prophecy

The vengeance of the LORD

God explained to the prophet Habakkuk that he was not letting injustice prevail when he delayed the punishment of the people of Judah. God was working out his plan of salvation according to a timetable that went beyond their present circumstances to an eternal outcome that was dependent upon the birth of Christ. God told Habakkuk, “Look among the nations and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told” (Habakkuk 1:5). The statement, “I am doing a work in your days” refers to the people of Judah’s captivity in Babylon. God allowed his chosen people “to be taken into exile to purge their sin of idolatry from them” (note on Habakkuk 1:5). After his purpose was accomplished, God intended to seek vengeance on the Babylonians for their mistreatment of the Jews, but he wanted Habakkuk to see the bigger picture and pointed the prophet to Christ’s ultimate defeat of sin and death. Habakkuk 2:2-4 states:

“Write the vision;
    make it plain on tablets,
    so he may run who reads it.
For still the vision awaits its appointed time;
    it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seems slow, wait for it;
    it will surely come; it will not delay.

“Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
    but the righteous shall live by his faith.”

Paul used Habakkuk 2:4 in two of his letters to explain “that justification is by faith alone, not by works (Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11)” (note on Habakkuk 2:4). A just person is “one who acts alike to all, who practices even-handed justice” one who is “equitable, impartial” (G1342). Therefore, justification is “doing alike to all, justice, equity, impartiality; spoken of a judge “Acts 17:31; Hebrews 11:33; Revelation 19:11)” (G1343). Revelation 19:11 depicts Christ as sitting on a white horse and says that he is “called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.” Revelation 19:19-21 goes on to say, “And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds gorged on their flesh.”

Christ’s defeat of the beast and the false prophet indicated that the vengeance of the LORD had been carried out. This event marked the end of Antichrist’s reign on earth and the beginning of Jesus’ millennial kingdom. Babylon, the place where the Jews were taken into captivity by King Nebuchadnezzar, is identified in Revelation 14:8 as the city that made “all the nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality.” Babylon is also mentioned in Revelation 16:19 where it says, “God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath.”

Jeremiah’s prophecy about the judgment of Babylon refers to the Jews return from captivity. Jeremiah said:

“In those days and in that time, declares the Lord, the people of Israel and the people of Judah shall come together, weeping as they come, and they shall seek the Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward it, saying, ‘Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.’”

“My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains. From mountain to hill they have gone. They have forgotten their fold. All who found them have devoured them, and their enemies have said, ‘We are not guilty, for they have sinned against the Lord, their habitation of righteousness, the Lord, the hope of their fathers.’” (Jeremiah 50:4-7)

The use of the name Zion for Jerusalem suggests that this passage is relevant to Christ’s millennial kingdom, a precursor to the new heaven and the new earth, when there will be no sin or death and an eternal kingdom will be established.

Psalm 137 reveals that the Jews’ hope for an eternal kingdom was not only on their minds, but also on those of their captors long before Christ was born. The Jews’ expectation of the LORD taking vengeance on their enemies was likely a driving factor in their return to Jerusalem. Psalm 137:1-3 states, “By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung our lyres. For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion.’” Psalm 137 concludes with a reference to the Jews future retribution. The psalmist said, “Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, ‘Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to the foundation! O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us! Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!” (Psalm 137:7-9).

The Hebrew word that is translated repays in Psalm 137:8, shalam (shaw-lamˊ) is where the word shalowm comes from. Shalowm means “peace or tranquility” (H7965). Shalam is “a verb meaning to be safe, to be completed. The primary meaning is to be safe or uninjured in mind or body (Job 8:6; 9:4). This word is normally used when God is keeping His people safe. In its simple form, this verb also means to be completed or to be finished. This could refer to something concrete such as a building (1 Kings 7:51); or to things more abstract, such as plans (Job 23:14). Other meanings of this verb include to be at peace with another person (Psalm 7:4[5]); to make a treaty of peace (Joshua 11:19; Job 5:23); to pay, to give a reward (Psalm 62:12[13]); to restore, repay, or make retribution (Exodus 21:36; Psalm 37:21)” (H7999). Because God is just, he always repays us according to what we have done. It says in 2 Corinthians 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”

Jeremiah said regarding the judgment of Babylon, “For this is the vengeance of the LORD; take vengeance on her; do to her as she has done” (Jeremiah 50:15), and then, went on to say, “Repay her according to all that she has done. For she has proudly defied the LORD, the Holy One of Israel” (Jeremiah 50:29). Babylon’s defiance of the LORD caused him to turn against her and to utterly destroy the city. Jeremiah prophesied, “We would have healed Babylon, but she was not healed. Forsake her, and let us go each to his own country, for her judgment has reached up to heaven, and has been lifted up even to the skies. The LORD has brought about vindication; come, let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God” (Jeremiah 51:9-10). Vindication describes “justice, right actions, and right attitudes, as expected from both God and people when they judge…The noun describes the justice of God or His will” (H6666). Habakkuk couldn’t understand how it could be God’s will to use such an unholy and ruthless nation to punish men who were more righteous than they were (Habakkuk 1:12-17) because he didn’t realize that the end result would be God pardoning the remnant of Israel and Judah (Jeremiah 50:20) and the land of Babylon becoming a desolation (Jeremiah 51;29).  

Day of the Lord

“The day of the Lord holds an important place in prophecy. Old Testament prophets declared that it signaled judgment for Israel. Several prophets referred to it as God’s day of judgment upon individual nations, such as Babylon, Egypt, Edom, and others. Zechariah 14:1-4 explains that the events pertaining to Christ’s second advent are included in the day of the Lord” (note on 1 Thessalonians 5:2). This passage states:

Behold, a day is coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. (Zechariah 14:1-4)

Paul’s focus on the day of the Lord in his first letter to the Thessalonians was in the context of Christ’s return (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Paul said that it “will come like a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2). If the day of the Lord began after Christ’s second advent, “it could not come as a ‘thief in the night,’ unexpected and unheralded, since that particular advent is accompanied by signs (Matthew 24:30, 31). Consequently, the only way these events could occur unexpectedly would be for them to begin immediately after the rapture of the church. The day of the Lord, therefore, is that extended period of time when God will deal with Israel after the rapture of the church. It will continue through the second advent and the millennial age, which precedes the creation of the new heaven and new earth. God will actively intervene throughout the time period to punish sin” (note on 1 Thessalonians 5:2).

Isaiah’s prophesy about the day of the Lord made it clear that the Lord will establish his exalted position on the earth (Isaiah 2:11) and he will at that time rid the world of all idol worship (Isaiah 2:20). Isaiah said:

For the Lord of hosts has a day
    against all that is proud and lofty,
    against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low…
And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled,
    and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low,
    and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
And the idols shall utterly pass away.
And people shall enter the caves of the rocks
    and the holes of the ground,
from before the terror of the Lord,
    and from the splendor of his majesty,
    when he rises to terrify the earth. (Isaiah 2:12-19)

The title used in Isaiah 2:12, LORD of Hosts refers to God’s position of leadership over both human and heavenly armies and therefore, signifies Christ’s intention of conquering the world when he returns to earth. Isaiah’s statement, “And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled; and the lofty pride of man shall be brought low” (Isaiah 2:17) suggests that mankind’s usurping of God’s authority is the main driver behind God’s use of force to regain control of the world that he created and which rightfully belongs to him.

