A Year of Waiting - Anticipate - Part 1: Waiting for the Wrong Things

The year is quickly drawing to a close and it is time for me to finish up my monthly series on my word for the year - Wait. This month I am going to focus these last few Faith posts on the word Anticipate. As we look forward to Christmas, the word anticipate seems apropos for the season. We are anticipating the holidays, the family gatherings, the cookie baking and the gift giving, but we wouldn’t celebrate if over two thousand years ago the birth of Christ was not anticipated.

The coming of the Messiah was prophesied in the Old Testament hundreds of years before Jesus Christ was born to a virgin in a pauper’s stable in Bethlehem. See this article on the Jews for Jesus website showing 40 Old Testament prophesies and their New Testament fulfillment. These are a few of the most famous surrounding Christ’s birth:

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Born to a virgin.

Prophecy:

“14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.”

— Isaiah 7:14 (NASB 1995)

Fulfillment:

“31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.
32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;
33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”
34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.”

— Luke 1:31-35 (NASB 1995)

“23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”
24 And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife,
25 but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.”

— Matthew 1:23-27 (NASB 1995)

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Born in Bethlehem.

Prophecy:

“2 “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.
His goings forth are from long ago,
From the days of eternity.””

— Micah 5:2 (NASB 1995)

Fulfillment:

“1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,
2 “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”
3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4 Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet:

6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
Are by no means least among the leaders of Judah;
For out of you shall come forth a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’”— Matthew 2:1-6 (NASB 1995)

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Descendant of David

Prophecy:

“12 When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom.
13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
14 I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men,
15 but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you.
16 Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.”’””

— 2 Samuel 7:12-16 (NASB 1995)

Fulfillment:

“32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;
33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.””

— Luke 1:32-33 (NASB 1995)

“1 The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham:”

— Matthew 1:1 (NASB 1995)

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Called out of Egypt.

Prophecy:

“When Israel was a youth I loved him,
And out of Egypt I called My son.”

— Hosea 11:1 (NASB 1995)

Fulfillment:

“13 Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.”
14 So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt.
15 He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.””

— Matthew 2:13-15 (NASB 1995)

I wanted to share these with you, not only as a reminder of what Christmas is truly about, but a reminder of who and what we are anticipating. The people of Israel were knowledgeable of the Old Testament scriptures. They memorized multiple portions and read and reread the commandments, the laws and the prophecies. However, knowing all this did not make them any more in tune when the true Messiah actually was born and dwelt among them. I believe that was because they were waiting for the wrong thing.

Many of the Jews at Jesus’ time were looking for a Messiah who would overthrow the oppressive Roman empire and lead them into a new kingdom with their Messiah as king. We have been studying the book of John in my Saturday morning Bible study and I have the distinct impression that the religious leaders would have preferred a puppet king that they could control. Jesus was far from the Messiah they were looking for.

“37 But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him.
38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke: “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
39 For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again,
40 “He has blinded their eyes and He hardened their heart, so that they would not see with their eyes and perceive with their heart, and be converted and I heal them.”
41 These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him.
42 Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue;
43 for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.”

— John 12:37-43 (NASB 1995)

We see in the above passage that unbelief was prophesied about Jesus’ ministry, and it was not just the unbelief of choice, but in many instances a situation where God “blinded their eyes” and “hardened their heart”. This is not an easy thing. We don’t like to hear that our loving God would purposefully keep people from getting into heaven, but many commentaries reveal that this hardening and blinding was already in process by the individuals’ unrelenting disbelief. Disbelief almost always turns a soft heart into unmovable stone. This truth makes me more grateful that our Lord has always kept a remnant of the Jewish people who believe He is the true Messiah, and that those of us who are Gentile were brought into the family of God just as much His sons and daughters as those who were from the lineage of Abraham.

All of this causes me to pause and ask the question, this Christmas what am I anticipating? What am I waiting for? Am I looking for a God who will get me out of a jam; who will get rid of the oppressive people in my life; make life comfortable for me? Or am I awaiting and anticipating a God who will bring me from the edge of the abyss to the deepest most profound peace a person could ever know?

Next week we will take a closer look at this idea of anticipation and how it leads us to hope. Until then have a great week.

Thinking About Christmas - A Closer Look at Scripture: Part 2

Last week I started looking at an Old Testament passage that is considered part of the Messianic prophecy. Scripture passages in the Old Testament that point to the coming Messiah are not unusual and Isaiah 9;6-7 is one of the more famous pieces.

