The Orange Mailman

How did Jesus and the apostles view the law, psalms, and prophets?  There was a school of rabbinic thought concerning the Messiah at the time the Messiah began His ministry.  Rather than discard this paradigm, Jesus and the apostles embraced it and took it even further.

Example #1- Matthew 2:1-6 quoting Micah 5:2.  Rather than pointing out the error of the chief priests, Matthew points out that they were correct in their view of the Messiah.  The Messiah certainly would be born in Bethlehem.

Example #2- Matthew 17:10-13 quoting Malachi 4:5-6.  Rather than Jesus correcting the disciples as they cite the scribes’ interpretation of the prophets, Jesus embraces the view of the scribes as correct.  Elijah will come first Jesus affirms.  He adds to their understanding by stating that the Son of Man must also suffer - as did John the Baptist who fulfilled the role of Elijah for this particular coming of the Messiah.  So the teaching of the scribes was correct, but fell short because they were blind to Messiah’s suffering.

Example #3- Matthew 22:41-46 quoting Psalm 110:1.  Jesus questions the Pharisees with this scripture.  He knew that they could not deny that Psalm 110 referred to the Messiah.  The point of contention that Jesus knew that this would raise is the fact that Messiah is the offspring of God existing in some way during David’s life and reign.  Jesus poses the question of how the Messiah can be both offspring of David and Lord of David.  The Pharisees have no answer.  They cannot deny that the passage is Messianic.  They also cannot deny that Messiah comes from David’s loins.

What had happened is that the Pharisees had developed a framework of Messianic theology.  This framework helped them to understand the coming Messiah.  But this very framework limited them from understanding other truths equally as important.  Jesus points, shows them the Messiah, shows them the truth concerning the Messiah, and they have no answer.

However, not everyone was stumped by this issue.  There were common people who did not have these complicated theological positions.  They simply studied the scriptures and took them at face value.  They had no problem with seeing the Messiah be both God and man.  Mark 12:37 notes this fact that the multitudes at large gladly heard this teaching.  At one point in His ministry, Jesus thanked His Father that the truths about the Messiah were hidden from the wise and revealed unto simple children, Matthew 11:25.  Ultimately there was no contradiction.  The Messiah is both Lord of David and son of David.  The common people understood this while the Pharisees were blinded.

Example #4- John 12:34 citing that Messiah abides forever, no specific scripture.  John has already shown that Jesus as the Messiah abides forever being God Himself taking on flesh, John 1.  So John is not utilizing the comments of the crowd to show that they are wrong in their belief that the law states that Messiah abides forever.  The point of contention here is how can someone who lives forever experience death?  The same people that knew that Messiah lives forever could not comprehend the Messiah experiencing this death that Jesus was alluding to.  Again, we have a situation where one doctrine is being over emphasized, and another doctrine being completely ignored.

Example #5-  Matthew 21:33-44 quoting Psalm 118:22-23.  Jesus knew that this psalm was considering Messianic since the crowds were singing portions of it as He entered Jerusalem, Psalm 118:25-26.  Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD.  Save now = Hosanna.  The portions of the psalm concerning triumph over enemies were willingly embraced.  But the portion concerning rejection was overlooked.  Again, one doctrine is over emphasized while another is bypassed.  Jesus is here bringing to light that Messiah must be rejected.  Peter also used this rejection to prove to His own countrymen that Jesus truly is the Messiah, Acts 3:17-18, 4:11-12.  The stone which the builders rejected had become the chief cornerstone in Peter’s mind.

This has been all pre-resurrection.  Now after Jesus rises from the dead, He begins to open their minds to understand the scriptures, Luke 24:44-49.  Taking this passage at face value we see that the disciples have a new understanding about the Messiah when they look at the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms.  This is before Pentecost.  They now understand that the purpose of the law, prophets, and psalms is to show that the Messiah had to suffer, and on the third day rise again from the dead.  They understand their place (foretold before in the scriptures) of being God’s witnesses to proclaim the message of repentance and forgiveness beginning in Jerusalem, but eventually to ALL nations.

We do not need an apostle physically present to tell us that the message of the law, prophets, and psalms is the suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension of the Messiah.  We already have this truth contained in scripture.  When we look at the OT, we should expect to see the suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension of the Messiah.  When Paul went to the Thessalonians to preach in Acts 17, he opened the OT scriptures and proved to them that the Messiah had to suffer, die, and rise again.  How many people reading this blog post would be able to do that?  Can we open the OT scriptures and show someone the prophecies of the Messiah foretelling that He must suffer, die, and be raised?  Or would that be sensus plenoir?  Did only the apostles have this ability to turn to the scriptures and show that the Messiah had to suffer, die, and rise again?  When the apostles died, did the church lose this ability?

Some people object to seeing the Messiah in the psalms because they think that David could not have known about the Messiah as in depth as he portrays Him.  They categorically create a theology whereby David’s knowledge of the Messiah is limited.  However, Peter states that David knew that the Messiah would be born of His lineage and wrote about Him in the psalms, Acts 2:30.  The scripture plainly states that David was a prophet.  How can we prove what David did not know?  The only way to hinder people from seeing Messiah in the psalms is to create a theological framework whereby David did not know anything about the Messiah (which contradicts Acts 2:30) and then state that when the apostles quoted the psalms that are fulfilled in Messiah that they were doing so under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and further that they are the only ones qualified to do so.  This is akin to what the Pharisees did with the Messianic prophecies.  It may help in some areas, but it blinds us in others.

Now I need to address what is popularly known as the grammatical-historical-literary hermeneutic.  This is exactly how I read the scriptures.  I refer to it as reading scriptures in context since the Bible is progressively revealed.  There is no way we can go back and change the original prophecies to say something different.  They must be read in their original settings.  When we come to the psalms and we read about a person who suffers, enters the gates of hell, and then experiences life eternal, it is not taking things out of context to believe that this is a prophecy which was never fulfilled in the days of David.  To read Psalm 16, 22, 41, and 69 as Messianic fulfilled at the first coming of Jesus Messiah is not using a sensus plenoir type of hermeneutic.  This is not reading back what is not there.

A sensus plenoir type of hermeneutic would be to take a truth and actually change the original intent.  For instance, to take a passage which applies to Israel, say that it now has changed because of the NT, and then to reason that what the author originally intended was God’s true people meaning the church; that would be sensus plenoir.  To take the kingdom as prophesied in the psalms as existing here on earth and change it to a heavenly kingdom which will never exist on earth would also be changing the original intent of the prophecies.  Another example would be to say that the Davidic throne is now in heaven even though the original context of this was a throne in Jerusalem (Zion) reigning over the nation of Israel [and other Gentile nations brought into subservience after David’s reign had been inaugurated]. 

The prophecies concerning the kingdom must be taken in their original context.  David as a prophet saw his own life and his kingdom as a picture of the Messiah and the Messianic Kingdom.  He spoke of the Messiah and the Messianic Kingdom quite frequently in the scriptures.  When we read about this Messianic Kingdom, we know that the complete manifestation remains in the future.  There are two scriptural reasons to affirm this. 

#1- Jesus spoke a parable concerning the timing of His kingdom in Luke 19:11-27.  He discloses here that He will be leaving and not returning until He receives the kingdom.  He only returns after He has received the kingdom.  At that point in time He orders the slaughter of His enemies.  The work of the kingdom will continue here on earth until His return.  That work will impact the kingdom here on earth, even though the kingdom has not yet come.  So the kingdom remains future since Messiah’s second coming remains yet future.  Note the continuity between the current work and the kingdom come.