Jesus’ disciples and others whom he taught did not completely understand the purpose of the day of the Lord, nor did they initially comprehend the reason for the removal of Christians before it began. Jesus used parables to describe the events that were going to take place (Matthew 21:33-22:14) and only explained certain details to his twelve apostles before his death (Matthew 24:15-31). On one occasion, Jesus responded to a question from the Pharisees about when the kingdom of God would come by telling them it had already arrived. Then, Jesus told his disciples what to expect at the time of his second coming. Jesus said:

“The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”

And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all—so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.” And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.” (Luke 17:20-37)

Paul’s statement that the Lord would come like a thief in the night (1 Thessalonians 5:2) echoed Jesus’ sentiment that people will be caught off guard in the days of the Son of Man (Luke 17:24). Jesus compared the initiation of the day of the Lord to the days of Noah and the days of Lot when God destroyed everyone. Paul said, “While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security.’ Then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape” (1Thessalonians 5:3).

Unlike the Jews who were warned about the sudden destruction that was awaiting them in the day of the Lord, believers in Christ welcomed Jesus’ return and expected the day of the Lord to be a time of great celebration. Paul described the event as a moment of immediate transformation that would result in immortality. Paul said, “I tell you this, brothers, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:50-52). The Greek word that is translated changed, allasso (al-lasˊ-so) means “to make different…to change for the better” (G236). Allasso also appears in Hebrews 1:11-12 where the final destruction of the earth is described. Quoting from Psalm 102:25-27, the writer states, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed.”

“God did not intend for the earth to be eternal…the most graphic account of the end of the entire physical universe is found in 2 Peter 3:10” (note on Genesis 8:21-22). Peter’s account of the day of the Lord focused on the destruction of the ungodly. Peter said scoffers will come in the last days, “following their own sinful desires. They will say, ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation. For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and the earth that now exists are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly” (2 Peter 3:3-7). Peter cautioned believers to not overlook the fact that God’s timing is not the same as ours. Peter said, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

Peter concluded his discussion of the day of the Lord by refocusing his readers’ attention from the bad news to the good news of Christ’s return. Second Peter 3:11-13 states, “Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” Revelation 21:1 tells us that a new heaven and new earth will be created after the great white throne judgment (Revelation 20:11-15). “The new heaven and the new earth are not duplicates of the heaven and earth that now exist. The word ‘new’ is a translation of the Greek word kainon (2537), which means ‘qualitatively new.’ To some, this suggests that the new earth will be as the current earth was at its creation” (note on Revelation 21:1-22:5). The connection between believers being changed (allasso, 1 Corinthians 15:51) and the earth being changed (allasso, Hebrews 1:12) suggests though, that there will be at least one difference between the current earth and the new one. The new earth will be imperishable. Paul said, “When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory’” (1 Corinthians 15:54).

Christ’s Return

The Old Testament prophecies that predicted the birth of Jesus Christ also talked about a time when Christ would return to the earth and rule over all people and kingdoms. Differentiating between the events of Christ’s first and second coming is sometimes difficult because of an intersecting event that ties these two time periods together, what Jesus referred to as “the last day” (John 12:48) and also as, “the day of judgment” (Matthew 12:36). Matthew, John, Peter, and James, the brother of the Jesus, all referred to Christ’s return in their writings and linked the topic of judgment to this event. Jesus taught his disciples about his second coming in his Sermon on the Mount. This lesson was prompted by a question from his disciples. Matthew 24:3 states, “As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?’” Jesus’ response made is sound is if his second coming might happen within his disciples’ lifetime. Events that were going to take place over thousands of years were condensed into a short synopsis of the key indicators of Christ’s return. Jesus told them:

“See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.

Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 4-14)

One of the key indicators that Jesus identified as a sign of his second coming was people being led astray. Jesus said, “See that no one leads you astray…they will lead many astray…And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray” (Matthew 24:4-11). False prophets will not only be a problem in the last days. There were many false prophets in the Old Testament who were trying to keep the people of Israel from realizing that they were going to be taken into captivity. The LORD told Jeremiah, “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds” (Jeremiah 14:14). Leading someone astray involves an intentional effort to misguide a person in the course that they are taking. The Greek word translated lead astray, planao (plan-ahˊ-o) is translated as deceive in the King James Version of the Bible. It means, “to (properly cause to) roam (from safety, truth, or virtue)” (G4105).

Jeremiah’s message about the day of judgment had to do with the people’s refusal to repent. Jeremiah said, “They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to repent” (Jeremiahs 5:3). Repentance is associated with the process of conversion which requires one to turn away from sin and to turn toward God. “The process called conversion or turning to God is in reality a re-turning or a turning back again to Him from whom sin has separated us, but whose we are by virtue of creation, preservation and redemption” (H7725). Because the people refused to repent, Jeremiah warned them about the impending disaster for Jerusalem and included a warning about false prophets. Jeremiah said, “An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction: my people love to have it so, but what will you do when the end comes” (Jeremiah 5:30-31). The end that Jeremiah was referring to was not the people of Jerusalem going into captivity. God said, “But even in those days, declares the LORD, I will not make a full end of you” (Jeremiah 5:18). When the end does comes, Micah prophesied that Christ will gather the remnant of Israel and set them together like sheep in a fold, and their king will pass on before them, “the LORD at their head” (Micah 2:12-13).

Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians dealt with a concern that those believers who had already died would miss Christ’s return (Introduction to the First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians). Paul mentioned Christ’s return when he conveyed his longing to see the Thessalonians and also in his discussion of Timothy’s encouraging report. Paul asked, “For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?” (1 Thessalonians 2:19). Paul wanted the Thessalonians to know, “the same Jesus who ascended to heaven will come again (Acts 1:11) at the end of the age (Matthew 24:3)” (note on 1 Thessalonians 2:19). Paul went on to say, “Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints” (1 Thessalonians 3:11-13). Paul indicated that the Lord Jesus will bring all the saints who have died with him when he returns. The Greek word hagios (hagˊ-ee-os) is “spoken of those who are purified and sanctified by the influences of the Spirit, a saint. This is assumed of all who profess the Christian name” (G40).

Peter talked in detail about the day of judgment in his second letter. Peter introduced the topic by making reference to the predictions of the Old Testament prophets (2 Peter 3:2) and the commandment of Jesus in which he stated that it was not for the apostles “to know the times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority” (Acts 1:7). Peter said, “The heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly” (2 Peter 3:7), and then, explained that the delay of Christ’s return is to allow more time for people to be saved. Second Peter 3:8-10 states:

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

Jesus’ second coming will ignite a series of events that will conclude with God creating a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21). Peter argued that because this was how everything is going to end, we should be living lives of holiness and godliness, eagerly awaiting Christ’s return (2 Peter 3:11-12). Although Christ’s “authority is not readily discerned by the world at the present time, it will be made visible by his apokalypsis (G602), or ‘revelation’ (2 Thessalonians 1:7). The power and glory that Christ possesses will then be unveiled and disclosed to the world” (note on 1 Thessalonians 2:19).

Forsaking God

Not long after the Israelites were delivered from slavery in Egypt, they forgot about the things that God had done for them and began worshipping idols. Even while Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the commandments from God, the people turned away from the LORD and made a golden calf. “And they said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt’” (Exodus 32:4). Throughout their history, the people of Israel kept abandoning God until finally they were taken into captivity and cured of their idolatry. The prophet Jeremiah was given the task of pronouncing judgment on God’s chosen people and was told, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant” (Jeremiah 1:9-10). The messages that Jeremiah received from the LORD foretold of an imminent disaster that would overtake the people of Judah sometime in the future. Jeremiah 1:13-16 states:

The word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north.” Then the Lord said to me, “Out of the north disaster shall be let loose upon all the inhabitants of the land. For behold, I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, declares the Lord, and they shall come, and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around and against all the cities of Judah. And I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil in forsaking me. They have made offerings to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands.

