Message 47 - By
Leroy Surface
Have
You Found Him?
Introduction
We have
found the Messias (Messiah), which is, being
interpreted, the Christ.
John 1:41
What does the Jew understand about “The Christ” that the church needs to
understand? If you know the answer to
this question, you know the truth that, Jesus said, will “make you free (from sin).” Hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus,
the angel Gabriel defined “The Messiah”
as the one who would “make an end of
sins, make reconciliation for iniquity, and bring in everlasting
righteousness.” The Jew fully expects the “Messiah” to do these things when he comes, but they do not believe
that Jesus is their Messiah; because they do not see these things as being done
(according to their expectation). On
the other hand, the church believes that Jesus IS the Son of God, but they have
never made the connection that He is also “The
Messiah” of prophecy who did come, and who did “make an end of sins” in everyone who trusts in Him. Have
you found him?
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Have You Found Him?
…the people were in expectation, and all men mused in
their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not;
Luke 3:15
This scripture is describing an amazing time in the nation of
Israel. A sense of excitement is in the
air, because everyone knows that the time for “The Messiah” to appear has arrived.
The particular year of His appearing had been told to the prophet
Daniel over five hundred years earlier.
This was the very year (according to the words which the angel Gabriel
spoke to the prophet Daniel) that “The
Messiah” (The Christ) would come.
Let’s quickly establish, that in the Hebrew language (of the Old
Testament), the title, “The Messiah,”
is the same as the title, “The Christ”
in the Greek language (of the New Testament).
Both are speaking of the same person, “the redeemer,” which God had said would “come to Zion (Isaiah 59:20).”
It was in Daniel 9:25,
however, that the exact year of His
appearance was given. It was given to
Daniel by Gabriel, the messenger angel of God.
He also told Daniel what His
(The Messiah’s) “purpose” for coming
would be. It was the “purpose” of His coming that was the
cause of all the excitement; for now, after hundreds of years of waiting, the
time had arrived for “The Christ” to
come and execute all those wonderful things which the scriptures said He would
do. We will return to Daniel 9:24-27 and read the exact words
Gabriel brought to Daniel from God; but first let us give some background
information.
The prophet Daniel was among those who had been brought to Babylon
in the captivity when he was a very young man.
You can read the account, in the first
chapter of Daniel, of how the young Daniel and his three companions, whom
we know as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, all trusted in the true God of
Israel, and were raised into favor, first with the “prince of the Eunuchs,” and then with King Nebuchadnezzar
himself. Almost seventy years have
passed, during which time, Daniel and the “three
Hebrew children” as tradition has labeled them, all became famous and very
prominent in the kingdom of Babylon; because it became evident that the true
God was with them. Over twenty five
hundred years later almost everyone knows the story of how God took the three
Hebrew Children through the fiery furnace, and how He delivered Daniel from the
mouth of the lions when he was cast into their den. Daniel was elevated to second in the kingdom
due to the fact that Nebuchadnezzar saw that “the Spirit of the Holy God” (Daniel
4:8-9) was in him.
From the time that Daniel was first brought to Babylon, to the time
he receives the seventy weeks prophecy, almost seventy years have passed; which
means that Daniel is almost ninety years of age when he discovers in the
writings of the prophet Jeremiah that the captivity of the Jews was to last for
seventy years. Realizing that the time
of the captivity is almost fulfilled, Daniel begins to pray and diligently seek
God for understanding of what will come next for the children of Israel. His prayer is recorded in Daniel 9:1-19, in which he wept and
repented before God for the sins of his father’s; for his sins; and the
continuing sins of the nation in captivity.
Oh, what a prayer of repentance he brought before God. It is a prayer which we should all read and
consider for ourselves in this present day.
Beginning in the twentieth verse,
Daniel begins to relate what happened next:
And
whiles 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 for the holy mountain of my God; Yea,
whiles I was speaking in
prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning,
being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening
oblation. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O
Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications the
commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art
greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision. Seventy
weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city….
Daniel 9:20-24
The message God sends to Daniel through the angel Gabriel begins in
verse twenty four, of chapter nine, with these words, “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city.” The children of Israel were about to finish “seventy years” of captivity, but now, according to the words of
Gabriel, God had determined an additional “seventy
weeks.” We should understand that in the Hebrew
calculation of time there were not only “weeks
of days” as we count time in our generation, but there were also “weeks of years,” which meant that each
week of the prophecy would last for seven years. They not only had a “Sabbath day,” but they were also commanded to observe a “Sabbath year.” We understand that the Sabbath day is the
seventh day of every week; which was set apart as a day of rest for man. It was commanded in the Law of Moses that no
work should be done on the Jewish Sabbath, and those who broke the law of the
Sabbath would suffer the severest of penalties.
