Where to go when times are hard.

Life can be tough sometimes.

Even when things are going well, it can throw something at you which makes it difficult - illness, bereavement, redundancy. This is especially true when you have others to care for - children, aged parents, sick relatives. At these times we just need help to get through. But when we have time to think, it may be we feel a need for something more. Jesus Himself said life was more than food and the body more than just clothing. He found encouragement in the Scriptures and was strengthened by the verse,

"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." (Matt. 4:4) His comfort was that His heavenly Father was watching over Him. That can be our comfort too. But that means we should turn to Him in our time of difficulty. He said, "I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me." (Prov. 8:17) How do we do this? Just pray. Remember, praying is just talking to God - you can do it - Just start!

Loneliness is hard to bear.

Do you find friends difficult to make? There is a story in the Bible that describes the adventures of a young man. He had money once - and friends - although it turned out that once his money went - so did his friends. He was reduced to eating leftovers. When he was down and almost out he remembered the family he had left - his father and his brother. He decided to try and make a new start, so he began the long journey back. He thought when he met his father he would get a lecture - but it turned out that his father was overjoyed to see him and they had a great time together. His story finished well. Jesus told this story to illustrate that our Heavenly Father will receive us with open arms if only we will return to Him.

Your circumstances may be different to the young man in the story, but the lesson is for all of us. Our Heavenly Father wants us to take the first step towards Him, then He will come to our aid.

There is a prayer in the Bible that has a few lines that might help. It begins with the words ‘Our Father’. Here it is.

"Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. "

(Matt. 6:9–13)

There is, of course, one prayer that is very important, it might even be the most important, and I should have mentioned it first. It is a prayer that God loves to hear and answer. Again, it is a Bible prayer and it was prayed by a man who had nowhere else to turn. You will be pleased to know it was a short prayer - but it was to the point. This is what he prayed.

"God be merciful to me a sinner. " (Luke 18:13) There is one thing we know about him - he was in earnest. For that prayer to be answered - it has to be sincere. But that should not be difficult - you know you are a sinner - we all are: the Bible says, ‘all have sinned’.

If you have begun praying and would like to know more, why not find Church somewhere and sit in the congregation and listen to what goes on. You will find that the people that attend enjoy reading the Bible and believe in the power of prayer. Some of them might even have had a similar experience to that which you are going through yourself. I know at first they will be strangers to you - but then - strangers can become friends. And if you have already begged God to be merciful to you - then you already have one friend - Jesus - for He is a friend to sinners.

Perhaps I might close with a prayer for you. Again, it is a Bible prayer.

"The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace." (Num.6.24-26)

The Messiah and the Ritual of Israel (Continued)

David and the Temple

The Building of the Temple

A great change in the worship of YHWH took place after David had conquered the Jebusite town of Jerusalem on the southern slope of Mount Zion. He understood that sacrificial offerings could only be made in the place that the Lord selected, as revealed in the Torah: “Take heed to yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see; but in the place which the Lord chooses, in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you” (Deut. 12:13–14). He subsequently understood that Mount Moriah was to be that place (1 Chron. 21:28-22:1). “Then David said, ‘This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel’” (1 Chron. 22:1: See also 2 Chron.6:20; Ps.132:13). So he set in train the arrangements that would result in replacing the Tabernacle with a more permanent building on what was to be known as the Temple mount. While David had the vision to build, it was Solomon, his son, who had the privilege to construct the First Temple.

