I came home from Ohio Monday night, driving over 250 miles with the “Maintenance Required” light blazing out at me (it came on only 90 minutes out of Akron), and got on the elevator to see a notice posted that Jim Spoto died. Yet another favorite resident gone within a one-month span!
Between the ongoing up-close-and-personal deaths (going back a couple of years now) and the Japan disaster, I really think I’m entering the “I don’t care—let’s just get on with it” category.
I am going to start this weekend with the hard-core, forget-the-finessing or caring, editing of my book as is. End of story. There’s no point in waiting for anything to be “just right.”
If anybody’s interested, I am going on a hard-core diet for life starting tomorrow. That means NOTHING that makes me feel guilty.
Just so you know, right now I’m making a mac and cheese and I have a piece of white cake as my Last Supper. Wish I had some lobster but it ain’t to be. Good night to food!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Altogether lovely
When Psalm 45:2 says Christ “art fairer than the children of men,” that’s His person; that’s who He is!
Jordan says, “Some people suggest Christ wasn’t really a fair-looking, handsome, good-looking guy. They argue that to call Him, ‘Fairest Lord Jesus,’ wouldn’t be a good way to describe Him. They point to Isaiah 52:13 and the idea there that He’s not somebody who’s going to be good to look at."
Isaiah 53:2 reads, “For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.”
Jordan explains, “People say, ‘Well, his physical visage was not attractive to people.’ But, you know, there are two things about that. First, this passage in Isaiah 53—when it says 'He has no form or comeliness,' that’s true, but what’s it talking about? He’s despised and rejected among men. Well, that’s what chapter 52:14 is talking about.
“He didn’t start out marred and no beauty in Him! When did that happen? That’s the Cross. You see Him being 'so marred more than any man.' The brutalities described in Matthew 26 and 27 that were heaped upon Him produced this horrible picture.
“You know, you look at artists when they draw the picture of the Cross and it’s always fascinated me—you can tell right away it’s an Italian Roman Catholic drawing the pictures. He’s this blue-eyed, blond-haired, sweet-looking little ‘hmm-ahh.’ But you read this stuff and, when was the last time you saw a son of Abraham that looked like that?! Nah.
“Song of Solomon has the only physical description of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it says he had hair that was bushy and black like a raven. He was brown-eyed and had black hair. He didn’t have the picture you get in the mythology! You know, (Warner) Sallman’s picture of Christ and all that kind of stuff. That’s just stuff.
“When the psalmist back here calls him ‘thou art fairer than the children of men,’ in other words, He’s the prototype man. He’s the hero. He’s the son of what God wanted man to be. It would obviously have to do with Him simply not at the Cross but in His resurrection. Psalm 45 is describing the Lord in resurrection; describing glorified humanity.
*****
“Now in His person—of course His personage would be more than His physical appearance—it would be in the nature that He had and in the way He would deal with people. In the virtue that His character would display.
“I love that verse that talks about the woman that touched the hem of His garment. It’s a strange verse. It says and virtue went out of Him. Would anybody ever say that about you? I mean, most of us have enough trouble getting a little virtue in us! We don’t need to send it out of us!
“But that healing power that went out of Him into that woman and healed her, the Scripture calls that ‘virtue’ and that’s exactly the right translation, by the way. In other words, there was a virtue that just overflowed out of Him, and in His person He was fairer—‘He was fairer than the sons of men,’ the verse says.
“So when it describes him, it says, ‘He was altogether lovely. He was the lily of the valley.’ There’s a song like that: ‘Bright and morning star and he’s the altogether lovely to my soul.’
"It’s wonderful when you got a bunch of songs that describe and glorify and extoll the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. You just can’t get enough of that; at least you shouldn’t be able to.”
Jordan says, “Some people suggest Christ wasn’t really a fair-looking, handsome, good-looking guy. They argue that to call Him, ‘Fairest Lord Jesus,’ wouldn’t be a good way to describe Him. They point to Isaiah 52:13 and the idea there that He’s not somebody who’s going to be good to look at."
Isaiah 53:2 reads, “For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.”
Jordan explains, “People say, ‘Well, his physical visage was not attractive to people.’ But, you know, there are two things about that. First, this passage in Isaiah 53—when it says 'He has no form or comeliness,' that’s true, but what’s it talking about? He’s despised and rejected among men. Well, that’s what chapter 52:14 is talking about.
“He didn’t start out marred and no beauty in Him! When did that happen? That’s the Cross. You see Him being 'so marred more than any man.' The brutalities described in Matthew 26 and 27 that were heaped upon Him produced this horrible picture.
“You know, you look at artists when they draw the picture of the Cross and it’s always fascinated me—you can tell right away it’s an Italian Roman Catholic drawing the pictures. He’s this blue-eyed, blond-haired, sweet-looking little ‘hmm-ahh.’ But you read this stuff and, when was the last time you saw a son of Abraham that looked like that?! Nah.
“Song of Solomon has the only physical description of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it says he had hair that was bushy and black like a raven. He was brown-eyed and had black hair. He didn’t have the picture you get in the mythology! You know, (Warner) Sallman’s picture of Christ and all that kind of stuff. That’s just stuff.
“When the psalmist back here calls him ‘thou art fairer than the children of men,’ in other words, He’s the prototype man. He’s the hero. He’s the son of what God wanted man to be. It would obviously have to do with Him simply not at the Cross but in His resurrection. Psalm 45 is describing the Lord in resurrection; describing glorified humanity.
*****
“Now in His person—of course His personage would be more than His physical appearance—it would be in the nature that He had and in the way He would deal with people. In the virtue that His character would display.
“I love that verse that talks about the woman that touched the hem of His garment. It’s a strange verse. It says and virtue went out of Him. Would anybody ever say that about you? I mean, most of us have enough trouble getting a little virtue in us! We don’t need to send it out of us!
“But that healing power that went out of Him into that woman and healed her, the Scripture calls that ‘virtue’ and that’s exactly the right translation, by the way. In other words, there was a virtue that just overflowed out of Him, and in His person He was fairer—‘He was fairer than the sons of men,’ the verse says.
“So when it describes him, it says, ‘He was altogether lovely. He was the lily of the valley.’ There’s a song like that: ‘Bright and morning star and he’s the altogether lovely to my soul.’
"It’s wonderful when you got a bunch of songs that describe and glorify and extoll the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. You just can’t get enough of that; at least you shouldn’t be able to.”
Monday, March 28, 2011
BINGO!
Psalm 45 is a classic psalm written for the “head choir director,” hence its heading: “To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, for the sons of Korah, Maschil. A Song of Loves.”
As Jordan explains, “This psalm wasn’t written just for anybody; it’s written for the Top Guy. That term Maschil, meaning to teach or to educate, tells you this psalm is designed not just to encourage or give comfort, but for its teaching and edification purposes.
“There are actually three of these kinds of psalms. One is Isaiah 5:1: ‘Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:’
“In other words, this is a love song that God sings with regard to and concerning His purpose for the nation Israel. The vineyard here is the nation Israel. Verse7 says, ‘For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel.’
*****
Song of Solomon begins, “The song of songs, which is Solomon's.”
Jordan says, “When it says ‘the song of songs,’ this means it’s the top, most important--'BINGO! The Supreme Song!' The Song of all the songs of Solomon and, of course, it’s a song about the little flock’s loyalty to her beloved and her resistance to the seduction policy of the Adversary to draw her away from her husband.”
*****
Psalm 45 is the third psalm of its kind. Jordan explains, “These psalms are designed to demonstrate the purpose God has in the nation Israel and the special love relationship and manifestation of His love in relationship for them."
Psalm 42 begins the second book of the Psalms (indicated by a double ‘Amen’ preceding it) and deals with the Messiah as Israel’s Deliverer. The first set of the Psalms deals with Israel’s Redeemer.
Psalm 42-44 talks about the need for Israel to have a Deliverer and literally the songs are praying and seeking for and panting after, as Psalm 42 says, a Deliverer.
“So in Psalm 45, here comes the king!” says Jordan. “It’s the, ‘Deliverer is here!’ and if you wanted a title to the psalm, some people call it ‘the Marriage Psalm.’