Less known is the fact that the seventh year or the “Sabbatical Year” was set apart as a “year of rest” for the land
(Leviticus 25:4-5). The fields were not to be plowed nor any seed
sown in them, and the vineyards were not to be pruned, nor any grapes gathered
from them. The people were to live on
the harvest of the sixth year, which God promised to give in great abundance as
long as they observed the law of the sabbatical year. The seventh year was also the year that all “bondservants” among the children of
Israel were to be set free to return to their families. It was given as a year of restoration for the
land and for the people. Most have heard
of the “year of Jubilee,” which came
after each cycle of seven sabbatical years.
It was a year to “proclaim liberty
to the captives.” The prisons would
be opened, and the captives would go free.
Those who had lost their inheritance through poverty would have their
houses and lands restored to them. It
was a year of “new beginnings;” a
year in which husbands were reunited with their wives, and children would have
their daddies at home once more. What a
joyous time it would be in Jerusalem, except for one thing; in the nation’s
rebellion against God, it had been several hundred years since the people had
kept the law of Jubilee or of the sabbatical years. It was because of this “neglect” that God had determined that the people would go into
captivity for seventy years, one year for each sabbatical year the land had not
received its rest.
And I
will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I
will not smell the savour of your sweet odours.
And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell
therein shall be astonished at it. And I
will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and
your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste. Then
shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be
in your enemies’ land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her
sabbaths. As long as it lieth desolate
it shall rest; because it did not rest in
your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it.
Leviticus 26:31-35
The duration of the seventy years captivity was calculated by the
number of years they had disregarded the law of the Sabbath. God told the people through the prophet
Ezekiel why they were captives in a strange land; “Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my Sabbaths” (Ezekiel 22:8). When God
spoke of “His Sabbaths,” He spoke not
only of the “Sabbath Days,” but also
of the “Sabbatical Years.” Israel so disregarded the law of the Sabbaths
that seventy weeks of years (four hundred and ninety years) had passed since
the land had received its rest. They had
tilled the land, pruned the vineyards, and harvested the crops in the years
that God had commanded for the land to rest.
They had also refused to release their bondservants in the seventh year
as had been commanded in the law. It was
the prophet Jeremiah who spoke the judgment of God against the people of Israel
for this transgression.
Thus
saith the LORD, the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day
that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of
bondmen, saying, At the end of seven
years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee;
and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee:
but your fathers hearkened not unto me,
neither inclined their ear. And ye
were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every
man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which
is called by my name: But ye turned and
polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid,
whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into
subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids. Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not
hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every
man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim
a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the
famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
Jeremiah 34:13-17
For at least four hundred and ninety years, dating back to the
reign of King Saul, the people of Israel had not allowed their land to rest
during the seventh year as commanded by the Law of Moses. They also refused to release their
bondservants as they were commanded to do in the seventh year, but held them in
bondage and forced them into slavery.
Seventy sabbatical weeks (four hundred and ninety years) had passed
since the land had received its rest.
Those were years in which the people of the land disregarded God in
every way. They began worshiping many of
the “gods” of the heathen nations
around them, and even filled the Temple in Jerusalem with altars to those gods
(II Kings 23:4-6). Sodomites built their houses adjoining the
Temple (II Kings 23:7), and filled
the house of God with perversions. The
entire eighth chapter of Ezekiel is
God’s “explanation” to the prophet
Ezekiel of why He was calling for “destroyers
(Ezekiel 9:1-11)” to utterly destroy the city and the Temple. It was because of the abominations which they
committed, and for their disregard of the LORD’S Sabbaths, that God determined
to remove them from their land, some to captivity and others to slaughter, until
the “land” had received its rest
according the words of the law in Leviticus
26:34-35. Jeremiah had warned them
of what God would do, and the book of II
Chronicles records what He did:
And
them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they
were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: To
fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had
enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to
fulfil threescore and ten years.
II Chronicles 36:20-21
The seventy years of captivity were almost over when Daniel sought
the LORD for understanding of what was next for the children of Israel. The answer was probably not what Daniel
wanted to hear. He must have hoped that
God would deliver them and they would return to Israel, rebuild the city and
the temple, and once again become the dominant nation on earth, as it had been
in the days of King David. Instead,
Gabriel came to Daniel with a message of an additional seventy weeks, or four
hundred and ninety years during which they would remain under the dominion of
foreign empires, even after they would return to the land of Israel. Why must
there be another four hundred and ninety years?
The answer seems to be found in Leviticus
26:18-19: “And if ye will not yet for
all this hearken unto me, then I will
punish you seven times more for your sins.
And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass.” The people had endured seventy years of
captivity because they and their fathers had disregarded God for seventy
sabbatical years (four hundred and ninety years) in the past. Now, Gabriel came from God with a message
that there would be another four hundred and ninety years, with the promise of
a redeemer in the last seven years of the prophecy. These years would begin with a decree to “restore and build Jerusalem;” which was
given by King Artaxerxes of the Medes and Persians in 457 B.C. Exactly sixty nine weeks, or four hundred and
eighty three years later, a “redeemer;”
one called “The Messiah (The Christ)” would “come to Zion” (Isaiah 59:20).
