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EZRA/NEHEMIAH, Part 15

Published August 16, 2011 Uncategorized Leave a Comment

The redemptive sound of the Shofar; a call to praise

A Call to Praise

Nehemiah 9:1—25

A very interesting fact about chapter 9 of Nehemiah is generally not noticed by many Bible readers. Chapter 9 of Nehemiah, chapter 9 of Ezra, and chapter 9 of Daniel deal with exactly the same subject: revival.

Before looking at the events of Nehemiah 9, we should be clear about what is meant by the word “revival,” because it is generally misunderstood by many Christians. It means “to recover life and vigor” and “to return to consciousness.” It refers to a body that once had life, but presently has no life in it; or no strength and no vitality. It is used by Paul in Romans 14:9 of Christ’s resurrection:

For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. (KJV)

Obviously, as we look at revival in the context of Nehemiah, we aren’t talking about piles of corpses suddenly coming back to life. We are looking at believers in Yahweh who were in a poor spiritual state, who were brought back to spiritual vitality and power. In terms of Christians, the term revival refers to believers in Christ (Christians) who, for whatever reason, have lost the “fire in their bellies.” They have lost the joy and the excitement of walking with Christ. Christians like that are the “frozen chosen.” Their faith has become formal and cold. Sometimes they are even bored with it all. When believers like that experience revival, life returns to them. Their faith has meaning again. And, because they are excited about their faith, other people—unbelievers—come to Christ. Excitement is contagious. When you are thrilled about your faith, others will want what you have. But, let’s face it, if you are bored with your faith, who wants that?

Chapter 9 begins with a period of fasting and humiliation, after the reading of the Law. The joyous Feast of Tabernacles had ended, and now the people had to take a cold, hard look at their lives and give more serious attention to the admonitions they had heard during the reading of Scripture.

Then they did a most extraordinary thing:

Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners. (verse 2a)

The reading of God’s Word revealed the sin in the people’s lives, and was the impetus to do something about it. The people “separated themselves from all foreigners.” They shouldn’t have intermingled with them in the first place. God’s Word motivated them to make a change; to make things right. This was not an easy thing for the people to do; some of those foreigners were wives. But when revival comes, it brings about changes in people and in churches; changes that put the people back on God’s track; changes that wouldn’t occur otherwise.

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

There can be no revival without the preaching and teaching of the Word of God. Not only will it bring about a change in lives, but also a change in spirit:

They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors. (verse 2b)

Surely the Word of God is like a mirror; it reveals everything about the one looking into it. Perhaps that’s why so many Christians rarely read their Bibles!

The people fasted, prayed, set their lives right, and confessed their sins, the the praise began:

“Stand up and praise the LORD your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting.” (verse 5b)

The people had been reading and hearing of the great things God had done for their forefathers. As they read, something stirred within them so that they had to bless the One who did so much. What did these people hear that moved them to praise?

1. God is the God of Creation, verse 6

You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.

This really is a most remarkable verse. It begins with a version of the Shema: there is ONE God. This was the one thing that set Israel apart from other nations. They served ONE God, not a whole pantheon of gods. Their praise of God began with an acknowledgement of their most basic statement of faith.

This ONE God, single-handedly “made the heavens, even the highest heavens.” This is stirring phrase, literally meaning: God made the heaven of heavens! The “starry host” is a way of translating the Hebrew meaning “army,” “host,” “warriors.” God Himself made all the mighty angels of heaven. He made all that can be seen above, all that cannot be seen in the depths of the oceans and He animates all life. But what’s really astounding is that not only does man worship God, every living thing of heaven worships Him.

How can a human being not worship God when they see all that He has done?

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. (Romans 1:20)

Of course, it’s sin that blinds a person to the reality God’s majesty. But it’s the Word of God that snaps that reality back into a believer’s view.

2. God is the God of Grace, verses 7, 8

You have kept your promise because you are righteous. (verse 8b)

By faith, Abram stepped out in faith, but by grace he was chosen by God. That grace that came to Abram through the call of God comes to people today in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Israelites praised God because of the way—the gracious way—He led their forefathers. God called them, led them, and He preserved them. Most of all, God treated them with grace because He was faithful to them.

Anybody who hears the call of God, as Abram did, will be led and preserved by God. And just as surely as God led His people into a new land, so He will lead those who follow Him today into a “new land!” A new land of faith; of possibilities; a new land of divine promises.