“For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon[d] his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”

— Isaiah 9:6-7 (ESV)

Last week I focused on the first three lines of verse 6 talking about the Child of Mary and the Son of God. I also mentioned how the phrase, “…and the government shall be upon His shoulder…” referred to the authority Jesus was given by the Father and how, when at last, all others have come under that authority, Christ Himself will then subject Himself to the Father, so that God can be all in all.

This week i want to continue by looking at the rest of verse 6. When it comes to the names of God, we could easily spend a long time, looking at what each one means and how those names apply to us as His created beings. For today, I just want to look at two of the four mentioned in this verse.

“…and His name shall be called…”

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The thing that struck me about this phrase is that it has a forward look to it. Isn’t Christ already called these names? Since Christ has been with the Father from the beginning of our time and most likely from times time before that, wouldn’t all of these names already apply to Him? I think the answer lies in understanding what becoming human did to Christ.

Taking on human form, was a choice to limit Christ’s Godly abilities. Think about his very birth. This God-Man, became embryonic cells inside His mother’s womb. He spent nine months in the darkness of that womb and at the end of His life He spend three days in the darkness of a tomb. During His earthly life He knew hunger, fatigue, sadness and pain. He felt the hurt of betrayal and the stab of thorns and nails. When He was with His Father in the Heavenly realm He was perfect, powerful and a present part of the triune God. When he became a man he suddenly felt dirty and distant from His holy family.

This dichotomy of being fully God and fully man leads us right into the list of names given in the passage. I want to look at two of these this week and two next week.

“…Wonderful Counselor…”

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The word wonderful is an adjective. It describes something, such as when I say, “That was a wonderful performance.” According to Webster’s dictionary wonderful means, “…marvelous, astonishing, staggering, stunning, unusually good..” How perfect are these words to describe our God. There is no one as marvelous or good as the Creator. There is no beauty on this earth that can compare to the staggering and stunning beauty of a Holy, Perfect being like Jehovah.

When we use the word counselor, it brings two ideas to mind. The first, is that of a mental health professional who helps people work through their emotional and relational issues. The second image is a lawyer, or a person who gives legal advice and aid. These both convey human professions, yet they fully apply to the God-Man.

Jesus is one we can turn to when life is beating on us. He always listens with an attentive ear and sound advice. He truly understands the human condition and knows that all things are meant to bring us back to center…His center. He is the marvelous counselor.

Jesus is also the perfect lawyer. He knows exactly what our sentence is and He also knows how to totally abolish our punishment. He knows when we are standing before that jury of demonic beings, he need only say, “She is washed in my blood,” and the judgment is done. There is no prosecutor who will be able to argue against us, when we have Jesus in our corner. He is the astonishing counselor.

The summary then is this; Jesus is wonderful, because He is fully God. He is a counselor, because He is fully man.

“…Mighty God…”

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Here again we have two words. One is a descriptor and the other is the object being described, or in this case the who. Mighty, according to Webster’s means, “…possessing might, powerful, accomplished or characterized by might, imposing in extent or extraordinary.” While it is true that men and women can be described as mighty, it is more likely the word would be used in tandem with a being beyond our infinite human understanding.

The word God is described in the dictionary as, “…a Being perfect in power, wisdom, and goodness who is worshipped as creator and ruler of the universe.”

“Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth;
For I am God, and there is no other.”

— Isaiah 45:22 (NASB)

We can see how the name, Mighty God, fully reveals Christ’s Godliness, but how does it describe His humanity? I believe the revelation lies in the contrast. Only a being who is mighty, could transform Himself into that which is not. It is only a Mighty God, who could change into a fully human man and still be fully God.

This may seem a bit confusing, but it is in the mystery of those things we do not understand, that the beauty of faith and belief truly reveals itself.

Next week we will look at the names, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. Until then, I hope that this will help to remind you of our blessed Savior’s birth and why it is so important to keep that focus not just at Christmas, but all year long.

Have a great weekend!

Thinking About Christmas - A Closer Look at Scripture

Happy Sunday, everyone. I don’t usually post on Sundays, but my schedule has been all over the place, so I figured I would post, when I get something out there for you to read.