But continuity is the watchword in the worship of the Lord, so the patterns received by Moses were incorporated in the blueprint for the Temple. Indeed, history tells us that the Tabernacle was disassembled and stored in an underground room beneath the Temple itself, while some of the Tabernacle furniture was absorbed to be used in the Temple services. This preserved the continuity in the worship of YHWH that was required of Israel by maintaining a connection between the Tabernacle and the Temple. As with the Tabernacle, the blueprint for the Temple was provided by God to one of His prophets, namely David. “Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the vestibule, its houses, its treasuries, its upper chambers, its inner chambers, and the place of the mercy seat; and the plans for all that he had by the Spirit, of the courts of the house of the Lord, of all the chambers all around, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries for the dedicated things; also for the division of the priests and the Levites, for all the work of the service of the house of the Lord, and for all the articles of service in the house of the Lord. He gave gold by weight for things of gold, for all articles used in every kind of service; also silver for all articles of silver by weight, for all articles used in every kind of service; the weight for the lampstands of gold, and their lamps of gold, by weight for each lampstand and its lamps; for the lampstands of silver by weight, for the lampstand and its lamps, according to the use of each lampstand. And by weight he gave gold for the tables of the showbread, for each table, and silver for the tables of silver; also pure gold for the forks, the basins, the pitchers of pure gold, and the golden bowls—he gave gold by weight for every bowl; and for the silver bowls, silver by weight for every bowl; and refined gold by weight for the altar of incense, and for the construction of the chariot, that is, the gold cherubim that spread their wings and overshadowed the ark of the covenant of the Lord. ‘All this,’ said David, ‘the Lord made me understand in writing, by His hand upon me, all the works of these plans’ ” (1 Chron. 28:11–19). So all that was intended for Israel to observe in their approach to God was multiplied, strengthened and given extra impetus by the man ‘after God’s own heart’.

Next Time: Solomon and the Temple

The Messiah and the Ritual of Israel (Continued)

David and the Psalms

Psalm 69 is also Messianic and it gives us another image of what the Saviour experienced in bearing our sins in His own body on the tree.  The Psalmist prayed: “Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul.  I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me” (Ps.69:1,2). The restless sea has long been considered an image of sinful humanity. On such a sea there is no place to stand - it will engulf you. Jesus was different. The sinless, spotless Son of God walked on water. But on Golgotha He carried the sins of the world and there the weight of sin sank the unsinkable.

But there was deliverance for the Messiah. The second unit of the twenty second Psalm ends with a prayer. “Deliver my soul from the sword, My only life from the power of the dog. Save me from the lion’s mouth” (v.20). This is a prayer that was answered, but as a deliverance out of death, not a deliverance from death. “Save me from the lion’s mouth”, initially points us to Satan, the ‘roaring lion’, but it also reminds us of Daniel. The best man in the kingdom, Daniel, was unjustly accused and sentenced. The law was immutable and Daniel was thrown to the lions. But in the morning when the stone was rolled away, Daniel emerged from the cave, the death sentence had been served.  Similarly, in the morning, after the stone had been rolled away, the Messiah emerged from the tomb after the death sentence had been served. Jesus was delivered from the tomb, not the cross.

As always, a sacrifice will need a priest to offer it. The ultimate sacrifice of the ‘kingdom of priests’ will need a king/priest to present it. And so it was. David spoke prophetically of a High Priest of the order of Melchizedek, linking the King/Priest of Genesis 14 whose emblems were bread and wine with the coming Messiah who would use those same emblems to refer to the blood sacrifice to be offered on Golgotha. “The Lord has sworn And will not relent, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek”  (Psalm 110:4). The writer of the Hebrew letter confirms this: “For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness. Because of this he is required as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins. And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was. So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.’ As He also says in another place: ‘You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.’” (Heb. 5:1–6). This title is repeated in 6.20 where Jesus is identified as a “High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (Heb. 6:20).

More next time

The Messiah and the Ritual of Israel (Continued)

Sacrifices and Offerings (Continued)

The Psalms of David (Continued)