“The kingdom is ready to be established, and what you have here is the song that is sung after the king sets himself up as king and as he comes into the inaugural ball. I’m not suggesting there will be a dance, or any of that kind of thing, but you understand there is coronation celebration when someone is inaugurated.
“By the way, Psalm 46 is a psalm about the coming kingdom that He’s going to establish. Psalm 47 talks about the range or extent of His kingdom and how it’s going to encompass all the earth. Psalm 48 is about the center of His kingdom. It’s going to be ‘the city of God in the mountain of His holiness, beautiful for situations.’
“So you’re in a section here where the king comes and the kingdom is described, including its worldwide impact, and then that city where He reigns is the focal place of the earth.
“Psalm 45:6 is quoted in Hebrews 1:8 as a direct reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. The ‘He’ in the verse is God the Father. Notice how God the Father calls God the Son God? That’s one of the proof texts of the deity of Christ. He’s fully God as well as truly man. He’s God-man. God the Father calls Him God.
“You read down through the psalm and you can easily spot songs we sing. That last verse is in the great old hymn that goes, ‘Out of the ivory palaces into a world of woe, only His great eternal love made my Savior go. My Lord has garments so wondrous fine, And myrrh their texture fills; Its fragrance reached to this heart of mine With joy my being thrills.’
“That’s what the verse is talking about. Hymn writers often write hymns right out of the Scripture. I know sometimes people chafe a little bit at the poetic license that people sometimes use in the hymns . . .
“There’s another great hymn that starts out, ‘Fairest Lord Jesus, Ruler of all nature,O Thou of God and man the Son, Thee will I cherish, Thee will I honor,Thou, my soul’s glory, joy and crown.’
“That comes from Psalm 45:2: ‘Thou art fairer than the children of men.’ The greatness of the king talks about how God the Father looks at Him and He sees Him as one in whom He finds all His joy and the greatness of who He is.
“That’s the first thing you do when you talk about a king on his coronation day; you talk about what a great hero he is.”
As Jordan explains, “This psalm wasn’t written just for anybody; it’s written for the Top Guy. That term Maschil, meaning to teach or to educate, tells you this psalm is designed not just to encourage or give comfort, but for its teaching and edification purposes.
“There are actually three of these kinds of psalms. One is Isaiah 5:1: ‘Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:’
“In other words, this is a love song that God sings with regard to and concerning His purpose for the nation Israel. The vineyard here is the nation Israel. Verse7 says, ‘For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel.’
*****
Song of Solomon begins, “The song of songs, which is Solomon's.”
Jordan says, “When it says ‘the song of songs,’ this means it’s the top, most important--'BINGO! The Supreme Song!' The Song of all the songs of Solomon and, of course, it’s a song about the little flock’s loyalty to her beloved and her resistance to the seduction policy of the Adversary to draw her away from her husband.”
*****
Psalm 45 is the third psalm of its kind. Jordan explains, “These psalms are designed to demonstrate the purpose God has in the nation Israel and the special love relationship and manifestation of His love in relationship for them."
Psalm 42 begins the second book of the Psalms (indicated by a double ‘Amen’ preceding it) and deals with the Messiah as Israel’s Deliverer. The first set of the Psalms deals with Israel’s Redeemer.
Psalm 42-44 talks about the need for Israel to have a Deliverer and literally the songs are praying and seeking for and panting after, as Psalm 42 says, a Deliverer.
“So in Psalm 45, here comes the king!” says Jordan. “It’s the, ‘Deliverer is here!’ and if you wanted a title to the psalm, some people call it ‘the Marriage Psalm.’
“The kingdom is ready to be established, and what you have here is the song that is sung after the king sets himself up as king and as he comes into the inaugural ball. I’m not suggesting there will be a dance, or any of that kind of thing, but you understand there is coronation celebration when someone is inaugurated.
“By the way, Psalm 46 is a psalm about the coming kingdom that He’s going to establish. Psalm 47 talks about the range or extent of His kingdom and how it’s going to encompass all the earth. Psalm 48 is about the center of His kingdom. It’s going to be ‘the city of God in the mountain of His holiness, beautiful for situations.’
“So you’re in a section here where the king comes and the kingdom is described, including its worldwide impact, and then that city where He reigns is the focal place of the earth.
“Psalm 45:6 is quoted in Hebrews 1:8 as a direct reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. The ‘He’ in the verse is God the Father. Notice how God the Father calls God the Son God? That’s one of the proof texts of the deity of Christ. He’s fully God as well as truly man. He’s God-man. God the Father calls Him God.
“You read down through the psalm and you can easily spot songs we sing. That last verse is in the great old hymn that goes, ‘Out of the ivory palaces into a world of woe, only His great eternal love made my Savior go. My Lord has garments so wondrous fine, And myrrh their texture fills; Its fragrance reached to this heart of mine With joy my being thrills.’
“That’s what the verse is talking about. Hymn writers often write hymns right out of the Scripture. I know sometimes people chafe a little bit at the poetic license that people sometimes use in the hymns . . .
“There’s another great hymn that starts out, ‘Fairest Lord Jesus, Ruler of all nature,O Thou of God and man the Son, Thee will I cherish, Thee will I honor,Thou, my soul’s glory, joy and crown.’
“That comes from Psalm 45:2: ‘Thou art fairer than the children of men.’ The greatness of the king talks about how God the Father looks at Him and He sees Him as one in whom He finds all His joy and the greatness of who He is.
“That’s the first thing you do when you talk about a king on his coronation day; you talk about what a great hero he is.”
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Unquenchable love
The Holy Spirit is not just a force but he’s an individual; a person. That expression, “Quench not the Spirit,” means don’t hinder Him; don’t extinguish His work: “I don’t sidetrack Him and be an obstacle to the operating and the working of the Holy Spirit in the assembly--He’s a person who works in the assembly!”
The focus here is much bigger than just the individual. If you hinder it individually, it will hinder the group. Let the peace of God rule in the assembly too.
II Timothy 1 is a play off of this ‘quench’ issue. When you quench something you’re talking about putting out the fire and the Holy Spirit is often associated with fire. He’s called ‘the spirit of burning’ back in Isaiah 4.
II Tim 1:6. When you stir something up it’s because it’s kind of died down. The flame’s gone down but hasn’t gone out. It’s not blazing anymore so you go stir up the coals and expose the unburned fuel to the fire and it blazes back up.
And what’s happened in Timothy’s life is what happens in everybody’s life—you come through times Spurgeon called ‘fainting fits’ where you’re a little dry and the enthusiasm isn’t there. Romans says, ‘Be fervent in spirit.’ You ought to be boiling hot inside and you’re not.
He tells Tim, ‘Stir this thing back up.’ In I Tim 4:14, he warns Tim, ‘Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.’
If you neglect the gift then what happens is it begins to go out and not function walking by faith. The work of the ministry and the Christian life requires a positive choice and walk of faith. It doesn’t just happen in your life. Your flesh will take over if you just lay down and do nothing. There’s good men who, if they do nothing, evil will prevail. That’s a real good analogy of how your faith operates.
The only response grace will accept is faith. It won’t accept works or your merit. But grace will not operate EXCEPT in response to faith. It requires the response of faith; it requires that constant vigilance. 'Set your affections on things above.’
If you neglect that then it kind of dwindles away. So what he’s doing is warning them in the assembly, ‘As the Holy Spirit works in the midst of the assembly, don’t in any way hinder him. Don’t neglect his activities so he stays working.’
Ephesians 4:30 says, ‘And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.’
“Grieving Him had to do with unworthy conduct in your life. Instead of bearing fruit, you’re over here walking in flesh, and consequently you’re grieving Him; you’re not allowing Him to work in your life. It frustrates him. Like the verse in Galatians 21, do not frustrate the word of god.
“You notice that the word ‘holy’ in that verse does not have a capital? This is not a title here. But it’s a reference to sanctify. It’s the Holy Spirit’s function to set you apart for purpose you were created for. It stops him from being able to do His job.
That word 'holy' means set apart. The Holy Spirit’s function, and when that isn’t being accomplished in your life, it grieves the Holy Spirit. It stops Him from being able to do His work. It’s the issue of ‘quench not the Spirit.’
The focus here is much bigger than just the individual. If you hinder it individually, it will hinder the group. Let the peace of God rule in the assembly too.