3. God is the God who Answers Prayers, verse 9

You saw the suffering of our ancestors in Egypt; you heard their cry at the Red Sea.

God saw the afflictions of His people in Egypt and He saved them; He led them out of Egypt. God sees the afflictions of His people in all the Egypts of this world, today. God hears you when you cry out to Him. God sees you when you reach the Red Seas of life, and you have nowhere to go. God still makes a way for His people. You can praise God because He answered prayers in the past, and He answers prayers in the present because He never changes!

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)

We can praise God because we know He answers prayers!

4. God is the God Who Delivers, verses 10—12

Time and again, God delivered His people. He got them out of Egypt. He got them across the Red Sea. He led them day and night. He saved His people from the hands of their enemies. Every twist and turn in their journey through the wilderness was a new, fresh deliverance on their behalf.

God is the God who delivers His people all the time. God delivers you whether you see it or not because He is intimately involved in your life. God is not hanging out way back in the cheap seats of the universe! He is right here; right now, looking after YOU.

Thanks to the Cross of Christ, all believers have been delivered from death, hell, and the grave. Thanks to the Holy Spirit, we are guided as surely as the Israelites were guided by the cloud and smoke. Stand up and bless the Lord because He has delivered and continues to deliver!

5. God is the God of Revelation, verse 13

You came down on Mount Sinai; you spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and laws that are just and right, and decrees and commands that are good.

God graciously gave His people His Law, which was just and right.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (James 1:17)

God’s Word to us, like His Word to the Israelites, came from “above,” it is therefore a “good and perfect gift.” Is that how you view God’s Word—His revelation to you today? We ought to be thankful to God that He has given us His Word because His statutes and admonitions are right.

The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure, and all of them are righteous. (Psalm 19:8—9)

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119:105)

Is that how you view the Word of God? No human being can search for God and find Him apart from His Word. All that is knowable about God is found in the Scriptures. Sadly, for too many Christians, Bible study is seen as “optional,” something you do when you have nothing else going on. The Bible is a revelation from God to man, and we should praise God for that revelation.

6. God is the God Who Supplies All Our Needs, verse 15

In their hunger you gave them bread from heaven and in their thirst you brought them water from the rock; you told them to go in and take possession of the land you had sworn with uplifted hand to give them.

God made sure His people’s needs were met; both their present needs, but also their future needs. They had sustenance for the journey but they also had place prepared for them: a land of promise.

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)

Stand up and bless the Lord for His miraculous provision. “The riches of His glory in Christ” are inexhaustible! Is there any need to great for God meet?

7. God is a God of Patience and Mercy, verse 19

Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud did not cease to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take.

We know the story of the Israelites in the desert. They rebelled. They forsook the Word of the Lord. They were forgetful. They tempted God. They were idolatrous. Yet, He never took His eyes off them! God never let them go! God never smacked them down! Instead of meeting their ingratitude and unbelief with judgment, the Lord added mercy to mercy!

You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. (verse 20a)

Why do you suppose God did that? These Israelites certainly deserved something else! God was merciful and patient and His Spirit taught them so that during their wilderness wanderings these people “lacked nothing” (verse 21) so that some day they could testify to His greatness.

On that fateful twenty-fourth day of the month, when they read from the book of the Law, when they read of magnificent goodness of their God in the past, their collective hearts burned within them.

Do we have a holy “fire in our bellies?” Why are we so unresponsive to the Word of God? If you can answer those questions honestly, you are on your way to experiencing a mighty revival.

(c) 2011 WitzEnd

GOD’S GREATEST CREATION, Part 1

Published August 10, 2011 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: body of Christ, Church, ecclesiology, greatest creation, temple of the Holy Ghost

Introduction

It seems that religion in its purest sense has always been a part of man’s life. While the Bible, made up of some of most ancient writings in the world, gives no proof of an organized religious life in the ancient world, it does seem to indicate that the earliest form of “organized worship” of God occurred in the family, in which all members participated. The father acted as priest and leader in the simple worship of God as seen in the life of Adam and Noah, for example.

This same kind of simple religious life continued during the time of the Patriarchs. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the sons of Jacob all acted as the heads of their families, both in the practical sense and in the religious sense.