#2-  NT scripture also divides Messianic prophecies into two categories, the suffering prophecies and the glory prophecies.  In Luke 24:26 and I Peter 1:11 the progression is the same.  First there is the suffering fulfilled at His first coming.  Second is the glory fulfilled at His second coming.  The glory prophecies would be everything in the OT which speaks of the glorious kingdom of the Messiah contained so descriptively in the psalms.

To go back and change these original prophecies into some type of heavenly thing is to utilize sensus plenoir.  But to read these prophecies as Messianic, future, and here on earth is to take them in their original context, or should I write, to apply a grammatical-historical-literary hermeneutic.  We cannot change the original intent of David, but we can understand it more fully since we have a more sure word of prophecy.  We understand better which prophecies apply to the first coming and which apply to the second coming.  It is not sensus plenoir to understand these issues better than David understood.  That’s the advantage of prophecies fulfilled in our day which were not fulfilled in David’s day.

Have fun and stay busy – Luke 19:13

-The Orange Mailman

This will be the last psalm that I discuss in the series on Prophetic Apocalypse.  I may do a couple of posts exploring the overall approach that I’ve used and what it means for us who live in anticipation of the Messianic Kingdom.  Not everyone believes that we can go to the psalms and see the Messiah and the Messianic Kingdom.  They might suggest that only the apostles themselves could go to the law, psalms, and prophets and apply them to the Messiah.  Other may go back to the psalms and see only a spiritual application bypassing the original context of the kingdom being here on earth.  I feel that my approach has stayed true to the original context, has been consistent with the way the apostles quoted other OT passages, and can be confirmed with NT revelation.

Psalm 21 has two basic sections.  In verses 1-7 we see the nature of the king who will rule forever and ever.  In verses 8-12 we see the destruction of the enemies of this king.  This psalm does not give us much in the way of specific timelines, but operates more in general principles about the Messiah, who I will refer to as The King in this post because that is how David refers to Him.  While David was the king for his day, David knew that The ultimate King would be born of his lineage and sit on his throne.  In this psalm, The King of which David writes lives forever and ever in splendor and majesty.  This could not be said of David.  David must have been writing about another The King who lives forever and ever.

Section 1

The King rejoices in the strength of the LORD.  Sometimes in thinking about The King, we think of a seriousness that might not allow for a smile.  Yet The King knows how to rejoice.  The King loves the salvation of the LORD.  The LORD gives The King whatever He wants.  The King asks; the LORD gives.  One of the things that the LORD gives The King is eternal life.  The King’s authority comes from the LORD.  Although this authority to rule is not listed among The King’s requests here in Psalm 21, it is stated in Psalm 2 that authority over the nations is a request of The King to His Father which He grants.  The King is someone who trusts in the LORD.

Section 2

This section contains the prophetic apocalypse.  Remember that an apocalypse is a revealing, sort of like throwing back the curtain to see something that we ordinarily cannot see.  Prophetic means it is something that is yet to happen.  So when God throws back the curtain in this section, we see something in the future that we wouldn’t see unless God revealed it to us. 

This revelation here concerns the destruction of the enemies of The King.  The hand of The King will find out ALL His enemies.  Who is an enemy of The King?  It is someone who hates The King.  Notice that The King will appear at some point in the future (following ESV).  When The King appears at the time of His wrath, He will make all His enemies like a blazing oven.  These enemies will be swallowed up in His wrath.  So sometime in the future there will be a time of wrath, Psalm 2:12, 110:5.  These enemies will have their descendants destroyed.

Something in the way of mercy should be pointed out here.  The flood of Noah was a merciful act since it cut short opportunities for more evil and therefore it also cut short more people being born who would never belong to the LORD.  To cut off a certain evil people from the earth can be a merciful thing from God’s perspective.  That’s what we see here in verse 10.  The offspring of these enemies of The King will be destroyed.  They will not be allowed to bring forth any more wicked people whose only intent is to corrupt the earth.  By destroying these wicked, The King is actually saving the earth.

Another point of interest is that the enemies of the LORD are the ones who provoke The King by initiating an attack against Him.  The enemies plot evil and mischief against The King and He responds by destroying them.  This is not an instance of The King showing up and arbitrarily slaughtering just anybody in His way.  He specifically destroys those who try to attack Him.  In short, The King’s wrath is a response to a provocative act of war against Him.  Psalm 2, 46, and 94 communicate this same basic truth.

Is there a contradiction between The King finding out His enemies as opposed to the enemies coming against The King?  Which is it?  Perhaps the way that The King finds out His enemies is that He knows they will come against Him.  Perhaps The King only defends Himself against this unprovoked attack at first, but after establishing His rule, He seeks out those who remain at a later point in time.  We must remember that these are overarching principles not a strict timeline.  The King will eventually find out His enemies.  The King will react to this act of His enemies plotting against Him.  We can’t determine for certain any timeline from this psalm alone.  We must go to other psalms and to the NT.

The above is the OT foundation for the coming of the Messiah in wrath.  We can build upon that foundation, but we cannot take away from it or change it.  Since there is no strict timeline in this psalm, where do we place this display of The King’s wrath?  I suggest we can place it in two places.  #1-  At Armageddon when Jesus comes in power and glory.  #2-  Following the Millennium when Gog/Magog gathers and surrounds the beloved city.  Both of these displays of The King’s wrath would be consistent with the psalm.  Both would stay true to the first section which pictures The King continuing forever and ever in His position of authority.

Have fun and stay busy – Luke 19:13

-The Orange Mailman

As I walked into the church for the very first time, I wondered what the worship would be like.  I listened to hear what they were saying and singing.  I watched to see how they were worshiping.  As I watched and listened, I saw the congregation rise to its feet and sing quite loudly, “Thank you LORD!”  Most of them were looking upward, some with hands raised.

Based on the above, would you say that this is God-honoring worship?  Or is this worship which God frowns upon?  I hope you can see that there is no real way to tell without knowing the condition of a person’s heart.  But I do want you to see how much the above worship has in common with the worship of a certain Pharisee in the Bible.  Read Luke 18:9-14.

9 Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10 "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men--extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.' 13 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!' 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

How would our worship service be different if we structured it according to the above passage?  Have we taken all the humility out of our modern worship?  When we stand, raise our hands, and sing loudly, are we reflecting the attitude of the Pharisee, or the attitude of the tax collector?  Of course there is no real way to tell without knowing the condition of someone’s heart.  I challenge you to see where your own heart stands in relation to God as you worship this Sunday.

Have fun and stay busy – Luke 19:13

-The Orange Mailman

I hope the title catches your attention.  I feel that’s what I’m doing when I read through the Grand Messianic Opus.  That’s my term for Psalm110-118.  Psalm 110 begins with a prophetic apocalypse concerning the Messiah and Messiah’s people.  Psalm 118 ends this section with a prophetic apocalypse concerning the Messiah and Messiah’s people.  Everything in between is also about the Messiah and His people which constitute His kingdom.  The translators separated this longer psalm into shorter psalms because of the line “Praise the LORD” which is set apart by itself serving as a division between the stanzas within this longer psalm, or “opus” if you please.

Because I have laid a solid foundation already with other psalms, I’m not going to systematically prove every single point about the kingdom in my post.  If you don’t believe that Messiah’s kingdom will be here on earth sometime in the future, then Psalm 45 and 72 would be a good place to start.  Otherwise, I’m simply going to proclaim the Messianic Kingdom to you as contained in Psalm 110-118.

Psalm 110

Verse 1 is set apart by itself in the Hebrew poetry.  It is a command from the LORD for the Messiah to come up to sit at the right hand of the LORD until the time comes for the Messiah’s enemies to be made into a footstool.  Then after the break in the poetry, the LORD is breaking forth into the affairs of mankind by establishing the Messiah’s rule in Zion.  That rule, that scepter (vs. 2), is His Kingdom.  Initially, this rule will be in the midst of Messiah’s enemies with a believing remnant of God’s people willingly following the Messiah.