II Timothy 1 is a play off of this ‘quench’ issue. When you quench something you’re talking about putting out the fire and the Holy Spirit is often associated with fire. He’s called ‘the spirit of burning’ back in Isaiah 4.
II Tim 1:6. When you stir something up it’s because it’s kind of died down. The flame’s gone down but hasn’t gone out. It’s not blazing anymore so you go stir up the coals and expose the unburned fuel to the fire and it blazes back up.
And what’s happened in Timothy’s life is what happens in everybody’s life—you come through times Spurgeon called ‘fainting fits’ where you’re a little dry and the enthusiasm isn’t there. Romans says, ‘Be fervent in spirit.’ You ought to be boiling hot inside and you’re not.
He tells Tim, ‘Stir this thing back up.’ In I Tim 4:14, he warns Tim, ‘Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.’
If you neglect the gift then what happens is it begins to go out and not function walking by faith. The work of the ministry and the Christian life requires a positive choice and walk of faith. It doesn’t just happen in your life. Your flesh will take over if you just lay down and do nothing. There’s good men who, if they do nothing, evil will prevail. That’s a real good analogy of how your faith operates.
The only response grace will accept is faith. It won’t accept works or your merit. But grace will not operate EXCEPT in response to faith. It requires the response of faith; it requires that constant vigilance. 'Set your affections on things above.’
If you neglect that then it kind of dwindles away. So what he’s doing is warning them in the assembly, ‘As the Holy Spirit works in the midst of the assembly, don’t in any way hinder him. Don’t neglect his activities so he stays working.’
Ephesians 4:30 says, ‘And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.’
“Grieving Him had to do with unworthy conduct in your life. Instead of bearing fruit, you’re over here walking in flesh, and consequently you’re grieving Him; you’re not allowing Him to work in your life. It frustrates him. Like the verse in Galatians 21, do not frustrate the word of god.
“You notice that the word ‘holy’ in that verse does not have a capital? This is not a title here. But it’s a reference to sanctify. It’s the Holy Spirit’s function to set you apart for purpose you were created for. It stops him from being able to do His job.
That word 'holy' means set apart. The Holy Spirit’s function, and when that isn’t being accomplished in your life, it grieves the Holy Spirit. It stops Him from being able to do His work. It’s the issue of ‘quench not the Spirit.’
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Real rest
Ruth 1:9 says, “The LORD grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept.”
Jordan says, “That’s been one of those jokes--Naomi obviously thought for a woman to find rest was to get married. The idea that a married woman is gonna rest is kind of interesting.
“There’s a lot of things especially in the Old Testament about when people got married, what they were to do.
“A guy when he got married was supposed to take a year off from work so he could please his wife. If he had a business venture, he wasn’t to go. He couldn’t be drafted into military service for a year afterward. You say, ‘What kind of a deal is that?’ It’s the bonding of the marriage together. It isn’t just the pleasing of the wife by buying her a big house and mink coats and diamonds.
“The rest here is not that kind of a thing; it’s the shelter. It’s the provision that God provides for a wife in a marriage relationship and Israel under the law, and in the governmental system they had it was a tremendous position.
"A woman who was unmarried had to more or less fend for herself, but being married she had a covering and a provider.
“Naomi is look for rest for Ruth. If Ruth gets rest then so does Naomi and that’s the real quest. Ruth’s been a Bible-believer and she’s been one who has found shelter under the wings of the Lord God of Israel.
“One of the things the Kinsman Redeemer had an obligation to do was to redeem the lost inheritance; the property of a family. Keep it in the tribe. Another was to raise up a prosperity to a fallen brother.
“In Scripture, a threshing floor represents judgment, so what Ruth’s literally going to do is go down to the place of judgment, the threshing floor, during the time of winnowing. The harvest is over and now it’s time to separate the chafe from the wheat. That’s what the tribulation is about for Israel, by the way.
Ruth is at the threshing floor but she doesn’t find judgment. She finds love; she finds her redeemer. Hosea 2: 14-16: “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.[15] And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
[16] And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.”
“Where you are in the Book of Ruth picturewise is doctrinally in that day when the Lord is ready at the threshing floor to bring salvation to his people and you’re going to see it with Ruth.
“She’s going to go and find out whether Boaz really has the intention of fulfilling his potential.
“This is not an untoward kind of thing here. What Naomi has sent Ruth to do is lay a claim on Boaz as her near kinsman. The claim is two-fold: redeem the inheritance of the land and be her husband. He would redeem her and do the obligation of a husband.
Ezekiel 16:8. What Naomi told her to is go get ready to be a bride. She came to Boaz and she said, ‘’I’m not trying to make a scene here; this is just betwixt you and me, spread your skirt over me, enter into a covenant of marriage with me.’ Why? ‘Because you’re my kinsman.’
“Now that was an act of bravery but mostly an act of faith. She’s asking him just to claim her and it’s a legal claim.
“You see what Boaz had been looking for was a Bible believer too. When you read verse 10 can you just see how he’s kind of happy about what’s going on? He’s rejoicing and what he’s rejoicing in is that she wasn’t just looking for a young husband or a bunch of money.
"Now one of the obstacles between the two was Boaz was evidently much older than she was. But she wasn’t looking for a good time and a sugar-daddy. She was looking for a Bible-believer and he was too.
Zeph. 3:16. Here’s a passage we could spend rest of evening looking at. How the lord rejoices over the believing remnant in Israel in the last day.
God’s going to be thrilled and rejoicing as he sees his plan and purpose fulfilled with Israel. You remember the guy on the A-Team: I love it when a plan comes together. That’s god’s attitude.
Isa 62:5. That’s what Boaz is doing right there. He’s rejoicing over a bride.
Ruth 3:11. Notice he’s going to do all that she needs to be done. And he’s going to do it all by himself. She lay at his feet until the morning. She rested all that night at the feet of Boaz, resting in the fact he would do what needed to be done and promised to do. Now that’s where real rest is. I don’t how many nights of sleep she’d had like that before but I imagine this was a good night of sleep for her as she rested in her kinsman’s promise.
Jordan says, “That’s been one of those jokes--Naomi obviously thought for a woman to find rest was to get married. The idea that a married woman is gonna rest is kind of interesting.
“There’s a lot of things especially in the Old Testament about when people got married, what they were to do.
“A guy when he got married was supposed to take a year off from work so he could please his wife. If he had a business venture, he wasn’t to go. He couldn’t be drafted into military service for a year afterward. You say, ‘What kind of a deal is that?’ It’s the bonding of the marriage together. It isn’t just the pleasing of the wife by buying her a big house and mink coats and diamonds.
“The rest here is not that kind of a thing; it’s the shelter. It’s the provision that God provides for a wife in a marriage relationship and Israel under the law, and in the governmental system they had it was a tremendous position.
"A woman who was unmarried had to more or less fend for herself, but being married she had a covering and a provider.
“Naomi is look for rest for Ruth. If Ruth gets rest then so does Naomi and that’s the real quest. Ruth’s been a Bible-believer and she’s been one who has found shelter under the wings of the Lord God of Israel.
“One of the things the Kinsman Redeemer had an obligation to do was to redeem the lost inheritance; the property of a family. Keep it in the tribe. Another was to raise up a prosperity to a fallen brother.
“In Scripture, a threshing floor represents judgment, so what Ruth’s literally going to do is go down to the place of judgment, the threshing floor, during the time of winnowing. The harvest is over and now it’s time to separate the chafe from the wheat. That’s what the tribulation is about for Israel, by the way.
Ruth is at the threshing floor but she doesn’t find judgment. She finds love; she finds her redeemer. Hosea 2: 14-16: “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.[15] And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
[16] And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.”
“Where you are in the Book of Ruth picturewise is doctrinally in that day when the Lord is ready at the threshing floor to bring salvation to his people and you’re going to see it with Ruth.
“She’s going to go and find out whether Boaz really has the intention of fulfilling his potential.
“This is not an untoward kind of thing here. What Naomi has sent Ruth to do is lay a claim on Boaz as her near kinsman. The claim is two-fold: redeem the inheritance of the land and be her husband. He would redeem her and do the obligation of a husband.