It wasn’t until the organization of Israel under Moses that religion became “institutionalized.” Josephus is credited with coming up with the term that best describes the kind of religion Moses instituted: theocracy. From the time of Moses to the divided kingdom, then to the Southern Kingdom, then to Israel’s post-exilic history from Ezra to Malachi, Israel’s religion was a theocracy; it included all things political, social, and sacred. God was the Supreme Ruler of Israel, while the priests, kings, and prophets were seen as the executors of God’s will. The bond that joined all Israel together was the Law (the Word of God), the Temple, and worship in the Temple.

One time the word “church” is used of Israel (Acts 7:38), but it is not used in a technical sense of an organized congregation. There is no Scriptural term used of God’s people in the Old Testament in a collective sense. There is no “church” in the Old Testament. Israel is not the Church and the Church is not Israel.

1. What the Church is not

A. The church is not an new and improved form of Judaism

There certainly is a connection between true believers of all ages, but Christianity is a completely new system of belief; it is new wine poured into new wineskins. Jesus hinted at this in the Gospels:

I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. (John 10:16)

Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” (Matthew 9:17)

Jesus, Himself a Jew and faithful to Judaism, spoke in the future tense when He spoke of building His church:

And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of death will not overcome it. (Matthew 16:18)

The apostle Paul taught that not only is the Church something new in the plan of God, it is a “mystery” that had been kept hidden until it was revealed to God’s “holy apostles and prophets,” Ephesians 3.

B. The Church is not the “Kingdom”

The term “kingdom of heaven” is used 33 times in the Gospel of Matthew, but nowhere else in the Bible. The more common term seen in the New Testament is “kingdom of God.” However, neither term refers to the Church.

Generally speaking, the “kingdom of heaven” and “the kingdom of God” are used interchangeably, having reference to either the Millennial Kingdom and the reign of Jesus Christ as Messiah in the future or the mixed condition of Christianity today (see the parables of Matthew 13)

A good way to define the “kingdom of heaven” and the “kingdom of God” is that while they are much, much larger than the Church; that they do not refer specifically to the Church, the Church is the visible part of the kingdoms of heaven and God today.

C. The Church is not a denomination

You may search high and low, but you will not find Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists, or Lutherans mentioned in the Bible. Denominations are an invention of man, not of God. That is not to say that denominations are a bad idea, but there is no such thing as “the true church” in the sense that one denomination gets it right and all the rest are wrong. No single denomination and no single local church has a corner on God’s truth.

2. What the Church is

The best way to define the Church might be considering the words used to describe it in the Bible.

A. Words describing the Church

The New Testament Greek word for “church” is ecclesia, which means “an assembly or called-out ones.” Within the New Testament, the word ecclesia is used to describe three groups of “called-out ones”:

All Christians in a particular location, Acts 11:22; 13:1
A local congregation, 1 Corinthians 14:19, 35; Romans 16:5
All Christians, all over the world, Ephesians 5:32

Our English word “church” is derived from the Greek word kuriake, meaning “that which belongs to the Lord.” So then, taking ecclesia and kuriake as our starting point, the Church is a group of people called out from the world by God that professes faith in and love for Jesus Christ and aligns itself with His teachings. This called-out group does not belong to a pastor or a board o r an earthly organization; it is the precious possession of God.

B. Words describing Christians

Brothers (and sisters). The Church is a “spiritual brotherhood” or a fellowship of like-minded people in which all divisions that separate people from one another have been eliminated.

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)

Believers. Christians are often called “believers” because their defining doctrine is in an unwavering belief in Jesus Christ.

Saints. Christians are frequently referred to as “saints,” which means literally “consecrated” or “holy ones.” This simply means Christians are separated from the rest of the world because they are dedicated to God.

The elect. Christians are also known as “the elect” or “the chosen,” because God has chosen them for an important ministry and a glorious future.

Disciples. Literally, Christians are “learners” because they are under spiritual instruction and training by Christ-inspired instructors.

Christians. So named because our religion is centered around the Person of Christ.

Those of the Way. In the very early days of the Church, Christians were often known as “people of the Way,” Acts 9:2, because they lived according to a special, different way of life.

3. Illustrations of the Church

A. The Body of Christ

This might be the most common description of the Church; a favorite of Paul’s. Our Lord left the Earth 2,000 years ago, but His is still here; His presence is manifested through the Church—His Body.

When Jesus lived His natural life on the Earth, He lived as an individual; He had an individual body. Now He lives on the Earth through the Church, made up of individuals who have the risen Christ dwelling within them in the Person of the Holy Spirit.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)

Christ is the vine, but the vine is incomplete without its branches; the branches are dead if they are not attached to the vine. If Christ is to be known to people in the world around us, it must be through those who bear His Name and share His life.

