There is placed within the Fifth Book of Psalms a collection of fifteen Psalms, collectively called `The Psalms of Degrees (or Ascents)'. It is usually taught that these Psalms were read or sung by the Levites as they ascended the fifteen steps of the Temple on the Levitical Feast Days
As the religious festivities unfolded, it is said that the musicians and singers went up the fifteen steps (Degrees) singing these Psalms to the assembled congregation of Israel in the Temple Courts. However there is no evidence that there were indeed fifteen steps - that is inferred by the title and the numbers of these particular Psalms - although if this were the origin of the collection and placement within Scripture of these particular Psalms it would of course indicate the reverent sense of majesty and awe the ancient people of Israel had for their God as they sang their way into His Presence in the Temple. We would suggest, however, that the Scriptures, as the LIVING Word, have within them a revelation of God and a reverence towards God that transcends formal religious ceremony . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . The Scriptures as a living Word reveal God to His people. There is therefore no limit to the revelation His Word can bring, and for the diligent Bible scholar there is even more rich gold to be dug from Hezekiah's Psalms of Ascent. There is the suggestion that, as the LORD added fifteen years to the life of Hezekiah so these fifteen Psalms set out the fifteen times Hezekiah's life was spared through being set aside to be the vessel of the LORD as king of the southern kingdom of
Judah. If this was so it shows the heartfelt repentance of this godly king, who in his humility revealed his understanding of the depth of love the God of Israel has for His people. It is not our task at this time to
search out these hidden treasures, but if we care to look at these Scriptural steps or Degrees seen in the Psalms of Ascent, we will gain understanding for God's people today within the historical setting in which we find ourselves, for as the apostle Paul said: (1 Corinthians 10:6)
" Now these things occurred as examples, to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. "
Paul was specifically using examples of Israel's unbelief to remind the believers in Christ of the call of God upon their lives now that they had been called into the purpose of God. He continues: (verse 14)
" Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. I speak to sensible people, judge for yourselves what I say. "
We can therefore take the example of the godly King Hezekiah unto ourselves, the Church of the Firstborn, the Community of Believers in Christ Jesus. We have had revealed through Scripture the knowledge that we are now sons of God:
(Ephesians 2:8-10)
" For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from your-selves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no-one may boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
The Community of Believers - the Church of God in the West - finds itself living in a time very similar to that in which King Hezekiah found himself. A time of unprecedented change is facing the Church. Idolatry, unbelief and deepening apostacy within her ranks are causing anxiety, and the gathering forces of humanism are assembling outside her gates. The nations in which the Church in the West finds herself no longer appear to be the safe havens of wealth and prosperity they once were. The
`judgement of the nations' constantly mentioned in Scripture seems to be at the
very door. How the Church will respond will depend very much on her personal relationship with the God who reveals His faithfulness in His Word. And as there has been such an onslaught on the authority of the Word of God over the past few decades, there is the grave probability that large sections of the Church will turn to others rather than trust in the faithfulness of God. At such a time as this Hezekiah's Fifteen Psalms of Ascent speak down the corridors of time into our present situation, and they reveal the heart of God towards those whom He has called and separated for His purposes, those `created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do'.
* Extracted from our IN PERSPECTIVE publication `Signposts No. 17 - The Psalms of Ascent'. Please E-mail or telephone for a complete copy.
OUR STATEMENT OF FAITH
As disciples of the Lord Jesus we believe in:
GOD THE FATHER
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
GOD THE SON
Our Saviour, Jesus Christ
GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Spirit of Truth
YET ONE GOD
Triune and Eternal
We believe that: Salvation is by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and not by works. Salvation is found in no other person. Jesus Christ, God the Son, became man, was born of a virgin from uncorrupted Seed from the Holy Spirit. He was crucified on a cross, bearing totally, once and for all time upon Himself the sins of the world. He rose from the dead by the power of God on the third day and broke the power of death. Now He lives in Glory with His Father in Heaven.
We believe in: Baptism by total immersion following repentance and receiving Jesus as Lord; the manifestation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the Church; the Baptism in the Holy Spirit for those who ask to receive power to fulfill our calling as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ; the Bible with its 66 Books of Scripture, in its original manuscripts, which is the total and final revelation of God's will and purpose. It is TOTALLY reliable, TOTALLY infallible, and TOTALLY self-interpreting, without error, and revealing God's total plan of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ, by the Holy Spirit.