We are seeing here how Messiah exerts His authority over the kings of the earth, namely by slaughtering them.  So Messiah’s official reign here on earth begins with a time of His wrath (vs. 5).  Notice that He is both a King and a Priest.  Far from slaughtering dictators with no fair trial during a time of war, this King’s judgement will be completely holy since He is also a priest, just like Melchizedek.  Notice also how His people offer themselves willingly on this day of His power.  Sometimes I hear people ask the question, “Would Jesus take His bride into battle?”  This type of question ignores the issue of whether God’s people would willingly follow Jesus into battle.  Why wouldn’t they?  God’s people know that Jesus the Messiah will be completely victorious and take care of them in the midst of the battle.

Psalm 111

While there is a bit of a shift into Psalm 111, there is continuity as well.  Here is a description of how God interacts with the assembly of the upright, or with His congregation.  Verse 6 is the main point of this section.  God shows forth His powerful works in order that He may give to His people the heritage of the nations.  Messiah’s kingdom will consist of His people inheriting the world, meaning this earth.  This is all in accordance with His progressive covenant plan (vs. 5, 9).  So when we see the Messiah slaughtering kings in Psalm 110, we might ask the question, “What happens after that?”  Psalm 111 is the answer to that question.  The Messiah takes authority over the nations that He might give them to His people.  God does what He does for His people, and note that they are His redeemed people (vs. 9).  God provides food for His people, while His people fear Him and perform His commandments.  That’s the nature of this kingdom relationship that God has with His redeemed as revealed in Psalm 111.

Psalm 112

Here the concept of kingdom is delved into in a way that many in the church actually shun.  The kingdom will exist here on earth as opposed to solely up in heaven.  Kingdom here is an offspring on earth.  Wealth will belong to those within the kingdom (vs. 3).  Those with wealth will lend what they have to others, but with discretion (vs. 5).  These kingdom citizens will not hoard the wealth that God gives them, but will give to the poor (vs. 9).  In the ongoing affairs of the kingdom, evil news may come, but these kingdom citizens will not be shaken by any of this.  These righteous people will endure forever, but the wicked will melt away (vs. 10).  So the establishment of the kingdom will not result in all the wicked going away instantly.  There will be wicked people still here on the earth after Messiah ascends the throne.  The kingdom will be established, the righteous shall inherit the earth, they will flourish, but little by little the rest of the wicked will melt away.  The Messiah shatters the kings on the day of His wrath, but not every single wicked person is slain.  Other psalms verify that these enemy nations actually sent their armies to try to destroy the Messiah, and Messiah’s slaughter of them was a response to their provocative act of war against Him; Psalm 2, Psalm 21:8-12, Revelation 19:19.

So far from being some pie in the sky, the kingdom is a society here on earth with economic principles.  These economic principles are quite foreign to the ways of this world.  Instead of hoarding, in the kingdom we are to lend.  Instead of trying to get ahead ourselves, we are to be generous to others.  Instead of a system which keeps rich people wealthy, we have a system that is designed to truly help poor people.  So far, the Messiah ascends into heaven, returns and executes His wrath, then establishes a kingdom wherein people are actually kind and generous with each other.

Psalm 113

This short section exalts the LORD on high, and levels the playing field for everyone in the kingdom.  Since God is so high and condescends to look upon us way down here on the earth, there is no need for us to exalt ourselves against each other.  The LORD takes a poor man from his lowly position and raises him up to be a prince.  It’s the ultimate makeover for any man within the kingdom of the Messiah.  In the case of women, the barren, childless, homeless woman is transformed into a loving mother of many children with a beautiful home of her own.  Note that the Messiah is King.  So if a man is exalted to the position of prince, he is actually being exalted to the position of the King’s own son.  This psalm envisions those within the kingdom of the Messiah interacting as a family, a royal family.  The kingdom consists of sons and daughters of the king, but it is constructed in such a way that women still bear children.

Psalm 114

Now in true poetic form, David goes back to the beginning of God’s dominion as Israel came out of Egypt.  God’s kingdom is forever, and there is never a time when God was not ruling over all creation, but something new happened when Israel was born as a nation.  Israel became God’s sanctuary.  The questions here are slightly rhetorical, but should be contemplated upon by the serious Bible student.  Allow me to rephrase a couple of them.  What seemed to be your problem Red Sea, when you fled from the footsteps of the Israelites?  Why did you stop flowing Jordan River?  When the LORD came down upon Mount Sinai, why were you trembling like little scared lambs you mighty mountains?  The answer lies in verse 7.  God’s presence was being revealed in the nation of Israel in a way that was previously unknown.  David as a prophet is bringing the meta-narrative full circle.  The kingdom that will be established when Messiah comes to town is part of a larger plan that began with the nation of Israel.

So as David prophesies of the Messiah to come who will sit on David’s throne, it must be remembered what the foundation for that throne is.  The covenant plan of God is progressive.  Without the nation of Israel’s birth, there is no Davidic throne.  Without the promises to Abraham, there would have been no nation of Israel.  Allow me to sketch a rough plan of how I see the covenant plan of God.  There are way more details than this, but I believe it’s a good framework to start with.

Seed Promise >>> Noahic Covenant >>> Abrahamic Covenant >>> Mosaic Covenant >>>

Palestinian Covenant >>> Davidic Covenant >>> Messianic Kingdom

This seemed to be the way that David viewed God’s covenant plan.  The Messianic Kingdom was not just some vague idea out in the future, it was based on God’s promises in the past.  God had promised that David’s sons would sit on the throne forever, Psalm 89, 132.  This was for the purpose of governing God’s people Israel, which of course wouldn’t exist without the previous covenants in the covenant plan of God.  Later in the era of the prophets, Jeremiah would foretell of a new covenant whereby Israel would exist as a nation before the LORD forever.  So did Jeremiah see the Messianic Kingdom and the new covenant as being one and the same?  Jesus came preaching the Kingdom of God at hand, and then later established the new covenant with the nation Israel.  He affirmed it in the presence of a believing remnant of Israelites before dying on the cross.  So did Jesus see the new covenant and the Kingdom of God as one and the same?  This would mean that all new covenant believers are guaranteed a place in Messiah’s future kingdom.

Psalm 115

Here is a bit of a mystery.  Psalm 114 and 115 do not have the “Praise the LORD” division between them as do the other psalms in this section.  So 114 and 115 should be viewed as more contiguous than the others.  Here the voice changes somewhat.  Instead of revealing a Messianic slaughter, the Messianic Kingdom, or reviewing God’s past dealings with Israel, Psalm 115 is the nation of Israel calling out to God in the first section (vs. 1-3).  It’s sort of like saying, “Because you acted in the past, and because of your great plan for the future, LORD come help us in the present.”  The reason given for the LORD coming to act on Israel’s behalf is so that God’s name might be glorified in the sight of other nations.

What we have is the voice of the nation of Israel calling out to God just as the Messiah is about to come.  They are putting their trust in the LORD instead of manmade things (vs. 4-8).  The nation of Israel, the priesthood, and any at all who fear God put their sole trust in the LORD (vs. 9-11).  The nation of Israel proclaims that the LORD remembers them as they expect His blessings upon them (vs. 12-13).  Vs. 14-18 make it clear that even though God created both the heaven and the earth, that here on earth is the place that He has given to mankind.  The dead cannot praise the LORD (here on earth), but we (who live on the earth in the Messianic Kingdom) will bless the LORD.  It is implied that these who are praising the LORD are truly alive here on earth and not dead.  Since these people will bless the LORD from this time forth and forever, we see that these are now in the kingdom of the Messiah here on earth.