This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. (1 John 4:17)

As Jesus was anointed at the Jordan, so the Church was anointed on the Day of Pentecost. Jesus, after His anointing, went about preaching, healing, saving, and so on; so the Church carries on that task today.

As the Body of Christ, the Church is not merely an organization (although it is that); it is an organism. The Church of Jesus Christ is a living, growing thing; it is the sum total of all its related parts, in which the relationship of each part involves a relationship to the whole. The human body is one unit, made up of millions of living cells. The Body of Christ is One, yet made up millions of born again souls.

B. The Temple of God

…you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house (or Temple) to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:5)

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? (1 Corinthians 6:19)

A temple is traditionally a place where God localizes Himself. As God dwelt in the Tabernacle and the Temple, so He now lives, by the Holy Spirit, in the Church (Ephesians 2:21—22; 1 Corinthians 3:16—17). In this “spiritual temple,” Christians work as priests, they offer up spiritual sacrifices—including prayer, praise and good works.

C. The Bride of Christ

This illustrative term is used of both Old and New Testaments saints. This pictures Christ’s close, intimate communion and fellowship with His people.

(c) 2011 WitzEnd

ISAIAH, Part 8

Published August 9, 2011 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: Atonement, Crucifixion, Isaiah, substitution, Suffering Servant

The Man of Sorrow, Isaiah 53:1—6

A bird’s eye view of Isaiah 53 might look like this:

verses 1—4, the life and earthly ministry of Jesus;
verses 5—8, His death and burial;
verses 10—12, His resurrection and exaltation.

The chapter’s overall theme, which is the innocent Savior dying in place of the guilty, ties the whole chapter together. This chapter deals with what theologians call the “vicarious atonement.” There is much that we find difficult to explain about what happened on the Cross; those are the infinite, divine things that our finite, earthly minds cannot understand. One day, when we reach the other side, all will be made clear. However, this much is clear and this much we do understand: Jesus Christ took the place of guilty sinners and paid the price for their salvation.

Unfortunately, this is something the people of Jesus’ day could not grasp:

Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? (verse 1)

The “who” in verse 1 probably refers to the Jews and the collective “our” are likely the prophets. The Jews, to whom the Savior came, didn’t recognize Him as such because they didn’t believe the message of the prophets. This reminds us of what Paul wrote to the Romans:

But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. (Romans 10:16—17)

The phrase “arm of the Lord” is significant and its usage here is often missed. It frequently refers to God’s mighty strength, but God’s mighty strength wasn’t revealed to just anybody; only to the Jews. When God made the material universe, He used His fingers, which was plain for anybody to see:

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place… (Psalm 8:3)

When He delivered Israel from Egypt, He did so by His mighty hand, which was plain for onlookers to see:

Then Moses said to the people, “Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because the LORD brought you out of it with a mighty hand. Eat nothing containing yeast.” (Exodus 13:3)

However, in order to save sinners, God had to bare His strong arm, yet it went unrecognized. The people to whom was revealed God’s strong arm refused to see it and refused to believe this awesome manifestation of God’s power in love.

Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” (John 12:37, 38)

This Savior who went unrecognized was part of history for He “grew up” among them (verse 2). God didn’t just miraculously deposit a full-grown, mature Savior in the midst of His people. Their Savior was literally one of their own; there was nothing outwardly special about Jesus. He was part of their history for He had a history.

He was just an ordinary Baby

That’s the way He planned it, maybe

Anything but common would have kept Him apart

From the children that He came to rescue,

Limited to some elite few;

When He was the only Child who asked to be born.

And He came to us with eyes wide open,

Knowing how we’re hurt and broken,

Choosing to partake of all our joy and pain.

He was just an ordinary Baby,

That’s the way He planned it, maybe

So that we would come to Him and not be afraid.