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EXERGESIS
' And then they came to Elim . . .'
According to Rabbinic Judaism the study of Scripture is a form of praise which finds its highest form in the study of Torah. Be that as it may, there is little doubt that the first five Books of Scripture do indeed form the bedrock of under-standing the nature and faithfulness of God. Even a `surface' and literal reading of Torah reveals this, and over the years many fine Christian scholars have expounded these Scriptures through typology and allegory - usually appropriating to the Church the truths contained within Torah, to the exclusion of Israel. But we would suggest that there is no need for this exclusion, for Israel and the Church are joined in the purposes of God to travel on a parallel journey. In which case we may look for the primary message in the Old Testament Scriptures, as given to Israel, then seek its application to `her brothers on a journey' - `brothers' because of the finished work of Jesus, the Messiah of Israel and the Lord of the Church. The passage of Scripture we wish to look at is found in the Book of Exodus, and in particular in chapter 15 which, of course, primarily concerns Israel - or to be more accurate, the Hebrews. The background is very familiar: The cries of the Hebrews in slavery had reached the ears of the LORD, and in the words of Scripture He says:
" I have indeed seen the misery of My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey . . . ." (Exodus 3:7-8a)
What follows is the amazing story of the Exodus, told and retold in Jewish homes and Christian Sunday Schools all over the world. Here we would quickly move on beyond the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea, but before we move on it is worth reminding ourselves of the use of God's name in its written forms in Scripture lest we miss the significance of the use of the different names of God. In the passage just quoted you will note that the title `the LORD' is used. This corresponds to the Hebrew word usually written in English as `Jehovah', which tells us that Jehovah is the One who acts through His COVENANT RELATIONSHIP with the Hebrews - a relationship promised to their fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Another name will be seen in the title `God', which in Hebrew is written as `Elohim'. This has a meaning of `a Creator', with all the power to create and to sustain that which He has created. Joining these two titles into `the LORD your God' gives us the meaning of a Creator who has entered into a Covenant relationship and who has the power, will and desire to maintain for ever a personal relationship with whomsoever He has created it. We shall see the importance of these two titles as we turn to Exodus 15.
The journey out of Egypt had led the Hebrews through the incredible parting of the Red Sea so that they passed through on dry ground unscathed: (Exodus 14:29-31)
" But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right hand and on their left. That day the LORD saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. And when the Israelites saw the great power the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in Him and in Moses His servant. "
Many Bible teachers use this event to illustrate the need of baptism by total immersion, saying that when the waters of the sea fell they cut off and destroyed all that was left behind of their old life in Egypt - a good example of the use of typology. This is quite legitimate, but as a type it should not be hardened into Christian doctrine which must always find its foundational truth in the New Testament. However, as we progress into Exodus 15 we shall find this `type' of baptism becoming a reality - within the full meaning of the word `baptism'. (This is understood to be material. usually colourless cloth, being dipped into, pushed under, a water dye. When it is pulled out of the water, whilst it still remains the same cloth it is changed in its character and colour, becoming valuable and useful for service.)
Chapter 15 opens with what is sub-titled `the Song of Moses', as he gives thanks for the faithfulness of the LORD towards His Covenanted people: (Exodus 15:19)
" When Pharaoh's horses, chariots and horsemen went into the sea, the LORD brought the waters back over them, but the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground. "
As the Israelites journeyed on, `Moses led Israel through the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur'. And so we come to `the waters of Marah' and to Elim - and it is in such passages of Scripture as these that `typology teachers' are in their element. However as we pause with the Israelites at the waters of Marah we would like to consider this in the context of the PURPOSE of the LORD God of Israel in hearing the cries of His people and leading them out of Egypt before we take the principle of what we shall find in this Dispensation of Grace, the so-called `Church Age'. It is all too easy to look back into the Old Testament Scriptures with New Testament eyes and turn the essential message into allegory or typology, so missing God's best for His covenanted people in Jesus. We need, as far as it is possible, to look first at these Scriptures with Old Testament eyes before turning the message towards the New. For that we need to keep our exposition in context to the whole purposes of God, not using Scripture for our own comfort and satisfaction.