The imagery of a boiling pot was intended to convey the intensity of what was going to happen. “These external circumstances and the sadness of his message, coupled with Jeremiah’s own periodic depression, contributed to the style with which Jeremiah wrote (Jeremiah 4:19-22; 20:7-18). For this reason he is called the ‘weeping prophet’” (Introduction to Jeremiah). Jeremiah’s reluctance to be God’s spokesperson was due in part to his young age. He told the LORD, “Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth” (Jeremiah 1:5), and later Jeremiah complained to God because the wicked seemed to be prospering in spite of the judgment that the LORD had told him to pronounce against them (Jeremiah 12:1-4).

Jeremiah’s account of Israel forsaking God included details of both the high and low points in Israel’s history. God said, “I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown. Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of his harvest” (Jeremiah 2:2-3). The LORD continued, “But when you came in, you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination. The priests did not say, ‘Where is the LORD?’ Those who handle the law did not know me; the shepherds transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal, and went after things that do not profit” (Jeremiah 2:7-8). The stark contrast between Israel’s devotion to the LORD in the wilderness and the apostasy that developed after they entered the Promised Land demonstrated their unwillingness to seek God for the sake of the special relationship they had with him as opposed to the material blessings that they received as a result of being designated the heirs of God’s kingdom.

The LORD chided the people of Israel for their unfaithfulness and seemed to be mocking them when he asked:

Have you not brought this upon yourself
    by forsaking the Lord your God,
    when he led you in the way?
And now what do you gain by going to Egypt
    to drink the waters of the Nile?
Or what do you gain by going to Assyria
    to drink the waters of the Euphrates?
Your evil will chastise you,
    and your apostasy will reprove you.
Know and see that it is evil and bitter
    for you to forsake the Lord your God;
    the fear of me is not in you,
declares the Lord God of hosts. (Jeremiah 2:17-19)

The LORD said there was no fear of him in his people, meaning that they did not show him the proper respect or give him the reverence that was due to him as the person who had saved their lives by rescuing them from slavery in Egypt.

The people of Judah’s forsaking of God involved a slow, gradual process of replacing their worship of the LORD with the worship of idols. Their primary reason for forsaking God was a desire to worship as they pleased (Jeremiah 2:20, 31). The people of Judah saw the religious service that was prescribed to them in the Mosaic Law as toilsome labor rather than a joyful celebration of their liberation from slavery in Egypt (H5647). The LORD asked them:

How can you say, ‘I am not unclean,
    I have not gone after the Baals’?
Look at your way in the valley;
    know what you have done—
a restless young camel running here and there,
    a wild donkey used to the wilderness,
in her heat sniffing the wind!
    Who can restrain her lust? (Jeremiah 2:23-24)

The LORD pointed to Israel’s unfaithfulness as an explanation for the trouble that had come upon his chosen people and rebuked them for blaming him for the demise of their nation (Jeremiah 2:26-28). The LORD asked, “Why do you contend with me? You have all transgressed against me…In vain have I struck your children; they took no correction; your own sword devoured your prophets like a ravening lion” (Jeremiah 2:29-30).

The LORD’s charges against the Israelites centered around the fact that even though they enjoyed a special relationship with God, the people had failed to acknowledge what he had done in the past and had turned instead to idols, bringing judgment on themselves as a result (note on Jeremiah 2:1-19). The LORD told Jeremiah to proclaim in Jerusalem his case against the people of Israel. Jeremiah prophesied:

Has a nation changed its gods,
    even though they are no gods?
But my people have changed their glory
    for that which does not profit.
Be appalled, O heavens, at this;
    be shocked, be utterly desolate,
declares the Lord,
for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
    the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
    broken cisterns that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:11-13)

God identified himself as the fountain of living water when he talked about the people of Israel forsaking him. Jesus referred to this when he told the Samaritan woman, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water” (John 4:10).

The topic of Israel forsaking God was addressed in some of Jesus’ parables, in particular the parable of the tenants. In this parable, Jesus illustrated how God, who was represented by the master of the house, had expected the people of Israel to use their possession of the Promised Land as a means of establishing Christ’s kingdom on earth. God’s prophets, who were represented in the parable by the master’s servants, were rejected by Israel. Jesus said, “And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance’” (Matthew 21:35-38). Jesus concluded his parable by asking, “When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” (Matthew 21:40). The chief priests and the Pharisees that Jesus was talking to replied, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their season” (Matthew 21:41).

Paul explained in his letter to the Romans that Israel forsaking God was intended to make it possible for the Gentiles to become a part of God’s plan of salvation. Paul stated, “So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous” (Romans 11:11). Paul went on to explain that God’s chosen people were experiencing a partial hardening of their hearts so that God’s plan of salvation could be fully realized. Paul told the Romans:

Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,

“The Deliverer will come from Zion,
    he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;
“and this will be my covenant with them
    when I take away their sins.”

As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all. (Romans 11:25-32)

Paul indicated that the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable, meaning that God wasn’t going to change his mind about who would receive his gift of salvation. Paul indicated in his letter to the Ephesians that God decided who would be saved before the foundation of the world and predestined them to be adopted into his family through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:4-5).

The Apostle Paul was a Jew who initially opposed Christianity. Paul was making a concerted effort to get rid of the church that was beginning to be established after Christ’s ascension, when Jesus met him on the road to Damascus and called him to preach the gospel (Acts 9:5, 15). Although Peter was the first apostle to preach the good news to the Gentiles (Acts 10:34-43), Paul is credited with preaching the gospel to all the residents of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, over a period of two years (Acts 19:10). Paul established several churches prior to going to Asia, one of which was located in Thessalonica. “After Paul and Silas were forced to leave Philippi, they traveled along the Egnatian Way to Thessalonica (Acts 16:39-17:1) where Paul taught in the synagogue for three sabbaths. They were forced to leave the city when antagonistic Jews, after stirring up the people of Thessalonica, brought some of the believers before the city officials and accused them of promoting treasonous ideas (Acts 17:5-10). The believers there came under great persecution following this uproar” (Introduction to the First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians).

Paul commended the Thessalonian believers for their work of faith, labor of love, and the steadfastness of their hope (1 Thessalonians 1:3), and told these Gentile believers, “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and with full conviction” (1 Thessalonians 1:4-5). The Thessalonians were completely convinced that Jesus had died for their sins, just as much as he had for sins of the Jews. Rather than forsaking God because of the persecution they were experiencing, the Thessalonians became an example to all believers of what it looks like to have faith in God (1 Thessalonians 1:7). Paul indicated that the Thessalonians had turned to God from idols and were serving the living and true God and waiting for Jesus’ return (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10).

God told Jeremiah that he was being set over the nations and over kingdoms, “to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant” (Jeremiah 1:10). Israel’s forsaking of God was not the end of their story. “Jeremiah also received some great visions of promise, the return from captivity (chapters 25, 29), the new covenant (chapter 31), and the ultimate return of the Messiah to Jerusalem (chapter 23). These visions were meant to encourage the people of Israel to turn back to God and receive his mercy. God pleaded with the people, stating, “Return, faithless Israel, declares the LORD. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares the LORD; I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the LORD your God and scattered your favors among foreigners under every green tree, and that you have not obeyed my voice, declares the LORD. Return, O faithless children declares the LORD, for I am your master; I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion” (Jeremiah 3:12-14).

The worthless shepherd

Jesus described himself as the good shepherd and said, “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John10:11). Along with himself, Jesus identified another character who would interact with God’s people whom he likened to helpless sheep. Jesus said of this other shepherd, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber” (John 10:1). Jesus indicated that the other shepherd would gain access to God’s people by climbing into the sheep pen by another way rather than using the door. Jesus said of himself, “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture” (John 10:9). This comment suggests that the other shepherd will not be concerned with the salvation of people’s souls but will steal and kill and destroy by replacing Jesus’ gospel message with another form or means of godliness. Jesus told his followers to “beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves” (Matthew 7:15). Jesus alluded to the other shepherd being a wolf when he said, “He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them” (John 10:12).