Seventy
Weeks
The “Seventy Weeks Prophecy”
is divided into three parts. The first part is a period of “seven weeks,” or forty nine years
during which the street and the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt “in troublesome times” (Daniel 9:25). The second
part is a period of “sixty two
weeks,” or four hundred and thirty four years, which would end just before
Jesus was anointed by God at the Jordan River (Matthew 3:16-17). Four
hundred of those years are that period in Israel’s history which is called the “silent years;” years in which there was
no prophet in Israel, and no word from God.
During these years God disregarded Israel just as they had disregarded
Him for hundreds of years in the past.
The last word from heaven, before the four hundred years of silence, was
given by the prophet Malachi, who was sent to fulfill two purposes in his
ministry. First, he shows clearly that the priests of Israel continued to
show a total disregard for God in that they were offering sick and lame
sacrifices upon the altar (Malachi 1:8),
then complained that “the table of the
LORD is polluted” and “His meat is
contemptible” (Malachi 1:12). They spoke “stout words against the LORD,” saying, “It is vain to serve
God: and what profit is it that
we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD
of hosts?” (Malachi 3:14). Second,
he reaffirms the promise that “The
Messiah” would indeed come in the last week (the last seven years) of the
prophecy. “Behold, I will send my messenger (John the Baptist), and he shall prepare the way before me: and
the Lord (The Messiah; The Christ),
whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the
covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of
hosts. But who may abide the day of his
coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he
is like a refiner’s fire, and
like fullers’ soap” (Malachi 3:1-2). Malachi’s prophecy ends with a word from God
Himself, telling of the ministry of John the Baptist, saying, “…he shall turn the heart of the fathers to
the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a
curse” (Malachi 4:6). Those threatening words were the last words
Israel would hear from God for the next four hundred years; years during which
God sent no prophet, nor gave any promise to Israel. That deafening silence was broken only when
the angel Gabriel came once again, this time to a godly priest named Zacharias,
with the promise of a son (John the Baptist) who would prepare the way for the
appearing of The Messiah (The Christ).
The third and last part
of the prophecy is a period of “one
week,” or seven years, which began when the Holy Ghost came upon Jesus at
the Jordan River, and the “Father in
Heaven” introduced him, saying “This
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” From that same day, John the Baptist began
telling one and all, “This is the Lamb of
God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” In those words, “…which taketh away the sin of the world,” we find the purpose for
which The Messiah (The Christ) came into the world, a “purpose” that is clearly stated in the first verse of the prophecy of Seventy Weeks.
Messiah’s
Purpose
Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy
holy city, to finish the transgression,
and to
make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to
bring in everlasting righteousness,
and to seal up the vision and prophecy,
and to anoint the most Holy.
Daniel 9:24
It is in the next verse (verse
25) that we find the first mention of one called “The Messiah (The Christ)”
who is promised to come in the last week of the prophecy. Verse
24 tells the purpose of His coming, which is revealed in the following six
things.
1. To finish the transgression
2. To make an end of sins
3. To make reconciliation for iniquity
4. To bring in everlasting righteousness
5. To seal up the vision and prophecy
6. To anoint the most Holy
The last of these was the first to be fulfilled. God anointed His “Most Holy” when the Holy Ghost came upon Jesus. This announced the beginning of the last and
final week of the Seventy Weeks prophecy.
The first five of the six things were accomplished when
Jesus died on the cross three and a half years later, which was in the exact
middle of the last week, exactly as the angel Gabriel had said.
1. The
“transgression” that Israel committed
against God at Mount Horeb was “finished”
when the Law of Moses, which was “added
because of transgressions” (Galatians
3:19), was “nailed to His cross”
(Colossians 2:14).
2. An “end of sins” was made
when the creator of the first creation was “made
flesh (John 1:14)” and became our “sin bearer” on the cross.
Our “old man of sin” was
nailed to the cross “with Christ” (Romans 6:6), and we are “freed from sin (Romans 6:7)” through
faith in the one who “loved us, and gave
Himself for us” (Galatians 2:20).
3. Who
can deny that it was on the cross that “reconciliation
for iniquity” was made? Paul tells
us in II Corinthians 5:19 “…that God was in Christ, reconciling the
world unto Himself.” Reconciliation
was made for sinners when their sin was “taken
away” (John 1:29; I John 3:5).
4. John 3:16 tells us, “For God so loved the world, that he gave
his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life.” There is no difference between “everlasting life” and “everlasting righteousness,” because
only those who are “made righteous (Romans 5:19)” by the obedience of Christ to the death of the cross (Philippians 2:8) have either
righteousness or life. The apostle John
makes it clear that “eternal life”
can be “seen.” He says in I John 1:2, “For the life was
manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto
us.”
5.
When Jesus cried with a loud voice from the cross, saying, “It is finished,” at that very moment
everything that had been prophesied concerning the redemption of lost humanity
had been accomplished. The “vision and prophecy” had been “sealed up (fulfilled)” and “finished.”