We continue our consideration of Psalm 22 for it is its first line which hits us like a hammer blow between the eyes.  “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” The pre-incarnate Christ says it through David; David says it; and Christ says it on the cross. The expression is not one of impatience and despair, but of alienation and yearning. The sufferer feels himself rejected of God; the feeling of divine wrath has completely enshrouded him. This is the cry of the      Suffering Servant of Jehovah. In His life the Messiah had delivered those who were oppressed of Satan.  “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him” (Acts 10.38).  But on Calvary He was on the receiving end.  He felt Himself deserted by God, and easy prey for the oppression of the Devil.  The Psalmist knew something of the attacks of Satan.  He suffered from depression caused by the enemy of souls.  “I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning?” He answered his own question – “because of the oppression of the enemy?” (Ps.42.9) The instrument that Satan used in his oppression of the Psalmist was persecution. As with the Psalmist, so with Jesus - but in the person of the Messiah it is not simply the horrendous distress caused by unrestrained persecution but rather because He realized that it was the climax of a war of hatred that was as old as mankind; the unceasing conflict that dated from the Garden of Eden. It was the pivotal battle that the pre-incarnate Christ had prophesied; and the incarnate Christ undertook to win.  “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel” (Gen. 3:15).

The Bible speaks of Satan as a murderer from the beginning – a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.  Psalm 22 describes the distilled essence of that insatiable evil. The appearances of Christ in the T’nach as the Angel of the Lord had precluded any successful attack by His ancient enemy. But the Philippian stoop, that is, ‘He emptied   Himself’, apparently gave Satan His opportunity.  Jesus described it so, “this is your hour, and the power of darkness” (Luke 22.53). Satan had been waiting centuries for this opportunity. 

Then there was the wrath of God.  It was experienced at the time when Christ was made an offering for sin.  Peter put it succinctly, “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree” (1 Pet.2.24). Sin separates from God. Sin will make you hide from the Lord, but it will end with the Lord hiding from you. It did in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve hid themselves from the presence of the Lord but then He drove them out!       Similarly, with Cain, God said, “... now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand …”, and Cain responded, “Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid ….” And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD. And so it was with the Messiah; “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Jesus, suffering the attack of the most powerful created being, without recourse to His own qualities of deity, and without divine help, cried, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani” “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt.27.46)

More Next Time

The Messiah and the Ritual of Israel (Continued)

Sacrifices and Offerings (Continued)

David

David, who succeeded Saul as King, has become known as the sweet Psalmist of Israel. He was committed to protecting and promoting the activities of the priests of YHWH. He re-organized the priesthood from twelve to twenty four courses, each with a chief priest. Also the Zadokian dynasty of chief priests was established during his reign. This is the order, committed to righteousness, which will function in the Messianic Kingdom under King Jesus.

David’s Psalms, in particular, are a fruitful source of illumination when tracing the image of the cross prior to the incarnation. He was the anointed of the Lord as recorded by Samuel, “the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that time forward” (1 Sam.16.13) and therefore a Messiah himself. Under the tutelage of Samuel he honed his gift of music and prophecy at the Naioth School of Prophets, and accordingly became a perfect channel to write as the Spirit of God moved him. Peter speaks of him as a prophet.

Psalm 22, the most famous of all psalms in this connection, reads as if it were composed at the foot of the cross. It describes in detail so much of what a Roman crucifixion entailed, before even such a capital punishment was in existence. Jesus, the Son of God, the Messiah of Israel, and the Savior of the world, was nailed to a Roman execution stake at 9 a.m. on the 14^th Nissan, in the very year that was predicted in Daniel’s prophecy. The suffering and abuse which Jesus suffered through the night of the 14th Nissan is illuminated in Psalm 22 by several images. “Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round” (v.12).  The bulls alluded to here are from trans-Jordan and are remarkable for size, strength and fierceness.  A suitable image when we consider the Messiah was arrested by a combination of Temple guards, Roman soldiers and supporters of the unmerciful Jewish leaders (over 600 men altogether), to be abused through the night with both beatings and humiliations. The verbal abuse of the crowd as they bayed for His blood like a pack of dogs shouting, ‘crucify … crucify’ is captured by the verse, “For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me” (v.16). The unmerciful treatment of Jesus by Jews and Romans; including a scourging which would have killed a weaker man; left Jesus totally exhausted, unable even to carry the crossbeam of the execution gibbet; “I am poured out like water … my strength is dried up like a potsherd” (vv.14,15). Add to that, the excruciating pain of the crucifixion itself, “they pierced my hands and my feet” (v.16); and “all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels … and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death” (vv.14,15).  This inhuman treatment demonstrated the sinfulness of the human heart and the insatiable evil appetite of the Devil. Jesus suffered the distilled essence of the wrath of man and the wrath of Satan.