I was going to keep plodding through my series on Our Unseen Enemy, but then I began to feel that we needed to take a break from that, to put our minds, and focus on the beauty surrounding the birth of Christ in the Scriptures. I know that many people celebrate Christmas without any regard for the birth of Christ. In fact, there are some movements to do away with the greeting of “Merry Christmas”, because we are a nation of mixed religions and belief systems. I would hope that those who desire to do away with the Christ in Christmas would at least take a moment to think about what they are asking. It is the case, in fact, that if I must tolerate and have respect for the many religions and thoughts systems that do not honor Christ, then ought not the same be done towards those of us who still choose to believe in the Christ of Christmas? I am not going to spend any more time on that, but I am going to encourage everyone who takes the time to read my blog, to extend the kindness, goodness and gentleness of our Lord Jesus to everyone you come into contact with at this time of year. Many are suffering and dealing with tragedies and brokenness and we are to be the light of the world.

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I came across a challenge on Instagram put out by Lauren Ash Lambert, a Faith, Fashion and Lifestyle influencer, who also does videos which are posted on Instagram. The challenge was called, Writing my Way to Christmas and is basically a list of scriptures in both the Old and New Testaments covering the prophecies and actual story of the birth of Christ. I thought it would be a great thing to do. My only problem, I haven’t gotten past the first day. I got so wrapped up in the first scripture and have just been spending time each day savoring that, that I have not gone any further. That’s when it came to me, to do a few blog posts on these beautiful Words of God.

The passage I want to look at first is Isaiah 9:6-7. Just like we do in my Mulling It Over series, I want to delve into these verses and take them apart piece by piece.

“For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”

— Isaiah 9:6-7 (ESV)

You may recognize this passage from Handel’s Messiah. Turn up your speakers if you listen to it and imagine the angles in heaven singing this on the night of His birth.

For to us…

This announcement was made to us. To every single individual on this little, blue and green gem of a planet. Why is this important? Because if this announcement was made to the angels, or to some other entities that might be out there some where, it would be meaningless. We are God’s created beings. It is us, He chose to have a relationship with and place His image upon. This three word phrase is mentioned twice. I believe something twice mentioned is worth listening to twice as close.

…a Child is born…

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I chose to use the English Standard Version in this post, but I want to point out, in the New American Standard translation, there are several words that are capitalized. I will be showing those as capitals in the subtitles. I think it is important to look at several translations of the Bible when you are doing a more in depth study to see the different nuances of each.

The capital letter on Child causes me to believe this child is one of great importance. All of us, when referred to by our proper names, receive a capital letter at the beginning of our names. We all were taught that proper nouns, names of people, places, days of the week, months and so on, all begin with a capital letter. I am not sure why these details vary from one translation to the next, but this passage has long been looked at by theologians as a Messianic prophecy.

…a Son is given…

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Once again, we see that Son is a proper noun. The belief is, both Child and Son, are referring to Jesus. Jesus, the Child of Mary; Jesus, the Son of God. He is fully God, but also fully man. The blessing in this phrase is that the Son is given. If it is the case that the Son is given, we need to ask ourselves, why was He given? Revisiting a familiar verse, will remind us of the why.

“16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.”

— John 3:16 (NASB)

…and the government shall be upon His shoulder…

My NASB version gives several cross references for this phrase. What does it mean, exactly, that the government will be on His shoulder?

“18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.”

— Matthew 28:18 (NASB)

First of all, it means that Jesus was and is, the complete authority. This authority was placed upon Him by His heavenly Father. The Father did this, so His Son would have the final say.

“25 For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.
26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death.
27 For He has put all things in subjection under His feet. But when He says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is clear that this excludes the Father who put all things in subjection to Him.
28 When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.”

— 1 Corinthians 15:25-28 (NASB)

Second, this phrase, “…and the government shall be upon his shoulder…” reveals that he alone will have the ultimate power over his enemies, who will all be subject to Him; even the most final enemy of all, death.

Take a look at verses 27 and 28 of the 1 Corinthians passage. The Son, who was given the authority and responsibility by His heavenly Father, recognizes His place and subjects Himself, “..so that God (the Father), may be all in all.”

You have probably heard the quote, “With great power, comes great responsibility.” Truly that applies to our Savior. He took on this responsibility to save us.

There is so much in these verses, and I don’t want this post to get too long, so I am going to stop there and pick it up again in a few days. It is my hope that taking a look at these verses will remind you of the hope that you have, no matter what your current circumstances are.

Have a great day!