David's kin

After God’s rejection of king Saul, the Lord says to Samuel “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons.” 1 Samuel 16:1

God uses this text, written at least 930 years before Jesus was born, as a defining moment in prophecy. Through David’s genealogy, God pinpoints the family line of the promised Messiah.  God chooses Jesse’s son David as the next king of Israel successfully establishing the Davidic covenant.   In Psalm 89 verses 3-4 “I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant, I will establish your line forever and make your throne firm through all generations.”

The fact that Jesse’s son David is chosen to be king might seem to be a nebulous fact but actually pinpoints several specific Messianic requirements that Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled. Psalm 89:19-37,  speaks of the future Messiah, “He shall cry out to Me, ‘You are my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation.’ Also I will make him My firstborn, the highest of kings of the earth. My mercy I will keep for him forever, And My covenant shall stand firm with him. His seed also I will make to endure forever, And his throne as the days of heaven.”

David’s father Jesse was from the tribe of Judah. The banner they raised during the desert wanderings had the image of a lion. Found in the book of Genesis 49:8-10, we discover that God promises that Israel’s future kings shall come from the tribe of Judah. Through this line would come of the King of kings, Lord of all whose kingdom and throne would last forever. Verse 10 says that “The scepter shall not depart from Judah.”

There is another seemingly small fact mentioned in the Samuel 16:1 passage that is quite remarkable. Jesse is a Bethlehemite from a small village five miles from Jerusalem. Many of us remember the verse from Micah 5:1-4 from Christmas cards, if you’re old enough to remember when we use to send them out. “But you Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From Everlasting.”

So let’s put it together. God, by choosing David as king, sets in motion several prophecies that are all fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ, the Anointed One or Messiah. The Messiah would be born in Bethlehem from the tribe of Judah but of all the thousands of clans within Judah the Messiah would be from the tiny clan of Ephratah. What usually send chills up my spine is to realize that the genealogies of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Joseph, the step-father of Jesus, are both included in the New Testament gospels allowing Jesus proof of His credentials fulfilling all Messianic requirements.

I don’t want to jump too far ahead in the story of David but he will end up in the middle of several very sinful acts. Just as Saul was disqualified from his throne, David will be disqualified from being able to build the house of God, the Temple. And so it goes that God’s grace to mankind, His mercy is what always save us. It is never how righteous we see ourselves or we think we are that accounts for our salvation but only God’s grace that He bestowed on us in the form of his perfect Son, Jesus Christ.

God pointed out in 1 Samuel 15:22-23 that He prefers our obedience to our sacrifices. Many run around in church circles zealous for sinless living  but it’s only until we acknowledge and face the fact that we are cleansed through believing in what God’s Son Jesus did for us, that we begin to take our first steps of obedience.  Surrendering to God, putting other’s needs above your own and then humbly living for Christ is the way of the Master.

Rich Mullins was a successful Christian songwriter during the 1990’s. Although he sold countless records he gave away all but an extremely average salary to charity. In a line from one of his songs about God’s grace and our inability to save ourselves he wrote “If I stand, let me stand on the promise that You will pull me through and if I can’t let me fall on the grace that first brought me to You!” If you have not yet taken the time to ask God to forgive you, then why don’t you ask Him now?

 

 

 

 

 

King of kings

One of my absolute favorite kings is Aslan, the majestic lion-king of CS Lewis’ “Chronicles of Narnia”. Aslan is the rightful monarch of the realm of Narnia who, in an ultimate act of selflessness, offers himself as a sacrificial lamb upon the stone table. His ultimate display of love for the creatures of Narnia breaks the evil spell that had the land in an eternal winter, freeing many creatures that had been dispatched by the evil queen. Aslan is the embodiment of a great king as he puts the needs of his subjects above that of his own and frees them from their bondage. No greater love hath a man then to lay down his life for his friends.

As the last judge of Israel nears the end of his life, the nation cries out for a king to be established and rule over them.  1 Samuel 8:5 “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 

Even though God delivered the children of Israel time after time, they still refused to walk with Him. Seeing that all the other nations around them were ruled by kings, they turned to their own desires demanding that Samuel install an earthly king to be judge over them.

The problem with having an earthly king is that you never know what kind of man he will turn out to be. God tells Samuel to explain this to Israel and then give them what they wanted. While I was traveling in Bangkok, I noticed a very large picture of their king near the airport. As it turns out, the people of Thailand love their king. The monarch treats them very well by providing for their needs:  food, good highways and plenty of opportunities for families to thrive. The reverse can be total misery in a kingdom if the monarch is bent on evil and is self centered, as was the case of several of the kings of Israel.

The Jews of the first century were expecting the prophesied Anointed One, the King-Messiah to show up and lead them to a crushing victory over the Roman oppression. The book of Daniel was very well read during that time of history preparing the people to be on watch for their deliverer. At first, the crowds in Jerusalem were ready and willing to accept Jesus of Nazareth as the man who would fulfill this role. Then, following His arrest, beating and crucifixion, their hopes and dreams for freedom began to disappear replaced by horrific images of Roman cruelty as Jesus suffered and died.