Despite this, the people didn’t recognize Jesus as their long-awaited Savior. Instead, Jesus Christ became a “man of sorrows.” Throughout history, there have been many men, full of sorrow, but only one Man was a “Man of Sorrows.” The sorrows of the Son of Man were unique to Him and unparalleled. His sorrows included:

1. Humiliation, verse 2

He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

The Servant, was the eternal Son of God, and yet He became human and had to grow up! We may find the prophet’s choice of words a bit odd. Why compare the growth of a child to a “tender shoot?” The Jews of Isaiah’s day would have made a connection we modern Bible readers miss:

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. (Isaiah 11:1)

I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king. (1 Samuel 16:1b)

The connection is really two-fold. The obvious one is that King David was a kind of foreshadow of Israel’s true Messiah. David was the son, or the shoot from the stump, of Jesse and both Mary and Joseph were descendants of David. Hence, Jesus was also a “shoot from the stump of Jesse.” But the second connection is a little more subtle and is found in 1 Samuel 16:7—

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

Samuel, when he was looking for which of Jesse’s sons would be chosen by God as king, took note of their outward appearance, but the Lord mildly rebuked him and set him straight. Israel, as a nation, had a preconceived notion of what their Messiah would look like and how He would act, and because Jesus didn’t fit the bill, they didn’t realize that He was their Messiah. His humiliation was complete. Not only did the glorious, majestic Son of God leave heaven to become a nondescript man, but His people failed to recognize Him!

2. Opposition, verse 3

He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

Verse 3 carries the idea of Christ’s humiliation a step further. The people not only failed to recognize Him and desire Him, but they actually rejected Christ outright, refusing to even look at Him. The Hebrew words behind “despised and rejected” mean literally “to look upon with disdain” and “to forsake.” As one scholar observed, “Loneliness is often the crown of sorrow,” and surely our Savior was lonely.

The words translated “suffering” and “pain” really mean “pains” and “sickness.” Jesus was well acquainted with “pain” and “sickness,” in other words. Does this imply that our Lord was a sickly, physically weak man? Certainly He experienced all the maladies a human being experiences in their lifetime, but consider Jeremiah 15:18 where these terms are also used:

Why is my pain unending and my wound grievous and incurable?

Here, the pain is the pain of a broken and breaking heart. So, perhaps the “pain” and “sickness” referred to by Isaiah are both physical and emotion anguish. And no wonder! While Jesus’ teaching attracted great crowds at first, eventually they turned on Him, egged on by the religious leaders of the day. Once those who adored Him came to despise Him and oppose Him. They put a cheap price on His head. They were ashamed of Him because He wasn’t the kind of Savior they were looking for. They thought they had been had.

3. Anticipation, verse 4a

Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering…

The dominant theme of “atonement” is what this phrase is all about. The innocent taking the place of the guilty; the Sinless Son of God bearing the punishment for sinners. This phrase views our punishment figuratively in terms of a disease. In this case, the disease is the disease of sin. This is an awful way to view sin: as disease from which there is no escape; an infection that cripples and kills. Who in their right mind would walk into a colony of people infected with such a contagion? A person that would do that would certainly die. And yet this is exactly what the Son of God did! He knowingly descended into a world of people infected with a disease.

Theologians recognize the atonement as “the” theological issue of Scriptures. Without it, what was the point of it all? Even G.F. Handel saw the power of the atonment and based one of his most important compositions upon it in his famous oratorio, “The Messiah.”

It should be noted, though, that the disease is ours, not His. The pronoun “our” is emphatic here, meaning ours were the sicknesses He carried; ours were the pains He bore. Christ foresaw all this, and yet He came to offer His life a ransom for many.

“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die. (John 12:32—33)

Jesus knew exactly what was going to happen to Him; there was no way He couldn’t. He was the perfect Son of God.

4. Separation, verse 4b

... yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.

Our Lord walked to His crucifixion alone. This is the heart of the whole passage; the heart of the Bible. Interestingly enough, the message of atonement is not only the central message of the Christian Gospel, but was at the heart of the Jewish religious system—the innocent animal offered as a sacrifice for the sins of the guilty sinner.

“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24)

Only Jesus could do this by Himself. Nobody could help Him. He was the perfect choice because He was the only choice.

Imagine this: The Son of God living for an eternity in the glories of Heaven with the Father and the Holy Spirit. One God, three Persons living in perfect unity and perfect fellowship. Imagine willingly leaving that kind of perfect paradise; imagine separating yourself from the Father and the Holy Spirit. Now imagine entering our world, being born and growing up and making friends and having fellowship with your family and with friends. Imagine Jesus spending some 30 years living, working, and ministering to those people He loved so much, those people He identified with and came to save. And finally, imagine being forsaken by them. Jesus Christ, separated from the glories of Heaven and separated from world He loved.

