Saturday, December 13, 2014

DBRP_Dec14_2014 Mic7 Is53a Rev5


We heard in Micah 5 the whole portion that the scribes would have told to Herod when the Magi came:

2bBut you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,

are only a small village among all the people of Judah.

Yet a ruler of Israel will come from you,

one whose origins are from the distant past.

3The people of Israel will be abandoned to their enemies

until the woman in labor gives birth.

Then at last his fellow countrymen

will return from exile to their own land.

4And he will stand to lead his flock with the LORD’s strength,

in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.

Then his people will live there undisturbed,

for he will be highly honored around the world.

5And he will be the source of peace.

Note the mention of Bethlehem, the reference to Mary giving birth, and to the Lord as our shepherd. Note that Herod would have had cause for concern about his reign if this new leader appeared. Time is compressed in this prophecy as well. Christ would not be honored around the world until much later. But, of course, Herod could not know that.

In chapter 6 Micah quoted Deut. 10:12:

8No, O people, the LORD has told you what is good,

and this is what he requires of you:

to do what is right, to love mercy,

and to walk humbly with your God.

 


 

In our reading yesterday, Isaiah 52, we heard the passage that Paul quoted in Romans 10.

7How beautiful on the mountains

are the feet of the messenger who brings good news,

the good news of peace and salvation,

the news that the God of Israelb reigns!

All the ends of the earth will see

the victory of our God.

Note that God gave a special message to those who would carry the temple treasures back to Jerusalem led by Ezra. I wonder if Ezra knew of this promise! (Ezra 8)

11Get out! Get out and leave your captivity,

where everything you touch is unclean.

Get out of there and purify yourselves,

you who carry home the sacred objects of the LORD.

12You will not leave in a hurry,

running for your lives.

For the LORD will go ahead of you;

yes, the God of Israel will protect you from behind.

Those who carried those ‘sacred objects’ and who prayed and fasted with Ezra beside the river near Babylon had their prayer answered, maybe about 200 years before they prayed it!

The topic for chapter 53 starts in 52:13, where we will begin our reading today.

13See, my servant will prosper;

he will be highly exalted.

14But many were amazed when they saw him.d

His face was so disfigured he seemed hardly human,

and from his appearance, one would scarcely know he was a man.

15And he will startlee many nations.

Kings will stand speechless in his presence.

For they will see what they had not been told;

they will understand what they had not heard about.f

 


 

After acting as Jesus’ secretary to write down the seven letters to the seven churches, John was taken up to God’s throne in heaven. We can note a feature of Jewish custom in the writing of John in Revelation 4: In reverence he avoided saying, “I saw God sitting on his throne.” He went beyond custom and didn’t even say ‘the Lord/Kyrios’. Instead he said, ‘Someone’ or ‘the One sitting on the throne’. God was mentioned directly only in the quotes of the four living creatures and the 24 elders. Note that we have seen the living creatures with four faces before in Ezekiel.

And in front of the throne were seven torches with burning flames. And we are told, “This is the sevenfold Spiritb of God.”

 

In the Bible, and especially in Revelation, the number seven has a symbolic meaning. (Remember, seven letters, seven churches.) John used the number seven to show things that are complete, perfect, or godly. This is why God's Spirit— which is of course one, can be pictured using the number seven. (Compare Rev. 1:5, 3:1, 4:5 and 5:6.) He is God’s Spirit. There are also commentators who say that John thought about Is. 11:2-5— where Isaiah prophesied about the seven characteristics of the Holy Spirit which are seen in Christ Himself.


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