The added humiliation of Golgotha is captured by the words, “I am a worm and no man” (v.6). The word translated ‘worm’ refers to the worm ‘coccus ilicis’. When the female of this species was ready to give birth to her young, she would attach her body to the trunk of a tree, fixing herself so firmly and permanently that she would never leave again.  The eggs deposited beneath her body were thus protected until they were ready to enter their own life cycle. As the mother died, crimson fluid stained her body and the surrounding wood.  From the dead bodies of such worms were the scarlet dyes of antiquity extracted. For example, these were the dyes that were used to color the scarlet curtains and cloths in the Tabernacle. When David said, ‘I am a worm’ he pre-figured the death of Jesus when the Messiah, like the coccus ilicis worm, shed His life blood to bring many sons to glory.

The prophet continued, I am “a reproach of men, and despised of the people.  All they that see me laugh me to scorn they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him” (vv.6-8). The fulfillment of this is referenced by Matthew, and Mark, “…they that passed by railed on him wagging their heads” (Matt.27.39; Mark 15.29). Then again, “They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots” (v.18), was fulfilled to the letter. “Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. They said therefore among themselves, ‘Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be,’ that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says: ‘They divided My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots’” (John 19.23,24). Other Psalms add more detail, such as, “They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink”  (Ps.69.21).

More Next Time:

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The Messiah and the Ritual of Israel (Continued)

Sacrifices and offerings

David and Solomon

The period from Moses to David and Solomon provides little in the way of new light in respect of sacrifices and offerings, although the ark itself had several adventures. It is when Israel became a true monarchy under David that there was further impetus given to the concept of a ‘kingdom of priests’. This is the particular focus of the first book of Chronicles. While the books of first and second Kings also deal with the monarchy, the promise of the Davidic Covenant and the establishment of the Jerusalem Temple, they are written from the point of view of the prophet, whereas Chronicles is written from the point of view of the priest. The Chronicler is concerned to get to Solomon and the building of the Temple. But we need to consider David’s contribution first. Not only did he desire to construct a permanent building to house the ark but many of his meditations were, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, prophetic of the time when the ultimate blood sacrifice would be offered.

Samuel and Saul

It is the ministry of Samuel that laid the foundation for the period of the Kings. It is his call, training and rule that was used to move the nation of Israel from a loose confederation of tribes ruled by Judges to a united kingdom under one king. He was faithful to YHWH and received those messages from the  throne of God that enabled him to know the mind of God in respect of the divine plan for Israel. He was aware that, on the horizon were those changes in the government of Israel that would better illustrate the declared purpose of God that they should be a ‘kingdom of priests’. Under David first, and then more so with the building of the Temple by Solomon, they progressed to be the model for a Messianic kingdom under the Son of David.

When Samuel succeeded to the priestly office he became a pillar in the defense of Israel. A Nazarite from birth, at his peak he was the prophet, judge and priest of Israel. He it was, that informed Saul that he had forfeited the kingdom by disobedience. The circumstance of the rejection is illuminating. Saul demonstrated his lack of faith in the Lord by being agitated by the late arrival of Samuel to offer sacrifice prior to a military campaign. He usurped the priest’s office by making the sacrifice himself, thus incurring the displeasure of Samuel and the judgment of the Lord. This signaled the removal of Saul’s authority as king of Israel, losing him the protection of the Lord. It also signaled the beginning of David’s authority, which increased under the guidance and protection of YHWH. The importance of the incident for our purpose is that it again identifies that the priest’s office should be occupied by those properly called and trained, and that the safety and blessing of God’s ancient people depended on the activity of the priesthood. Moreover, the sacrifices could not be used as an end in themselves, that is, like a talisman to ensure the support of the Lord. Samuel summed it up: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams” (1 Sam. 15:22).