And yet, while all this is true, the word “considered” is important to, well, consider. It means that by the estimation of man, the Savior was being punished by God, stricken and afflicted by Him. However, the next verse shows how wrong that estimation was!

5. Relationship, verse 5

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Man made his estimation, but the facts are:

He was pierced for our transgressions;
He was crushed for our iniquities;
Our punishment was put on Him;
His wounds resulted in our healing.

This describes another theological act performed by Christ. Not only did He make atonement for our sins, He suffered in our stead. This is known as vicarious expiation. Everything He endured on the Cross sinners themselves should have endured.

He was “pierced” for our transgressions. The word pierced really means “transfixed” or “bored through,” in other words, He was quite literallyfastened to or secured to the Cross. He was joined to the Cross for our “transgressions,” or for our rebellions. The pain was His, a result of sins which were ours.

He was further “crushed” for our iniquities. The Savior was “shattered” because of our “inbred crookedness.” This is different from “transgressions,” which are sins of determination; sins which are deliberate. “Iniquities” refer to the sin principle within all human beings; the tendency to sin.

The “punishment” He bore resulted in peace for us. The KJV uses the word “chastisement,” and that accurately reflects the Hebrew, which literally means “disciplinary sufferings.” On the Cross, Jesus got what we deserved. This we understand, but the stunning part of this phrase is the word “peace,” for it means many things. It means, for example, the absence of strife. Christ secured our peace with God; thanks to what Christ did for us on the Cross, God is no longer angry at us. But “peace” also means soundness, health and well-being, prosperity, and completeness. It’s amazing what Jesus did for us!

Lastly, we were “healed” by His wounds. There are those who take that literally, teaching that physical healing was included in the atonement. In other words, Christians have a right to good health and divine healing simply by virtue of their relationship with Jesus Christ. But is that what Isaiah means here? Probably not exactly, although divine healing is certainly part of the Savior’s continuing ministry. The phrase, when translated literally, means “it has been healed for us.” In other words, the idea is that by His wounds, we could be healed. The question is, healed of what? The overriding theme of this passage is sin and atonement for sin. The healing, therefore, must not refer to physical healing only, but rather the forgiveness of sins, the healing of the soul. Sin is, after all, a sickness and a disease that man cannot rid himself of. That is the healing which Christ secured on the Cross for all those who call upon Him as Savior.

This was the beginning of His relationship with redeemed man. He alone could do all these things for us, as a devoted mother carries the griefs and sorrows of her child. So intense was the love of Christ for sinful man, that He could not refrain from doing what He did.

…the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (verse 6b)

And our Lord took it! It was for us that He poured our His holy, perfect soul!

…he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. (verse 12b)

The Suffering Servant did all that on the Cross for people that never even noticed.

Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look around and see. Is any suffering like my suffering that was inflicted on me, that the LORD brought on me in the day of his fierce anger? (Lamentations 1:12)

In answer to the question, “Who has believed our message?” may we always be able to answer, “We do!”

(c) 2011 WitzEnd

EZRA/NEHEMIAH, Part 14

Published August 5, 2011 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: change of pace, consecration, Dedication, devotion, Ezra, joy of the lord., Nehemiah, reconstruction efforts, spiritual revival

Revive Us Again!

Nehemiah 8

For people who don’t find history interesting, Nehemiah chapters 8—11 are a refreshing change of pace. The first 7 chapters of Nehemiah’s book are two parts history with one part of intrigue. Very often, the following 4 chapters are referred to “revival chapters,” because they contain all the elements of a genuine spiritual revival. Students of revivals throughout Church history will readily recognize the four elements:

A renewed and sincere interest in the Word of God and a return to expositional preaching;
A conviction of sin under the ministry of the Word of God;
Fasting, prayer, confession of sin, and heightened awareness of God’s justice and mercy;
A commitment to learn and follow the will of God.

When these four things are present in a church, then we might say that church is in a state of revival. Add verse 10 into the mix, and we not only have a revival, but a truly satisfied congregation:

…the joy of the LORD is your strength.

The setting of chapter 8 is found in the last verse of chapter 7:

When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns…

Let’s look at what happened when the people of Judah had finally settled in their towns. It all began with the Preacher.

1. The Preacher, 8:1

They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded for Israel.