The other shepherd that Jesus warned his followers about is mentioned in the book of Zechariah in the context of the Messiah, the coming King of Zion. Zechariah 9:9-17 predicts Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem (cf. Matthew 21:4-7; John 12:14, 15). “Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and the people’s rejection of him marked the end of Daniel’s sixty-ninth ‘week.’ Zechariah’s prophecy then continues with a discussion of the period of God’s dealing with Israel in the seventieth ‘week’ of Daniel. In the end times, Israel will no longer rely on military power but on the ‘Prince of Peace’ who will exercise worldwide dominion” (note on Zechariah 9:9-17). Zechariah’s prophecy concerning the other shepherd is recorded in Zechariah 11:15-17. It states:

Then the Lord said to me, “Take once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd. For behold, I am raising up in the land a shepherd who does not care for those being destroyed, or seek the young or heal the maimed or nourish the healthy, but devours the flesh of the fat ones, tearing off even their hoofs.

“Woe to my worthless shepherd,
    who deserts the flock!
May the sword strike his arm
    and his right eye!
Let his arm be wholly withered,
    his right eye utterly blinded!”

Zechariah identified the other shepherd as God’s “worthless shepherd.” The worthless shepherd is raised up by God to show the people of Israel the error of their ways. Zechariah 11:15-17 “is a description of the Antichrist that will come (cf. Revelation 13:1-10). The prophecy does not end, however, without revealing the doom of the Antichrist (v. 17)” (note on Zechariah 11:15-17). The Antichrist is referred to in Revelation 13:1-10 as “the beast.” It says in verses 5-8, “And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.”

Daniel’s vision of the end times (Daniel 9:24-27) took place during the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the return of God’s people to the Promised Land after they had been in exile in Babylon for 70 years. “Daniel had been praying about the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the return of his people. God gave Daniel a time frame for all his dealings with Israel. The prophecy pertains to Daniel’s people and the holy city (Daniel 9:24), and the beginning of the prophecy’s fulfillment was marked by the decree to rebuild Jerusalem (Daniel 9:25). The seventy ‘weeks’ (Daniel 9:24) refer to years. Some biblical scholars suggest that the sixty-nine ‘weeks’ until the Messiah would come (Daniel 9:25) began with the decree that was issued to Nehemiah in 445 BC and ended 483 years later on Palm Sunday (based on 360-day years; see Revelation 11:3; 12:6; 13:5). The phrase ‘an anointed one shall be cut off’ (Daniel 9:28) is a reference to the crucifixion of Christ. There is likely a gap, a feature that is characteristic of some prophesies, between the sixty-ninth and seventieth ‘week.’ If this is the case, then the ‘prince who is to come’ (Daniel 9:26) refers to the Antichrist, who will make a treaty with the Jews and then break it (Daniel 9:27). Jesus stated that the ‘abomination of desolation’ (referring to Daniel 9:27) would take place at the end of the age (Matthew 24:15)” (note on Daniel 9:24-27).

Zechariah’s prophecy about the coming King of Zion preceded a prediction about the restoration of Judah and Israel and a discussion of God’s flock being doomed to slaughter. God said:

My anger is hot against the shepherds,
    and I will punish the leaders;
for the Lord of hosts cares for his flock, the house of Judah,
    and will make them like his majestic steed in battle.
From him shall come the cornerstone,
    from him the tent peg,
from him the battle bow,
    from him every ruler—all of them together.
They shall be like mighty men in battle,
    trampling the foe in the mud of the streets;
they shall fight because the Lord is with them,
    and they shall put to shame the riders on horses. (Zechariah 10:3-5)

God’s reference to the shepherds in this passage has to do with the lack of spiritual leadership among his people. Ezekiel’s prophecy expanded on God’s condemnation of the shepherds of Israel (Ezekiel 34:1-10) and talked about Jesus’ ministry of seeking the lost, bringing back the strayed, binding up the injured, and strengthening the weak (Ezekiel 34:14-16). Ezekiel went on to talk about the LORD’s covenant of peace that would be established during the millennial reign of Christ. Ezekiel said, “They shall no more be a prey to the nations, nor shall the beasts of the land devour them. They shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid. And I will provide for them renowned plantations so that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, and no longer suffer the reproach of the nations. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Lord God. And you are my sheep, human sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Lord God” (Ezekiel 34:28-31).

Zechariah’s prophecy about the worthless shepherd indicated that Antichrist “does not care for those being destroyed, or seek the young or heal the maimed or nourish the healthy, but devours the flesh of the fat ones, tearing off even their hoofs” (Zechariah 11:16). This suggests that the ones who are most vulnerable to Antichrist’s attacks are believers who are spiritually fat or rather, well-versed in the Scriptures. This was true of the Pharisees in Jesus’ day, they knew the Scriptures backward and forward, and yet, they did not see their own hypocrisy in condemning Jesus’ disciples for not washing their hands when they ate (Matthew 15:1-6). Jesus said to these men:

“You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:

‘This people honors me with their lips,
    but their heart is far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
    teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” (Matthew 15:7-9)

Jesus explained to a woman he met at a well in Samaria that worship is not about where you are worshiping, but about who you are worshiping. Jesus said, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:21-24).

Revelation 13:8 indicates there will be believers on the earth during the reign of Antichrist, but they will not worship the worthless shepherd even though he has been given authority over every tribe and people and language and nation (Revelation 13:7). It’s not clear whether these believers are among the 144,000 sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel (Revelation 7:4) or are non-Jewish believers who are converted during the tribulation. It says in Revelation 20:4 that those who had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands were beheaded for their testimony of Jesus and for the word of God. At the end of the tribulation, these faithful worshipers of God will be resurrected and will reign with Christ for a thousand years. It says in Revelation 20:5-6, “The rest of dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.”

Getting back up again after a fall

The people of Judah’s seventy-year captivity in Babylon was the result of them ignoring the warnings of several prophets who repeatedly told them they needed to repent and turn back to God. Jeremiah said to them, “For twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken persistently to you, but you have not listened. You have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the LORD persistently sent to you all his servants the prophets, saying, ‘Turn now, every one of you, from his evil way and evil deeds, and dwell upon the land that the LORD had given to you and your fathers from of old and forever…Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the LORD, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting devastation. Moreover, I will banish from them the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the grinding of millstones and the light of the lamp. This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years ” (Jeremiah 25:3-5, 8-11).

In spite of the devastation that was predicted, God’s plan for the people of Judah was that they would return to the land he had given them after their seventy-year captivity was completed. The LORD said concerning Israel and Judah, “And it shall come to pass in that day, declares the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off your neck, and I will burst your bonds, and foreigners shall no more make a servant of him. But they shall serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I shall raise up for them…Behold, I will bring them from the north country and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the pregnant woman and she who is in labor together; a great company, they shall return here” (Jeremiah 30:8-9).

A proclamation by Cyrus king of Persia enabled the people of Judah to return to Jerusalem. Cyrus’ proclamation is recorded at the end of the book of 2 Chronicles. It states, “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the LORD his God be with him. Let him go up’” (2 Chronicles 36:23). “While there may have been many groups of exiles that returned to Jerusalem from Babylon, Scripture speaks only of three. The first group returned in 536 BC under the leadership of Zerubbabel, the second in 457 BC under Ezra, and the third in 444 BC under Nehemiah” (Introduction to Ezra). Haggai is the first of the prophets who spoke to the exiles after they had returned to Palestine. Because of the precise dates given for each prophetic message, the events of Haggai’s book may be dated more accurately than perhaps any other book in the whole Bible (Introduction to Haggai). “The ministry of Zechariah, which began in 520 BC, overlapped with that of Haggai (Zech. 1:1, cf. Hag. 1:1; 2:20) but continued long after Haggai ceased to prophesy…Haggai focused primarily on God’s immediate presence and the blessings that were at hand. Zechariah, on the other hand, focused on the ultimate glorification of Israel through the coming of the Messiah” (Introduction to Zechariah).