Know
therefore and understand, that
from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto
the Messiah the Prince shall be
seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and
the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall
Messiah be cut off, but not for himself:
Daniel 9:25-26
In the twenty fourth verse,
the angel Gabriel tells us the duration of the prophecy and the six things that
will be accomplished within the four hundred and ninety years of the
prophecy. In the twenty fifth verse, he gives a sign that will reveal the starting
point of the four hundred and ninety years, which proved to be in the year 457
B.C. The twenty sixth verse begins with these words, “And after threescore and two
weeks (62 weeks; 434 years) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for
himself.” The sixty two weeks
are added to the seven weeks (49 years) in which the street and wall of the
city were built, totaling sixty nine
weeks, or four hundred and eighty
three years “unto the Messiah the
Prince.” This brings us to the year
Jesus was baptized by John and the Holy Ghost came upon Him, signifying the
beginning of the last week (seven years) of the prophesy. Exactly three and a half years after that
time “…shall Messiah be cut off, but not
for Himself,” which is an amazing prophesy of the crucifixion of Jesus
Christ, telling the exact year He would die for the sins of the world.
Silence
Broken
Four hundred years of “silence
in the heavens” was broken when the angel Gabriel appeared to a priest
named Zacharias while he was offering incense in the temple. Gabriel was the same angel that had came to
Daniel with the promise of “The Messiah”
over five hundred years before, and now he was come to announce that the “time” was drawing near. Zacharias the priest was married to a barren
woman named Elizabeth, and the scripture says they were both “well stricken in years” (Luke 1:7). The following is the message that Gabriel
brought to Zacharias:
Fear
not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee
a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and
many shall rejoice at his birth. For he
shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor
strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his
mother’s womb. And many of the children
of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.
And he (John) shall go before him (The Christ) in the spirit and power
of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the
disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to
make ready a people prepared for the Lord (The
Christ).
Luke 1:13-17
Zacharias did not believe Gabriel’s message, and asked the angel
for a sign. “Whereby shall I know this?
for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years” (Luke 1:18).
Gabriel answered, “I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to
speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings. And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these
things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in
their season” (Luke 1:19).
Six months later, the angel Gabriel appeared in Nazareth of Galilee
to a young virgin named Mary. He told
her that she would conceive and bring forth a son, and would call his name
Jesus. “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the
Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David” (Luke 1:32). Mary was not yet married, but was espoused
(engaged) to a man named Joseph. Being a
virtuous young lady, Mary protested, “How
shall this be, seeing I know not a man?” (Luke 1:34). Gabriel’s answer to Mary is the key to
receiving every promise of God to man. “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and
the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee” (Luke 1:35). Oh how
desperately we need the Holy Ghost to come upon a “virgin church” today, to bring forth the promises of God. Gabriel continued, “…therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be
called the Son of God.”
Another three months passed, and John the Baptist was born to
Zacharias and Elizabeth. Zacharias had
been dumb, not able to speak for over nine months, until the day that baby John
was circumcised. It was when he
confirmed by writing on a tablet that the baby’s name was “John;” that his “tongue was
loosed” and he was “filled with the
Holy Ghost,” and began to prophesy.
His prophecy was in two parts,
the first of which was concerning
the ministry of Jesus which would be fulfilled on the cross:
Blessed be
the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, And hath
raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; As he spake
by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: That
we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; To
perform the mercy promised to
our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; The oath which he sware to our
father Abraham, That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him
without fear, In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days
of our life.
Luke 1:68-75
In the seventy sixth verse
the prophecy turns to the ministry of Zacharias’ own son, John.
And
thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go
before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; To give knowledge of salvation unto His people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy
of our God.
Luke 1:76-78
Two things we should notice in the prophecies of
Zacharias; first, “The Christ” of prophecy would bring
salvation to the people “by the remission
of their sins.” According to the Greek
wording of this text, it should be understood to say, “in (Greek word is ‘en’) freedom from (Greek word
is ‘aphesis’) their sins.” Salvation is “in freedom from sin.” It
should also be noted that in every place but one where the word “remission” is used in the New
Testament, it is translated from the Greek word “aphesis,” which means “freedom;”
nothing less, and nothing more. The only
exception to this rule is in Romans 3:25,
where the word “remission” is
translated from the Greek word “paresis,”
which means “toleration;” that is, “to pass by without notice, or making
mention,” and speaks only of “sins
that are past” (Romans 3:25). God has no “toleration” for those who willfully continue in sin; because “The Christ” has come and “made an end of sins” for all those who
will trust in Him (Daniel 9:24-25). The second
thing to notice in Zacharias’ prophecy is found in verses 74-75; “…that we being delivered out of the hand of
our enemies might serve him without fear, In holiness
and righteousness before him, all
the days of our life.” Whether
Zacharias understood that “our enemies”
are “Sin” and “Satan,” I do not know, but it is obvious that Christ did not
deliver the nation from the domination of Rome.
Being “delivered out of the hand
of our enemies” (Sin and Satan), we do serve God “in holiness and righteousness” all the days of our lives.