We haven’t heard from Ezra in a long time; it had been years since the end of his book and the beginning of Nehemiah’s. But Ezra hadn’t been idle during those years. While he may not have been directly involved in Nehemiah’s reconstruction efforts, he was very much involved in his own reconstruction efforts. Scholars generally agree that Ezra had already been teaching the Scriptures to the people of Judah; he was “reconstructing” the Law of God in their hearts. This was important because the generation now living in Jerusalem had no exposure to the Temple, the festivals, or most of the aspects of the religious life of their parents and grandparents; they had to be taught, and Ezra did just that.

It was not accident or coincidence that the people asked Ezra to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses. Their hearts were ready for more of God and ripe for a move of God.

2. The Place of Meeting, 8:3, 4

It’s hard enough for a modern preacher find a congregation that can pay attention to the Word of God for a mere one hour Sunday morning, but here, Ezra read the Word of the Lord all day, and the people listened!

Ezra the teacher of the Law stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion. (verse 4a)

So we have recorded for us the first time a pulpit was used in the ministry of God’s Word. It wasn’t the Baptists that invented it, it was the people of Ezra’s day. It was a special elevated platform (the Hebrew means “tower”) built specifically for this purpose, about 300 feet from the Temple grounds.

To most people, a 40 minute sermon seems like an eternity, but the people who had gathered to hear Ezra had been in captivity all their lives; they heard stories about the old days when God moved during the ministry of His Word; they had a taste of His Word and they were hungry for more.

3. The Listeners, 8:2—3; 5—6

A. They were many but not all, verse 2

…the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand.

Notice who was there to hear the Word: those who could understand it. This tells us a couple of things. First, from the perspectives of Ezra and Nehemiah, some preparations must have been made. Ezra had prepared their hearts for more through his ministry. Perhaps they made arrangements for babies and children to be looked after so as to keep distractions down to a minimum. But also, not every citizen was there; some didn’t show up for “whatever” reason. Maybe they had better things to do that morning, like wash their cars or plant their gardens. The point is, a true revival of faith is brought about when faithful followers of Christ have an interest and show up.

Second, the people that cared enough to show up that day already had an understanding of Scriptures. They didn’t need to be taught more; they didn’t need to be convinced to listen to Ezra. They understood what God wanted of them because they understood the Scriptures.

These things help us understand the nature of a true revival. It starts, not with an evangelist and praise band; it begins with individual believers who are already sold out to God; who are already in His Word and devoted to studying it. To those, revival comes.

B. They listened, verse 3

And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.

This verse is quite remarkable for two reasons. First, the people, who already had an understanding of Scriptures because they knew them, listened “attentively” as Ezra read it. They knew it, they could probably recite it, yet they still listened “attentively.” They paid strict attention as they heard the Word being read. This is really astonishing. Very often, we Christians, who are so familiar with the Bible, have the bad habit of skipping over the verses or stories we think we know so well. They were more interested in the book than the preacher; they sought the message, not the man.

The other reason this verse is so remarkable is the fact that the those who gathered to hear the Word read, stayed and listened “from daybreak till noon .” Imagine that! For some 5 hours or longer, the faithful stood and listened as Ezra read the Scriptures. Talk about devotion and reverence. They were really interested; they had been held in exile for 70 years, finally they’re out and they can’t get enough of the Word of God!

C. They were reverent, verse 5

…and as he opened it, the people all stood up.

They didn’t have padded pews to sit on. They stood up as Ezra read the Word for 5 hours. They stood up; a sign of reverence and obedience. These people, as a show of their high regard for the Scriptures and of their devotion to its admonitions, “stood up.” No wonder revival came to these people; they were ready for it every way.

D. They responded, verse 6

They people responded in two stunning ways:

…and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!”

When the crowd shouted, “Amen! Amen!,” they were basically shouting to Ezra, “We’re with you! We’re with you!” And the fact that they repeated it twice shows how intense the feeling was behind their affirmation.

Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.

Their second response was to “bow down.” This phrase occurs only a handful of times in the Old Testament and it’s an undignified posture. These people got down on all fours, with their foreheads on the ground in humble, reverential worship of God.

From the posture, they “worshiped” God. They responded to the demands of the Word by assuming a humbling position and offering God the adoration of their hearts. They yielded completely to the Scriptures with all their being.

4. The preacher

A. He blessed the Lord, verse 6

Ezra praised the LORD…

Literally, Ezra the preacher began by “blessing the Lord.” He recognized God as “the great God,” far greater than himself or his ideas. The message of God was great; Ezra was merely a messenger. To “bless” the Lord means to make God smile. When we bless the Lord, we make God happy.