More Next Time

The Messiah and the Ritual of Israel (Continued)

Table set on Shabbat eve

There is yet one more feast that should be considered since it features in those that were designated feasts of YHWH in Leviticus 23. It is the Sabbath.

The Sabbath (Shabbat)

In the feasts listed in Leviticus chapter 23, the Sabbath stands at the head. “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.” (Lev. 23:2,3) This feast is separated from the other festivals in several aspects:

 1.            It is identified as different, by being separated from the other feasts by another phrasing of: “These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.” (Lev. 23:4)

2.            Its character also separates it - it is a weekly feast celebrated in the home, as compared to the annual feasts that follow.

3.            It is the only ritual that is included in the Decalogue. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” (Exod. 20:8)

4.            It pre-dated the giving of the Law, indeed the basis of the festival lies in the creative acts of the Lord. “Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.” (Gen. 2:1-3).

5.            It is identified as important to a nation that was in slavery and therefore had no rest. “And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.” (Deut. 5:15)

 The special character of the day was reinforced every week while they journeyed from Egypt to Canaan. The Israelite nation was fed miraculously by manna. It arrived fresh each morning, and they were commanded to collect only sufficient for the day’s need. They were being tutored to trust YHWH for their daily bread. Those that collected extra to lay aside for the following day found that it rotted and bred worms. For the first five days of the week, this was the pattern, but on the sixth day, they were commanded to collect enough manna for two days, for the seventh day was the Sabbath and they were forbidden to collect on that day. For the Sabbath YHWH added two more miracles. The first, that on that day alone, no manna was provided (even though some did go out to gather); and the second, the manna collected on the sixth day lasted for two days. Manna collected on the first, second, third, fourth and fifth days was only good for the one day, but manna collected on the sixth day lasted for two days, for on that day alone, it did not rot and remained edible.

 It is from this section of the Torah, the passages that give instructions for the gathering of the manna, that the Jewish people source the prohibition against baking and cooking on a Sabbath. Moses said to wilderness generation, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil; and lay up for yourselves all that remains, to be kept until morning.’” (Exod. 16:23)

 Similarly, the prohibition against lighting a fire, “Then Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said to them, “These are the words which the Lord has commanded you to do: Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh day shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of rest to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. You shall kindle no fire throughout your dwellings on the Sabbath day.” (Exod. 35:1-3)

         The Rabbis identified the Sabbath-breaking episode in respect of the manna, as one of the 10 tests that finally exhausted the patience of God. Ezekiel identified Sabbath-breaking as a particular element in the rebellion of Israel and a partial cause of the decease of those that were redeemed from Egypt but died before reaching Canaan. “Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they did not walk in My statutes; they despised My judgments, ‘which, if a man does, he shall live by them’; and they greatly defiled My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out My fury on them in the wilderness, to consume them.” (Ezek. 20:10-13, see also vv. 17-22)

 The importance of the Sabbath is such that the Lord used offers of blessing for those that observed the feast, as well as the prospect of punishment for those that disregarded it.  Indeed, the existence of the nation’s capital, Jerusalem, depended on Sabbath-keeping. Faithful Jeremiah declared the warning of judgment as well as the promise of blessing. “And it shall be, if you heed Me carefully,” says the Lord, “to bring no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but hallow the Sabbath day, to do no work in it, then shall enter the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, accompanied by the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall remain forever… But if you will not heed Me to hallow the Sabbath day, such as not carrying a burden when entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.” (Jer. 17:24,25,27)

 Isaiah, the prophet, emphasized the blessing for the Sabbath-keeper. “If you turn away your foot … From doing your pleasure on My holy day, And call the Sabbath a delight, The holy day of the Lord honorable, And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, Nor finding your own pleasure, Nor speaking your own words, Then you shall delight yourself in the Lord; And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, And feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 58:14)

More Next Time

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The Messiah and the Ritual of Israel (Continued)

The Temple illuminated at the 'Kindling of the Lamps'

The Feast of Tabernacles (Continued)