First of all let us look at the Desert of Shur, for within the allegorical school of teaching we are told that at this point we have been `baptised in the Red Sea' and our past is drowned in its waters. Egypt is cut off and we are free to walk into a new life. Unfortunately, in the Wilderness of Shur we find ourselves still very much in Egypt! The word `Shur' has a meaning of `a fortified wall', which separated and protected Egypt as it looked towards Assyria and all that lay beyond.
It was in fact a great defensive wall built across Egypt's eastern frontier, and is mentioned in many early manuscripts. On the western side of the Shur the land of Mazor was the `land walled in', while on the eastern side the Wilderness of Shur was the `wilderness walled out'. All this was within the kingdom of Egypt, and therefore the authority of the Pharaoh extended across the Wilderness up to the Brook of Egypt to the east, down to the south in which lay Marah and Elim, and on into the Wilderness of Sin. Clearly it was a most important part of the kingdom of Egypt for the royal copper mines lay very close to Marah and Elim. And so the Israelites, although delivered out of Egypt, were still very much in Egypt, and during their wanderings for fourty years there was indeed a testing of their national character - the distressing results of which are well known but are outside the scope of this Exergesis.
Such is the danger of the sometimes simplistic typology teaching of Scripture -that now we are baptised we are out of Egypt and nothing can harm the people of God. The Israelites, as they journeyed on to Marah and Elim, were going to find out that they were still in Egypt in a physical, emotional and spiritual reality. As they journeyed on into the Desert of Shur we find them three days later without water. They came to Marah but were unable to drink the water there because it was bitter:
v25 " So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, `What are we to drink?' Then Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree. He threw it into the water and the water became sweet. "
And here we need to look back with our `Old Testament' eyes lest we merely `drink the water' for our own satisfaction. Looking back, and still keeping within chapter 15, we find in `the Song of Moses' the source of many Christian choruses, the verses of which are often picked at random and set to enjoyable melodies, but as Moses sings his Song of Praise for the faithfulness of God we find unusual words in verse 17:
" You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of Your inheritance - the place, O LORD, You made for Your dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, Your hands established. The LORD will reign for ever and ever. "
Although it had been revealed to Moses that the Israelites were on a journey, he would not have had the knowledge we now possess, through reading a later Scripture, that in Jerusalem, on Mount Zion, there would be `the place, O LORD, You made for Your dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, Your hands established'.
Clearly, then, Moses was referring to `the mountain of Your inheritance', which was as real to him as Mount Zion would be to King David, yet both were one and the same place. Within the Song of Moses we therefore find that the exodus of the Israelites through the Red Sea had been layered on to (likened to) an earlier historical event, similar in its execution and involving the creation of SOMETHING emerging from the seas of chaos and destruction just as surely as the Israelite nation had now been formed out of the chaos and destruction of the crossing of the Red Sea - thereby a baptism, a changing of its character, into something useful and ready for service! Let us now attempt to draw out from Scripture these two historical events, that were created and formed out of the separation of the waters by Elohim, the Creator God of Israel, which caused Moses to sing his Song of Praise. For that we need to turn to Genesis 1 verses 1-2:
" In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth became formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. "
Here we see God revealed, as the Psalmist says, as the Creator of the earth:
(Psalm 24:1-2)
" The earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for He founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters. "
The Psalmist then continues to reveal the purpose of the creative work of God: (v 3)
" Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in His holy place? "
And in the verses from Genesis quoted above we find the same understanding:
" In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth . . . formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters . . . . . . . . . . . And God said, `Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water'. "
Continuing on into Genesis 2 we find the narrative repeated and filled out, and the title of God becomes the covenanted, creative name of God: (Verse 4)
" When the LORD God made the earth . ."
In this creative act we find God's purpose was to enter into a covenanted relationship with Adam in the Garden of Eden, and we saw in Psalm 24 that following this creative act the question is asked:
" Who may ascend the hill of the LORD?