Ezekiel 16:8. What Naomi told her to is go get ready to be a bride. She came to Boaz and she said, ‘’I’m not trying to make a scene here; this is just betwixt you and me, spread your skirt over me, enter into a covenant of marriage with me.’ Why? ‘Because you’re my kinsman.’
“Now that was an act of bravery but mostly an act of faith. She’s asking him just to claim her and it’s a legal claim.
“You see what Boaz had been looking for was a Bible believer too. When you read verse 10 can you just see how he’s kind of happy about what’s going on? He’s rejoicing and what he’s rejoicing in is that she wasn’t just looking for a young husband or a bunch of money.
"Now one of the obstacles between the two was Boaz was evidently much older than she was. But she wasn’t looking for a good time and a sugar-daddy. She was looking for a Bible-believer and he was too.
Zeph. 3:16. Here’s a passage we could spend rest of evening looking at. How the lord rejoices over the believing remnant in Israel in the last day.
God’s going to be thrilled and rejoicing as he sees his plan and purpose fulfilled with Israel. You remember the guy on the A-Team: I love it when a plan comes together. That’s god’s attitude.
Isa 62:5. That’s what Boaz is doing right there. He’s rejoicing over a bride.
Ruth 3:11. Notice he’s going to do all that she needs to be done. And he’s going to do it all by himself. She lay at his feet until the morning. She rested all that night at the feet of Boaz, resting in the fact he would do what needed to be done and promised to do. Now that’s where real rest is. I don’t how many nights of sleep she’d had like that before but I imagine this was a good night of sleep for her as she rested in her kinsman’s promise.
Friday, March 18, 2011
I will fear not
Contentment, a good Pauline word, is, “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.”
Jordan says about the word, “It means I can boldly say, 'The Lord is my helper'! No matter what the situation, 'I’m in! I will not fear what man should do unto me.' ”
Luke says, “We’re going to start back here and we’re going to get the details of His nativity down; we’re going to understand this thing."
Jordan says, “And he lingers and he labors, really, over giving you all these details about the birth and the things that led up to, and all the family relations.
"When you read the first couple of chapters of Luke you’re taken into the hearts and the homes and the hopes of simple people, godly people, likable people. You can’t help but like—at Ieast I can’t—Zacharias and Elisabeth.
“I look at what happened to them and I chuckle over it. I think, ‘Man, here’s somebody I can relate to!’
"And you see Joseph and Mary, a husband and a young expectant mother with her first child, and having to travel away into a strange city to have birth, and to have to have the birth under the circumstances that it was. You must know the anxiety of Joseph as he looked over them.
“And they were a very poor couple. Then they go to the temple and there’s Anna, and there’s Simeon, and you can’t help but, the Lord’s told him . . . The Holy Spirit’s told him, ‘Simeon, you’re not going to die until you’ve seen the Messiah,’ and, boy, you just see his heart beat fast as the Lord brings him in and the shows him, ‘This is it!’ You get all this human interest. This is just normal people! Normal believers!”
Jordan says about the word, “It means I can boldly say, 'The Lord is my helper'! No matter what the situation, 'I’m in! I will not fear what man should do unto me.' ”
Luke says, “We’re going to start back here and we’re going to get the details of His nativity down; we’re going to understand this thing."
Jordan says, “And he lingers and he labors, really, over giving you all these details about the birth and the things that led up to, and all the family relations.
"When you read the first couple of chapters of Luke you’re taken into the hearts and the homes and the hopes of simple people, godly people, likable people. You can’t help but like—at Ieast I can’t—Zacharias and Elisabeth.
“I look at what happened to them and I chuckle over it. I think, ‘Man, here’s somebody I can relate to!’
"And you see Joseph and Mary, a husband and a young expectant mother with her first child, and having to travel away into a strange city to have birth, and to have to have the birth under the circumstances that it was. You must know the anxiety of Joseph as he looked over them.
“And they were a very poor couple. Then they go to the temple and there’s Anna, and there’s Simeon, and you can’t help but, the Lord’s told him . . . The Holy Spirit’s told him, ‘Simeon, you’re not going to die until you’ve seen the Messiah,’ and, boy, you just see his heart beat fast as the Lord brings him in and the shows him, ‘This is it!’ You get all this human interest. This is just normal people! Normal believers!”
Thursday, March 17, 2011
A singing teapot
You see them all at the same time doing something together. Now, if you’ve got all three of them on the stage at once—boom, boom, boom--it’s obvious there’s three of them.
II Cor. 13:14 says, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen." You see all three of them separate there?
"Look at Ephesians 2:18," says Jordan. "This is one of the verses that for some reason gets overlooked when you discuss this doctrine of the trinity. Paul writes, ‘For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.’
“I think that’s one of the greatest verses you can read about them! You have ACCESS by one spirit unto the father. How do you reach in and get contact and use this?! That’s when the Word and the Spirit get united together into the place where there’s that connection.
“In Luke 3:21 is all three of them on the stage acting separately and distinctly at one moment: ‘Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened.’
“John 14:16 says, ‘And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever.’ Three distinct people and yet all three of them are God.
"Hebrews 9:14 calls the Holy Spirit ‘the eternal spirit.’ In Psalm 139, David says, ‘Where will I go to be away from thy spirit? I make my bed in hell and you’re there! I can’t get away from His Spirit!’ That’s omnipresence.
“The angel says to Mary in Luke 1:35, ‘And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.’
“Who is the Holy Spirit? He’s the Most High. He’s omnipotent. He’s also omniscient and knows everything.
“Look at John 14:26. Look at chapter 16:13. He’s not only going to tell you everything there is to know right now, and everything that’s happened in the past, bringing you up-to-date, but He’s going to tell you the future.
“You remember what Isaiah said about that? ‘If you want to know I’m God, what should I be able to do? Have predictive prophecy.’ The Holy Spirit can do that because He has all the attributes of God.
Isaiah 6:5: “Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”
Jordan asks, “So who spoke that back there when it said ‘the Lord said’? Well, in Isaiah it was Jehovah. Paul said it was the Holy Spirit. He takes Jehovah, referenced in Isaiah, and applies it to the Holy Spirit in Acts 28.
“Now the strange thing about that, if you come over to John 12:39. See, John’s going to quote Isaiah 6:9 again. John 12:41 says, ‘These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him.’ So John quotes Isaiah and applies it to Jesus. Paul quotes it and applies it to the Holy Spirit.
“Well, how come when Jehovah the God the Spirit spoke it, He’s talking about Jehovah God the Son? That’s what verse 3 was in Isaiah 6, ‘Holy, Holy, holy, Lord God Almighty.’ All three equally have access to the Jehovah title because all three are God. All three have an equal standing in the godhead as God Himself.
“God the Holy Spirit, when He indwells you as the resident agent of the godhead, He really is the person of God the Holy Spirit. Now He doesn’t talk about Himself; He talks about the person the Lord Jesus Christ because every member of the godhead always glorifies the other.
“But you need to appreciate the fact of the communion you have with the Spirit is the communion, not with a religious animation, or some blind force, with the person and His presence in your life gives you a nearness of communion.
"That’s why it’s not religious activity; it’s personal life. Don’t quench that; don’t extinguish that. Let that percolate in your heart and let it blow steam out of your ears like a teapot.”
II Cor. 13:14 says, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen." You see all three of them separate there?
"Look at Ephesians 2:18," says Jordan. "This is one of the verses that for some reason gets overlooked when you discuss this doctrine of the trinity. Paul writes, ‘For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.’
“I think that’s one of the greatest verses you can read about them! You have ACCESS by one spirit unto the father. How do you reach in and get contact and use this?! That’s when the Word and the Spirit get united together into the place where there’s that connection.
“In Luke 3:21 is all three of them on the stage acting separately and distinctly at one moment: ‘Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened.’
“John 14:16 says, ‘And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever.’ Three distinct people and yet all three of them are God.
"Hebrews 9:14 calls the Holy Spirit ‘the eternal spirit.’ In Psalm 139, David says, ‘Where will I go to be away from thy spirit? I make my bed in hell and you’re there! I can’t get away from His Spirit!’ That’s omnipresence.
“The angel says to Mary in Luke 1:35, ‘And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.’
