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.

Putting On or Spandex Tight

Have you ever thought about putting on clothing as “sinking into a garment” or that you wrap or encircle yourself in your clothes?  Those are the visuals Paul is telling us to do when we put on the “armor of God” and important other things in the rome_soldierEpistles.

If you have ever sunk into something, other than water, that picture presented by the Greek word enduo (#1746, Strong’s) becomes very vivid.  As a boy I played in an abandoned sand quarry where the pits filled with silt/mud.  We tried to run across them and found ourselves waist deep in mud standing on a sandy bottom.  The mud wrapped around us as we sunk, and you could barely move.  It conformed to your body and held tight even when you did get free.  That is what I thought of as I read the definitions for enduo.  Now imagine all of those New Testament references in the graphic and that is how tight Jesus, or the armor of God, and all of those other things are to be attached to us.  Imagine having compassion and kindness Spandex tight so that they it could not be distinguished from you.

Saint Paul in Ephesians 6:10 – 17 uses two different words for what we are to do with the armor, in verse 13 the Greek word is analambano (#353, Strong’s) and enduo in verse 11.  So, Paul tells us to sink into the armor and then he tells us to “receive” the individual parts like the belt, shoes, and shield.  The Strong’s Concordance uses Mark 16:19 as an example for receiving; this is where Jesus was received into Heaven.  Even though it is not stated I have to think that Jesus was welcomed (received) with joy, excitement, and a celebration and that the Father purposely took Jesus to Himself.  So, when Paul teaches us about the armor in Ephesians, he wants to purposely receive it and sink into it so completely that it surrounds us.

Where did Paul get such an idea as to equate salvation as a helmet or righteousness as a chest protector?  As I have stated in another post called (God’s Will Has Made Your Will) Paul read them in Isaiah 59:17 where he is describing what the Lord put on when there was no justice and no one intervening.

Example of Things We Are to Put On

Examples of Putting On

The verses are from:

New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide

Clipart from: http://rome.phillipmartin.info/rome_soldier.htm 

The Number Fourteen in the Bible

The significance of the number fourteen in the Bible is very understated if you are just 14looking in a concordance, as there are not a lot of instances of it mentioned.  Many of them are associated with one very important day but fourteen and its symbolism goes very deep and starts with how it is written in Hebrew. Each of the twenty-two letters in the Hebrew alphabet represents a number.  The first nine letters are the ones for single digit numbers and the others take on higher numerical values.  An acrostic psalm is one that each verse/section starts with a letter of the alphabet so they either have twenty-two verses like Psalm 25 and 34 or twenty-two sections.  Psalm 119, which is acrostic, is divided into twenty-two sections of eight verses.  (Please see my blog for different way to read Psalm 119.)

The fourteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet is Nun, like Joshua, and is pronounced “noon”; in the counting system it represents the number fifty.  The meanings and types and shadows that are associated with Nun really are a great study in itself so I will encourage you to look deeper but here are my gleanings from the literature.  Nun equals the word David so it is immediately associated with the Messiah. (See more on fourteen in the Book of Matthew and the Christmas story.)  For Christians it goes deeper than that since it also means “fish” in Aramaic, which leads to the symbol of the fish or ichthus.  The thirteenth letter in Hebrew is Mem, which represents water that is needed for fish.  Nun is a shared letter with several other languages so in the literature you will see that it also represents a snake/eel and seeds.  The snake that Moses made in the wilderness, Nehushtan, was a shadow of Jesus and He referred to Himself as a “seed of wheat” that had to “fall to the ground and die.”  Nun is used to portray life and faithfulness so you can see it is a very symbolic letter.

There are two different Nuns, one is standing and the other is kneeling.  They can also be written with “crowns.” (Please see the website Hebrew4Christians listed below.)  When they are combined to make the word Nun they represent the righteous one (who is upright) and faithful one (who is bent) or love and fear.

fn_bluei                                                                          n_bluei

“image copyright Bitsela, used courtesy of free-bitsela.com”

Numerically, Nun is fifty or Pentecost, which leads to what I would like to propose the number 14 means in Scripture – the new thing actually starting.  Pentecost was the beginning of the Church of Jesus and the new anointing of the Holy Spirit.  Just as 13 was signaling the start so 14 is the start.  Remember Mem is before Nun in the alphabet. Just as Joshua son of Nun “started” the Promise Land or David started the family tree of Jesus things associated with 14 show things starting.  My groupings below are just a product of my need to sort things but hopefully, they will help.

Fourteen

  • Exodus 12:6 – The 14th day of the month was the start of Passover or when Israel as a nation was started.  Most references to 14 in the Bible are about a Passover that was being celebrated.
  • Esther 9:15 – The day of Purim was the 14th day of the month; this is when the Jews were allowed to kill their enemies.  This started a new period of freedom for them.
  • Ezekiel 40 – Fourteen years after Jerusalem was destroyed Ezekiel had the visionKing's timeline the end of the New Temple.  In verse one, the reference to 25 years is how long Ezekiel was in exile. (Please see the timeline at Jeremiah 52.)  One way to look at the 70 years of Exile is 14 x 5 = 70.
  • Acts 27:27 – It was the 14th day of being in the storm when Paul got the crew to eat so they could start “new” on the island.
  • Matthew 1:17 – Matthew used fourteen because David translated into numbers equals fourteen.  (See Jesus’ Generations in Matthew)

7 + 7 = 14

  • Genesis 8:9 -12 – Noah sent the dove out twice and waited a total of 14 days.  That showed that the earth had dried and started growing again.
  • 1 Kings 8:65 – Solomon and the people had 14 days of partying for the new Temple.
  • 2 Chronicles 30:15 – Hezekiah and the people had 14 days of partying for Passover. Which had not been celebrated in a long time so it was a sort of new beginnings.