Psalm 116

There is a change in voice beginning in verse 1.  Instead of being in the plural as in Psalm 115, the voice that is speaking is now in the singular.  Instead of a group of people calling out for God’s blessing, now a singular Messianic figure speaks of triumph over the grave.  The voice is a person, yet somehow this person calls out to God in the midst of an experience whereby God gives Him victory over death.  The “return to rest” in verse 7 is in contrast to “the pains of death” in verse 3.  This Messianic figure walks before the LORD in the land of the living (vs. 9) because the LORD has delivered His soul from death (vs. 8).  The Servant back from the grave (vs. 16) should be foundational for understanding Isaiah’s Suffering Servant, see Isaiah 42, 49, 53.

Remember that this is David writing from his own experiences.  His experience was compared to the grave since he was separated from friends, family, and the tabernacle.  He was on the run for his very life.  At times he felt as if he might as well be dead.  This experience became prophetic for the true Messiah.  So this psalm which may seem to some to be figurative and not literal, should actually be to us a literally figurative prophecy, if that makes sense.  It was figurative in the sense that David’s life stands as a figure for the true Messiah whose deliverance from death would be quite literal.

It must be remembered that the Messiah is a man who calls on the name of the LORD.  The Messiah puts His trust in the LORD just as we do (Hebrews 2:13) since He shares flesh and blood with us.  Because of His trust in the LORD which results in salvation from the grave, this man can lift up the cup of salvation and pay His vows in the presence of the congregation.  Now after this deliverance from death, it can be said that “precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints.”  Without the death of the Messiah, this statement has no basis.  So because of Messiah’s death and salvation from the grave, the saints can have hope in their death knowing that it is precious to God.

Psalm 117

Here is hope for the Gentiles.  All Gentile nations are encouraged to praise the LORD.  In fact, this verse gives the relationship between Israel and the Gentile nations.  Gentile nations are supposed to praise the LORD because of His faithfulness to the nation of Israel.  Since the psalm switches back to the plural first person, we know that this is picking up the thought from Psalm 115 where Israel was speaking about inheriting the earth.  Instead of Gentile nations being sad or discouraged that the God of Israel is faithful to Israel, they should rejoice and be glad.  Surely this is a God who can be trusted!

The larger context should not be ignored. 

Remember that the Messiah comes in judgement - Psalm 110,

to establish the Messianic Kingdom - Psalm 111,

which is a place where the righteous flourish - Psalm 112,

a place where rich and poor exist together as family - Psalm 113,

this dominion began with Israel - Psalm 114,

it will come to fruition when Israel cries out to the LORD - Psalm 115,

the King/Priest/Messiah has also overcome death as God’s servant - Psalm 116,

now Gentile nations rejoice alongside the nation of Israel - Psalm 117.

So the Messianic Kingdom pictures Israel entering into that covenant relationship with the LORD.  But far from the LORD forgetting about all other nations because of His great love for Israel, God now affirms that any Gentile nation can rejoice alongside Israel in the Messianic Kingdom.  The LORD plans on extending salvation to all Gentile nations in the Messianic Kingdom.  This is how the Apostle Paul used this quote in Romans 15:11.  Paul quotes four OT passages in Romans 15:8-12 demonstrating God’s great love for the Gentile nations, but it is always alongside His love for the nation of Israel as a circumcised people.

David’s section on the Gentile nations is short, but set apart by itself.  It is as if David is saying more by saying less.  He states the fact that Gentile nations can rejoice and leaves it at that.  By giving these two verses their own section, David highlights their great importance in God’s sight.  The Apostle Paul agreed that this doctrine is important by highlighting it in Romans 15.

Psalm 118

This end portion brings us back full circle.  The apocalypse which we saw in Psalm 110 is now pictured again only in much greater pomp and circumstance.  Now instead of “Your people will offer themselves willingly on the day of Your power,” we have a greater explanation of what is meant by that.  We have the people of Israel, the priesthood of Aaron, and all who fear the LORD affirming that the LORD’s steadfast love endures forever (vs. 1-4).  The Messianic figure called on the name of the LORD in the midst of distress (vs. 5).  Now nobody can hurt Him (vs. 6-9).  The Messiah proclaims that all nations surrounded Him but He cut them all off (vs. 10-16).  The once rejected Messiah now enters the gates triumphantly (vs. 19-24).  The stone which the builders rejected has become the true cornerstone of the nation of Israel, and of the Messianic Kingdom which all Gentile nations are invited to participate in, see Psalm 18:43-45.

This psalm pictures Messiah triumphant on His day of military success.  He is accompanied by all His people, Israelites and Gentiles, who affirm that He is a God who keeps His word.  Later in verses 25-26 they sing out to Him words that earlier followers of the Messiah sang out as He entered Jerusalem.  “Save us” or “Hosanna”.  “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD.”  The end of this psalm pictures the Messiah (King and Priest) offering a sacrifice.  He is clearly in Jerusalem on Mount Zion with the priesthood of Aaron accompanying Him.  It is a festal sacrifice, not a sin offering (vs. 27).  An era of peace has dawned with the ascension of Messiah to His throne in Zion.  Now that the armies of those who stood against the LORD have been slaughtered, now evil will begin to melt away during this Messianic Kingdom which will begin a time of feasting here on the earth.

I hope you can see now why I titled this post “Looking straight into the Messianic Kingdom”.  David foresaw that the Messiah would come from His loins.  He also saw a kingdom here on earth of which his present kingdom was merely a vague shadow.  Yet in those shadows God revealed to David the pattern which he could sing about and reveal to us.  This kingdom will exist here on earth.  Jesus the Messiah will be both King and Priest in Zion.  The nation of Israel will experience God’s salvation.  Gentile nations will be invited to participate.  It will begin with a period of 1000 years, but will actually continue for all eternity in some way that I don’t completely understand yet.

Have fun and stay busy – Luke 19:13

-The Orange Mailman

I heard a sermon that is worth mentioning.  The text was Proverbs 3:1-10.  What I found interesting is that Proverbs 3:1-10 has a poetic device that the speaker termed “call and response”.  Although there may be a better term, I’m just not sure what that would be.

Here is the text in the ESV denoting lines and breaks in the poetry:

1 My son, do not forget my teaching,

but let your heart keep my commandments,

2 for length of days and years of life

and peace they will add to you.

3 Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you;

bind them around your neck;

write them on the tablet of your heart.

4 So you will find favor and good success

in the sight of God and man.

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

and do not lean on your own understanding.

6 In all your ways acknowledge him,

and he will make straight your paths.

7 Be not wise in your own eyes;

fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.

8 It will be healing to your flesh

and refreshment to your bones.

9 Honor the Lord with your wealth

and with the firstfruits of all your produce;

10 then your barns will be filled with plenty,

and your vats will be bursting with wine.

If you notice, a very similar format is used for all five sections.  In the first section or in the odd verses, there is a call or a requirement of God.  Then in the second section or in the even verses, there is a response of God or a promise on which He makes good based on our response.  The speaker first read the even verses, which is actually the second portion.  I thought that was unusual, but I understood later.  I’ll do it here as well.  Here are the even verses.  This is everything that God wants to give to us.

2 for length of days and years of life

and peace they will add to you.

4 So you will find favor and good success

in the sight of God and man.

6 In all your ways acknowledge him,

and he will make straight your paths.

8 It will be healing to your flesh

and refreshment to your bones.

10 then your barns will be filled with plenty,

and your vats will be bursting with wine.

Now after holding all that out in front of us, the speaker had something to say about prosperity preachers who promise all types of things, but they leave out the first portion of each of these sections.  They (health and wealth) say God wants to bless us, but they forget, or blatantly omit what God requires of us in order to receive these blessings.  After the speaker told us that we cannot overlook what God wants from us, he proceeded to read to us the odd verses only.  Here are the conditions for blessing.