Zechariah’s prophetic ministry began with a call to return to the LORD. Zechariah 1:1-6 states:

In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, saying,“The Lord was very angry with your fathers. Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts: Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? So they repented and said, ‘As the Lord of hosts purposed to deal with us for our ways and deeds, so has he dealt with us.’”

The Hebrew word that is translated return in verses 3 and 4 of this passage is also translated as repented in Zechariah 1:6. The LORD said he would return to the people if they returned to him, indicating that restoration of Judah’s relationship with God required a turning on both parts.

Repentance is not always associated with an admission of guilt but is rather a change in attitude toward something or someone that involves an act of the individual’s will. The Hebrew word shuwb (shoob), which is translated return and repented in Zechariah 1:1-6, in the simple stem, “is used to describe divine and human reactions, attitudes, and feelings,” but it also refers to a person changing his mind (H7725). The primary thing that God wanted the people of Judah to change their minds about was that his prophetic word was true. God was angry because the people of Judah did not hear or pay attention to him when he said he was going to destroy Jerusalem. He asked them, “my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers?” The people of Judah didn’t believe that God was going to remove them from the land, but after it happened, they couldn’t deny that the prophets’ messages had been true. God reminded them, “So they repented and said, ‘As the LORD of hosts purposed to deal with us for our ways and deeds, so has he dealt with us” (Zechariah 1:6).

It was important that God established his prophetic words were true because his plan to save the world was dependent on the prophecies about Israel’s Messiah being recognized and understood. When Jesus was born, there were many who were looking for and anticipating his arrival, including the wise men who traveled to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?” (Matthew 2:2). It also says in Luke 2:25-26 that there was a man named Simeon who was “waiting for the consolation of Israel,” and it was revealed to him, “that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.” After Andrew met Jesus and spent the day with him, he told his brother Peter, “We have found the Messiah” (Luke 1:41).

One of the things that God did to make it easier for the people of Judah to get back up again after their fall was to assure them that their efforts would be successful. God told them, “I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy; my house shall be rebuilt in it, declares the LORD of hosts, and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem. Cry out again, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem” (Zechariah 1:16-17). God didn’t wait for the people of Judah to return to him; he took the first step in restoring their broken relationship. God said he had returned to Jerusalem with mercy. The Hebrew word that is used for mercy, racham (rakhˊ-am) means “compassion” (H7356). God’s love for his chosen people was depicted by the prophet Hosea as a husband who was willing to redeem his wife from slavery even though she was an adulteress (Hosea 3:1-5). God said of his love for Israel, “How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboim? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my burning anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath” (Hosea 11:8-9).

Zechariah’s vision of Joshua the High Priest, who represented the work that God was going to do through his Messiah, depicted the outcome of Jesus’ death on the cross, his righteousness being imputed to an individual believer. Zechariah 3:1-5 states:

Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by.

The removal of Joshua’s filthy garments represented him being cleansed from his sin and was “symbolic of the national cleansing from sin that is coming to Israel (cf. Ezek. 36:24-32)” (note on Zechariah 3:1-10). When Joshua was clothed with pure vestments, he was given the righteousness of Christ symbolically in the form of clothing. Paul described the process of sanctification in terms of putting off the old self and putting on the new self; a born-again believer is “created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24).

The people of Judah struggled to get back up again after they fell because they didn’t have the benefit of being filled with the Holy Spirit. Although the Holy Spirit did not indwell believers prior to Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, the Spirit was involved in the work that God was doing through the nation of Israel prior to Christ’s birth. Zechariah tells us, “Then he said to me, ‘This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6). “This verse describes the source of Zerubbabel’s sufficiency; it is God’s ‘Spirit’ who sustains him even though he is the governor of this seemingly insignificant province of the larger Persian Empire” (note on Zechariah 4:6). Zerubbabel was unaware of the significance of the work he was doing to rebuild the lives of the people of Judah after they had fallen into sin. The temple was not only a critical part of the people of Judah’s worship of God, it was a physical representation of God’s presence in their midst, and a reminder to them that their Messiah was coming.

The house of God

After Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:24), mankind no longer experienced being in the presence of the LORD as they had before. It says in Genesis 3:8 that Adam and Eve heard God walking in the garden in the cool of the day and, “the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.” It wasn’t until hundreds of years later that Jacob stumbled upon a certain place on his way to Haran that access into God’s presence was restored. It states in Genesis 28:11 that after he arrived, Jacob took one of the stones of the place, put it under his head, and fell asleep. Genesis 28:12-17 goes on to say:

And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

Jacob believed that he had discovered an opening, a gate or door into the house of God. Jacob’s discovery created in him a desire to commune with God and to serve him (note on Genesis 28:10-22). In the morning, Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head, “and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on it,” a sign that it was consecrated to God, and Jacob promised that if God returned him to his father’s house in peace, “then the LORD shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house” (Genesis 28:18-22).

King David seemed to be the first person to realize that Jacob’s promise was never carried out. First Chronicles 17:1-6 states, “Now when David lived in his house, David said to Nathan the prophet, ‘Behold, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the LORD is under a tent.’ But the same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, ‘Go and tell my servant David, “Thus says the LORD: it is not you who will build me a house to dwell in. For I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up Israel to this day, but I have gone from tent to tent and from dwelling to dwelling. In all places where I have moved with all Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom a commanded to shepherd my people, saying, ‘Why have you not built me a house of cedar?’”’” “God did not allow David to build the temple because he was a man of war (1 Chronicles 22:8; 28:3), but he was permitted to accumulate a large part of the materials needed for its construction (1 Chronicles 22:2-4, 14-16) to facilitate its completion by his son Solomon. Solomon was approved by God because he would be ‘a man of rest’ (1 Chronicles 22:9)” (note on 1 Chronicles 17:4). After all the work that Solomon did for the house of God was finished, the ark of the covenant was brought into the temple (2 Chronicles 5:7) and, “the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God” (2 Chronicles 5:13-14).

The house of God was a permanent structure in Jerusalem until the people of Judah were taken into captivity by King Nebuchadnezzar. The destruction of God’s house was the result of the people of Judah’s unfaithfulness. It says in 2 Chronicles 36:14-19:

All the officers of the priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations. And they polluted the house of the Lord that he had made holy in Jerusalem.

The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until there was no remedy.

Therefore he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or aged. He gave them all into his hand. And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon. And they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem and burned all its palaces with fire and destroyed all its precious vessels.

God said that messengers had been sent persistently to the people of Judah to warn them, “because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets” (2 Chronicles 36:15). The destruction of the house of God was intended to prepare the people for the coming of God’s Messiah. The prophet Jeremiah proclaimed, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness’” (Jeremiah 23:5-6).

Jeremiah prophesied that there would be seventy years of captivity (Jeremiah 25:11). God said, “Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the LORD, making the land an everlasting waste” (Jeremiah 25:12). God went on to say that the clans of Israel would once again be his people and he would turn their mourning into joy (Jeremiah 31:1). Jeremiah proclaimed:

Thus says the Lord:
“The people who survived the sword
    found grace in the wilderness;
when Israel sought for rest,
    the Lord appeared to him from far away.
I have loved you with an everlasting love;
    therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.
Again I will build you, and you shall be built,
    O virgin Israel!
Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines
    and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers…

Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
    and the young men and the old shall be merry.
I will turn their mourning into joy;
    I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance,
    and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness,
declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 31:2-4, 13-14)

God said that he loved his people with an everlasting love. The Hebrew word that is translated everlasting, ʿolam (o-lawmˊ) is properly translated as “concealed, i.e. the vanishing point; (generally) time out of mind (past or future), i.e. (practical) eternity” (H5769). In other words, there is no end to God’s love, God’s love is always present.