The Messiah and the Kindling of the Lamps

 The following day, the day of Shemini Atzeret, Jesus again came to the Temple. Entering the Court of Prayer and standing in the shadow of the giant Menorahs He proclaimed, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (John 8:12) Like the Shekinah glory, which was revealed to Israel in the cloudy/fiery pillar, to guide them to Canaan, Jesus declared He was Israel’s Messiah and promised to lead any who would accept His Messianic claim. Those that followed Him, would be as if they were following the glory pillar that gave light to Israel. As Simeon remarked when the baby Jesus was first brought to the Temple, “a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel”. (Luke 2:32)  John intimated as much at the beginning of his gospel where he transliterated the Hebrew word ‘Shekinah’ to σκηνοìω [skenoo) in the first chapter of his gospel where it is normally translated ‘dwelt’. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth”. (John 1:14) Here he said that the Shekinah that departed at the time of Ezekiel had returned in the person of the Messiah. God became flesh and ‘Shekinah’d’ among us, and we beheld His glory. John had witnessed the Shekinah glory, radiating from Jesus, on the Mount of Transfiguration. This is not an overstatement of the claims of Jesus, because in the following confrontation with the Sanhedrists the Messiah declared, ‘Before Abraham was I am’. When He took the sacred Name of YHWH to Himself His opponents were enraged and “took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.” (John 8:59)

 Leaving the Temple, the Messiah and His disciples observed a man that had been blind from birth.  Probably located near the double Gate at the entry to the Temple Mount, the blind beggar announced his condition while pleading for alms. This encounter promoted a query from the disciples. They asked, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:2) They were merely phrasing their question in the context of the Rabbinical teaching of the day. Since this man has been disadvantaged from birth, it must be the result of a judgment of God, a judgment on sin. Therefore, there were only two alternatives available. God’s displeasure must have been provoked by the sin of the individual or the sin of the parents.  The Rabbis taught that everyone is born with an evil inclination and a good inclination, and these are present in the fetus in the womb.  If the evil inclination has dominance in the unborn child, then he or she could be born with a physical defect as a result. The second alternative regarding the sins of the parents was also common teaching.  Based on such verses as Exodus 34.7, they taught that the Lord by no means cleared the guilty, “visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.” Jesus answered, using the context of the feast and the ceremony of the Kindling of the Lamps. He said, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”(John 9:3-5) The blind man had been selected to be a symbolic expression of the work of God. In healing this poor wretch, the Messiah did something unusual – he made clay of spittle and dust and then anointed his blind eyes, telling him to go to the pool of Siloam to wash! Bearing in mind the context of the festival where the water of Siloam was emblematic of the Holy Spirit, Jesus used this symbolism in one more telling sign. The earth that the Messiah used represents sinful man (Adam), who is of the earth, earthy. The use of spittle was significant. When an individual was spat upon, it was because he was considered contemptible, beneath the normal courtesies of life. No doubt, those who despised such beggars had often spat upon this poor man. That which represented this despised son of Adam was washed away by that which represented the Spirit of God. The man born blind was given sight! This miracle was a Messianic sign because the Rabbis taught that since this particular affliction involved the judgment of God on sin only Messiah would be able to cure it. This is clear from the subsequent criticisms of the Pharisees. Since this miracle took place on the Sabbath, the legalistic Jews took the newly sighted man to the Pharisees to explain. Some persevered in their opposition - “This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” Others were ambivalent. They said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” (John 9:16) There was a division among them. The man who was the recipient of the miracle had the clearest understanding. All his life they had taught him that only the Messiah could alleviate his condition. Now cured he concluded, it must have been the Messiah who did it, for “since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.” (John 9:32) Hearing such a clear statement from someone they had always despised, the Pharisees returned to their standard teaching, “You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?” (John 9:34) This man was excommunicated from the synagogue.