“Who is the Holy Spirit? He’s the Most High. He’s omnipotent. He’s also omniscient and knows everything.
“Look at John 14:26. Look at chapter 16:13. He’s not only going to tell you everything there is to know right now, and everything that’s happened in the past, bringing you up-to-date, but He’s going to tell you the future.
“You remember what Isaiah said about that? ‘If you want to know I’m God, what should I be able to do? Have predictive prophecy.’ The Holy Spirit can do that because He has all the attributes of God.
Isaiah 6:5: “Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”
Jordan asks, “So who spoke that back there when it said ‘the Lord said’? Well, in Isaiah it was Jehovah. Paul said it was the Holy Spirit. He takes Jehovah, referenced in Isaiah, and applies it to the Holy Spirit in Acts 28.
“Now the strange thing about that, if you come over to John 12:39. See, John’s going to quote Isaiah 6:9 again. John 12:41 says, ‘These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him.’ So John quotes Isaiah and applies it to Jesus. Paul quotes it and applies it to the Holy Spirit.
“Well, how come when Jehovah the God the Spirit spoke it, He’s talking about Jehovah God the Son? That’s what verse 3 was in Isaiah 6, ‘Holy, Holy, holy, Lord God Almighty.’ All three equally have access to the Jehovah title because all three are God. All three have an equal standing in the godhead as God Himself.
“God the Holy Spirit, when He indwells you as the resident agent of the godhead, He really is the person of God the Holy Spirit. Now He doesn’t talk about Himself; He talks about the person the Lord Jesus Christ because every member of the godhead always glorifies the other.
“But you need to appreciate the fact of the communion you have with the Spirit is the communion, not with a religious animation, or some blind force, with the person and His presence in your life gives you a nearness of communion.
"That’s why it’s not religious activity; it’s personal life. Don’t quench that; don’t extinguish that. Let that percolate in your heart and let it blow steam out of your ears like a teapot.”
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Immutability
Jordan was, in a way, talking about a person’s character being represented by their name. Jordan says, “ ‘Is this guy gonna do what he said he’s gonna do?’ God said unto Moses, ‘I am that I am.’ That’s not Popeye either. Most of the time you hear the preachers talk about that they say that means, ‘He’s eternal; [I’m always existing’].’ But there’s more to it than that. But the idea in that is, ‘If I said something now, it’s always gonna be true. I don’t change my mind.’
“In theology they call that immutability. ‘I don’t change.’ And what he was telling Moses was, ‘ Moses, you can have confidence in what I’m telling you because I made a covenant and I don’t change; if I covenanted it, if I promised it, I’ll do it.’
“Then He goes out and tells the people, ‘Tell them I Am.’ Now that’s the issue of, ‘You go tell them I will provide for them what I promised.’ So in Malachi 3:6 you get both of these issues. The symbol and the doctrine. ‘I am the Lord; I change not. Therefore the sons of Jacob are not consumed.’ ”
“ . . . By the way, He can speak when He reveals the knowledge. Rev. 2. Gal. 4:6. There’s that spirit of sonship, but He speaks. There in Romans 8, He makes intercession for the saints. Well, that’s something a person does. Verse 34, you see the Lord Jesus Christ at the right hand of God making intercession.
“The same characteristics that are identified as true of Jesus are identified as true of the Holy Spirit. In Romans 15:30, notice there are some things that the Spirit loves. He has the capacity to love things. He’s a person.
“That’s why He can be grieved. That’s why He can have these things happen to Him. Because of His personality. He does the things that people do. He intercedes, He gives testimony: ‘Bears witness of me,’ Christ says. He speaks, He teaches, and He’s a person outside of the godhead; outside of the Father and the Son.
“There’s God the Father, there’s God the Son and then there’s also God the Holy Spirit. He’s a person but He’s also a distinct member of the godhead. Now, you know the verse back in Genesis 1 where He says, ‘Let US make man . . . ‘ And you know the verse in Deuteronomy 4, ‘Now therefore hearken, O Israel, the word of god is one god.’
"Well how can it be one if it’s in us? Well, that’s the doctrine of the trinity. There’s one God in three PERSONS. But understand the Holy Spirit is not the father in drag. That’s a doctrine called Modalism. Now if you tell them (Modalists) I said that they're going to cry, 'Oh, that’s not what modalism is!’ Yeah it is!
"Modalism is that there are not three people (three distinct persons in the godhead), 'It’s just that God functions in three different capacities. One person dressed up as the Father is then dressed up as the Son, then He’s dressed up as the Spirit.'
"Now that’s a 21st century shorthand description, but that’s what they teach. And it’s just that silly."
“In theology they call that immutability. ‘I don’t change.’ And what he was telling Moses was, ‘ Moses, you can have confidence in what I’m telling you because I made a covenant and I don’t change; if I covenanted it, if I promised it, I’ll do it.’
“Then He goes out and tells the people, ‘Tell them I Am.’ Now that’s the issue of, ‘You go tell them I will provide for them what I promised.’ So in Malachi 3:6 you get both of these issues. The symbol and the doctrine. ‘I am the Lord; I change not. Therefore the sons of Jacob are not consumed.’ ”
“ . . . By the way, He can speak when He reveals the knowledge. Rev. 2. Gal. 4:6. There’s that spirit of sonship, but He speaks. There in Romans 8, He makes intercession for the saints. Well, that’s something a person does. Verse 34, you see the Lord Jesus Christ at the right hand of God making intercession.
“The same characteristics that are identified as true of Jesus are identified as true of the Holy Spirit. In Romans 15:30, notice there are some things that the Spirit loves. He has the capacity to love things. He’s a person.
“That’s why He can be grieved. That’s why He can have these things happen to Him. Because of His personality. He does the things that people do. He intercedes, He gives testimony: ‘Bears witness of me,’ Christ says. He speaks, He teaches, and He’s a person outside of the godhead; outside of the Father and the Son.
“There’s God the Father, there’s God the Son and then there’s also God the Holy Spirit. He’s a person but He’s also a distinct member of the godhead. Now, you know the verse back in Genesis 1 where He says, ‘Let US make man . . . ‘ And you know the verse in Deuteronomy 4, ‘Now therefore hearken, O Israel, the word of god is one god.’
"Well how can it be one if it’s in us? Well, that’s the doctrine of the trinity. There’s one God in three PERSONS. But understand the Holy Spirit is not the father in drag. That’s a doctrine called Modalism. Now if you tell them (Modalists) I said that they're going to cry, 'Oh, that’s not what modalism is!’ Yeah it is!
"Modalism is that there are not three people (three distinct persons in the godhead), 'It’s just that God functions in three different capacities. One person dressed up as the Father is then dressed up as the Son, then He’s dressed up as the Spirit.'
"Now that’s a 21st century shorthand description, but that’s what they teach. And it’s just that silly."
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
He loves you too
The Spirit of God is a person. “That’s why you can vex Him, resist Him,” says Jordan. “That’s why you can quench Him--because you have the capacity to relate as people.
“Sometimes we need to spend a little time getting to know the third person of the godhead who dwells within us. Now, the first thing I know about the Holy Spirit, when you begin to talk about Him, is He doesn’t like to talk about Himself.
“Some of you, your favorite conversation is to talk about yourself, but the Holy Spirit is like some of the rest of us where He’d just as soon talk about somebody else than talk about Himself. But it is important that you know who He is and it’s important to understand that He’s a person. He’s the third person of the godhead.
“I John 2 says ‘we have an advocate with the Father; Jesus Christ the righteous.’ Do you know where the word ‘advocate’ comes from? It comes from a word decide, add, and the ‘vocate’; to stand. It literally means to stand beside. It’s the same word, same idea. The Stand-besider. An advocate is used for a lawyer who stands beside his client. That’s the idea here. Jesus is one who stood beside them and now, the Holy Spirit is going to come and He’s going to take the place of a person.
“You see, He’s not a force; He’s a person. And the pronouns used here, over and over, He’s called a ‘he.’ Somebody says, ‘Well, what about Romans 8, where it calls him an ‘it’?’ People say, ‘Ooh-ooh, denying the personality of the Holy Spirit.’ You know, you ought to just sit down awhile and cool your jets when you start talking like that, because that’s just so silly.