He who has clean hands and a pure
heart . . . . . "
The historical creative act recorded in Genesis 1 had a purpose within the will of God. This was to create Adam, place him in the Garden in Eden and enter into a covenant relationship with him. In his Song of Praise Moses, who had himself experienced the wonder of God in the exodus from Egypt, likened it to the creative act of forming a people - the Israelites - out of the separation of the waters, saying: (Exodus 15:17-18)
" You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of Your inheritance - the place, O LORD, You made for Your dwelling, the sanctuary, O LORD, Your hands established. The LORD will reign for ever and ever. "
Clearly, then, we can see that the earlier historical event had been `mirrored' in the Red Sea crossing by the Hebrews - and both had a purpose within the will of God!
And so we come to Marah, still within the land of Egypt and under the authority of the Pharaohs: (Exodus 15:23-24)
" When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water for it was bitter . . . . so the people grumbled against Moses, saying, `What are we to drink'? "
The Israelites were now ready to learn that although they had been `baptised' out of Egypt, they were still passing through Egypt on their journey - which would only come to an end when God the LORD would `bring them in and plant them on the mountain of (His) inheritance'. At times this would be a bitter and thirsty journey, but they needed to know the faithfulness of God to His will and purpose! The narrative tells us that when Moses cried out, the LORD showed him a tree (not a stick, but a tree) which when cast into the waters, made them sweet.
Keep this in the context of the earlier historical event in which God created the heavens and the earth out of the chaos and desolation that existed in the time recorded in Genesis 1:1. We know that Adam was created and planted in the Garden in Eden - created and of great value and ready for service. As we recall the Genesis story we will remember the Tree of Knowledge within the Garden, the fruit of which Adam was forbidden to eat, and beyond which stood the Tree of Life. Eating of the Tree of Knowledge caused the `bitterness of sin' to be the lot of all who were to come from the seed of Adam. Beyond that, however, lay the Tree of Life, which revealed the manifest Presence of God in that Garden shrine, ruling and reigning over the world that lay beyond the Garden. And now, at Marah, Moses was told by the LORD to cast into the bitter water a tree that He showed him. This was to remind the Israelites that the Presence of the LORD - the Tree of Life -was now with THEM in a covenanted relationship that would lead them to Mount Zion, the mountain of His inheritance, through the bitterness of the world which was under the bondage of sin, in which they, the nation of Israel, would declare God's faithfulness in the redemption which is for all who would trust Him: (15:v26)
" He (the LORD) said, `If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His eyes; if you pay attention to His commands and keep all His decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD who heals you'. "
Now they were ready to journey on to Elim, where once again they would be reminded of the LORD's faithfulness - of the Tree of Life, to which they would be called to witness among the people of the world of chaos and desolation that lay beyond Mount Zion, the mountain of the LORD's inheritance: (Verse 27)
" And they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water. "
The word `Elim' simply means `trees', which is the plural of a word meaning `a strong tree', and both spring from a root word with a meaning of `twisted together with powerful strength'. Therefore, within the context of the whole chapter, and in particular after the lesson learnt at the bitter waters of Marah, we see the Israelites being led into a place called Elim, `where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees'. Here they were reminded by the name `Elim' that they were twisted with powerful strength into the Tree of Life and were on a journey through the wilderness to a place the LORD had made for Himself to dwell in, a place where they would proclaim the faithfulness of God to provide salvation for a world that was lost in darkness and chaos beyond the Mountain of His Inheritance. And so with our knowledge of the use of numbers in Scripture we can see in the twelve springs of water the governmental, perfected order of God (His perfect rule), whilst in the number seventy palm trees we see the fulness of completion - a powerful message to the nation of Israel as they encamped at Elim, secure and twisted into a covenanted relationship with God.