 At this point, the previously sightless man had not seen the Messiah.  He was still blind when he was sent to the pool to wash. So when Jesus found Him later and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of God?” (John 9:35) and he responded, “Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?” Jesus said to him something that could not have been uttered before the miracle. “You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.” (John 9:37) His response was heart-warming. “He said, ‘Lord, I believe!’ And he worshiped Him”. (John 9:38) What a day for this poor man.  It started like any other, with his begging by the Temple steps. But a meeting with Israel’s Messiah, “the light of the world”, brought him physical sight, and then later spiritual sight. The new start his physical healing provided was complemented by a new spiritual start. He had been truly ‘born again’.

 So the actions of the Messiah at the Feast of Tabernacles were in complete harmony with the context of the festival with its two central ceremonies. He offered ‘living water’ and ‘light’ and to illustrate this to the glory of God, He healed a blind man, by the use of living water from the pool of Siloam, and brought light to his darkness. Moreover, He did this on ‘Shemini Atzeret’, the day when God sought extra fellowship with His people.

More Next Time

The Messiah and the Ritual of Israel (Continued)

The Feast of Tabernacles

The Pouring of the Waters

The ordinances in respect of the water libation and the use of palm branches and the fruit of the trees applied for each day of the feast, but it was at the end of the festival that they were both incorporated into a much larger ceremony.

The Pool of Siloam

On that day, the pilgrims left their booths with a Lulabh  in their right hand (to fulfill Leviticus 23.40) and an Ethrog, a citrus fruit, in their left hand. Dressed appropriately for the festival they divided into three separate groups. One group attended the morning sacrifice in the Temple. Another group traveled in procession to a place ‘below Jerusalem’ called Moza, where they cut down willow branches that they used later in the Temple to adorn the altar.  The third group formed a separate procession. They followed a priest carrying a golden pitcher. He led them down to the pool of Siloam where he filled the pitcher with water. This part of the ceremony was based on Isaiah 12.3. “Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” They sang the Psalms of Ascent (Psalms120-134) as they returned to arrive at the close of the morning service, where they were joined by the two other groups. A threefold blast on the trumpets welcomed the priest as he entered through the water gate, a gate so called because of this ceremony. Here, he was met by another priest bearing a pitcher of wine for the drink offering. The two priests ascended the rise of the altar, one going left and one right, to pour out the libations through funnels to the foot of the altar. Immediately after, the Levites led in the singing of the great ‘Hallel’ with responses from the people.

The Water Gate is the right hand gate

This ceremony had a certain symbolism. Originally commemorating the smitten rock when God, through Moses, provided water in the wilderness, the water came to represent the Holy Spirit, and the pouring out of the water was looking forward to the time, and perhaps a prayer for it to come quickly, when God would pour out His Spirit upon the nation.

The ceremony continued with blasts on the trumpets, during which those from the company that had processed up from Moza decorated the altar making a leafy canopy about it and hanging fruits on the branches.

Shemini Atzeret

“On the eighth day you shall have a sacred assembly. You shall do no customary work.” (Numb. 29:35) The Rabbis interpreted this to mean that those who attended the feast were asked to stay a day longer, as if the Lord was reluctant to see them return home.

The Messiah and the Drawing of the Water

There is a record in John, of Jesus attending the feast of Tabernacles. Traveling separately from His disciples, He attended the festival without advertising Himself.  However, towards the middle of festival, He entered the Court of Women, otherwise called the Court of Prayer or the Treasury, to teach, and there he met further opposition from the Jews of Jerusalem. On the last day of the feast, He attended the Temple once again, and witnessed the ceremony of the Drawing of the Water. During the singing of the designated Psalms, the people had joined in with responses, offering their Hallelujahs, their Hosannas, and the Messianic greeting, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Ps.118:26) At a pause in the ceremony, Jesus cried out in a clear voice, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37,38) The ceremonial water had been drawn from the pool of Siloam, a pool of living (or running) water, and the pouring out of the water in the ceremony was looking forward to the time when God would pour out the Holy Spirit upon the nation.  Jesus drawing on this very pertinent imagery, and responding to the Messianic greeting, promised that those who received Him as Messiah would receive the Spirit of God. John explained it so.  ‘This He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified’. (John 7:39) Jesus fulfilled this promise from His place of ascension, on the day of Pentecost.