‘While there’s some technical reasons in the translation, it’s interesting Romans 8:16 says, ‘The spirit itself beareth witness,’ because that reflects a pronoun; it’s a neuter because the word spirit is neuter.
"Verse 26: ‘Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.’ There it is, but look at verse 27: ‘And he (Jesus Christ) that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he (the Holy Spirit) maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.’
“Even in verse 27 He swaps over and says ‘he.’ So the pronouns are pretty clear that you’re expecting a person to be involved in this.
******
“Now when you have a personality, you have the ability to have certain kinds of characteristics. You have knowledge, will, the ability to have emotions and so forth. In I Cor. 2:10, notice the characteristics of personality that are applied to the Holy Spirit: ‘But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.’
“How did He reveal them? By His Spirit. Notice the Spirit of God, He has knowledge. He has the ability to search knowledge and He has ability to teach and reveal knowledge. They’re all characteristics of a person.
“Sometimes we need to spend a little time getting to know the third person of the godhead who dwells within us. Now, the first thing I know about the Holy Spirit, when you begin to talk about Him, is He doesn’t like to talk about Himself.
“Some of you, your favorite conversation is to talk about yourself, but the Holy Spirit is like some of the rest of us where He’d just as soon talk about somebody else than talk about Himself. But it is important that you know who He is and it’s important to understand that He’s a person. He’s the third person of the godhead.
“I John 2 says ‘we have an advocate with the Father; Jesus Christ the righteous.’ Do you know where the word ‘advocate’ comes from? It comes from a word decide, add, and the ‘vocate’; to stand. It literally means to stand beside. It’s the same word, same idea. The Stand-besider. An advocate is used for a lawyer who stands beside his client. That’s the idea here. Jesus is one who stood beside them and now, the Holy Spirit is going to come and He’s going to take the place of a person.
“You see, He’s not a force; He’s a person. And the pronouns used here, over and over, He’s called a ‘he.’ Somebody says, ‘Well, what about Romans 8, where it calls him an ‘it’?’ People say, ‘Ooh-ooh, denying the personality of the Holy Spirit.’ You know, you ought to just sit down awhile and cool your jets when you start talking like that, because that’s just so silly.
‘While there’s some technical reasons in the translation, it’s interesting Romans 8:16 says, ‘The spirit itself beareth witness,’ because that reflects a pronoun; it’s a neuter because the word spirit is neuter.
"Verse 26: ‘Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.’ There it is, but look at verse 27: ‘And he (Jesus Christ) that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he (the Holy Spirit) maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.’
“Even in verse 27 He swaps over and says ‘he.’ So the pronouns are pretty clear that you’re expecting a person to be involved in this.
******
“Now when you have a personality, you have the ability to have certain kinds of characteristics. You have knowledge, will, the ability to have emotions and so forth. In I Cor. 2:10, notice the characteristics of personality that are applied to the Holy Spirit: ‘But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.’
“How did He reveal them? By His Spirit. Notice the Spirit of God, He has knowledge. He has the ability to search knowledge and He has ability to teach and reveal knowledge. They’re all characteristics of a person.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Succumbed to 'jazz' of theater
Jordan says, “Did you know there were no Christians on the day of Pentecost? I say that on the radio (WYLL 1160) every now and then. The manager of the station called me in one day and said, ‘Brother Jordan. I had a guy call and complain, saying, [You know what that guy said on your station? He said there weren’t any Christians at Pentecost. I’m a Pentecostal!].’ ”
Hearing this, Jordan told the manager to take out his Bible and read Acts 11:26. “He read it and said, ‘I’m gonna write him back with that verse because you’re right!’ ” recalls Jordan.
“We bill ourselves on the radio and TV in Chicago as ‘we represent the only non-Pentecostal message in Chicagoland.’ No wonder people throw rocks at us.”
*****
“After Titian you get Clement of Alexandria. Clement is a student is Origen and here you get down to the roots of real Bible corruption because Clement is the one who founded this allegorical school of interpreting the Bible at Alexandria. Along with Filo, Clement is the father of the allegorical study of the Bible, which is the opposite of dispensational study.
“A dispensationalist says, ‘Well, when he talks about Adam and Eve, it means there was a real couple by that name.’ The allegorist says, ‘Well, it don’t make any difference if there’s a real Adam or Eve or not; it’s the spiritual story behind it that’s the issue.’
“What these guys (Clement, Origen, etc.) do is they become the fount of intermingling the Word of God with Greek philosophy and the corruption of the text that results from it.
“In 313 A.D. there was the Edict of Milan with Constantine. Christianity was persecuted and the statement, ‘The blood of the martyrs is the seedbed of the church,’ comes from the era with Titian. Constantine came along and said he had a vision, the sign of the Cross, and the message was that ‘in this sign conquer’ and he did what every good Roman Catholic does; he just said, ‘You’re all Christians now.’ And through the Edict of Milan he declared the Roman Empire to be Christian. Is that how you become a Christian? You know that but lost people don’t know that.
“You go out here on the corner and you talk to a lost guy, if he’s my age, and you say, ‘Are you a Christian; you’ve got to trust Jesus Christ,’ and he’ll snap, ‘You say I’m not a Christian?!’
"I got a brother-in-law who has NO interest in God and spiritual things—anything of that nature. Last year, though, he was telling me how he was a Christian. And I said, ‘Well, when did that come about?’ and he answered, ‘I was born that way.’ It was like, ‘What do think I am?! I’m not a Muslim, a Hindu, a pagan.’ Well, see, you know better than that but for lost people . . .
“Rome is Christianized and what that did was take the persecution away but it also established . . . If your church is in the capital city of the empire, who do you think eventually is going to win out? So by 500, you’ve got the first pope; a dude named Leo. And they declare the Roman church and the hierarchy of the Roman system and the established church becomes the Roman-dominated church and that’s how all of that came about.
“Now in the meantime, you got all these people up in Antioch who are preaching and carrying the word out. In 380, a guy by the name of Jerome produced what’s called the Latin vulgate. That became the official Bible of the Roman Empire. That’s the Roman bible.
“Nine hundred years later, in the 1200s, there is in southern France what was called the Council of Toulouse, which gathered together a persecution of the Aldengians and the Albigensians who were using bibles from Antioch. And the Council was a crusade in southern France and northern Italy to destroy these bibles and replace them with the Roman bible.
“The Dark Ages are the dark ages because . . . you remember the Vandals and the Visgoths? They sweep down into Europe, destroy the Roman Empire and the feudal system developed. One of the things that happened when these pagans came down and overthrew and wiped out Rome, they were arrested, overawed by the pomp and the rituals of the Roman Catholic Church and the succumbed and submitted themselves to the Roman system of religion.
“They were barbarians, basically, who gave themselves over to the splendor and the ‘jazz’ of the theater and took back with them Romanism, run by Catholicism, and Jerome’s Alexandrian bible became their bible. And so it prevailed as the standard bible of the church in feudal Europe all through the Dark Ages.
“In that period of time you had ancestors—the Waldensians, the Vaudois’, those names come mainly from the places they lived. They were the mountain people in the Swiss Alps, for one example. These people fled there basically to live in peace. They were back there because they wanted to be able to live and raise their families, believing what they wanted to believe and preach, living in the light they had. They’re preserving God’s Word sort of behind the scenes.
“And when you get over into the times of the Crusades, a lot of the crusades are focused on these folks. The Council of Toulouse was a crusade, not to go liberate Palestine, but to destroy people in southern France and northern Italy who are these people.”
Hearing this, Jordan told the manager to take out his Bible and read Acts 11:26. “He read it and said, ‘I’m gonna write him back with that verse because you’re right!’ ” recalls Jordan.
“We bill ourselves on the radio and TV in Chicago as ‘we represent the only non-Pentecostal message in Chicagoland.’ No wonder people throw rocks at us.”
*****
“After Titian you get Clement of Alexandria. Clement is a student is Origen and here you get down to the roots of real Bible corruption because Clement is the one who founded this allegorical school of interpreting the Bible at Alexandria. Along with Filo, Clement is the father of the allegorical study of the Bible, which is the opposite of dispensational study.
“A dispensationalist says, ‘Well, when he talks about Adam and Eve, it means there was a real couple by that name.’ The allegorist says, ‘Well, it don’t make any difference if there’s a real Adam or Eve or not; it’s the spiritual story behind it that’s the issue.’