Waiting
For the Consolation of Israel
Six months after the birth of John the Baptist to Zacharias and
Elizabeth, great excitement arose in the little town of Bethlehem when angels
from heaven appeared to some shepherds in the field and announced the birth of “a saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke
2:11). They said to the shepherds, “Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling
clothes and lying in a manger.” Eight
days later, an old and very devout man named Simeon came into the temple at the
same time the “babe in the manger”
was brought in to be circumcised. Simeon
was a righteous man who was “waiting for the consolation of Israel,”
which would be fulfilled with the coming of “The
Messiah.” The scripture says of
Simeon, “…and the Holy Ghost was upon
him” (Luke 2:25). The Holy Ghost had revealed to Simeon that he
would not die before he had “seen the Lord’s Christ.” Oh, what a wonderful promise! He would live to see “The Christ,” the Messiah, the one that God had promised to “make an end of sins” and “bring in everlasting righteousness.”
The fact that Simeon knew about “The
Christ” even before Jesus was born of Mary, indicates that those who “believed God” in Israel were looking
for and expecting His coming. They knew
what He would do, and they knew when He would do it, but they were totally
ignorant of “how” He would “make an end of sins.” Simeon must have known that according to the
prophecies, the year of The Messiah’s appearing would not come for another
thirty years, but he trusted that God would keep him alive until that day. On this day, however, when Mary and Joseph
brought the eight day old baby Jesus into the temple for circumcision, Simeon
took Him in his arms and said, “Lord, now
lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation”
(Luke 2:29-30). Simeon had found “The Savior.”
Looking
For Redemption in Jerusalem
There was also the case of Anna the prophetess, who was an eighty
four year old widow who had lost her husband when she was still very
young. She had not departed from the
temple for many years, but served God continually with fastings
and prayers. She also saw the baby Jesus
in the temple that day, and the scripture tells us that she “…spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38). Certainly there were many in Israel who were “waiting for the consolation of Israel”
along with Simeon, and “looking for
redemption” along with Anna. All of
these were longing to see the day of “The
Christ,” when “reconciliation for
iniquity” would be made, and “the
transgression” would be “finished”
(Daniel 9:24). They believed the prophets and the promise
that was given in Isaiah 59:20, “And the
Redeemer shall come to Zion.” They all “looked
for redemption,” but Anna had found “The
Redeemer.”
The
Seventieth Week
And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:
and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to
cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the
consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Daniel 9:27
Those who teach that this verse is speaking about one called “The antichrist” are mistaken. They are very “foolish” in that they do not understand what they have done to the
most precious of all promises in the scripture.
If the last week of Daniel’s “seventy
weeks” is deferred to the time just previous to the second coming of
Christ, and is given to one called “The
antichrist,” then God promised something to Daniel and all of Israel, that
He could not, or did not, deliver. The “unbelieving Jews” are still looking for
their Messiah to come. They believe the
seventieth week of the prophecy was deferred, only because they do not believe
that Jesus is their Messiah (The
Christ). The modern interpretation of Daniel 9:27, which is shown in all the
modern versions of the Bible, is a perversion of one of the most precious
promises ever given. Without exception,
the old Bible scholars did not believe this perversion of the scriptures. Read the comments on this verse in the
commentaries of Albert Barnes
(Barnes Notes), Adam Clark (Wesleyan
scholar of the late eighteenth century), Matthew
Henry, and Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown (Spurgeon’s favorite
commentary). Each and every one of these
understood that Daniel 9:27 speaks
of the ministry of “The Messiah (The
Christ)” and the chain of events that
would begin when God introduced Jesus of Nazareth to Israel, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased” (Matthew 3:7).
The
Forerunner
In
those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And
saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand. For this is he
that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias (Isaiah
40:3), saying, The voice of one
crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths
straight. And the same John had his
raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat
was locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all
Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, And were baptized of him in
Jordan, confessing their sins.
Matthew 3:1-6
The entire Jewish nation was looking for “The Messiah (The Christ)”
in the very year that Jesus came to John’s baptism. Israel had been oppressed under the
domination of foreign empires for over six hundred years, but the time had come
for “The Messiah” to appear. About three years before, a young man had
appeared in the wilderness of Judaea, dressed in camel’s hair with a wide
leather belt, and he lived on locusts and wild honey. This young man was the son of Zacharias and Elizabeth,
and soon became known far and wide as “John
the Baptist.” He came preaching, “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand.” Isaiah had prophesied of
John’s ministry, saying, “The voice of
him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way
of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God” (Isaiah 40:3). He was “the
forerunner,” the one who was sent by God to prepare the way for the
appearing of “The Messiah (The
Christ).” Within three years John’s following had grown
to such proportions that Mark records, “And
there went out unto him all the land
of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem,
and were all baptized of him in the
river of Jordan, confessing their sins” (Mark 1:5). The year that the
angel Gabriel had pinpointed for the appearing of “The Messiah (The Christ)”
was dawning, and many of the people were beginning to believe that John the
Baptist must be “The Christ.”