1 My son, do not forget my teaching,

but let your heart keep my commandments,

3 Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you;

bind them around your neck;

write them on the tablet of your heart.

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

and do not lean on your own understanding.

7 Be not wise in your own eyes;

fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.

9 Honor the Lord with your wealth

and with the firstfruits of all your produce;

We should be concentrating on our part, and leave God to accomplish His part in His time.  So many Christians are focusing on the second part first and failing to live up to God’s expectations for them.  God tells us that He has incredible blessings for us, but He also has some serious standards for holy living.  I’ll not go into every detail here, but I’ll leave it to you to fill in through a serious study of this passage.

Thanks for the message, Todd.  It was a blessing.

Have fun and stay busy – Luke 19:13

-The Orange Mailman

I rarely go to the theatre to see a movie.  But it was our anniversary and I know my wife likes to watch movies.  So I skimmed through what the cinema had playing and one movie jumped out at me.  Maybe it was because of a musical theme.  My wife likes music, so maybe she would like this movie.  I went to Focus on the Family and saw their review for this movie, The Soloist.

This movie based on a true story made a deep impact on me.  Note that this is not a movie from a Christian perspective, although there are Christian themes in it.  Basically, a homeless man who lives on the streets is also a musical genius.  The reason Nathaniel is on the street is his inability to function in society.  Most would say he is mentally ill, including Steve Lopez, a columnist who begins writing about Nathaniel.  At the beginning of their encounters, Steve is looking to write a story and finds his readers connecting very solidly with Nathaniel.  As the story progresses, Steve finds himself befriending Nathaniel and helping him, although Nathaniel really doesn’t think he needs any help.

The story raises pointed questions that strike at the heart of how far to go when helping someone.  Steve’s conversations with the director at a shelter for otherwise homeless people give great insight into the fine line that one walks when helping someone who may not agree they need help.  What does one do in a situation where someone is homeless, but doesn’t think they need help?  What about someone who hears voices but doesn’t think they are mentally ill?  Should someone force them to receive treatment?

The story lacks a Hollywood happy ending.  Steve wants Nathaniel to receive counseling, be diagnosed, and begin taking medication.  But he realizes that all the time he has been wanting to change Nathaniel, he really should just be there to be his friend.  Steve does not have a shining moral character either.  He loses his temper, lacks patience, and sees things from a very limited perspective.  There is some foul language as well, mostly from Steve.

At the end, I was truly touched by the way the characters in the story were left.  Steve himself had been changed as he dealt with Nathaniel, but Nathaniel’s condition remained relatively unchanged - although he began sleeping in an apartment instead of on the street.  Nathaniel’s love for music and the ability to play the violin and cello are what seemed to draw Steve to Nathaniel at first, but later Nathaniel’s own person became valuable to Steve.  Steve’s desire to write his column is what motivated him to reach out to Nathaniel at first, but later it became more personal.

So what would all Steve’s hard work measure up to if Nathaniel remained mentally ill at the end of all his efforts?  I was truly choked up at the end as I realized that’s what true friendship is.  The story reminded me of three different songs all focusing on reaching out to people just the way they are.  First, by Sara Groves:

Loving a person just the way they are, it's no small thing
It takes some time to see things through
Sometimes things change, sometimes we're waiting
We need grace either way

Second, by Chris Rice:

See you had no choice which day you would be born
Or the color of your skin, or what planet you’d be on
Would your mind be strong, would your eyes be blue or brown
Whether daddy would be rich, or if momma stuck around at all

How did I find myself in a better place
I can’t look down on the frown on the other guy’s face
‘Cause when I stoop down low, look him square in the eye
I get a funny feeling, I just might be dealing
With the face of Christ

And finally, by Caedmon’s Call:

Love-

is different than you'd think
It's never in a song

or on a TV screen
And love-

is harder than a word
Said at the right time

and everything's alright
Love is different than you think

Have fun and stay busy – Luke 19:13

-The Orange Mailman

P.S.  Read about my own experience with this here.

Or:

Building chronology out of prophetic passages that aren’t strictly chronological. 

The prophets did not always see things in time linear fashion.  The main objective of the prophet was for His people to repent.  In calling for repentance, many times future events were revealed, but the main point was still for God’s people to repent.  In seeing these future events, they were not always constructed in chronological order.  The prophet doesn’t take time to explain that first event #1 will happen, then event #2 will happen, etc.  The prophet saw God’s judgement hanging over the nation and called for repentance based on that.  The judgement that the prophet saw was in the future, sometimes in the very distant future, but with consequences that were the direct result of the current generation’s sins or righteousness.

In spite of the fact that these prophetic passages are not chronological, we can construct chronology out of them if we apply some basic principles.  The cause and effect poetry of the passages is not hard to translate into time linear fashion.  It just takes insight from the Holy Spirit as to what is going on in the passage and a little patience to thoroughly examine the passages.  One passage may be building off an earlier established sequence.  To illustrate this, I’ve taken Isaiah’s little apocalypse (Isaiah 24-27) and gradually worked through the passage gleaning bits of chronology.  By the time we get to the end, we have a very good Pre-Millennial framework which also illustrates a PreWrath resurrection/rapture.  Here are some conclusions.

Isaiah 24:19 The earth is utterly broken,

the earth is split apart,

the earth is violently shaken.

20 The earth staggers like a drunken man;

it sways like a hut;

its transgression lies heavy upon it,

and it falls, and will not rise again.

21 On that day the Lord will punish

the host of heaven, in heaven,

and the kings of the earth, on the earth.

22 They will be gathered together

as prisoners in a pit;

they will be shut up in a prison,

and after many days they will be punished.

23 Then the moon will be confounded

and the sun ashamed,

for the Lord of hosts reigns

on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem

and his glory will be before his elders.

Isaiah 24 pictures the earth staggering like a drunk man, and the way that the LORD breaks into the situation to resolve it. When the LORD reigns from Mount Zion, the sun and moon will be embarrassed compared to the light that He gives. At that time, the host of the high ones are gathered together to be shut up as prisoners in a pit, and only “after many days” will they receive their ultimate punishment. These thoughts are all joined together in one passage. Isaiah 24:21-23 is one section in the Hebrew poetry.

So here is a chronology based on Isaiah 24:21-23.

-The earth is enduring a terrible time.
-“The day” comes when the LORD intervenes.
-He rounds up spiritual forces and earthly kings.
-They are confined to a pit.
-Their imprisonment will last many days.
-After this judgement resulting in imprisonment the LORD will reign from Mount Zion/Jerusalem.
-After many days, the prisoners will be punished.

6 On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples

a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,

of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.

7 And he will swallow up on this mountain

the covering that is cast over all peoples,

the veil that is spread over all nations.

8 He will swallow up death forever;

and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces

,and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,

for the Lord has spoken.

9 It will be said on that day,

Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.

This is the Lord; we have waited for him;

let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

10 For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain,

and Moab shall be trampled down in his place

as straw is trampled down in a dunghill.

11 And he will spread out his hands in the midst of it

as a swimmer spreads his hands out to swim,

but the Lord will lay low his pompous pride together with the skill of his hands.

12 And the high fortifications of his walls he will bring down,

lay low, and cast to the ground, to the dust.

These types of snapshots are not difficult. Isaiah 25:6-12 contains another picture. There is a feast which the LORD is preparing upon a mountain. Context would tell us that this is Mount Zion. On that mountain, the LORD will swallow up two things. #1- the veil cast over all peoples. #2- death, and that forever. As these things occur, the LORD wipes away tears from faces. He takes away reproach from His people. There is a group of people who have been saying, “This is our God. We have been waiting for Him.” All of this is related to the feast. The same people who have been waiting for their God are the same people who will be enjoying this feast upon the mountain. Note: Only those who have been waiting for Him will have their tears wiped away. I can only see death being swallowed up for the people of God which have their reproach taken from them at this time.