“What these guys (Clement, Origen, etc.) do is they become the fount of intermingling the Word of God with Greek philosophy and the corruption of the text that results from it.
“In 313 A.D. there was the Edict of Milan with Constantine. Christianity was persecuted and the statement, ‘The blood of the martyrs is the seedbed of the church,’ comes from the era with Titian. Constantine came along and said he had a vision, the sign of the Cross, and the message was that ‘in this sign conquer’ and he did what every good Roman Catholic does; he just said, ‘You’re all Christians now.’ And through the Edict of Milan he declared the Roman Empire to be Christian. Is that how you become a Christian? You know that but lost people don’t know that.
“You go out here on the corner and you talk to a lost guy, if he’s my age, and you say, ‘Are you a Christian; you’ve got to trust Jesus Christ,’ and he’ll snap, ‘You say I’m not a Christian?!’
"I got a brother-in-law who has NO interest in God and spiritual things—anything of that nature. Last year, though, he was telling me how he was a Christian. And I said, ‘Well, when did that come about?’ and he answered, ‘I was born that way.’ It was like, ‘What do think I am?! I’m not a Muslim, a Hindu, a pagan.’ Well, see, you know better than that but for lost people . . .
“Rome is Christianized and what that did was take the persecution away but it also established . . . If your church is in the capital city of the empire, who do you think eventually is going to win out? So by 500, you’ve got the first pope; a dude named Leo. And they declare the Roman church and the hierarchy of the Roman system and the established church becomes the Roman-dominated church and that’s how all of that came about.
“Now in the meantime, you got all these people up in Antioch who are preaching and carrying the word out. In 380, a guy by the name of Jerome produced what’s called the Latin vulgate. That became the official Bible of the Roman Empire. That’s the Roman bible.
“Nine hundred years later, in the 1200s, there is in southern France what was called the Council of Toulouse, which gathered together a persecution of the Aldengians and the Albigensians who were using bibles from Antioch. And the Council was a crusade in southern France and northern Italy to destroy these bibles and replace them with the Roman bible.
“The Dark Ages are the dark ages because . . . you remember the Vandals and the Visgoths? They sweep down into Europe, destroy the Roman Empire and the feudal system developed. One of the things that happened when these pagans came down and overthrew and wiped out Rome, they were arrested, overawed by the pomp and the rituals of the Roman Catholic Church and the succumbed and submitted themselves to the Roman system of religion.
“They were barbarians, basically, who gave themselves over to the splendor and the ‘jazz’ of the theater and took back with them Romanism, run by Catholicism, and Jerome’s Alexandrian bible became their bible. And so it prevailed as the standard bible of the church in feudal Europe all through the Dark Ages.
“In that period of time you had ancestors—the Waldensians, the Vaudois’, those names come mainly from the places they lived. They were the mountain people in the Swiss Alps, for one example. These people fled there basically to live in peace. They were back there because they wanted to be able to live and raise their families, believing what they wanted to believe and preach, living in the light they had. They’re preserving God’s Word sort of behind the scenes.
“And when you get over into the times of the Crusades, a lot of the crusades are focused on these folks. The Council of Toulouse was a crusade, not to go liberate Palestine, but to destroy people in southern France and northern Italy who are these people.”
Friday, March 11, 2011
Appearance of age
“The problem I’ve had with the Creationists is that they try to use creation to try to prove creation. The way you know creation is, is by faith; we know the worlds were ‘framed by the Word of God.’ You know it because God said it, end of discussion.
“Now, you go with that preconceived assumption. Two, the information, and three, you seek to understand the information.
“One of the arguments people like to make is, ‘Well, God created the earth with the appearance of age. And I’ve never understood this. Adam, when he was created, was made as a fully mature adult. He appeared like he was 30 years old even though he’s a day old.
“If the earth is created with the appearance of age but it’s really young, if you looked at the earth and examined it, what would it tell you? Adam is two days old but he looks like he’s 30. So if you anatomically examine Adam, how old would you think he was? How would you know he’s only two days old? God told you.
Appearance of age“So if He created the world with the appearance of age, how is it then that you look at the world and say, ‘Look, see, it’s really young?’ How can you prove it’s young by its appearance if it was created to appear old?! You follow that? But that’s the logic and it leaves me just to say, ‘I thank God for Genesis 1:1 and Hebrews 11:3.
“Let me show you a few verses that tell me there’s something to the ruined reconstruction. Gen 2:4: ‘These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.’
“Notice Moses doesn’t say, ‘This is the generation, these are the generations, plural, when He made the six-day creation.’ The six-day creation is not the generation of the universe, it’s the ‘generationS’. If that was the first creation wouldn’t you think that word ‘generation’ would be singular?
(Editor’s Note: To be continued . . .)
“Now, you go with that preconceived assumption. Two, the information, and three, you seek to understand the information.
“One of the arguments people like to make is, ‘Well, God created the earth with the appearance of age. And I’ve never understood this. Adam, when he was created, was made as a fully mature adult. He appeared like he was 30 years old even though he’s a day old.
“If the earth is created with the appearance of age but it’s really young, if you looked at the earth and examined it, what would it tell you? Adam is two days old but he looks like he’s 30. So if you anatomically examine Adam, how old would you think he was? How would you know he’s only two days old? God told you.
Appearance of age“So if He created the world with the appearance of age, how is it then that you look at the world and say, ‘Look, see, it’s really young?’ How can you prove it’s young by its appearance if it was created to appear old?! You follow that? But that’s the logic and it leaves me just to say, ‘I thank God for Genesis 1:1 and Hebrews 11:3.
“Let me show you a few verses that tell me there’s something to the ruined reconstruction. Gen 2:4: ‘These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.’
“Notice Moses doesn’t say, ‘This is the generation, these are the generations, plural, when He made the six-day creation.’ The six-day creation is not the generation of the universe, it’s the ‘generationS’. If that was the first creation wouldn’t you think that word ‘generation’ would be singular?
(Editor’s Note: To be continued . . .)
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Out from under the leash
In Malachi 3:6 is the testimony, “For I am the LORD, I change not.” Who is this I Am that doesn’t change? Hebrews 13:8, one of the most misunderstood verses in the bible, says, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”
Jordan says, “You know the one who if He says it never changes His Word? It’s Jehovah, who is Jesus. They’re the same. So when Jesus says that to these religious muckity-mucks back in John 8, they got it and they understood it but He meant it, too, and what He said was, ‘I am Jehovah God.’
Jeremiah 23:5 says, “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.”
The messiah was going to be Jehovah, their redeemer. That’s what Jesus is saying. “I’m Him; I’m the hope of Israel.” Jordan says, “If anybody ever tells you that Jesus never claimed to be God, there’s a verse where He did! Proved Himself to be! Anybody who ever tells you the Bible doesn’t say Jesus was God, yawn real big and tell them, ‘You need to get a life. Wake up!’
*****
Paul makes long-range plans. In Romans 15, he said, ‘I’m going to take that offering to Jerusalem and I’m going to come by you and then I’m going to Spain. I mean, this guy’s planning to go to Spain, and church history says he went all the way to the British Isles.
“Do you know that in church history, there’s evidence that the Apostle Paul visited the British Isles. Now that would be a stroke wouldn’t it? I know he went to Spain. He lays it out in the Scripture and says, ‘I’m going to be refreshed by you and let you help me and I’m on my way to Spain.’
"He didn’t quit. He said, ‘I’ve already preached over here in Europe and Asia and everywhere I can preach where I’m not laying on another man’s foundation—I’m off to the regions beyond.’ And he wasn’t a teenager when he said that, by the way. He’d been in the ministry about 30 years when he said that. He can quit.
“He’s like old Caleb. Old Caleb over there he’s 85 years old and he says, ‘I want that mountain with the big giants on it. Moses promised me that, Joshua, and you’re not going to keep it away from me, are you?! I want that mountain with those big dudes!’ ‘I thought we should have gone in there 40 years ago,’ Caleb says, ‘and I was going to go with those guys, and my hand’s just as strong, and my eyes just as good ,’ and you know he’s just lying.