The book of 2 Chronicles ends with a proclamation by Cyrus king of Persia stating that God had charged him to build him a house at Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 36:23). The book of Ezra picks up where 2 Chronicles leaves off and begins with a restatement of Cyrus’ proclamation. Ezra 1:2-4 states:

“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem. And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”

Cyrus indicated that the people were free to go back to Judah and rebuild the house of God. It says in Ezra 2:64 that “the whole assembly together was 42,300.” “While there may have been many groups of exiles that returned to Jerusalem from Babylon, Scripture speaks only of three The first group returned in 536 BC under the leadership of Zerubbabel, the second in 457 BC under Ezra, and the third in 444 BC under Nehemiah…Despite the fact that all those who desired to return to Jerusalem were free to do so, a great number of Jews chose to remain in Babylon” (Introduction to Ezra).

“Haggai is the first of the prophets who spoke to the exiles after they had returned to Palestine…Haggai ministered in 520 BC between the months of August and December. He delivered four messages during that time…From the comments in verse three of chapter 2, it seems likely that Haggai was born before Solomon’s Temple was destroyed in 586 BC” (Introduction to Haggai). Haggai 2:3-9 states:

‘”Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes? Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the Lord. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. Work, for I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts, according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not. For thus says the Lord of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.’”

God said the latter glory of his house would be greater than the former. Jesus expounded on this truth when he told the Pharisees who accused his disciples of breaking the Sabbath, “I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:6-8).

Jesus’ explanation of the purpose of the temple and why he was greater than the temple had to do with Jacob’s intention when he vowed to make the stone that he had set up as a pillar the house of God (Genesis 28:22). Jacob wanted to have a place where he could commune with God. Because of Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden, communion with God wasn’t possible until Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for sin. The writer of Hebrews tells us that gifts and sacrifices were offered in the temple that could not perfect the conscience of the worshipper, “but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body, imposed until the time of reformation. But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once and for all into the holy places, not be means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption…Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith” (Hebrews 9:9-12; 10:19-22).

On one occasion, Jesus entered the temple and expressed his disdain for what was going on there. It says in John 2:15 that Jesus made a whip of cords and drove out those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money changes sitting there. John tells us:

And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. (John 2:16-22)

Jesus’ resurrection from the dead showed that God had accepted his sacrifice for sin on our behalf and that communion with him was possible again. Paul talked about the significance of Jesus’ resurrection in his first letter to the Corinthians. Summarizing his previous statements on the topic, Paul declared, “I tell you this brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable…For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:50-53).

Jacob experienced a moment of immortality when he wrestled with God in order to get his blessing (Genesis 32:22-27). During this encounter, God told Jacob, “You name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed” (Genesis 32:28). Afterward, Jacob realized the significance of what had just happened to him, and said, “I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been spared” (Genesis 32:30, NLT). Jacob knew that because of his sin, it was impossible for him to be in God’s presence and still be alive. The fact that he was still alive meant that Jacob’s sins had been forgiven. Jacob received God’s forgiveness by faith, the same way that Abraham and Isaac did, and the same way that all of us do. Jacob drew near to God with a true heart in full assurance of faith; he entered into God’s presence and received the gift of eternal life. It’s possible at this point that Jacob understood that he didn’t need to build a physical structure in order for him to commune with God. In answer to the question, when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus told the Pharisees, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed…the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21, KJV).

Celebrate God’s Victory

Luke’s gospel concludes with the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection and ascension into heaven. Luke states, “Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. When he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God” (Luke 24:50-53). The Apostle Paul discussed the resurrection of the dead in the context of a mystery and the believer’s victory over death (1 Corinthians 15:35-58). Paul said that we must all be changed and that our mortal body must put on immortality, and then, Paul concluded, “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Although Jesus gave us the victory over sin and death through his resurrection and ascension into heaven, sin and death still exist in the world today, and we have not yet experienced the full manifestation of God’s kingdom on earth. Psalm 98 is a celebration of the righteous reign of the Lord, a future event when the psalmist says, “All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God” (Psalm 98:3).

Psalm 98 begins with a call to celebrate God’s victory. The psalmist instructs us, “O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvelous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory” (Psalm 98:1, KJV). The English Standard Version of the Bible translates the last part of Psalm 98:1 as “His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him” associating God’s victory with Jesus’ work of salvation on the cross. The psalmist went on to say:

The Lord has made known his salvation;
    he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
    to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
    the salvation of our God. (Psalm 98:2-3)

The Hebrew word that is translated seen in Psalm 98:3, raʾah (raw-awˊ) denotes a type of seeing something with the eyes that requires “the individual to see physically outside of himself or herself: to see so that one can learn to know, whether it be another person (Deuteronomy 33:9) or God (Deuteronomy 1:31; 11:2); to experience (Jeremiah 5:12; 14:13; 20:18; 42:14)” (H7200). This type of seeing requires the person that is seeing to be physically present with the person or object that is seen. During Jesus’ ministry on the earth 2000 years ago, his travels were limited to the geographical region known as the Promised Land, the territory that God promised to give Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 15:7). Psalm 98:2 refers to a time when God’s salvation will be revealed in the sight of all the nations.

Isaiah’s prophecy in 52:1-12 is about the LORD’s coming salvation and he uses the term good news to refer to Jesus’ gospel message. It says specifically in Isaiah 52:6-7 about the righteous reign of the Lord:

“Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.”

How beautiful upon the mountains
    are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
    who publishes salvation,
    who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”

The “servant song” that followed Isaiah 52:1-12 “is one of the most explicit prophecies of Christ’s atoning work on Calvary. It caused great controversy within Judaism because it clearly connected the Messiah with suffering and death. As a result, some Jewish scholars even suggested two messiahs: one who would suffer and another who would reign. In anticipating the Messiah, they could not comprehend how he could fulfill both sets of prophecies. Jesus applied this prophecy to himself (Luke 22:37), as did his disciples (Matthew 8:17; John 12:38; Hebrews 9:28)” (note on Isaiah 52:13-53:12).

The good news of the gospel is what prompts God’s chosen people to sing to the LORD a new song in Psalm 98:1, and we see that when Jesus is revealed in the sight of the nations and “all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God” (Psalm 98:3), that there is a call to all the earth to join in the celebration. The psalmist invites us to:

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
    break forth into joyous song and sing praises!
Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
    with the lyre and the sound of melody!
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
    make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord! (Psalm 98:4-6)

The great joy that Jesus’ disciples felt as they made their way back to Jerusalem after he had ascended into heaven (Luke 24:52) was likely very small in comparison to the joyful noise that all the earth will make when it sees the salvation of our God. Even the seas, rivers, and hills will join in the celebration of God’s victory (Psalm 98:7-8).