 At this festival, Jesus claimed to be the promised prophet, the ‘weller-forth’, the expected One, and any who exercise faith in Him will be like the pool of Siloam –a reservoir of living water – out of which are drawn waters to be poured out as water libations before Jehovah. Not only will they bring joy to the heart of the Lord, and not only will their own thirst be quenched, but because of the living water within, they will be a blessing to others also, just as the pool of Siloam will be used by the Messiah to bring sight to a blind man.

Next Time: The Messiah and the Kindling of the Lamps

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The Messiah and the Ritual of Israel (Continued)

The Feasts if Israel (Continued)

The Feast of Tabernacles at the time of the Messiah

The Temple during the ceremony of
the kindling of the lamps

 The nature of the festival had been preserved both as a festival of joy, and as a continued remembrance of the forty-year journey from Egypt to Canaan. The festival included two ceremonies that especially characterized these aspects of the celebrations. One was the ceremony of the kindling of the lamps, and the other was the ceremony of the pouring out of the waters. In addition to these two ceremonies, the final day of Sukkoth was earmarked for additional sacrifices and special prayers and was called ‘Shemini Atseret’. The Festival evolved so that in later times, the seventh day echoed some of the aspects of the Day of Atonement and was know as Hoshanah Rabbah. The eighth day developed into a separate Festival under the name Simhath Torah, ‘Rejoicing of the Law’, and was the day on which the annual reading of the Torah was completed and restarted.

The Kindling of the Lamps

 At each of the four corners of the court of prayer, there was a huge Menorah, standing 86 feet high. Each of these was serviced by young men of priestly descent, who climbed ladders to fill the bowls of each branch with oil. The wicks were made out of the worn out underwear of the priests. They lit the giant Menorahs each night of the festival, and the light illuminated the courtyards of Jerusalem, as well as providing light for the celebrations that took place in the court of prayer.  At the heart of the festivities was music and dancing. A great Levitical orchestra and choir occupied the fifteen steps on the western side of the court of Prayer. Prior to the ceremony, galleries for spectators had been erected. Elders and men of prominence in Israel led the rejoicing in a dance. These ceremonies were supplemented by blasts on the trumpets and shofars at the times of cock-crowing. Those responsible for calling for the attention of the people by use of the trumpet and shofar, sounded them as they moved from the Nicanor doors to the Gate of the Pure and the Just which was the eastern gate of the Court of Prayer.  At this Eastern Gate they turned to face the Sanctuary and declared, “Our fathers who were in this place turned with their backs toward the Temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, and they worshipped the sun toward the east. But as to us, our eyes are to the Lord.” 

The light from the Menorahs was considered to have several levels of symbolism. The light represented:

 1.            The Shekinah that once filled the Temple, for the descent of the Shekinah at the dedication of the Temple of Solomon took place at this feast.

2.            The Pillar of Fire that guided them on their wilderness journey, which journey was the main motif of the Festival (According to Jewish tradition, the pillar first appeared on the 15^th Tishri, the first day of the feast)

3.            Messiah’s Name, for Isaiah had prophesied of the Coming One, “The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined.” (Isaiah 9:2)

 This theme of light at Tabernacles was only a continuation of a theme that was always present. In one Midrash we are told that windows commonly were narrow without but wide within to let light in, but in Solomon’s temple they were narrow within and wide without, because light from the Sanctuary was to lighten that which was without. The principle being that spiritual light emanates from the Temple. The light from the Menorahs, which illuminated the courtyards of Jerusalem, fulfilled this imagery. Also the law required the oil fired light of the Sanctuary to be always lit, not that God required light but that it was prophetic of the time when God would kindle for them ‘the Great Light’. The Rabbis spoke of the Light with which God wrapped Himself as with a garment, which was now reserved under the throne of God for the Messiah, in whose days it would shine out once more. In another Midrash, on Lamentations 1.16, the Messiah is designated as the ‘Enlightener’, because of the words of Daniel 2.22 “light dwells with Him” (Dan. 2:22).

Next Time - The Pouring of the Waters

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