Christmas Verses – The First Coming #5

Posted on by
Reply

Genesis 49:10 NIV

The scepter will not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,[a]
until he to whom it belongs[b] shall come
and the obedience of the nations shall be his.

Jacob is the speaker of this prophecy about his fourth sons. Judah had the right of the first born, and so would have authority over his brothers.  The words for scepter and staff in Hebrew have about the same meaning – stick.  But the scepter carries the idea of clan or tribe with it.  (There are other Hebrew words for scepter.)  Staffs and rods also can be signs of authority, such as Moses’ rod in the Exodus.  This is one of many passages that talk of the “nations” and them being part of His kingdom.

 

By Пакко – Picture taken in Veliko Tarnovo exhibition “Symbols of the bulgarian system of state”, 22 of Semtember 2008, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4859839

Christmas Verses – The First Coming #4

Posted on by
1

Isaiah 40: 3 NIV

A voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the Lord: make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.”

We need to include John the Baptist in our Christmas verses. This verse in Isaiah is repeated the most in the gospels about John.  According to Matthew 17: 11-13 John was the fulfillment of this verse and Malachi 3:1. It would seem that the teachers of the Law started the idea that these verses speak of Elijah.  Remember, they were thinking of just an earthly kingdom and a military leader.

http://www.freebibleimages.org/illustrations/

Christmas Verses – The First Coming #3

Posted on by
Reply

Genesis 28:14 NIV

Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.

This promise was to Jacob as he was running away from Esau.  This prophecy is a continuation of the word given to Abraham and Isaac, but it does reassure Jacob of the blessing and birthright.  That word has proven true, the descendants of his children have blessed the world plus it is a predication of Jesus.

Christmas Verses – The First Coming #2

Posted on by
1

 

  1. Revelations 12:1-5 NIV

A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. 4 Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron

scepter.”[a] And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.

This complex sign signals speaks of Creation, His birth in Bethlehem, and the future. The woman resounds with images of the fourth day of Creation: she is wrapped in the greater light (it rules the day), she has conquered or is greater than the lesser light (ruler of the night), and her symbol of authority/ right to rule is twelve stars.  The devil/Herod is wanting to devour the Son.  Because the Son was born and snatched up to God verse 10 happened: salvation, power, the Kingdom of God, and the authority of His Christ.

PIC = www.LumoProject.com.

Christmas Verses – The First Coming #1

Posted on by
Reply

Genesis 3:15 NIV

15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring[a] and hers;
he will crush[b] your head,
and you will strike his heel.”

This verse is unique because it is said to the snake, and has a curse and a promise in it. As I have looked at many of these Christmas verses most of them, like this one, has a component of ruling and government.

The Garden was lost, Adam had followed Eve in eating the forbidden fruit.  Paradise would be guarded and barred to them, but God the Eternal gave hope to mankind.  A child would be born that would crush the snake and restore man’s fellowship.  Don’t lose sight that it also predicts that the Child would be injured, which for us means HEALING.