It is quite plain that Isaiah 25:6-12 is poetically retelling from a different point of view what will happen when the LORD reigns from Zion.  Rather than seeing this as something that happens after the events of Isaiah 24:21-23, we should see this as contemporary with those events.  They are tied together.  Here is a chronology based on Isaiah 25, which acts as an expansion to Isaiah 24.

-The earth has been enduring a terrible time. There is a veil over the nations.
-The LORD intervenes. He rips off the veil spread over the nations. He swallows up death in victory. He comes to His people who have been waiting for Him.
-He rounds up spiritual forces and earthly kings.
-They are confined to a pit.
-Their imprisonment will last many days.
-After this, the LORD will reign from Mount Zion/Jerusalem. There will be a time of feasting upon Mount Zion which all who waited for the LORD will participate. Those who are His people will no longer experience death. The people of God rejoice in their salvation.
-After many days, the prisoners will be punished.

16 O Lord, in distress they sought you;

they poured out a whispered prayer

when your discipline was upon them.

17 Like a pregnant woman

who writhes and cries out in her pangs

when she is near to giving birth,

so were we because of you, O Lord;

18 we were pregnant, we writhed,

but we have given birth to wind.

We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth,

and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen.

19 Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.

You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!

For your dew is a dew of light,

and the earth will give birth to the dead.

Isaiah 26:16-19 is another section in the poetry. Here we see a group of people going through intense labor pains. In the midst of their hopelessness in seeing that there is no deliverance, and the powers that be are still standing, they receive a promise. The dead of these very people will live, their very bodies rising up from the dust. They wake up from their graves and begin to sing. The earth will give birth to the dead. These principles are simply added to the framework which we already have. When the LORD comes to His people who have been waiting for Him, He will swallow up death in victory by waking His people from the dust of the earth. They have been going through the labor pains, but now they experience resurrection.

20 Come, my people, enter your chambers,

and shut your doors behind you;

hide yourselves for a little while

until the fury has passed by.

21 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.

Isaiah 26:20-21 is another section in the poetry. Here there is an invitation for God’s people to enter behind closed doors because the LORD is coming out from His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth. These people are to be behind the closed doors until the fury has completely passed over. So let’s add these details (along with a couple of things in chapter 27 as well) to our framework to see how the chronology has expanded.

-The earth, and God’s people, have been enduring intense labor pains. There is a veil over the nations. Other lords (26:13) have been ruling over God’s people.
-The LORD intervenes. He rips off the veil spread over the nations. He swallows up death in victory by resurrecting His people. He comes to His people who have been waiting for Him. They must enter behind closed doors until after the fury of the punishment of the inhabitants of the earth is passed over.
-He rounds up spiritual forces (including the devil himself, 27:1) and earthly kings.
-They are confined to a pit.
-Their imprisonment will last many days.
-After this, the LORD will reign from Mount Zion/Jerusalem. There will be a time of feasting upon Mount Zion which all who waited for the LORD will participate. Those who are His people will no longer experience death. The people of God rejoice in their salvation. This is the time when the vine of Israel will fill the whole world with fruit, 27:6. During this time the scattered of Israel will be gathered to participate in the feast at Jerusalem, 27:13.
-After many days, the prisoners (including that old serpent, the devil) will be punished.

We see here that the PreMillennial view shines forth.  When the LORD comes, resurrects the righteous, judges the nations, there is an imprisonment of evil forces at that time which will last many days.  Ultimate judgement will not occur for these who are gathered to the pit until after this time period.  The PreMillennial position accounts for this time in the Millennial Kingdom, which is the beginning of the Messianic Kingdom.  The Great White Throne Judgement will not occur until “after many days” or after the 1000 years.  Simply put, the LORD comes, the spiritual forces including Satan are bound for many days; then after many days they will receive their punishment.

We also see that the PreWrath Rapture position shines forth in this OT passage.  The LORD comes, resurrects the dead, and gathers His people behind closed doors that they might be spared the fury of His wrath upon the earth for those who commit sins.  Prior to this coming, the earth and God’s people have been going through a tumultuous time.  The NT refers to this time as the Great Tribulation.  Other passages in the OT and NT refer to the fury of the LORD as the Day of the LORD or the day of His wrath.  Here the resurrection and gathering are placed right in between these two time periods.  Simply put, we have the great tribulation, then the resurrection/gathering, then the wrath of God.

Have fun and stay busy – Luke 19:13

-The Orange Mailman

I’ve been saying for some time that Jerusalem will most likely become an international city of sorts.  There must be a way to reconcile all of the biblical prophecies that will be fulfilled in the city of Jerusalem.  I believe that the temple mount will become an international center for the religions of the world, most notably Christianity (secular Christianity i.e. Roman Catholicism), Judaism, and Islam.  Now news reports are proving that this may be closer than we think.

The Palestinians are stating that they were promised a portion of Jerusalem.  Read about it here.  A notable quote from this article:  The revised plan is also said to call for east Jerusalem to be made the new state's capital – with the Palestinian Authority's flag waving over it official institutions and the UN banner waving over the Old City and places sacred to Judaism, Islam and Christianity.  A quote like that is almost scary to me because I’ve been saying these types of things for at least seven years.

But the nation of Israel isn’t backing down on its claim to Jerusalem either.  With the hard liner Netanyahu stating unequivocally that Jerusalem will always belong to the nation of Israel, this makes some type of confrontation or compromise a necessity.  Israel is not just saying part of Jerusalem either, but united Jerusalem including eastern Jerusalem, the portion which the Palestinians want to make the capitol of their state.  Read about it here.  A notable quote from that article is:  "United Jerusalem is Israel's capital," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday during a state ceremony at Ammunition Hill to mark Jerusalem Day, which celebrates the reunification of the city in 1967. "Jerusalem was always ours and will always be ours. It will never again be partitioned and divided."

Lest people think that the Obama administration is purely to blame for this apparent shift in making Jerusalem into something of an international city, here is an article in the Jerusalem Post dated May 20^th, 2009 which states that Obama’s plan is not a result of a change in administrations within the United States.  The goals are essentially the same that George W. Bush had.  Read about it here.  The article dismisses current rumors as being unfounded.  The internationalization of Jerusalem is one of them.  The article goes on, though, to state that no deals have been finalized.  So we sit and wait.

In way of news, let me also point out that the French (yes the French) have issued statements contradicting Netanyahu’s position that Jerusalem will never be divided.  They are also calling for Jerusalem to be the capitol of two different countries, Israel and a Palestinian state.  Read about it here.  A notable quote from that article is this:  One day after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu vowed never to divide Jerusalem, and pledged to keep the capital united under Israeli sovereignty, the French harshly condemned the comments, insisting instead that Jerusalem be a capital shared by the Palestinians and Israel.  I point out that the boldness of the French as of late under Sarkozy’s leadership shows a shift in power back into Europe.  You can expect that Europe will become increasingly involved in Middle East affairs.

To close, I want to reiterate as I have before, keep your eyes on Jerusalem.  Don’t get upset, don’t be fearful, don’t become stressed out.  Just keep your focus on the events that are occurring and will occur in the city of Jerusalem.  You will see biblical prophecy be fulfilled before your eyes.  It is one of the vortexes around which God’s plan for the future revolves.  I’ll post a couple of scriptures and then be done for now.

Zechariah 12:2  Behold I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.

Zechariah 14:2  For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken,

But praise the LORD for His interaction with the nations at that time.

Zechariah 14:16  And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.

