Tag Archives: lamb

SEEING JESUS IN THE FEASTS OF ISRAEL – LESSON 1 Concl

Christian Life, ,

3. THE MARRIAGE SUPPER

After the consummation of the marriage, the bridal couple would be escorted by the wedding attendants to the marriage feast to celebrate their union.

Jesus told a parable about the ten virgins who were waiting for the arrival of the bridegroom so that the wedding banquet could begin. “But while they were on their way to buy oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.” Matthew 25:10. (More about this later).

Then the angel said to me, ‘Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’ And he added, ‘These are the true words of God.’” Revelation 19:6-9.

THE DIVINE ROMANCE ACROSS TIME

  1. God loved and chose Israel to be His bride

God showed His love for Israel by choosing Abraham, growing a family and finally delivering them from slavery in Egypt. He wooed them by protecting, caring and providing for them in the wilderness and by leading them to the same place where He had appeared to Moses as He had promised.

  1. He proposed to them at Sinai

He declared His intention to “marry” them at Mount Sinai and gave them His “ketubah” to show them what kind of a husband He would be and what He expected of them. They refused to hear Him and to respond to His proposal. They showed their disdain for His covenant by demanding and worshipping a golden calf while Moses was on the mountain receiving the written ketubah.

  1. The betrothal period started at Sinai

Israel was to reciprocate by separating herself from all other gods, and by making herself ready for her marriage by her righteous acts. Although God continued to woo His bride, she persisted in being unfaithful to Him by her spiritual adultery with the gods of the surrounding nations.

She also failed to keep her side of the covenant by her injustice to the poor and oppressed.

  1. Divorce

God was forced to break off His engagement (tantamount to divorce) to Israel because of her unfaithfulness. She lost her land and her freedom and returned to the status of slaves in Babylon, just as she had been in Egypt.

  1. Jesus came in person to woo His bride

Jesus came in person to pay the bride price for His bride and to redeem her from slavery. Once again He wooed her by His love by showing her who He really was.

  1. He proposed to her again at Pentecost

On the anniversary of the day on which He proposed to Israel, the Day of Pentecost, once again He proposed marriage to His people with the same phenomena, a trumpet blast, fire and voices, and this time they responded by speaking back to Him. Jesus had found His bride.

  1. The betrothal period

The betrothal period began at Pentecost and will continue until Jesus comes to “catch up” His bride and carry her into the bridal chamber to consummate His spiritual union with her, after which they will celebrate the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

Then the angel said to me, ‘Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’ And he added, ‘These are the true words of God.’” Revelation 19:6-9.

Redeemed By The Blood

Bible Study, , ,

REDEEMED BY THE BLOOD

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver and gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but revealed in these last time for your sake. Through Him you believe in God who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him and so your faith and hope are in God (1 Peter 1: 18-21).

Was Peter specifically addressing Jewish believers when he made this statement?

Every firstborn son and every firstborn of the flocks and herds belonged to God. In the old order, all firstborn sons were to be redeemed by the payment of five shekels of silver to the high priest. Firstborn of the flocks and herds were to be sacrificed to the Lord.

God chose the tribe of Levi to take the place of the firstborn when the children of Israel were delivered from Egypt.

The Lord also said to Moses, ‘I have taken the Levites from among the Israelites in place of the first male offspring of every Israelite woman. The Levites are mine, for all the firstborn are mine (Numbers 3:12)

God instructed Moses to count the Levites a month or more old and to take them in the place of the firstborn of all the tribes and the firstborn of their stock in place of the firstborn of the Israelites’ stock.

The Lord also said to Moses, ‘Take the Levites in place of all the firstborn of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites in place of their stock. The Levites are mine. I am the Lord (Numbers 3: 44-45).

When the Levites and the firstborn of Israel were counted, there were 273 more firstborn that Levites.

To redeem the 273 firstborn Israelites who exceed the number of the Levites, collect five shekels for each one, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs 20 gerahs. Give the money for the redemption of the additional Israelites to Aaron and his sons (Numbers 3: 46-48).

In Adam we are all firstborn sons of God. As His firstborn, we belong to Him. To save us from being sacrificed as was the fate of the livestock, Jesus paid the price for our redemption by taking our place as the sacrifice.

Every firstborn son had privileges and responsibilities in the family. He represented his father in the family. He was heir to a double portion of his father’s estate but he was also responsible to be the mediator in family disputes, take care of any deceased brother’s widow and family, and to take the rap for a brother’s sins. He got the judgment while the second-born got mercy.

Peter used this aspect of God’s Law to show his readers that, as the firstborn of the human race in Adam, they all needed redemption, but not the redemption prescribed in the Torah. This was a picture of the redemption which Messiah would bring, not only the redemption from being sacrificed by the payment of a sum of money, but redemption from the problem of sin itself that was the cause of death.

Jesus’s death on the cross paid the price for sin, once and for all, and did away with the necessity for believers in Him to die. By dying, he conquered sin and death. He took away the penalty of death and bought us for God for all time and eternity.

Jesus said to her (Martha), ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ (John 11: 25-26).

Now we have every right to have the hope of being raised again from the dead, even though we will die, because Jesus is the firstborn from the dead and we are alive in Him.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

Glimpses Of The Great God: Day Twenty Nine

Devotion, , ,

DAY TWENTY NINE

 Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain,

standing in the centre of the throne,

encircled by the four living creatures and the elders.

He had seven horns and seven eyes,

which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

He came and took the scroll from the right hand

of Him who sat on the throne.

And when He had taken it,

the four living creatures and the twenty four elders

fell down before the Lamb. 

Each one had a harp

and they were holding golden bowls full of incense

which are the prayers of the saints.

And they sang a new song:

“You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals

because you were slain,

and with your blood you purchased men for God

from every tribe and language and people and nation.

You have made them a kingdom and priests to serve our God,

and they will reign on the earth.”

Revelation 5:6-10 

Let the full impact of this scene in heaven take a hold of your mind as you read it aloud.  Jesus is the Lamb in the centre of the throne.  He is the reason and the focus of angelic worship and the worship of all redeemed mankind.

 

Glimpses Of The Great God: Day Fourteen

Devotion, , ,

DAY FOURTEEN

 But He was pierced for our transgressions,

He was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him,

and by His wounds we were healed.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

each of us has turned to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and afflicted,

yet He did not open His mouth;

He was led like a lamb to the slaughter,

and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb,

so He did not open His mouth.

By oppression and judgment he was taken away.

And who can speak of His descendants?

for He was cut off from the land of the living;

for the transgression of my people He was stricken.

He was assigned a grave with the wicked,

and with the rich in His death,

though He had done no violence,

nor was any deceit in His mouth.

Isaiah 53:5-9

These verses speak eloquently of a substitute.  Everything Jesus endured was not for Himself but for us.  What is amazing is that He was never a victim.  This is what He chose to do and He did it without flinching or pulling out when the suffering became too much.   He endured the cross because He loved the Father enough to do the Father’s will.  It was the Father who gave His Son and the Son who willingly obeyed the Father to rescue you and me.