We also see in the closing verse of Exodus 15 the ultimate dwelling place of all who trust in the Living God: (Rev. 21:22-24)
" I did not see a Temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the Glory of God gives it light and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light and the kings of the earth will bring their splendour into it. " (Revelation 22:1-6)
" Then the angel showed me the river of water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the Throne of God and of the Lamb, down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the Tree of Life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the Tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The Throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and His servants will serve Him. They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. The angel said to me, `These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show His servants the things that must soon take place'. "
But first those Israelites would be called to journey on through the desert of their unbelief - a Probation Period to test the character of the nation! And we know only too well that all of them (apart from two, and those who were born during that time) failed the test and perished in the wilderness. Is it therefore coincidental that as we write this study the Church in the West is also walking towards the end-time of a Probation Period of fourty years just as real as that of those earlier Israelites? We too are strongly twisted into the Tree of Life. We too have experienced the faithfulness of God, and as we rest at our `Elim' it would seem that we need to consider these matters carefully. We too, as the Church of the Redeemed, are a people called out into a covenanted relationship, baptised, created into a new life, cut off from Egypt - walking in it, but not part of it! The bitter waters of Marah are the re-occurring experience of those who journey on to the fulness of Mount Zion, but we know that the Tree has been cast into its waters, and therefore we can journey on to Elim and `camp there by its waters', and as we camp there be reminded that we were created for His purpose and to declare His Glory among the people who live in the world through which we pass.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
* In reading this Exergesis there may well be some who will not fully understand certain expressions and suggestions made (such as references to events recorded in Scripture as the Garden in Eden and the Tree of Life).
Although this Exergesis is complete in itself, it is also part of a developing theme spread over a long period. We would suggest, therefore. that a pre-reading of two earlier studies, `The Land' and `The Temple of the Land' will give the reader a more meaningful understanding of this particular Exergesis.
' The acceptable year of the LORD '
In the 25th chapter of the Book of Leviticus we find set out in simple detail the promised salvation of God. Beginning at verse eight, the continous use of the number `seven', coupled with the Sabbath, reveals the promised redemption set in the heart of the perfect and righteous Law: (8-10a)
` Count off seven sabbaths of years - seven times seven years - so that the seven sabbaths of years amount to a period of fourty-nine years. Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee year for you . . . "
The passage goes on to list the total redemption that God intends - a full restoration of all things to their rightful owner! It is known as the Jubilee Year, springing from the Hebrew word `Yobel', which has the meaning of `a loud joyful sound'.
As you read through the passage you will quickly notice that this Jubilee Year does not fit into the continuous repetition of seven sabbaths of years, for the fiftieth year begins half-way through the fourty-ninth year and overlaps into the first half of the first year of the new cycle of seven sabbaths of years. In other words, the Jubilee Year does not occur in man's calculation of time. It is a year of God's own time, totally His own, layered onto time as man is instructed to count. Set, as it is, in a cycle of seven sabbaths, it becomes elevated, lifted up, showing it to be a Year of outstanding importance. According to the historians, it is a Year which has never been recorded as being fully kept by the nation of Israel - a Year in which it is declared that there is to be a restoration of all things to their rightful owners is something that even the most devout observer of the Law could not cope with. The Jubilee Year is indeed God's Year, for He alone offers total redemption of all things!
We would move on swiftly to a passage of Scripture recorded in the Book of Isaiah, the well known chapter 61, where we read of the prophet Isaiah speaking by the Holy Spirit the words of the Messiah to His people: (verses 1-2 KJV)
` The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me; because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the meek; . . . . To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God . . . . . . "
God's Year, the loud, joyful fiftieth Year of the Jubilee cycle was now being announced to His people Israel! We are aware, of course, that this passage of Scripture continues on to say that it is also a Day of Vengeance of our God, but in the context of our reflections at this time we shall leave that for a later date.
If you read through this passage you will see at once the seven-fold aspect of the redemption being announced, and in the number `seven' is clearly revealed the perfection of God's salvation within the setting of the Jubilee Year. Space prohibits us from lingering in the fulness of the Messiah's words recorded here by Isaiah, and we move on to the next setting where we find this Redemption year being proclaimed.
