So I have been away from blogging for a while. I guess I didn't have much to say (or at least stuff I could say out loud). For me this is more of an accountability thing. I have backed off of the teaching stuff quite a bit. I think I really got burnt out last year to the point that I couldn't remember who I had taught and what was taught and I was repeating myself...getting old I guess. I'm repeating myself...getting old I guess.
I love the depth of scripture. To me it is like a huge gemstone that, as it is turned you see the different facets in all of their beauty. This Psalm is one of those selections of scripture that has prophecy built into it. I love the connection to the gospel accounts of Jesus life. Enough from me...just read. I have added in brown the connetions to the gospels. I am sure there are more, but this will just give you a taste. Remember the Psalms were written hundreds of years before Christ.
Psalm 22
For the director of music. To the tune of "The Doe of the Morning." A psalm of David.
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, and am not silent.
MT 27:45 From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. 46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"--which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the praise of Israel. [a]
4 In you our fathers put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
5 They cried to you and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not disappointed.
6 But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by men and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads:
8 "He trusts in the LORD;
let the LORD rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him."
MT 27:41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42 "He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! He's the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, `I am the Son of God.' " 44 In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
9 Yet you brought me out of the womb;
you made me trust in you
even at my mother's breast.
10 From birth I was cast upon you;
from my mother's womb you have been my God.
48 When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you."
LK 2:49 "Why were you searching for me?" he asked. "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?"
11 Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.
MT 26:45 Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer!"
12 Many bulls surround me;
strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
13 Roaring lions tearing their prey
open their mouths wide against me.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted away within me.
Undoubtedly crucifixion caused bones to become disjointed.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me [b] in the dust of death.
16 Dogs have surrounded me;
a band of evil men has encircled me,
they have pierced [c] my hands and my feet.
Mt 15:24 And they crucified him...
17 I can count all my bones;
people stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.
Mt 15:24...they cast lots to see what each would get.
In todays bible reading, I was struck by the use of 2 goats for the Day of Atonement (at-one-ment). One was used as the sacrificial goat (i.e. slaughtered by the priest) and the other was the scapegoat. Both were used as a means of cleansing the Jewish people from their sin. One dies the other lives.
This fascinates me. I have really been camping out in Hebrews for the past several years; trying to figure out some of the deep mysteries within this great letter. Hebrews talks about Jesus being our High Priest and about how the earthly tabernacle is a copy of the heavenly tabernacle. So my fascination is: How the two goats play into the Heavenly tabernacle, and this issue of atonement.
So here is my two cents: Both goats represent Christ. One goat's blood was shed (without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness). The other goat had the sins of the people placed upon its head and was lead out into the wilderness, this was the scapegoat. It is easy to see that the first goat ties in closely to the crucifixion. But the other goat takes a little to understand. My thought ties into the REAL penalty of our sin is that we will be separated from God because of our sin. We will all die right? So Christ simply dying was not paying for our penalty, but shedding his blood did satisfy the Law. The scapegoat was separated from the tabernacle (where Gods presence resided) and led out into the wilderness taking the sins with it. Christ fulfilled the Law for us completely 1) by shedding his blood; 2) by separating himself from God.
We know that Christ was separated form God because 1) on the cross he said "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" 2) he descended into hell and hell could not hold him (no sin=no guilt).
So you can know that your sin, no matter how great, has been completely wiped out. Today is the day of atonement for you. Accept Christ's forgiveness and sacrifice.
On the Move
It looks like I may be moving my blog over to Vox given the ease of use and some added features. Stayed tuned.
Hey that's 10% of the people that went!
Acts 7:9"Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him 10and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt; so he made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.
Maybe I'm a little slow....
But the story of Joseph is a great parallel to the story of Christ. The pure and wrongly accused despised by his own. Sold out by those who he loved. But in the end given the place of highest honor second only to one.
Exodus 25
God goes into great detail in describing the appearances and use of the tabernacle and items that would be contained within. To a jr. higher it might appear that God is just trying to fill up pages for his "book." Combine that with some geneology scattered throughout the bible and you could fill up few pages!
But these things were very important to God. The Tabernacle is where he would minister to his people through his high priest. The Ark contained reminders of Gods power, and was the place where Gods presence would manifest. This is also known as the Mercy Seat.
This is all pretty interesting stuff but we have to ask, "what's the point?" The point we fnd out later on in a letter to the Hebrews take time to read this link:
So the design of the Ark ultimately is a representation of something in heaven. Actually the entire tabernacle is representative of something in heaven.
On the surface who wouldn't agree that Pharoah had it all...wealth, power, and all the fineries thereunto. His people worshipped him as divine. It's easy to see why Pharoah would not have a need for God. He had everyone since his birth telling him that HE was divine. Have you ever met someone who appeared to have no need for God? They don't want to admit that they have any needs, weaknesses, and they certainly don't need the God crutch do they?
One thing that really struck me when reading about the Exodus was how the Bible refers several times to God hardening Pharoahs heart. I have read a lot about this because it is confusing that God would cause someones heart to harden. But this is not necessarily interferring with Pharoahs free will, because 1) he wanted it. 2) he had been warned that God would make a spectical of him.
If you have kids it's easier to understand how God could do this. Sometimes kids are so stubborn in having there own way that you have to tunr them over to it, even if it causes them pain in order to get them back.
It will be difficult for us to tell who is on the self destructive path. But they are out there. The guy who is wrecking his family while building his business. The addicted, the prideful, sometimes I feel like I am one bad day away from that.
I need to take inventory and see where my heart is hard. I am sure it is there. And while I'm at it; what has God warned me about? I gotta go...got some thinkin and prayin to do.
How about you?
39One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"
40But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? 41We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."
42Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.[f]"
43Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom.
-Jack
1 Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, "Have everyone leave my presence!" So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh's household heard about it.
I was talking to my wise sage Keith Gaddis yesterday. We always have these great talks where we share what God has been teaching us lately. I didn't have much. The past few months have been a bit dry for me. By dry I mean not much spiritual input and therefore little output. But I have learned not to beat myself up over the dry times. I'm human, it's part of the deal. I just need to suck it up and press on. My talks with Keith help me with that. I hope that you have someone like Keith in your life. Someone who speaks truth into you and encourages you, someone who sees you as Christ sees you.
So back to Joseph, Keith and I were talking about Joseph and he brought up the above passage where Joseph lets it all out. What we landed on was that maybe this (vs.2) was the load of all those nights wrestling with God, coming to a point. Maybe he saw the whole puzzle coming together at this moment.
Have you ever been through something like that? You think that your world is crashing down around you, only to find out later that God was there the whole time. Or maybe there is something that you are going through right now. You may feel like God is robbing you of something but maybe you are holding onto things you don't need. At any rate have faith and know that God is with you and is crazy about you.
