The Birth of a New Adam

Why do a post about Adam during Christmas?  The first week of Advent was to reflect on the Old Testament shadows and prophecies of Jesus and since Adam was “a pattern of the one to come” (Romans 5:14) my reading went to Genesis, Isaiah, and several other places.  Most references to Adam outside of Genesis are family tree notations like 1 Chronicles 1:1, Luke 3:38, or Jude 1:14.  1Corinthians, 1Timothy, and Romans actually do some of the explaining of the “pattern” so I am comparing the first Adam and the second Adam (Jesus).

Adam 1

Adam 2

Other comparisons that are interesting: Adam sewed fig leaves together; Jesus cursed a fig tree before His crucifixion.  Eve came from Adam and the Bride is found in Jesus.

Notable things in Adam’s life – He was the first to operated on, first to make clothes, first to blame some else for his mistake, named all the animals in the Garden, first gardener, and the first to bury a child.

A word about Eve; evolutionists have come to the conclusion that there must have been an “Eve” who birthed all of mankind.  I saw a program where they spent forty minutes stating why there had to be one (Eve) and twenty minutes denying the concept.  The problem here is dual evolving of human DNA is unbelievable and I am sure that mathematically it has to be impossible.

In Hebrews, the first chapter, Jesus is clearly shown as “The Son.”  Several quotes from the Old Testament such as “You are my Son today I have become your Father” from Psalm 2:7, other verses that are mentioned at the beginning of Hebrews are     2 Samuel 7:14, and Psalm 45:6,7.   Several other verses that tell of things to come are Psalm 110:1 and Isaiah 8:17 where everything is put under His feet showing Lordship of all things.

The word “Adam” comes from a word that means, “to show blood”, “be flushed, or to turn rosy or ruddy.”  This possibly referred to his color. This leads to a question I just did not understand, “Why did God “hate” Esau (Edom)?”  He was a type of Adam (the sinner-man) being the firstborn and he was “red.”

Since Jesus was a second Adam, if we are found “in Him” we are a completely new and different race of people.

Nehushtan – Numbers 21:4-9

The old generation has passed away and it is now time for the “children” to enter the Promised Land. (See Timeline) Miriam and Aaron have died so it is now Moses, Joshua and Eleazar (Aaron’s son) are leading the people. Israel, not Moses, has cried out about Arad, a Canaanite king, has come out against them and Israel has completely destroyed them. They now must go around their cousins, Edom, because God will not let them have their land. (See Edom) So what do they do?

  1. Grow impatient
  2. Speak against God
  3. Speak against Moses
  4. Bring out the ubiquitous complaints no water, bad food, no bread and are we to die in the desert.

I know this cycle is old and you think they would have learned but they have not; makes you think about our complaining. In verse 6 God sends venomous snakes; these are Saw_Scaled_Viper_Echis_carinatusprobably the Carpet or Saw-scaled Viper. People start to die so they once again confess their sins to Moses and he prays for them and God gives them a way out. The thing that really stands out here is God did not remove the snakes; He requires an act of faith before they can be healed. They must look at a brass snake (See copper) on a pole.

In John 3:14-15 this act of faith is explained as a type and shadow of Jesus and the salvation He would bring because of the cross. And just as John 3:16 is next, so the people went on to get water and defeat Sihon and Og.

But the story of the brass/bronze serpent apparently does not end when they moved on and camped at Oboth. They kept it and it became an object of worship because in 2 Kings 18:4 Hezekiah breaks it up because they were burning incense to it. It seems to be human nature to get stuck on something that works; God used that for a time but He moved on and did other great things and used other things to deliver the people. They seemed to miss the point – Worship God and not things. (See Superstitious)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Saw_Scaled_Viper_Echis_carinatus.jpg

The Jesus Psalm

I refer to Psalm 22 as the Jesus Psalm just because so much of it refers to the Easter story. I know there are other New Testament verses that will fit with Psalm 22 but this is a good start. I will encourage you to do one of these; there are several places in the New Testament that I will be doing during Holy Week and beyond.

Psalm 22

New Testament Verse

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?
My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest. .Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises.
In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them.
To you they cried out and were saved; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people.All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads.

 

“He trusts in the Lord,” they say, “let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.”

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 on you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God.

11 Do not be far from me, for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.

 12 Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.