We pick up this event in Luke chapter 4. the setting is in a synagogue in Nazareth, of which Jesus was undeniably a member, for its says: (verses 16a-17)
" He went into the synagogue, as was His custom. And He stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. He opened it and found the place re it is written . . . "
In our contemporary church circles this would have been the `Second Lesson', the first being a reading from the Law. Now Jesus was handed the scroll of the Prophets for the `Second Lesson' - and what followed was to become a prophetic word indeed. The occasion for this particular reading would have been a Jubilee Year - God's appointed Redemption Year. After reading the designated passage Jesus proclaimed to the assembly that He had, at that reading from the scroll of Isaiah, fulfilled the prophecy contained within that glorious `Second Lesson'. God's joyful sound, His Jubilee, was proclaimed by His Son to His beloved people Israel. Understand afresh, then, the turmoil Jesus created as He proclaimed `the Acceptable Year of the LORD', and completing the reading with the words:
" Today this Scripture is fulfilled in
your hearing. "
At this point, however, we need to step back to an earlier event which is recorded in Matthew chapter 3. The occasion is the baptism of Jesus: (Verses 16-17)
" As soon as Jesus was baptised, He went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on Him. And a voice from heaven said, `This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased'. "
Here again we step back into the setting of the Levitical Law, and in this event we see Jesus being anointed, consecrated, as Prophet. Only then could He speak the prophetic word and announce the Acceptable Year of the LORD, the redemption of all things, and complete it by saying, `Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing'.
We move on again to Matthew chapter 17. We know of this event as the Transfiguration, and picking up the narrative in verse 5 we find again the anointing, the consecration of Jesus:
" While He was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, `This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!' "
Here we find Jesus being anointed, consecrated as Priest, according to Levitical Law. Only then could He present a sacrifice acceptable to God, and here again we find ourselves within the outworking of the Acceptable Year of the LORD. Jesus, once anointed as Prophet, could speak the Prophetic Word of redemption, and only now, upon being anointed as Priest, could He offer Himself as the atoning Sacrifice which was acceptable to God.
At a time soon to come there will be the final outworking of the remainder of God's Jubilee Year - the Day of Vengeance of our God - for Jesus has also been anointed King. For our last passage of Scripture we turn to the Letter to the Hebrews chapter 1 verse 8, where we find the words spoken by God concerning His Son:
" But about the Son He (God) says:
` Your Throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the sceptre of Your Kingdom'. "
We are not intending in any way to set a date for this - indeed, we are told not to by Jesus Himself: (Acts 1:7)
" It is not for you to know the times or the dates the Father has set by His own authority (concerning the restoration of the Kingdom to Israel). "
We do know, however, that the Winds of Change are blowing very keenly in our times, and we need to understand through Scripture these times in which we live. If the prophecy contained in Isaiah 61 has been fulfilled in Jesus, and His work of Prophet and Priest has been accomplished, then all that remains to be outworked is `the Day of Vengeance of our God'.
If we accept the historical dating of the birth of Jesus to be 6 BC (or thereabouts), and we know that at that glorious proclamation of the Acceptable Year of the LORD Jesus was (to use the words recorded in Luke 3:23) `about thirty years of age when He began His ministry', it does not require a mathematician to arrive at the date when Jesus read from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, which was a Jubilee year. Therefore, with the Levitical `seven sabbaths of years' of the Jubilee cycle in mind, we can certainly come to a Scriptural understanding of where the Winds of Change are blowing today.
However, as we have already said, we are not attempting to set dates which `the Father has set by His own authority'. In recent times men have often sought to announce a Jubilee year as they have seen something of importance looming on the horizon, only to find that nothing happens, for the Jubilee Year is indeed `the Acceptable Year of the LORD'. It has been proclaimed by Jesus and fulfilled through His finished work, and we are `living in' that year whilst waiting for its culmination!
We have set out a Scriptural principle here, to which we need to pay heed in these changeable times. As the Winds of Change continue to blow they will bring more uncertainty in an already uncertain time, leading to continuous anxiety and concern among people, and not least among God's people. The times recorded in the Gospels were even more momentous than our own and yet we find Jesus speaking and acting only after He had received the anointing for the work He was called to do `for the Father's glory'. He knew from the Scriptures the times and seasons. He knew, said John, `that He had come from the Father and would return to the Father', and He spoke and acted only within the Father's will, according to Scripture! First came the knowledge of whom He was, then came the anointing, the consecrating, and only then came the work.
In these uncertain times, when the Winds of Change are blowing strongly, we too need to be still, to know whom we are, so that through the Scriptures we may discern the Father's will and wait for the anointing before we step out. Only then will what we undertake be for the Father's glory!
