christmas

Advent Reflection: The Prince of Peace

A primary role of government is to maintain peace. One way in which governments attempt to maintain peace is through law enforcement. Every government creates laws for the people to obey. But not all people obey the laws of the land, and therefore peace is disrupted. Governments have two main ways of dealing with law breakers who disrupt the peace of society:

They attempt to change the law breaker’s will, via counseling or fines or threats, etc.
They suppress the law breaker’s will, via prison or death, etc.

What this means is that in order to maintain a peaceful society people either have to die or be physically suppressed or have a change of heart. A government cannot just let everyone be how they naturally are, because every society has law breakers and disrupters of peace. Therefore, because there is evil in every generation, intentional action is always needed to suppress the evil and keep the peace. This brings us, then, to the words of the prophet Isaiah, who spoke of the coming Messiah, also known as the Prince of Peace:

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. (Isaiah 9: 6 – 7)

A great question to ask is will this kingdom of the Prince of Peace (the kingdom of God) maintain peace like the governments of the world or will peace be maintained in a new way? To answer, we must understand who is in the kingdom of God, and how they got there. The kingdom is populated by those who have had their hearts supernaturally changed by God’s Spirit.

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. (John 3: 3)

Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit. (John 3: 7 – 8)

For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1: 13)

For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach…(Colossians 1: 19 – 22)

Since God supernaturally changes the hearts of those who are brought into His kingdom, there are no dissidents to be jailed or killed, for everyone who is born of God wants to be in God’s kingdom. So yes, the kingdom of God operates very differently from the kingdoms of the earth, when it comes to maintaining peace. Everyone in the kingdom desires to be there, desires to obey the laws of the kingdom, and desires peace.

But what about those who say the Biblical teaching on hell proves that God’s kingdom operates just like the kingdoms of the earth, suppressing wills by inflicting violence?

Those people are mistaken.

Hell is not a place for those within the kingdom of God whose wills need to be suppressed. Hell is a place for those who were never part of the kingdom of God, during their life on earth. The final judgment and the sending of people to hell is not a purge of malcontents from the kingdom of God; it is the removal of God’s enemies, who are outside of His kingdom.

The second coming of Christ, which Advent anticipates, will consist of the Prince of Peace ruling over His people, whom He will give new and sinless hearts. Together they will occupy a physical space from which the kingdom of evil has been forcibly removed forever. The result of it all is the Son of David, Son of God, reigning supreme, with His government perpetually ruling a peaceful people on a prosperous plot of land, with no threats ever approaching the border.

Regarding this coming kingdom of the Prince of Peace, John the Revelator summed it up nicely:

The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. (Revelation 21: 24 – 27)

Advent Reflection: He Shall Be Called A Nazarene

The season of Advent is in part a celebration of the birth of Christ. The prophet Micah foretold that Christ would be born in Bethlehem, so that is a good prophecy to think about this time of year. It is also worth noting that Christ would be called a Nazarene, not a Bethlehemite, according to the gospel of Matthew:

Then after being warned by God in a dream, he (Joseph) left for the regions of Galilee, and came and lived in a city called Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: “He shall be called a Nazarene.” (Matthew 2: 22 – 23)

God divinely directed Joseph and Mary to the town of Nazareth in the region of Galilee. Matthew said this was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets. Yet the town of Nazareth is never mentioned in the Old Testament, and therefore none of the prophets explicitly stated that Christ would be a Nazarene.

How are we to understand what Matthew said?

Since he did not explicitly tell us what he meant, we can only speculate. One of the best theories is that Matthew was making a pun and alluding to the prophetic image of the Messiah as the Branch. Consider this quote from Isaiah:

Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding. (Isaiah 11: 1 – 2)

Here Isaiah used the Hebrew word “netzer” for branch. Since the Hebrew rendering of Nazareth is “Netzeret”, there is a legitimate reason to think Matthew was making a pun. Other prophets called the Messiah Branch, reinforcing this theme from Isaiah, although they used a different Hebrew word.

“Behold, the days are coming”, declares the LORD, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and act wisely…” (Jeremiah 23: 5)

“Behold, a man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of the LORD.” (Zechariah 6: 12)

If we accept that Matthew is making a pun on the Hebrew netzer, we can replace Nazarene with Branch, and the passage in Matthew can be read as:

There is no doubt that the prophets called Messiah a Branch. If Matthew was alluding to that image, replacing Nazarene with Branch would be an accurate way in English to convey the point. Although we cannot be certain this was his intent, the idea is nevertheless good to think about. In a season where Christmas trees and decorating branches with ornaments is a dominant tradition, it is good to remember that the season is really about The Branch, whose coming was foretold by the prophets hundreds of years in advance.