Looking
for “The Christ”
And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused
in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not;
Luke 3:15
The people were “in
expectation.” Four hundred and
eighty three years had passed since the “sign”
that marked the beginning of the prophecy had been fulfilled (Daniel 9:25), and it was time for “The Christ” to be made known to the
people. It was Gabriel’s message to
Daniel that had created the “expectation”
that only increased as the appointed time approached. Not only were the people in expectation, but
Luke records that “all men mused in their
hearts” whether John the Baptist was “The
Christ” or not. It was a universal
thought among the people. Who else could
it be? They knew of no other “candidate,” so it must be John. Even the chief priests in Jerusalem wondered
whether it was so. They sent emissaries
of priests and Levites to John, asking, “Who
art thou?” (John 1:19). John knew what they wanted to know, but
seems, by his answer in verse 20, to
toy with them: “…he confessed, and denied
not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.” John knew who he was and what his mission
would fulfill, but he denied being anything more than “the voice of one crying in the wilderness.” He said to them, “…but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; He it is, who
coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to
unloose” (John 1:26-27). Surely the Apostle John’s words were
fulfilled repeatedly throughout the life and ministry of Jesus, “He was in the world, and the world was made
by him, and the world knew him not” (John
1:10).
Finding
“The Christ”
The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith,
Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away
the sin of the world.
John 1:29
And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending
from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
And I knew him not: but he
that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt
see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I
saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.
John 1:32-34
Not even John, even though he was a second cousin to Jesus, knew
who “The Christ” would be until he
saw the fulfillment of a “sign” which
God had given to him. “Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit
descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth
with the Holy Ghost.” Everyone who
was at John’s baptism when Jesus came to be baptized both saw and heard the
amazing events of that day. They saw the
Holy Ghost descend upon Jesus in the form of a dove, and they heard the voice
of the Father from heaven saying, “This
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” It was the next day after these events that
John first introduced Jesus as “…the Lamb
of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” John saw in Jesus the culmination of every
lamb that had ever been sacrificed to make a “covering” for the sins of the people. For four thousand years those who “believed God” and sought to “please God” had labored against the sin that was in their heart and
nature. Millions of lambs had been
slaughtered, both under the Law of Moses, and before, by those who were seeking
a covering for their sin. Oh what
wonderful good news it was to hear John the Baptist tell about the “Lamb of God” who would “take away the sin of the world.” The “sin”
which had entered through Adam’s disobedience (Romans 5:12) would be taken away by the obedience of Jesus (Romans 5:19) to the death of the cross
(Philippians 2:8). He was “The
Lamb” that would “take away the sin,”
which had entered through Adam’s transgression, and He would do it for everyone
who would ever believe the true report of the gospel.
Again,
the next day after, John stood, and (with)
two of his disciples; And looking upon Jesus
as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb
of God! And the two disciples heard
him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then
Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They
said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where
dwellest thou? He saith unto them, Come
and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it
was about the tenth hour. One of the two
which heard John speak, and
followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first findeth
his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We
have found the Messias
(Messiah), which is, being
interpreted, the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus.
John 1:35-42
This was day three of the “day
by day” account, which the apostle
John gives beginning with the day the Holy Ghost came upon Jesus of
Nazareth. Two disciples of John (the
Baptist) were with him when they saw Jesus on that third day. This was the second time they heard John say,
“Behold the Lamb of God.” The “light”
of what they were seeing and hearing began to dawn in their hearts. They had seen the Holy Ghost come upon Him in
the form of a dove. They had heard the “voice from heaven” declaring, “This is my beloved Son!” They were there when John first introduced
Him, saying “Behold the Lamb of God,
which taketh away the sin of the world.”
They must have spent two restless nights, with all these things rolling
through their every thought. They had
seen “lambs” offered in their behalf
all the days of their life. According to
the Jewish law, the “firstborn son”
of every household had to be “redeemed” by
the sacrifice of a lamb. For their
entire lifetime they had watched a ritual that was carried out once a year on
the Day of Atonement; it was the “law of
the Scapegoat.” The high priest
would lay his hands upon a baby goat to “impart”
the sins of Israel upon its head. Then,
in obedience to the Law of Moses, the baby goat would be led out of the city,
far out into the wilderness to be devoured by the beasts of the field. This was the way, under the law of Moses, that
the “sins of the nation” were “taken away,” yet the reality was that
the people remained in sin, and the rituals had to be performed continually,
because it was “…not possible that the
blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4). These young
Jews had been taught the Law and the Prophets continually from their earliest
childhood. They understood the
prophecies of a “redeemer” that would
come to Israel. The entire nation was
excited about the prophecy of “The
Messiah,” who was to come to “finish
the transgression” and “make an end
of sins” (Daniel 9:24-25). They understood that those “animal sacrifices” had been offered
from the time God first gave animal skins to Adam and Eve to “cover” their nakedness. They also understood that those sacrifices,
which had greatly increased under the mandates of the Law of Moses, were given
as a temporary measure to “cover sin”
until one called “The Redeemer” would
come to “take Sin away.”