Have fun and stay busy – Luke 19:13

-The Orange Mailman

It felt good to be back on the bicycle as I pedaled into work on Wednesday and Thursday.  It has been pretty warm during the days here, but at nights it was dropping into the 30s.  On Wednesday and Thursday it started out at 70 here and rose into the 80s.  I also busted out the shorts on my route as well.  That proved to be inspiring to those on my route who view the mailman wearing shorts to be a sign of warmer weather.

To all of my adoring fans, thank you for the helpful hints that you yell out your car window as you drive by.  “Get off the road!” is a good one.  But my favorite is “Use the sidewalk!” especially on sections of road where there is no sidewalk.  The display of your ambiguous perspicacity concerning the traffic laws of Michigan helps me to realize that taking Driver’s Education out of the public schools was not the solution.

On my first day in, there was a strong headwind which made for difficult pedaling for legs that haven’t done it since last fall.  It was a good thing I left early that first day.  My second day in I did much better, but I left slightly late, (but I’m blaming that on my wife.)  When I got to work, I ran upstairs to my locker, changed clothes as fast as I could and ran back down with my shirt untucked, shoes untied, and ID badge still in pocket and barely clocked in on time.

Since it’s 9 miles one way, I’ve already got 36 miles in with many more to go LORD willing.  VAVAVOOOOM!

Have fun and stay busy – Luke 19:13

-The Orange Mailman

P.S.  The beard is gone.  I’m looking in the mirror and saying, “Who IS that guy?”  Half the people on my route thought they got a new carrier my first day with it off.

Another instance of prophetic apocalypse is Psalm 18.  The psalm can confuse you if you let yourself get hung up on details.  I believe there are [at least] two different metaphorical prophecies at work within this psalm.  If we try to separate them too distinctly it can cause us to doubt either one.  If we realize that many times metaphors represented something prophetic beyond the current circumstances, we should have no problem having multiple metaphors representing the same thing with no contradiction.  Let me explain.

To the Choirmaster.  A Psalm of David, the servant of the LORD, who addressed the words of this song to the LORD on the day when the LORD rescued him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul.  He said:

The first metaphor is a theophanic appearance of a messianic figure to rescue David out of his troubles.  The occasion for this psalm should not be overlooked.  The heading includes circumstances from a wide expanse of David’s life, including “all his enemies” reaching way back to Saul.  So these words were meant to be an overview of the way in which God rescued David from his life of rejection as a whole.  Other psalms which David wrote (Psalm 22, 41, 69) portray this rejection as a death-type experience which served as prophecies of the Messiah’s death.  So here is David entangled in the cords of the grave crying out to God for help, Psalm 18:4-6.  Then came the answer.

7 Then the earth reeled and rocked;

the foundations also of the mountains trembled

and quaked, because he was angry.

8 Smoke went up from his nostrils,

and devouring fire from his mouth;

glowing coals flamed forth from him.

9 He bowed the heavens and came down;

thick darkness was under his feet.

10 He rode on a cherub and flew;

he came swiftly on the wings of the wind.

11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him,

thick clouds dark with water.

12 Out of the brightness before him

hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.

The LORD Himself, in the form of a messianic figure, comes down from heaven to earth to save David, Psalm 18:7-15.  We have images here which are consistent with other biblical passages which portray the “revealing” of the Messiah.  The cloud-rider is here, see Daniel 7:13-14, Matthew 24:30, Matthew 26:64-65, Revelation 1:7, Revelation 14:14-16.  A fire goes before Him devouring His enemies, see Psalm 50:3, Psalm 97:3, Habakkuk 3:5.  The presence of God is revealed as the earth trembles, Psalm 68:7-8, Joel 3:16, Nahum 1:3-5, Haggai 2:6-7.  These events did not literally occur when David was rescued.  The person of the LORD was not revealed in this way.  So why did David write in such terms?  And why is this language so consistent with other passages which serve as prophecies to a future messianic figure?

13 The Lord also thundered in the heavens,

and the Most High uttered his voice,

hailstones and coals of fire.

David speak/sings as a prophet.  He is revealing to us, through his own life, what will occur in the future.  In examining the dramatic rescue that he went through from rejection and exile to being crowned king and defeating all his enemies, David saw the future.  So he sang about the picture of his life, how that dramatic rescue would be played out in the future as the true Messiah comes from heaven to earth, and he sang about it in prophetic apocalypse.  These events will be fulfilled literally in the future.  Then in verses 20-30 David is rehearsing his own righteousness before God.  He attributes the rescue of God to his blameless walk before the LORD.  This section serves as a transition into the next metaphor.

43 You delivered me from strife with the people;

you made me the head of the nations;

people whom I had not known served me.

44 As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me;

foreigners came cringing to me.

45 Foreigners lost heart

and came trembling out of their fortresses.

The second prevalent metaphor in this psalm is David’s own life.  David was the anointed one for his day.  He was anointed king over Israel only to be rejected by his own people.  Yet after this time, the very same one that Israel rejected was made the founder of the longest dynasty in Israel’s history.  After the children of Israel willingly followed him as their king, David successfully subdued all the surrounding Gentile nations.  David was not only made the ruler over God’s people Israel, he was also made the head of all nations.  People groups that he never knew before were brought into submission to the reign of David.

46 The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock,

and exalted be the God of my salvation”

47 the God who gave me vengeance

and subdued peoples under me,

48 who delivered me from my enemies;

yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me;

you rescued me from the man of violence.

49 For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations,

and sing to your name.

50 Great salvation he brings to his king,

and shows steadfast love to his anointed,

to David and his offspring forever.

Psalm 18:31-50 contains David rehearsing the matter before the LORD.  It was God which gave him strength to go into battle and defeat his enemies.  David beat these enemy forces as the dust of the earth.  I want to point out something obvious, but it escapes most people.  As David defeated these enemies, it did not mean that these nations ceased to exist.  Once the military might of these nations was defeated in battle, the countries became subservient to David and therefore Israel.  These nations were brought into a right relationship through force.  From that point on, they would now look to David as their head and to Israel as their example as the people of God.  Praise to the LORD would go out in the midst of these Gentile nations, Psalm 18:49.  It was this verse that Paul quoted in Romans 15:9 when describing the salvation of the Gentiles alongside the nation of Israel.

The cords of death encompassed me;

the torrents of destruction assailed me;

the cords of Sheol entangled me;

the snares of death confronted me.

If we take the entire picture of David’s life as a picture for the Messiah, the Christ, we see the pattern of anointing, rejection, death, resurrection, vindication, return, acceptance, dominion.  The death of the Messiah is described in verses 4-5 by way of the metaphor of David’s life.  This was fulfilled in the cross.  Then we have the victory of the Messiah over Gentile nations in verses 31-50 by way of the metaphor of David’s life.  This has yet to be fulfilled since it occurs after the time of Messiah’s exile.  Note that I’m not using exile in the sense that Christ isn’t allowed here on earth, but it is a self imposed exile until a specific time, Luke 19:11-15.  We can fully expect Jesus the Messiah to come again to earth, be accepted by the nation of Israel, and defeat Gentile nations.  This does not result in these Gentile nations ceasing to exist, but will result in these Gentile nations entering into a right relationship with the Messiah, only by force.  They will have Jesus Messiah as their head and the nation of Israel as the people of God.  This current time is to show that God has no partiality.  Any nationality can be the people of God.  His plan is for Israel to be first, though.

When Abraham went to Mount Moriah to offer up Isaac as a sacrifice, there were given two pictures of the ultimate sacrifice in that story.  Isaac himself is a picture of Christ, and the ram caught in the thicket offered as Isaac’s substitute is also a picture of Christ.  Both pictures are accurate giving different aspects of the ultimate sacrifice.