Joy in a Less Than Merry Christmas

This is an impromptu blog post, in response to some recent familial events. Yesterday I learned some friends of ours were unable to visit their family for Christmas due to sickness. Also this week I learned that my parents and sister and nephews would be unable to visit for Christmas due to sickness. And so there is the juxtaposition of the ideal American Christmas holiday, where families are supposed to gather together in merriment, with the reality of sickness and disease disrupting the plans.

It is at this crossroads, where a joyful holiday intersects with sickness, where the real meaning of Christmas can be understood perhaps even better than if families gather together in glee. For the Christmas behind Christmas – the real meaning of Christmas behind the Christmas of Santa and eggnog and parties – is that we live in a sick and diseased world and need God to save us. The physical sickness we experience on an individual level is a symptom of the spiritual sickness we as humanity experience collectively – we have all fallen short of the glory of God, and all the problems of this world are proof of that statement.

If we focus on the real Christmas, that God Himself decided to dramatically intervene in human affairs by taking on human flesh and choosing to be born of a woman as a baby, we will be comforted even as holiday plans go awry. Christmas should always point us ahead to Resurrection Sunday (Easter). We should always remember that this Baby born at Christmas would grow up with one purpose – to offer Himself on a Roman crucifix, that He might be a sacrifice for sins to God. Only through His perfect sacrifice, where He offered Himself up to God and bore the penalty for our transgressions, can we be made right with God and receive the promises of a better life to come – a life without sickness and disease and sin.

And so to anyone who can relate to a less than ideal Christmas holiday, take comfort in Christ. Be reminded that He has not promised earthly satisfaction but eternal satisfaction to all who repent and believe in Him. May these words of God’s apostle Peter, which by divine providence I happened to read this morning, be of comfort to any Christian in a less than merry time:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1: 3 – 9)

Advent 2014: Week 3

Mary Was Protected By the Law

Never in the history of Israel was there a more opportune time for a husband to request his wife to undergo the “adultery test”, then when Mary confessed to Joseph that she was pregnant. Although the Scripture does not say what Mary said, it is reasonable to assume that she told Joseph exactly what had happened – she was visited by an angel, the angel told her she would conceive the Messiah, and the conception would occur by the power of the Holy Spirit. Whatever Mary said, it was not enough to convince Joseph to stay with her.

Joseph wanted to send Mary away, meaning he did not accept what she said. From his perspective, he was cheated on and lied to (if Mary told him about the angel’s visitation). Despite that, he obviously cared for Mary. Rather than charging her with adultery and risking the possibility of her being stoned to death, he kept the matter private and tried to end the engagement in secrecy. But if Joseph had charged Mary with adultery, and if he had sought a formal judgment of her actions, Mary would have been vindicated by the law, because of the aforementioned adultery test.

The test is an amazing provision within the Mosaic Law that protected a faithful woman from the suspicions of her husband, and at the same time exposed an unfaithful woman who had not been caught in the act, but who was indeed guilty. The test was divinely ordered – God Himself ensured the appropriate outcome, so that the innocent would be proven innocent, and the guilty proven guilty. Here is the procedure, as recorded by Moses:

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘If any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him, and a man has intercourse with her and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband and she is undetected, although she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her and she has not been caught in the act, if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has defiled herself, or if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has not defiled herself, the man shall then bring his wife to the priest, and shall bring as an offering for her one-tenth of an ephah of barley meal; he shall not pour oil on it nor put frankincense on it, for it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of memorial, a reminder of iniquity. Then the priest shall bring her near and have her stand before the LORD, and the priest shall take holy water in an earthenware vessel; and he shall take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water. The priest shall then have the woman stand before the LORD and let the hair of the woman’s head go loose, and place the grain offering of memorial in her hands, which is the grain offering of jealousy, and in the hand of the priest is to be the water of bitterness that brings a curse. The priest shall have her take an oath and shall say to the woman, “If no man has lain with you and if you have not gone astray into uncleanness, being under the authority of your husband, be immune to this water of bitterness that brings a curse; if you, however, have gone astray, being under the authority of your husband, and if you have defiled yourself and a man other than your husband has had intercourse with you” (then the priest shall have the woman swear with the oath of the curse, and the priest shall say to the woman), “the LORD make you a curse and an oath among your people by the LORD’s making your thigh waste away and your abdomen swell; and this water that brings a curse shall go into your stomach, and make your abdomen swell and your thigh waste away.” And the woman shall say, “Amen. Amen.” The priest shall then write these curses on a scroll, and he shall wash them off into the water of bitterness. Then he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness which brings a curse, so that the water which brings a curse will go into her and cause bitterness. The priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman’s hand, and he shall wave the grain offering before the LORD and bring it to the altar; and the priest shall take a handful of the grain offering as its memorial offering and offer it up in smoke on the altar, and afterward he shall make the woman drink the water. When he has made her drink the water, then it shall come about, if she has defiled herself and has been unfaithful to her husband, that the water which brings a curse will go into her and cause bitterness, and her abdomen will swell and her thigh will waste away, and the woman will become a curse among her people. But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, she will then be free and conceive children. This is the law of jealousy: when a wife, being under the authority of her husband, goes astray and defiles herself, or when a spirit of jealousy comes over a man and he is jealous of his wife, he shall then make the woman stand before the LORD, and the priest shall apply all this law to her. Moreover, the man will be free from guilt, but that woman shall bear her guilt.’” Numbers 5: 11 – 31

The summary of this test is that the woman was made to drink special water. If she was innocent then the water would not hurt her. But if she was guilty, if she cheated on her husband, the water would hurt her. The test was foolproof, since God directed the outcome. Only God knows the secrets of men and women. Only God is in a position to judge the secret sins that people commit and hide from others. In regards to whether a woman cheated on her husband, when there are no witnesses or confessions, only God is in a position to judge that situation. And He chose to judge it in Israel through the water test.

Despite this adultery test, given to the people by God and recorded by Moses, we have no reason to believe, upon reading the accounts in Matthew and in Luke, that Joseph had Mary drink the water. In fact, the evidence offered in Scripture would lead us to conclude otherwise. If Joseph wanted to send Mary away secretly, as Scripture says he did, it seems improbable that he would go to a priest with Mary and request the water test to be performed. Also, we have no way of knowing whether Joseph even knew of the test or considered it a viable option. Just because it is recorded in Scripture doesn’t mean it was known about or understood by the people in that day. All we can be sure about is that Joseph cared enough for Mary to protect her from punishment, but was hurt enough by her to end the engagement.

Now, because Mary did not perform the test, and because Joseph was convinced he was cheated on, he had to be convinced of Mary’s innocence in another way, no less divine than the adultery test – a dream from God. In the dream he was given, Mary’s innocence was proven, just as it would have been through the test.

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.” And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus. Matthew 1: 18 – 25

Advent 2014: Week 2

The Angel Gabriel

The angel Gabriel delivered Messianic messages to God’s people. As discussed last week, one such message was given to Mary and recorded by Luke.

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Luke 1: 26 – 37

This New Testament interaction with Mary can be compared to Gabriel’s Old Testament interaction with the prophet Daniel. That interaction occurred during the days of the exile.

Now while I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God, while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering. He gave me instruction and talked with me and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding. At the beginning of your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision. Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place. So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and having nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. Daniel 9: 20 – 26

Notice the consistency in the Old and New Testament accounts, regarding Gabriel’s encouraging demeanor. He called Mary “favored one” and Daniel “highly esteemed”. Notice also how in each passage the day of the Messiah’s arrival is not explicitly stated, but indirectly referenced.

Testament	Indirect Reference
Old	So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks…Daniel 9: 25
New	And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. Luke 1: 36

Gabriel told Daniel that the timeline for determining the Messiah’s arrival starts with the “issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem”. And obviously with Mary, she would give birth nine months after conception. Gabriel placed her conception in the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. One can start with these clues and perform a study, incorporating both Biblical and extra-Biblical data, to approximate the month and year of Jesus’ birth.

More interesting than the similarities in the messages given to Mary and Daniel is a major difference noticed in the texts. When Gabriel spoke to Mary, he told her she would give birth to the Messiah, the promised King of Israel, and that He would rule forever and His kingdom would have no end. But when Gabriel spoke to Daniel, he told him that the Messiah would at some point be “cut off and have nothing”. Furthermore, he said that Jerusalem (the home of the king) and the temple (the house of God) would be destroyed. This is certainly a conundrum – would the Messiah rule forever or would He be cut off?