The first promise of a redeemer was given the day Adam first
transgressed. He (the redeemer) was
referred to as, “The Seed of the woman”
who would come to “bruise the Serpent’s
head” (Genesis 3:15). Isaiah
7:14 tells us who the “seed of the
woman” would be: “Behold, a virgin
shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (God with
us).
Abraham
Rejoiced…
Jesus said, “Abraham rejoiced
to see my day: and he saw it,
and was glad.” There was a strange
incident in the life of Abraham that tested his faith to the limits: God told
him to offer his son Isaac for a sacrifice on Mount Moriah. They made the three day journey to Moriah,
and as Isaac carried the wood for the sacrifice up the mountain, he questioned
his father, saying, “Behold the fire and
the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt
offering?” (Genesis 22:7). Abraham had not told him all that God had
said, and merely answered, “My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a
burnt offering.” This was Abraham’s
faith! He was prepared to obey God in
everything He had commanded, but he knew that God is just. Abraham was the man that had challenged the
justice of God in the past, and found that God is just. This was when God had determined to destroy
Sodom and Gomorrah. “Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt
thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there be fifty righteous within
the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty
righteous that are therein? That be far
from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and
that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do
right?” (Genesis 18:23-25).
Abraham “believed God”
enough to obey his every command, while his “faith
in God” was enough to know that God would “provide Himself a lamb.”
Abraham bound Isaac with ropes and placed him on the wood of the altar
of sacrifice, and just as he raised the knife to end the life of his beloved
son, he heard a voice from heaven calling his name; “Abraham, Abraham!” How important it is to “drop everything” when our Lord calls to us. One moment’s hesitation on the part of
Abraham, and Isaac would be dead. Abraham’s arm stopped in mid air as he
answered, “Here am I.” It was this moment in time that Jesus spoke
of when He said, “Abraham rejoiced to see
my day: and he saw it, and was
glad;” for Abraham heard the words from heaven, saying, “Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do
thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son,
thine only son from me”
(Genesis 22:12). “And
Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took
the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son” (verse
13).
And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh:
as it is said to this day, In
the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.
Genesis 22:14
The word Jehovahjireh simply means “The LORD will provide.” We
should forget the modern teaching about “Jehovahjireh,”
because it leads us away from the “truth”
of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Many of
this generation, along with several other previous generations, have been
taught that Jehovahjireh is a promise that God will provide money to pay the
bills, put food on the table, transportation in the garage, and a house to live
in. These “necessary things” are that which Jesus promises to those who “…seek... first the kingdom of God and His
righteousness” (Matthew 6:33);
but “Jehovahjirah” is a promise that
has been fulfilled since the Son of God carried the “wood” (of the cross) up
the hill of Golgotha and offered His own life and shed His own blood to “take away” the sin of the world. “Jehovahjirah”
was the promise to Abraham and to all who would come after him that “The
LORD will provide Himself a Lamb.”
Abraham inscribed the word “Jehovahjireh,”
on that altar, and hundreds of years later people would visit that place of
sacrifice and say, “In the mount of the
LORD it shall be seen” (Genesis
22:14). Oh, what rejoicing to those
that have “seen the Lamb!”
I
Have Found Him
The young man Andrew was the first to understand. The entire world had labored under the
bondage of sin for over four thousand
years since it had entered through Adam’s disobedience to God. Throughout those years, by bits and pieces,
God had revealed His salvation for mankind to those who could hear Him; yet,
there was no one who clearly understood what God was saying. The culmination of all the messages of the
prophets began to come together like a puzzle, but they still could not see the
entire picture. David depicts one
suffering at the hands of man, crying, “My
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me” (Psalms 22:1). He describes
in much detail the events that took place when Jesus died on the cross, but
David did not clearly understand the things which he, himself, wrote of. Isaiah, in his visions, saw a young man that
grew up in obscurity, who was “despised
and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3).” In verse four he saw this man do many good and wonderful things for
the people; healing the sick, and delivering them from their oppressions (“…surely he hath borne our griefs and carried
our sorrows…”), yet, the multitude demanded his death (“…we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted”). Peter tells us that the prophets saw “the
grace that would come to us” (I
Peter 1:10); but even though they “searched
diligently,” seeking “what or what manner of time” was signified when they foresaw “the sufferings of Christ, and the glory
that would follow” (verse 11);
they did not totally understand, saying, “What is this?; and, When will it be?”
It was many years after David, Isaiah and Jeremiah had given their
prophecies, that God sent the angel Gabriel to Daniel with the answer to both
questions; the first being “When?.” Four hundred and eighty three years after a
designated starting point (457 B.C.) one called “The Messiah” would come.
