. 31 [It is] a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” – Hebrews 10:26-31 KJV.

Hebrews 6:4 “For [it is] impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put [him] to an open shame.” – Hebrews 6:4-6 KJV.

How God Judges A Nation

Teaching,

The Lord spoke to Ezekiel and pronounced His judgments upon the false prophets of that nation, Israel, and the vain women and their seductive practices, (chapter 13). In chapter 14, the message is to the elders of the people for leading the people into idolatry. Then He describes the judgments that are coming upon the wicked nation, Israel, and its capital city, Jerusalem:

Ezekiel 14:12-21: “The Word of the Lord came again to me, saying,

“Son of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it.

“Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord God.

“If I cause noisome beasts to pass through the land, and they spoil it, so that it be desolate, that no man may pass through because of the beasts:

“Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they only shall be delivered, but the land shall be desolate.

“Or, if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go through the land so that I cut off man and beast from it:

“Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall be delivered themselves.

“Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my fury upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast;

“Though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.

“For thus saith the Lord God; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast?”

This happened upon Judah in 605 BC.

But even in such a time as this, God had a faithful remnant who would save themselves by faithful obedience, Ezekiel 14:22. This principle held true in the Old Testament destruction of both Israel and Judah. Daniel also had prophesied that a faithful remnant would return from the Babylonian captivity after seventy years, and the nation would be allowed another seventy weeks of years to repent and turn to their God, after which, God’s final judgments would fall upon the wicked.

That time came in the New Testament era.

We find that there was indeed again a faithful remnant, Romans 11:5. But the wicked nation was to be destroyed, Matthew 23-24. The four sore judgments were poured out upon the apostate nation and City, as recorded in Revelation chapters 17 and 18, and historically in 70 AD as recorded by Josephus and other secular historians.

Again, the faithful remnant in Christ, the Church, His Body, the Bride, the New Jerusalem, became the restored nation, the elect, Revelation 19:1-9. The four sore judgments were poured out upon the wicked, 19:11-20:15.

In Revelation 21 and 22, God Himself is dwelling in the midst of His purified people. This is the reason that sin must be destroyed. The Holy God desires to dwell with His people.  But cannot dwell with sinful people for His holiness will destroy sin and the people who refuse to accept His cleansing salvation.

Will our nation turn from its wicked ways? Will we be the faithful remnant?

Let this nation and every nation of the earth be warned by the Biblical examples of God’s decreed judgments.

“Unto Him be glory in the Church throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”