12 + 2 = 14

  • Ezra 3: 1+8 – Zerubbabel and the people had been back in Jerusalem a year and in the second month of the second year they started to build the Second Temple, 12 months + 2 months = 14 months.  In the 7th month of the first year, they built the altar and started sacrificing burnt offerings so it could be a 7+7.

Other 14’s (You may need to work with me here.)

  • Genesis 31:41 – Jacob worked 14 years for his wives and then started working for his family.
  • Book of Joshua – The tribe of Benjamin and a “clan” of Judah got 14 towns each to start a new life in the Promise Land.
  • 2 Kings 18:13 – Hezekiah and Jerusalem were attacked in his 14th year as king, and he got the boil with the death sentence (20:1).  But he got a new lease on life and 15 more years (2 Kings 20:6).
  • 1 Chronicles 25:5 – Heman had 14 sons through the promise of God so he had a new reason to praise God.

“Pushing it” 14’s

  • Genesis 14 – King of Sodom rebels in his 14th year and Abraham rescues Lot.  In verse 22 is where Abraham starts to really acknowledge God, up until now God was “doing for” Abraham.
  • Exodus 14 – Moses and the people were directed back to the Red Sea so they could actually start out of Egypt; until now they were just wandering around inside of Egypt.
  • No, I did not check all Chapter 14’s in the Bible so who knows what gems of knowledge are waiting to be found.  Yes, I did check all the 13th chapters when I studied the number 13.

Acrostic Psalms

A quick look at the “14th verses” of some of the acrostic Psalms. (This is not all of the acrostic psalms.)  These may not show a “starting” I just like the scripture.

  • Ps 25: 14 The Lord confides in those who fear Him; He makes His covenant known to them.
  • Ps. 34: 14 Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
  • Ps.37: 25 – 27 Verse 27 is similar to Ps 34:14 Turn from evil and do good; then you will dwell in the land forever.
  • Ps.145:14 The Lord upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.
  • Ps 119: 105 Your word is a lamp to my and a light for my path.

The 14’s after the 13’s

Remember Joseph after 13 years of slavery/prison was the leader of the country in the 14th year and several others that I listed in the post on The Number Thirteen in the Bible.  I hope this study has shown you that biblically fourteen is important and that the significance of fourteen is alive and well in your life and that “new things” are starting in your life now.  A study of the number fifteen is available at Cleaning Up to Celebrate. A study on sixteen in the Bible is at Sixteen In The Bible.

http://bethaderech.com/learning-hebrew-the-letter-nun/

http://hebrew4christians.com/Grammar/Unit_One/Aleph-Bet/Nun/nun.html

The Nun graphics came from http://free-bitsela.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=897&g2_page=6

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.

 

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

The Exodus Story in Other Places

glory 1

People may argue parts of the Exodus story and how it could not have happened. But the fact that the story is retold throughout the rest of scripture should speak volumes about its validity and its credibility. (This may not be all of them but you get the idea.)

  • Gideon  – Judges 6:13 – Questioned about the miracles
  • Jephthah – Judges 11:15-27 – Retold conquest story
  • Micah 6: 1-5 – The Lord had a case against Israel and highlighted the Exodus to prove his point.
  • Ezekiel 20:4 – God giving a discourse to the elders of Israel about their love for idols of Egypt even though He brought them out of Egypt and gave them a good land.
  • 1 Corinthians 10:4 – Spiritual lesson about Israel being baptized into Moses and Israel sharing spiritual food and drink and still some died in the desert.
  • Moses’ Psalms 90 -100 – I still think they are a series of songs to teach the people about God and His requirements.

Psalms

  • 66: 5-12 A highlight telling of Israel’s time in Egypt and their leaving.
  • 77: 11-20 A call for Jeduthun to remember and meditate on the miracles of God; the parting of the Red Sea is the focus of what God did.

Just a thought, look at Psalm 78-83 as a block for teaching people after Jerusalem fell.

  • 78 A comparison of Israel’s testing God and His mercy and miracles.
  • 80: 7-11 A call to God to remember that He did bring Israel out of Egypt and to have mercy on them again.
  • 81:3-10 To remember that God brought Israel out of Egypt and established that He should be praised.
  • 95: 8-11 Not to harden your heart as people did at Meribah.
  • 105:16-45 A Sunday School lesson of Abraham, Joseph, the plagues, and the joseph-dreams of wheatExodus.
  • 106 A history of God’s faithfulness in not destroying Israel starting in Egypt and going through the Conquest into the unfaithfulness in the Promise Land.
  • 114 It reminds Judah who they belong to and that mountains, hills, and the “waters” obey the Lord.
  • 135:8-14 That man (Egypt, Pharaoh, Sihon, Og, and the kings of Canaan) will not stop God’s people.
  • 136:10-22 Resembles Ps. 135 

Picture of Sheaves from http://www.freebibleimages.org/photos/joseph-dreams/