Three and a half years later, he would be “cut off, but not for Himself” (Daniel 9:26). Why was “The Messiah,” “cut off?” This is the answer to the “what,” which the former prophets had
asked. When “The Messiah” was “cut off,
but not for Himself,” it was to accomplish the six things which we have already discussed in this message. They are found in the first verse (verse 24) of the seventy week prophecy of Daniel
(Daniel 9:24-27); and they are:
1. To finish the transgression;
2. To make an end of sins;
3. To make reconciliation for
iniquity;
4. To bring in everlasting
righteousness;
5. To seal up the vision and
prophecy;
6. And to anoint the most Holy.
When the young man Andrew heard the words, “Behold (this is) the Lamb of
God, which taketh away the sin of the world,” a light turned on in his
heart. It took about twenty four hours
for him to be certain, but the next day, when he again heard John say, “Behold the Lamb of God,” he
believed. In believing, he and another
disciple of John turned to follow Jesus.
They spent the day with Jesus, and now the glorious “light” flooded Andrew’s entire being. The scripture says “He first findeth
his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is,
being interpreted, the Christ” (John 1:41). Please bear with me as I tell you what I can
see. I see Andrew running as fast as he
can to find Peter. He is leaping over
fences, taking every short cut he knows to get to Peter. Along the way, many others can hear him
screaming at the top of his lungs, “We
have found Him! We have found Him!”
When Peter hears these words, he doesn’t need to ask, “Who have you found.” Andrew had found the one the entire nation was
seeking for. He had found The Messiah,
The Christ, who would “make an end of
sins.” He had found the “seed of the woman” that was promised to
Adam. He had found the “Lamb of God” that Abraham had rejoiced
to see. In the words of Philip, who “found him” on the fourth day, “We have found him, of whom Moses in the
law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph”
(John 1:45). Notice that, at the
time, they did not yet know that He was the Son of God; they only knew that
this Jesus of Nazareth was “The Christ” who
had come to “make an end of sins.”
They had found the “root and
offspring of David,” the “bright and
morning star.” They had found Him
whose name would be called “…Wonderful,
Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). They did not know at this time that He would
die on a cross, rejected of men; but they did know that the one who Haggai had
called “…the desire of all nations” had
come (Haggai 2:7), and that He would
“fill the house with glory.” Oh what rejoicing there must have been in
that small fishing village in Galilee as person after person began to “find Him.”
A full generation later, Peter would write to the church during a
time of great tribulation and persecution against those who trusted in
Christ. Those to whom he writes were
Gentiles, and had never seen Jesus with their natural eyes, as Peter had.
Nevertheless, he writes to them, saying, “Whom
having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing,
ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory” (I Peter 1:6-8). Those who have “found Him,” have a fountain of joy that springs up within them;
even during the most adverse circumstances of life.
Maybe you are one who has been told that the Christian life is one
of a constant struggle with sin. Maybe
you have believed that “because you are a
believer” you are “doomed” to
live your life in the so called “Romans
seven” experience described in Romans
7:15-23.
For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that
do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If
then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law (the ten commandment
law of God) that it is good. Now then it
is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,)
dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I
find not. For the good that I would I do
not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that
dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that,
when I would do good, evil is present with me.
For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another
law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into
captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Romans 7:15-23
Isaiah speaks of those in his day who were in the same spiritual
predicament as the one in Romans, 7:15-23. He refers to them as those who “walk in darkness,” because “the light (The Messiah)” had not yet come (Isaiah 59:9-15).
…judgment (is) far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; (we wait) for
brightness, but we walk in darkness. We
grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead
men. We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like
doves: we look for judgment, but there
is none; for salvation, but
it is far off from us. For our
transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for
our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we
know them; In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from
our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart
words of falsehood. And judgment is
turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.
Yea, truth faileth; and he that
departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.
Isaiah 59:9-15
The prophet speaks of those who “walk
in darkness.” In verse fourteen, He tells the reason for
their darkness; “…because truth is fallen
in the street.” In I John 1:6, the apostle John speaks of those
who “walk in darkness.” “If we say that we have fellowship with him,
and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth.” Those who walk the “Romans Seven Walk” are walking in
darkness. The “light of truth” has never shown into their hearts. Isaiah
59:20 gives the answer for all who walk in darkness: “And the Redeemer shall come to Zion!” Isaiah 60:1-2 tells of the “glory”
on those who have received the redeemer:
Arise,
shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon
thee. For behold, the darkness shall
cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon
thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
Isaiah 60:1-2
Imagine a world that is covered with darkness. Imagine the population groping to find their
way in gross darkness. Imagine the most
devout among the people living in the constant struggle described, in Romans 7:15-23, as the Romans seven experience.
No, you don’t have to imagine.
That is the world today, and that is the church of today. But imagine, in the midst of gross darkness,
you are walking in the light. You do not
stumble, because “there is no occasion of
stumbling in you” (I John 2:10). You are freed from sin to serve God “without fear, in holiness and righteousness
all the days of your life” (Luke
1:74-75). Your life experience is “righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy
Ghost” (Romans 14:17). No!
Again you don’t have to imagine; you must simply believe the “truth” that, Jesus said, “will make you free.” Jesus is “The
Christ.” He is “The Messiah of Israel.” He
died on the cross to make an end of sins and bring in everlasting righteousness
for everyone who trusts in Him. So why
do you wait?
Arise, shine; because your light has come.
Message 47 - By Leroy
Surface - Have You Found Him?
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