Their mighty Jewish conquer who would ride onto the scene abolishing a corrupt world system, now hung lifeless on a Roman torture device. But because Jesus allowed the men He created to put Him to death, He was able to pay our sin debt for us, a debt that no mere man would be able to pay. Clearly the sages didn’t read the prophecy in Daniel and understand it completely because if they had, they would have known that the Messiah would first come as the Lamb of God and be cut off, returning at a future date as the Lion from the tribe of Judah, setting up an  everlasting kingdom here on earth.

When you really take the time to study the book of Leviticus, you will see the entire outline for God’s plan of salvation that was fulfilled completely by His Son, Jesus of Nazareth, called the Christ or anointed one. The bible highlights how even the apostles of Jesus didn’t understand what was happening during His arrest, sentencing and execution. At the last supper Jesus tried to explain, laying out the entire plan. In fact, it was not until the risen Christ came back to life and appeared to at least five thousand people, that God’s message of eternal life through the resurrection began to take shape.

As Jesus hung lifeless, nailed to the wooden beams, He breathed His last breath and gave up His spirit. Many family and friends had gathered at the foot of the cross to be with Him, to comfort Him, however, still others mocked Him saying “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” Matthew 27:42-44

The answer has always been Jesus. From the foundations of the world God’s plan of salvation was prepared and waiting for the precise moment to be revealed. Our King is coming with a savage roar and bite that will silence His enemies once and forever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ruth

We are all family; related to one another no matter how distant our connection the fact remains that we all occupy a single link in a finite family chain. If we are willing to look logically at this question the answer we arrive at is that all human life can be traced back two unique individuals.  Even though there was a worldwide deluge that wiped out the entire planet, a remnant survived and begins to multiply through Noah and his three sons and their wives.

Historical, genealogical proof exists in bible prophecy proving that Jesus is the foretold Jewish Messiah. Digging for, uncovering these prophecies, fulfilled by Jesus, catalyzes our Christian faith. There’s enough evidence buried in the genealogies alone to prove that Jesus is the Messiah. These texts written by 40 different authors, over a period of thousands of years, stand up to the test of time and prove the son of Mary to be the long awaited Jewish Messiah and Savior of the world.

Woven into this historic tapestry are many women who form essential threads in the genealogy of Jesus. Mary, the most renowned, was a virgin when she became pregnant with Jesus. However, there are many other women who also became essential links in the family chain of the Messiah. Tamar, Rahab and Ruth are three that stand out and are included in genealogies found in the gospels of Matthew 1:1-16,  Luke 3:23-38. Both Mary and Joseph are related to King David, Jesse, Boaz and Judah which fulfilling several requirements pointing to Jesus as Messiah.

A prophecy found in Psalm 132 makes reference to an eternal King that will be coming from the house of David, who will occupy the throne in Jerusalem forever.  What’s interesting to me is that both Mary and Joseph’s genealogies trace Jesus back to the tribe of Judah; more specifically through the house of King David.

In the gospel of Matthew chapter one, we find the descendants of Joseph listed which include Tamar, Rahab and Ruth.  For this discussion we will focus on Ruth.  One question that should come to mind is why did ancient Rabbis include the book of Ruth into Jewish history when it spotlights a gentile woman of Moabite ancestry?  What purpose could the books inclusion fulfill except to showcase the fact that a gentile woman could be redeemed through Jewish law? Many believe that this inspired book illustrates the fact that the entire gentile world has a role to play in God’s plan of salvation.

The book of Ruth recounts a story of redemption. It’s a story about a family where a widow is redeemed by her mother-in-law’s dead-husband’s brother, Boaz.   As Boaz goes through the proper steps to become Ruth’s   goel or kinsman- redeemer, he first asks his older brother if he would like to redeem the family property. In front of several elders sitting at the city gate his brother declines when he realizes his own property might be in jeopardy by having to marry Ruth and produce an heir.  Boaz is now free to accept the role of kinsmen-redeemer and becomes Ruth’s goel. 

“Then the elders and all those at the gate said, ‘We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. Through the offspring the Lord gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.’” Text from Ruth 4:11-12, written over 1000 years before Jesus was born.

These Jewish elders prophesied that Ruth, who was not only a gentile woman but also a Moabite, would be responsible for building up the house of Israel. In addition this special someone would come from the village of Bethlehem Ephrathah.  Let’s put some icing on the cake before moving on ; Micah 5:1-4 states “But you, Bethlehem  Ephrathah, though you are small among the tribes of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from old, from ancient times.” Written 700 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

 Ruth demonstrated great faith in her dialogue to Naomi recorded in Ruth 1:16-18 “Where you go I will go. Your people will be my people and your God my God.” Her desire to commit herself to the God of Naomi demonstrated a step in faith foreseen by an omniscient God. The precious story of Ruth’s redemption helps us to see the entire picture of God’s plan for salvation in a clear light. W e are seen by God as cleansed and faithful, not on our own merits but on the merits of Jesus Christ alone; our goel or kinsman-redeemer.