B. He stuck to the Book and spoke clearly, verse 8

They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.

It seems as though several preachers read and interpreted the Scriptures that day in addition to Ezra. Some scholars think Ezra was the “head reader” and the Levites were assigned by him to paraphrase the Hebrew into the language of the exiles. Some of those born in exile may not have had a good understanding of the Hebrew language, so Ezra made sure that he did whatever was necessary to make the plain meaning of the Word clear, and the people understood.

Ezra and the Levites made the Law of God clear, they did not teach their own ideas. They simply enabled the people to grasp what was being read: the Book of the Law. They did no engage in silly histrionics in trying to make it more interesting. How different from today’s church, where all manner worldly methods are employed in “preaching the Word.”

As R.L. Stevenson correctly observed: “The Bible should be read as freshly as a book, not dreamingly as the Bible.”

Ezra and the Levites were not song-and-dance men, they were not entertainers. Their job was to make the people understand the Word of God. For the preacher, it is not enough simply to read a verse or two and tell humorous stories. It’s not enough for the people in the pews to simply hear the Word. They must use their reasoning minds to understand it; to grasp intelligently the mind of God.

We have to admire Ezra as much as we admire Nehemiah, for he was faithfully adhering to the prophet Jeremiah’s admonition:

Let the prophets who have dreams tell their dreams, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?” declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 23:28)

5. The effect of the Word

A. They wept, verse 9

For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.

This was the first response of the people to the Word of God. They were filled with sorrow because of a consciousness that the Law of God had been broken. The powerful exposition of God’s Word will always bring about a deep conviction of sin. Notice, it wasn’t a hymn or worship chorus that brought about the tears, it was the preaching (exposition) of the Word of God. This is what brings about revival in a person’s heart. Revival is not an emotional gimmick, but a conviction of the heart caused by an honest exposition of God’s Word, not a manipulation of it.

This kind of sorrow is not a kind of self-centered remorse, but a genuine sadness of knowing how far from God’s ideal you have fallen and how much you have offended Him. But this kind or sorrow is not meant to last long:

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. (Matthew 5:4)

B. They rejoiced, verse 12

Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.

When the Ezra and Nehemiah saw the people weeping, they said something that may sound odd at first, but was actually very wise:

“This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” (verse 9)

This revival among the people was NOT about the people; it was about God. The day during which the Word was read was a holy day to God; it was set apart for HIM, not THEM. Had the people continued in their weeping and mourning, the day would have degenerated into a wishy-washy self-centered celebration of emotionalism, and that is not what a revival is for. The religious leaders forced the people to get a grip on their emotions and to remember Whose day this was.

Then they told the people what they should be doing:

“Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” (verse 10)

Repentance was to be followed by celebration. God’s Word, at first, may cause sadness and conviction and it may cause a heart to melt or break, but that’s not the end it! The end-goal of godly conviction must always be rejoicing and celebration in the Lord. Or, another way to look at it: mourning because of sin must always precede the joy of salvation.

C. They ministered to those in their midst in need, verse 10

Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared.

The beautiful words at the end of verse 10 have formed the basis of many sermons: The joy of the Lord is your strength. Now you know the context. Repentance, followed by joy leads to service, which leads to the ability to tap into God’s strength. This is how believers look after each other. Those who have share with those who don’t have, in the strength of the Lord. True revival will lead to needs within the community of faith being met.

The Word of the Lord, read and taught faithfully, will bring about a revival in the hearts of those who hear it IF they are seeking more of the Lord. The Word of the Lord will convict of sin, which will lead to repentance, ending in joy. This idea of “joy” was one reason why John wrote his first letter:

We write this to make our joy (or your) complete. (1 John 1:4)

God does not want any believer to be miserable, He doesn’t want you to have a little bit of fun. God wants His people to have a whole lot of fun around His word and in service to Him. Studying the Word of God and listening to its exposition ought to bring an abundance of joy into your life. If it doesn’t, there is a problem in your life that you need to face up to. Something is seriously wrong with a Christian who has no interest in God’s Word; no interest in reading it, studying it, hearing it preached, and no interest in Christian fellowship. Those are the things that must precede any revival.

(c) 2011 WitzEnd

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EZRA/NEHEMIAH, Part 15

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GOD’S GREATEST CREATION, Part 1

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ISAIAH, Part 8

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EZRA/NEHEMIAH, Part 14

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