This riddle is resolved by the resurrection of Jesus. When Gabriel told Daniel the Messiah would be cut off and have nothing, this was a prophecy of the crucifixion of Jesus. When on the third day Jesus rose from the grave, His claim to be God’s Messiah was vindicated and His claim to be King of the Jews made certain. Thus in the resurrection of Christ, Gabriel’s words to Mary were definitively fulfilled.

Now what about Gabriel’s words regarding the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple? Historically, it is undeniably true – Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Romans. It is the reason for the destruction that is debated. Secularists would simply say it is another example of a nation warring against a nation. Christians would say that the city and temple were destroyed because the Jews rejected the Messiah (Jesus Himself spoke of the coming destruction of Jerusalem). A rejection of God’s Messiah is a rejection of God Himself, and there were curses in the Mosaic Covenant associated with rejecting God.

It shall come about that as the LORD delighted over you to prosper you, and multiply you, so the LORD will delight over you to make you perish and destroy you; and you will be torn from the land where you are entering to possess it. Deuteronomy 28: 63

The Jews are hard pressed, I think, to explain the destruction of their city. The destruction and scattering of the Jewish people, Biblically, is always associated with their sin and God’s enactment of the covenant curses. What was the great sin they committed, warranting the destruction of their city, if it was not the rejection of Jesus as Messiah, and disbelieving the words Gabriel spoke to Daniel about the cutting off of Messiah?

Advent 2014: Week 1

Old Testament Precedent For The Virgin Birth

This Advent I wanted to do a 4 week series on the virgin birth of Christ. This first week we will start our study with verses from the gospel of Luke:

Luke is clearly stating that Mary was a virgin upon the conception of Christ. Although the virgin birth is mocked by those who do not take the Scripture seriously, we as Christians ought to realize that according to Scripture the virgin birth is quite logical, for at least two reasons:

The Scripture testifies that God is all-powerful.
The Scripture testifies that there were numerous births specifically caused by God.

The first point needs little discussion – if there is an all-powerful God He can cause a virgin birth. Regarding the second point, the Old Testament lists at least seven ancestors of Jesus whose lives were specifically brought about by God’s intervention. Each of these seven men are referenced in either Matthew’s or Luke’s genealogies of Christ.

Ancestor	Reference	Quote
Adam	Genesis 2: 7	Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
Seth	Genesis 4: 25	Adam had relations with his wife again; and she gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, for she said, “God has appointed me another offspring in place of Abel, for Cain killed him.”
Isaac	Genesis 18: 14	Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.
Jacob	Genesis 25: 21	Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived.
Judah	Genesis 29: 31, 35	Now the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren… And she conceived again and bore a son and said, “This time I will praise the LORD.” Therefore she named him Judah. Then she stopped bearing.
Obed	Ruth 4: 13, 17	So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he went in to her. And the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son…So they named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.
David	Psalm 139: 13	For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb.

The Scripture makes it clear God played no small role in bringing about the birth of Christ. God planned for the Messiah to be human, so He created Adam, the first human. God planned for the Messiah to come from the offspring of Adam, so He intervened and caused Seth to be born to Adam through Eve, replacing the murdered son Abel. God planned for the Messiah to come from the offspring of Abraham, so He intervened and caused Isaac to be born to Abraham through Sarah. God planned for the Messiah to come from Israel, so He intervened and caused Jacob (who would be called Israel) to be born to Isaac through Rebekah. God planned for the Messiah to come from the tribe of Judah, so He intervened and caused Judah to be born to Jacob through Leah. God planned for the Messiah to come from the line of David, so He intervened and caused Obed (David’s grandfather) to be born to Boaz through Ruth. God formed David in his mother’s womb, anointed him as king of Israel, and gave him a promise that the Messiah would come from his line. Lastly, God intervened and caused Jesus the Christ to be born to Joseph, a descendant of David, through Mary. Mary conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit – the Child did not biologically belong to Joseph. And yet legally, because Joseph was a descendant of David, the Child was of the line of David.

When we consider all that has been said, it should be clear that the virgin birth recorded in the New Testament is in perfect harmony with the Old Testament record, which is full of examples of God causing particular children to be born to particular people at particular times.