The psalmist closes his call to celebrate with a reminder of the Lord’s mission when he returns to earth. The psalmist says, “For he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity” (Psalm 98:9). The Hebrew word that is translated judge, shaphat (shaw-fatˊ) means “pronounce sentence (for or against)…This word, though often translated as judge, is much more inclusive than the modern concept of judging and encompasses all the facets and functions of government: executive, legislative, and judicial. Consequently, this term can be understood in any one of the following ways. It could designate, in its broadest sense, to function as ruler or governor…In a judicial sense, the word could also indicate, because of the exalted status of the ruler, the arbitration of civil, domestic, and religious disputes (Deuteronomy 25:1)…In the executive sense, it could denote to execute judgment, to bring about what had been decided. This could be in the form of vindication (Psalm 10:18; Isaiah 1:17, 23); or a condemnation and punishment (Ezekiel 7:3, 8; 23:45)” (H8199). The psalmist tells us that Jesus will judge the world with righteousness (Psalm 98:9). The Hebrew word tsedeq (tsehˊ-dek), which is translated righteousness, is “a masculine noun meaning a right relation to an ethical or legal standard…The word is frequently connected with the term justice (Psalm 119:106; Isaiah 58:2)” (H6664). In addition to bringing justice to the world, the psalmist tells us that Jesus will judge the people with equity or straightness (H4339). The New Testament concept of straightness has to do with having a straight path or perhaps, a direct route to an immediate outcome (G2117). This suggests that when Jesus returns, there will be an immediate change in people’s circumstances that will be reflective of his moral and legal standard for them. In other words, Jesus intends to straighten people’s lives out when he comes back to judge the world, and will instantaneously get everyone aligned with God’s word, the Bible.

Jesus told his disciples shortly before his death that their sorrow would turn into joy and that in a little while they would see him again (John 16:16-17). Jesus’ disciples didn’t know what he meant by a little while, but were afraid to ask him (John 16:18). John tells us:

Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. (John 16:19-24)

Jesus compared the joy that his disciples would experience when he returned to that of a woman who had just given birth to a child. Jesus said, “She no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world” (John 16:21). Anyone who has experienced the birth of a child can appreciate how seeing your baby for the first time makes you want to celebrate and might put a song in your heart that wasn’t there before. We see in Psalm 98 a spontaneous reaction to all the ends of the earth having seen the salvation of our God (Psalm 98:1-3). The book of Revelation tells us that this reaction is preceded by Christ’s defeat of Antichrist and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:1-10). Then, the curtain to heaven is opened and we see Jesus ride into the scene. John tells us:

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. (Revelation 19:11-16)

It’s easy to see why Jewish scholars didn’t connect Jesus, the suffering servant, with the Messiah that was going to deliver Israel from the political oppression of Antichrist. There is a stark difference between this triumphal entry and the one we see in the gospel of Luke where Jesus road into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey (Luke 19:35-40). Regardless of their differences, each of these events should cause us to make a joyful noise to the LORD and break forth into a joyous song to celebrate God’s victory.

The Christ of God

Jesus’ birth and crucifixion was the culmination of thousands of years of God’s involvement in securing mankind’s redemption and was the climax of his Abrahamic Covenant. Beginning in the Garden of Eden, God communicated his plan of salvation by referring to a man that would come into the world and would eventually become known as the Christ of God (Luke 23:35). The LORD told the serpent that had deceived Adam and Eve, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:14-15). The offspring of the woman that God was referring to is identified in Isaiah 7:14 as the son of a virgin who would be named “Immanuel,” or “God is with us” (Isaiah 8:10). This Christ of God is linked to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3, where God’s covenant with Abraham was initially communicated to him. It states:

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

This promise to Abraham is one of the most significant passages in the entire Bible. It points ultimately to the redemption of the whole world. Abraham’s family became a divinely appointed channel through which blessing would come to all men. This promise was formalized in a covenant (Genesis 15:17-21) and was repeated four additional times: twice to Abraham (Genesis 17:6-8; 22:16-18), once to Isaac (Genesis 26:3, 4), and once to Jacob (Genesis 28:13, 14). This promise is emphasized in the New Testament in Acts 3:25, Romans 4:13, Galatians 3:8, 29 (where it is called “the gospel’), and Ephesians 2:12. Its importance to the Gentiles is evident, for it is clearly stated that Gentiles who were ‘separated from’ and ‘strangers to the covenant of promise’ have been brought to it by the blood of Christ (Galatians 3:8; Ephesians 2:12, 13)” (note on Genesis 12:1-3).

The connection between Jesus and the Christ of God was not evident to most people, including Jesus’ twelve disciples. When Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ His disciples responded, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets” (Matthew 16:13-14). After Jesus asked them directly, “who do you say that I am?,” Peter was the only one who spoke up, and answered Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). It appears that Jesus didn’t want anyone to know that he was the Christ of God. After commending Peter for having this divine revelation (Matthew 16:17), Matthew tells us, “Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ” (Matthew 16:20).

One of the connections that Jesus made between himself and the Christ of God was in a conversation he had with a ruler of the Jews who was named Nicodemus. Nicodemus came to Jesus at night so that he could ask him some questions about what he had been teaching everyone. After Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born again, Nicodemus asked, “How can a man be born when he is old?” (John 3:4). Jesus went on to explain about the spiritual birth that takes place when a person accepts Christ as his Savior (John 3:5-8). Jesus concluded his conversation with Nicodemus by stating, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (John 3:14-15). The Israelites experience with the bronze serpent in the wilderness is recorded in Numbers 21:4-9. It states:

From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

The Israelites looking at the fiery serpent that was set on the pole was an act of faith. There was nothing about the fiery serpent in and of itself that was able to offset the effects of the people having been bitten. The key point was people believing that looking at the bronze serpent would keep them from dying. The Hebrew word that is translated live in Numbers 21:9, chayay (khaw-yahˊ-ee) is used in Genesis 3:22 to describe eternal life. “It is used in reference to life which is the result of seeing God (Exodus 33:20; Deuteronomy 5:24[21]) or looking at the bronze serpent (Numbers 21:8, 9)” (H2425) and is identical in form and meaning to the verb châyâh (H2421), which is used in Psalm 119 to say that God’s word preserves life (Psalm 119:25, 37, 40, 88).

A false prophet by the name of Balaam made reference to the Christ of God in one of his oracles. Balaam began by stating, “The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened, the oracle of him who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the wisdom of the Almighty, falling down with his eyes uncovered: I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth” (Numbers 24:15-17).

After Philip was called to follow Jesus, he found Nathanael and told him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (John 1:45). Nathanael wasn’t convinced that Jesus was the Christ of God. He asked Philip, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46). From a human standpoint, nothing about Jesus seemed remarkable. It wasn’t obvious to everyone that Jesus was the Savior of the World. He looked like an ordinary person, and yet, Philip said to Nathanael, “Come and see” (John 1:46). John tells us, “Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said to him, ‘Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is not deceit!’ Nathanael said to him, ‘How do you know me?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.’ Nathanael answered him, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’ Jesus answered him, ‘Because I said to you, “I saw you under the fig tree,” do you believe? You will see greater things than these.’ And he said to him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man’” (John 1:47-51). It wasn’t how Jesus appeared to Nathanael that made it clear to him Jesus was the Christ of God, but how and what Jesus said to Nathanael that convinced him who he was.

Luke tells us, when Jesus was crucified, “the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, ‘He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God’” (Luke 23:35). The people standing by and watching Jesus die is foretold of the Christ of God in Psalm 22:7, 17. These verses state, “All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads…I can count all my bones—they stare and gloat over me.” The rulers accusation, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God” was addressed by Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus asked his disciples, “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” (Matthew 26:53, 54).

Jesus knew that in order for him to save the world, he had to die. Just before he was arrested Jesus had prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). Jesus’ prayer request was not about changing God’s decision to save the world through the death of his only Son. After Abraham’s son Isaac was born, God instructed him, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering” (Genesis 22:2). As Abraham and Isaac were walking toward Mount Moriah, Isaac asked his father, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” (Genesis 22:7). Abraham responded to Isaac’s question by stating, “God will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son” (Genesis 22:8). The angel of the LORD intervened in Abraham’s situation just as he was about to slaughter Isaac (Genesis 22:12). Abraham proved that his faith in God was genuine, for he believed that God could bring Isaac back to life if need be (Hebrews 11:17-19). God’s provision of a ram as a substitute showed that he did not want human sacrifices. The only human sacrifice approved by God was that of his Son, the sinless Lamb of God (John 1:29).

Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, “if it be possible, let this cup pass from me” (Matthew 26:39) was about the human aspect of what he was going to do as the Christ of God. Jesus willingly gave up his life, although he did reveal that it was obedience to his Father rather than his own human nature that caused him to do it. When he and disciples were discussing the difficulty of a rich person being saved (Matthew 19:23-24), Jesus was asked the question, “Who then can be saved?” (Matthew 19:25). Jesus’ response was, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). As a man, it was impossible for Jesus to die for the sins of the world, it wasn’t in his human nature to willingly give up his life so that others could be saved. It was only because he had his Father’s divine nature, that Jesus was able to execute God’s plan of salvation and fulfill all the Scriptures about the Christ of God (Matthew 26:54). After his resurrection, Jesus spoke with two men who were traveling on the road to Emmaus. These two men told Jesus about all the things that had just happened in Jerusalem and yet, they weren’t able to figure out what it all meant. Jesus said to them, “’O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?’ And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning him” (Luke 24:25-27).

Jesus told the two men who were traveling on the road to Emmaus the story of the Christ of God, speaking to them in the first person. It was like one person telling another his life story. Luke tells us after they drew near to their destination, Jesus acted as if he were going farther (Luke 24:28), but the men convinced Jesus to stay with them. While they were eating dinner, Jesus “took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?’” (Luke 24:29-32). Later, Jesus appeared to his disciples, and said to them:

“These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” (Luke 24:44-49)

Jesus opened the minds of his disciples so that they could understand the Scriptures. The disciples weren’t able to understand the things that Jesus was saying about the Christ of God through their normal human cognition. The Greek word that is translated opened their minds, nous (nooce), refers to the intellect or mind in the sense of divine or human thought, feeling, or will (G3563). The Greek word that is translated understand, suniemi (soon-eeˊ-ay-mee) means “to put together, i.e. (mentally) to comprehend” (G4920), which means that our ability to comprehend Scripture is divinely controlled. When Peter identified Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God,” Jesus told him, “Blessed are you Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17). Basically, what Jesus was saying was that it is impossible for us wrap our minds around the fact that he is the Christ of God. The only way we can comprehend this spiritual truth is through divine revelation.

A delayed result

The Jews understood that God’s plan of salvation involved a Messiah who was expected to establish God’s kingdom on earth, but they misinterpreted the circumstances of their Savior’s arrival and how God intended to redeem his chosen people. Isaiah 42 talks about the LORD’s chosen servant and the work that he would do while he was alive on earth. Isaiah 42:1-9 is “the first of four ‘servant songs’ in Isaiah (see also Isaiah 49:1-7; 50:4-11; 52:13-53:12; some would add 61:1-3, although the term ‘servant’ does not appear there)…The servant is clearly said to be an individual (Isaiah 52:13, 15; 53:11). The servant’s sinless character, resurrection, and work (Isaiah 42:3, 4; 49:5; 53:4-6, 11) go infinitely beyond man’s capabilities. These passages can only refer to Christ. The New Testament explicitly identifies the servant as Jesus (Matthew 12:17-21; Luke 2:32; Acts 13:47; 26:23), especially in relation to Isaiah 52:13-53:11 (cf. Matthew 8:17; Luke 22:37; Philippians 2:9; Hebrew 9:28; 1 Peter 2:23-25). Near the end of his ministry, Jesus’ disciples continued to express their ignorance about what was going to happen next, and so, Jesus spent a considerable amount of time leading up to his crucifixion explaining the course of events that would result in the future glory of Israel that is described in Isaiah 60 and the LORD’s day of vengeance that is described in Isaiah 63.

Jesus led into his discussion of the events surrounding the end of the age by foretelling the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. Luke tells us “And while some were speaking of the temple how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, ‘As for these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down’” (Luke 21:5-6). One of the deficiencies of human intelligence is that we view life as a continuum that we are able to control. We think that we can change the course of our lives or keep it in a steady state if we want to and don’t understand that God’s sovereignty allows him to do whatever he wants to at any particular point in time (Matthew 10:29). At the time of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, he wept over the city because he knew what was going to happen to it. Jesus told the people, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side, and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation” (Luke 19:42-44).

Jesus referred to his life on earth as a visitation. In the Old Testament of the Bible, visitation is linked to punishment and God’s judgement of the world. It says of the wicked in Isaiah 26:14, and 21, “They are dead, they will not live; they are shades, they will not arise; to that end you have visited them with destruction and wiped out all remembrance of them…For behold, the LORD is coming out from his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it, and will no more cover its slain.” A visit implies something that is temporary, a person comes for a visit and then, goes away. Jesus told his followers that he was going away, but that he would return for them later (John 14:3). Jesus said, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you…You heard me say to you, I am going away, and I will come to you. If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe” (John 14:18-19, 28-29).

Jesus warned his disciples that there was going to be a delayed result following his death, burial, and resurrection. Rather than his kingdom on earth being manifested immediately, there was going to be a period of time where Jesus would be with his Father in heaven, preparing a home for his future bride (John 14:2; Revelation 21:2), and believers would continue to live on earth. When his disciples asked him how long they would have to wait for his return, Jesus told them, “See that you are not led astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is at hand!’ Do not go after them. And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once” (Luke 21:8-9). Jesus indicated there would be an end to life on earth as we currently know it, but that certain things needed to take place before that could happen. Jesus later explained that the things that had been written about him in the Scriptures had to be fulfilled, “For what is written about me has its fulfillment” (Luke 23:37). The Greek word that is translated fulfillment, telos (telˊ-os) is properly translated as “the point aimed at as a limit, i.e. (by implication) the conclusion of an act or state (termination [literal, figurative or indefinite], result [immediate, ultimate or prophetic], purpose)” (G5056).

One of the things Jesus identified that had to be fulfilled was the preaching of the gospel. Jesus said, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). Paul explained in his first letter to the Corinthians that the end is when Jesus delivers the kingdom of God to the Father and, that this takes place after Jesus has destroyed every rule and every authority and power. Paul wrote:

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all. (1 Corinthians 15:20-28)

Paul said that Christ must “reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet” (1 Corinthians 15:25). This indicates that Jesus is already reigning over God’s kingdom in heaven, but according to Revelation 20:4, there will be a time in the future when Jesus reigns over God’s kingdom on earth. John stated, “Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshipped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”

Jesus foretold of wars and persecution that would take place prior to the great tribulation. Jesus told his disciples, “You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives” (Luke 21:16-19). Jesus went on to say, “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, for these are days of vengeance to fulfill all that is written” (Luke 21:20-22). Jesus said the fulfillment of all that is written will continue into the great tribulation and said of the Jews, “They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (Luke 21:24). In this instance, the word fulfilled is translated from the Greek word pleroo (play-roˊ-o), which is spoken “in the passive, of time, to be fulfilled, completed, ended” (G4137). Jesus referred to the end of the times of the Gentiles in his explanation of the parable of the weeds (Matthew 13:24-30). Jesus said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear” (Matthew 13:37-43).

Jesus ended his discussion of the delayed result of his death, burial, and resurrection by identifying the visible signs of his second coming. Jesus said, “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world” (Luke 21:25-26). Jesus pointed to natural phenomenon that would cause distress and said there would be perplexity because of the unusual behavior displayed by God’s creation. Jesus said “the powers of the heavens will be shaken” (Luke 21:26), meaning that the natural order of the world will be disrupted. Jesus concluded by stating, “And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory” (Luke 21:27). The Apostle Peter thought that Jesus’ trial before Caiaphas the high priest would result in the end of his ministry (Matthew 26:58), but Jesus knew there would be a delayed result that no one expected. In his revelation which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place, John reiterated Jesus’ prophecy about his return. John said, “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom of priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.