13 Roaring lions that tear 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 within me.

15 My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.

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 16 Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet.

17 All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me.

18 They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.

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 19 But you, Lord, do not be far from me. You are my strength; come quickly to help me.

20 Deliver me from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs.
21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

 22 I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you.

23 You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.

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25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows.

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 26 The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the Lord will praise him— may your hearts live forever!

27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him,

28 for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations.

29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him— those who cannot keep themselves alive.
30 Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord.
31 They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!

Matthew 27: 46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lemasabachthani?” (Which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”)..John 8: 54 Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. 55 Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”.

Matthew 27: 39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!”

Matthew 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.’”

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Luke 22: 63 The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating him.

Luke 14: 64 “You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?” They all condemned him as worthy of death. 65 Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, “Prophesy!” And the guards took him and beat him.

John 19: 28 Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”

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John 20: 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

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Luke 23: 34 And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. (John 19:23)

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Luke 22: 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”

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.Luke 4: 43 But he said, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.” 44 And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

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Matthew 21: The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”

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Mark 8: The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.

 

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Bible Study 2013

Number 13

Before I think about 2013 I will look back at my 2012 Bible Study and say that I did a lot of my goals but not all of them.

Darlene Zschech said when she was at Lakewood Church in 2012,

“If your Bible is falling apart your probably not.”

That is my pray for everyone, read your Bible enough that it has to be taped together to keep from losing pages. That the side of your Bible is so stained that you can tell what part you read the most. That the marker you use in your Bible runs out of ink and that it’s pages have a rainbow appearance from constantly marking it. Now to be fair I have found that the fewer pieces of paper you stuff in your Bible the longer the covering will stay in one piece.

My Bible study goals for the New Year are wrapped up in my writing goals.

  • Science and the Bible
  • Out of Egypt
  • The Gospel in the Old Testament

If I can get these three things started/done this year it will be a lot.

My challenge/hope is that you will write down a plan and read and write your way through 2013. May it be the start of something new for you! (see study on 13)

May your wisdom and understanding increase in 2013,

Mark

graphic by Ryan Johanningmeier  http://about.me/ryanjo

Judas in the Old Testament

Finding foreshadowing of the New Testament hidden in the Old Testament has been a study I always enjoy. This year I marked out months just for that in my study plan so here is the first. What I would attribute to Judas being like is found in several Psalms. I will mention the Psalm but also where I think the inspiration for that Psalm came from in scripture and who was the shadow of Judas.

Psalm 52David was writing this about Doeg the Edomite from 1 Samuel 22. He was the instrument of destruction for an entire branch of the priestly family; this was part of the sentence handed down from the Lord because of Eli and his wicked sons in 1 Samuel 2.  The final part of the story is found in 1 Kings 2:27.  Psalm 52:1 – 4 gives a look at what I think he was like: boasted of evil, practiced deceit, loved evil and spoke harmful words. Verses 5 -7 talks of his downfall and how he is remembered: in everlasting ruin, uprooted from the living, destroyed others.

Psalm 55 – Verses 12 – 14, 20 and 21 also talks about Judas’ character. “My companion, my close friend, with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship as we walked to the house of God”, Psalm 55:13,14 (NIV). And in verse 20 +21, “My companion attacks his friends; he violates his covenant.”  A possible point when this was birthed is 1 Samuel 22:3 when David is hiding his parents from King Saul.  But as I thought about it, it could be referring to his cousin Joab the commander of the army and a consistent problem for David or even his son Absalom.

Psalm 41:9 Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me. This verse is quoted in John 13:18.

Psalm 109:1 – 20 – verse 8 is quoted in Acts 1:20 May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership. (Matthias) I think this Psalm was written because of Nabal in 1Samuel 25:35. The reason for this is in vs. 16 – 20 and describes both Nabal and Judas – never thought of doing a kindness, hounded the poor, needy and broken hearted, loved to pronounce curses and wore them like a garment.

Psalm 69:25 is also quoted in Acts 1:20 “let there be no one to dwell in their tents.”

Zechariah 11:12 – If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not keep it. So they paid me thirty pieces of silver. (Matt. 26:15)

So as expected Judas has some of the worst guys in the Bible providing his foreshadowing: Doeg the Edomite (priest killer), Nabal (the selfish fool) and possibly Joab (under minding cousin) and Absalom (son with ambition).