In Psalm 18, both pictures we see of the Messiah are accurate.  We can safely blend the two pictures of prophetic apocalypse into one to see Messiah/Christ.  David’s own life serves as a metaphor for the Messiah.  But when we see the messianic figure come from heaven to earth to rescue David, this is also a picture of the Messiah.  Both serve the purpose of showing what will happen in the future as God throws back the curtain and Jesus is revealed from heaven.  If we can blend these two pictures, there is no reason we cannot blend other pictures of Christ to gain a better perspective of our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ.  The two pictures also serve to show that while David was a picture, He was not the ultimate Messiah who would be the LORD Himsefl.

Just to be a little more blatant, the coming Messianic Kingdom will be introduced here on earth by a show of force by the Messiah.  Armageddon is that place where Jesus will forcefully subdue the Gentile nations.  After this time, the Gentile nations will be in subservience to Him and exalt Israel to a place of prominence over them, see Isaiah 49 also.  The Messianic Kingdom will begin with the Millennial Kingdom, but will continue forever and ever, world without end.  Amen.

Have fun and stay busy – Luke 19:13

-The Orange Mailman

Go on up to the mountain of mercy

To the crimson perpetual tide

Kneel down on the shore

Be thirsty no more

Go under and be purified

Follow Christ to the holy mountain

Sinner sorry and wrecked by the fall

And your heart and your soul

To the fountain that flows

For you and for me and for all

At the wonderful tragic mysterious tree

On that beautiful scandalous night you and me

Were atoned by His blood and forever washed white

On that beautiful scandalous night

On a hillside you will be delivered

At the foot of the cross justified

And your spirit restored

By the river that poured

From our blessed Savior’s side

At the wonderful tragic mysterious tree

On that beautiful scandalous night you and me

Were atoned by His blood and forever washed white

On that beautiful scandalous night

You carried the sin of mankind on your back

And the sky went black

The above lyrics are from a song off City on a Hill’s The Gathering.  I think as Christians that we forget the utter scandal of a pardon for all sins.  Just like that, any sinner gets off the hook for anything they’ve ever done.  No punishment, no jail time, no retribution for all the people that they’ve hurt, lied to, hated, murdered, back-stabbed, gossiped about, lusted after, and treated with contempt.  Anyone, no matter how guilty, can walk away free.  That’s fairly scandalous if you ask me.

Imagine a courtroom with evidence overflowing against those on trial.  Witness after witness testifies against them.  Video tapes with hard evidence are played before the jury.  Even those on trial have their own words used against them to prove them complete guilty.  After all evidence has been presented, there is no one that wouldn’t sentence these criminals to eternity being separated from the God they sinned against.  Then the judge gets ready to give the verdict.

Judge:  So you all are completely guilty.  There is no question that you all are criminals against heaven.  Is there any reason why any of you should be spared the punishment?  Is there any justification for why you did what you did?

Yes.  We are justified in every single crime that we committed.  All the hurt that we caused should not be punished.  None of the sins that we committed warrant us to serve the sentence that we know we deserve.

Judge:  And what is your reasoning?  What is the plea to be spared in the face of the evidence?

We plead the blood of Jesus.  He has completely justified every sin that we have ever committed.  He has taken our sins and given us His own righteousness.  He took the wrath of God upon Himself upon the cross.  Our sentence has been served.  We now have the same righteousness as Jesus Himself.

Judge:  Your plea deal is acceptable to this court.  This court recognizes the blood of Jesus as a viable means of complete justification.  Your faith in the blood of Jesus is all that is necessary to complete the transaction.  You have all officially been extended the grace of God.

How scandalous!

Have fun and stay busy – Luke 19:13

-The Orange Mailman

-The Orange Mailman

Today was the annual NALC food drive.  Thank you to all who participated.  To those who don’t have a clue as to what I’m talking about, the union for city letter carriers for the United States Postal Service, the National Association of Letter Carriers, began a tradition of picking up food while delivering the mail on one designated day per year.  It is quite simple.  Any customer can leave canned goods at or in their mailbox and we pick it up, bring it back to the post office, and there it is distributed to local area food pantries.  Since the start of this, USPS, APWU, and the rural letters carriers union have all come on board to help sponsor this event which has blossomed into the single largest food drive in the USA.  You can read about it here.

http://www.nalc.org/commun/foodrive/index.html

Here in my city, all the food goes to one church with a huge food pantry.  There are anywhere from 16 to 25 other local participating charities who receive a portion of what is collected based on their size.  A few years back I asked the director of United Way for a list of who gets the food that we collect.  The list includes only Christian organizations.  At that time, they were all Christian churches except two.  They were the local Rescue Mission and the local Teen Challenge.  I don’t know how other cities participate, but I expect it is along the same lines all across the United States.  Most food pantries are started by Christians, that’s just a fact.

Again, thank you to all who donated food.  We could host this event every year and it would be nothing unless people left food by their mailboxes.  This year, a lady whose husband passed away about five months ago came out with three full bags of cans.  I made an exclamation about how much food there was.  She stated that she wasn’t going to eat it because it was all food that her husband liked but she didn’t.

About four years back, I came up to a house on food drive day, and this porch was overflowing with bags of canned goods.  I was surprised since this family is not well to do.  They told me that they knew what it was like to have to be on the receiving end of getting help.  They wanted to help others who are currently in situations like they had been in previously.

But now how about a story from the route?  It’s been a little while since I’ve told one here.  Today, toward the end of the route, there was a sign on a tree in front of a house advertising hot dogs, brats, and walking tacos for either $1, $2, or $3.  This is a house that many youths hang outside just loitering around.  I asked a couple of them about a walking taco and they said it was apartment #1; just knock on the door. 

As I got back to my truck, I thought about all the food I had picked up today and that it might be nice to have a little treat.  A walking taco sounded pretty good.  I try to support things that happen on my route as well.  There are 6 churches on my route.  If they have a bake sale I try to buy something.  If someone is having a yard sale, I look and see if I can pick something up, especially if there are kids who made some cookies or something.  So I decided I would stop by in my truck on my way back to the office and get a walking taco.

Now my route is not in the nicest neighborhood.  Other carriers ask me why I stay on my route when I have enough seniority to get a route in a nicer area.  Most would say it’s not a bad neighborhood, it just has some trouble spots.  Well, this house is one of the trouble spots.  It seems like there are always kids (punks) hanging out on the steps of this two apartment house.  Most of them are fairly polite, but there are a few rude ones.

So as I’m thinking about going up to this house and pulling out my wallet, I get a little cautious about that.  I think to myself, “I should leave my wallet in my truck.”  So before I get there, I pull the money that I will need to pay for the walking taco out of my wallet, stick it in my pocket, and then put my wallet on my empty mail tray.  I walk up to the house, and this time, there is only one guy hanging out on the steps.  He remembered so he asked me if I was there to get a walking taco.  I said I was.  He told me to go right in and knock on #1’s door.

I knock on the door and the lady who lives there (who is very nice), invited me right into her apartment.  She had two other ladies helping her.  She asked me if I wanted a walking taco, which led me to believe that the guys hanging around outside had told her that I had been asking about that.  I said yes.  One of her helpers asked what I wanted on it and started fixing it for me.  I pulled out the money and this lady told me to put my money away.  She said it was on the house this time.  I tried to insist but she wouldn’t take the money.

She explained that she was single, didn’t have a whole lot of money, and was trying to think of ways to make money.  Since there were so many kids who hang around in this neighborhood, she thought about cooking things that they might like to eat.  She said she made $100 on the first day she started.  Since she had done so well, she wanted to treat me in hopes that I would like it and stop by frequently in the future.

So I went from being leery about my money to being embarrassed that this poor lady was treating me to a walking taco.  She displayed true charity toward me.  What an example in the middle of a neighborhood full of hoodlums!  When I got back to the office, T asked, “Where’d you get the walking taco?”

Have fun and stay busy – Luke 19:13

-The Orange Mailman