“You know he didn’t see as good. He didn’t have 20/20 vision anymore. Maybe he did, but it’s very unlikely, you know. I know it says their shoes didn’t wear out, but it didn’t say their eyes didn’t get dim. They all grew old and died. Paul’s that way. What’s he doing? He’s got a heart motivated by Christ and he takes the truth and he says, ‘I’m going to apply it and go.’ He makes the long-range plans. But, you see, it wasn’t self-willed activity. That’s the point in I Cor. 4:19.
“Paul lived not self-willed. You see, when you talk to people about doing the will of God and being out from under this leash, and that you’re free to make choices, not governed by some pre-arranged plan, people immediately think, ‘Oh, well you CAN just go and live self-willed,’ and Paul said, ‘No, it’s not a self-willed life; it’s a God’s-willed life.’ ”
Jordan says, “You know the one who if He says it never changes His Word? It’s Jehovah, who is Jesus. They’re the same. So when Jesus says that to these religious muckity-mucks back in John 8, they got it and they understood it but He meant it, too, and what He said was, ‘I am Jehovah God.’
Jeremiah 23:5 says, “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.”
The messiah was going to be Jehovah, their redeemer. That’s what Jesus is saying. “I’m Him; I’m the hope of Israel.” Jordan says, “If anybody ever tells you that Jesus never claimed to be God, there’s a verse where He did! Proved Himself to be! Anybody who ever tells you the Bible doesn’t say Jesus was God, yawn real big and tell them, ‘You need to get a life. Wake up!’
*****
Paul makes long-range plans. In Romans 15, he said, ‘I’m going to take that offering to Jerusalem and I’m going to come by you and then I’m going to Spain. I mean, this guy’s planning to go to Spain, and church history says he went all the way to the British Isles.
“Do you know that in church history, there’s evidence that the Apostle Paul visited the British Isles. Now that would be a stroke wouldn’t it? I know he went to Spain. He lays it out in the Scripture and says, ‘I’m going to be refreshed by you and let you help me and I’m on my way to Spain.’
"He didn’t quit. He said, ‘I’ve already preached over here in Europe and Asia and everywhere I can preach where I’m not laying on another man’s foundation—I’m off to the regions beyond.’ And he wasn’t a teenager when he said that, by the way. He’d been in the ministry about 30 years when he said that. He can quit.
“He’s like old Caleb. Old Caleb over there he’s 85 years old and he says, ‘I want that mountain with the big giants on it. Moses promised me that, Joshua, and you’re not going to keep it away from me, are you?! I want that mountain with those big dudes!’ ‘I thought we should have gone in there 40 years ago,’ Caleb says, ‘and I was going to go with those guys, and my hand’s just as strong, and my eyes just as good ,’ and you know he’s just lying.
“You know he didn’t see as good. He didn’t have 20/20 vision anymore. Maybe he did, but it’s very unlikely, you know. I know it says their shoes didn’t wear out, but it didn’t say their eyes didn’t get dim. They all grew old and died. Paul’s that way. What’s he doing? He’s got a heart motivated by Christ and he takes the truth and he says, ‘I’m going to apply it and go.’ He makes the long-range plans. But, you see, it wasn’t self-willed activity. That’s the point in I Cor. 4:19.
“Paul lived not self-willed. You see, when you talk to people about doing the will of God and being out from under this leash, and that you’re free to make choices, not governed by some pre-arranged plan, people immediately think, ‘Oh, well you CAN just go and live self-willed,’ and Paul said, ‘No, it’s not a self-willed life; it’s a God’s-willed life.’ ”
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Fill in the blank
In John 8:58, Jesus Christ makes His famous statement, “Verily,verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.” It represents one of the key passages in all of Scripture describing the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s His own full, unambiguous declaration of His glory and deity.
The statement is a direct reference back to Exodus 3:13 when Moses, being instructed by God about going in and delivering Israel, asks the question previously asked in the Bible by Jacob: “Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you."
Jordan says, “It’s a question that’s never fully answered until you come to the ministry of the Apostle Paul, which makes it a fascinating study. Jacob asks the Lord when he wrestles with Him that famous night, ‘I won’t let you go until you tell me your name. What’s your name?’ and God says back, ‘I won’t tell you.’ "
In Judges 13, when the angel comes to Samson’s mom and dad, the word is, “A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name: and began to tell them about that, they say what’s your name.”
Jordan explains, “He says, ‘I can’t tell you; it’s a secret.’ The closest thing you find as an answer to that is in Proverbs 30. To Moses He says, ‘I am that I am. Go tell everybody else I Am has sent you.’
“Now, there’s really a difference between the two ‘I Am that I Ams.’ I Am is more than ‘I am.’ But when Moses goes and tells people who it is that sent him, he says, ‘I am.’ Now you know that’s not a complete statement; it requires a completer and yet there isn’t one. What that is is an expression of God’s ‘Jehovahness’; of what it means to be Jehovah.
“It’s sort of like He puts a blank and then He says, ‘Fill in the blank. Whatever you need me to be for you—just fill in the blank—I’ll be that.’ And that’s why you find these numerous Jehovah titles where the name Jehovah is placed with another name.
“When they asked back in verse 53, ‘Whom makest thou thyself?’ the answer is, ‘Well, let me tell you who I am. I’m Jehovah.’ You remember back in Psalm 2 when Jehovah said, ‘Unto me I bear the same identity as the father. I’m equal with the father. I’m Jehovah God. Every title belongs to Him belongs to me too because I and the Father are one’?
“That verse just sort of sticks in the craw of people. People talk about Jehovah as those He’s different from Jesus. It’s fascinating, you go through Old Testament Scripture, and time after time after time after time after time, you’ll see that what Jehovah does, and who He is and what He accomplishes, it always turns out its Jesus Christ the verse is talking about.
“Now in Psalm 2, that was God the Father who was Jehovah. In Isaiah 53, when He says, ‘The Lord Jehovah has laid on him the iniquity of his own,’ there’s the Father called Jehovah. You see, all three members of the godhead share the same title because they’re all three God. The name Jehovah is a name that can equally be applied to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.”
*****
Exodus 34:14 reads, “For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” Jordan says, “You understand Jehovah is passionate. He was passionate about His relationship with the nation Israel. He was their God and He was passionate over that relationship. And He demanded their devotion and was satisfied with nothing else. That was the first commandment He gave, if you recall: Worship no other god.
“Look at Revelation 1:8, 1:11 and 1:17, in which Christ says, ‘And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last.’
“When you see that title repeated over and over—‘The First and the Last’—you get a concordance and find back in Isaiah 46 Jehovah says, ‘I am the first and last and I’m the only one that is!’ So you read both of those verses and you say, ‘Aha, I got that! The Lord Jesus Christ is the first and the last. He’s Jehovah!’
“You see, you and I don’t have too much trouble accepting that but most people don’t get that. Most people have the idea that the God of the Old Testament is some mean, wicked, old guy sitting on a stump somewhere mad in the heavens and casting down lightning bolts. And the God of the New Testament is just this sweet little milquetoast-milksop guy who comes along and likes everybody.
“It’s none of that! It’s the same one! It’s the same God! The Lord Jesus Christ is unique among humans in that He had a pre-existing existence because He always was equally in the person of God the Son and the person of Jehovah God.”
The statement is a direct reference back to Exodus 3:13 when Moses, being instructed by God about going in and delivering Israel, asks the question previously asked in the Bible by Jacob: “Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you."
Jordan says, “It’s a question that’s never fully answered until you come to the ministry of the Apostle Paul, which makes it a fascinating study. Jacob asks the Lord when he wrestles with Him that famous night, ‘I won’t let you go until you tell me your name. What’s your name?’ and God says back, ‘I won’t tell you.’ "
In Judges 13, when the angel comes to Samson’s mom and dad, the word is, “A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name: and began to tell them about that, they say what’s your name.”
Jordan explains, “He says, ‘I can’t tell you; it’s a secret.’ The closest thing you find as an answer to that is in Proverbs 30. To Moses He says, ‘I am that I am. Go tell everybody else I Am has sent you.’
“Now, there’s really a difference between the two ‘I Am that I Ams.’ I Am is more than ‘I am.’ But when Moses goes and tells people who it is that sent him, he says, ‘I am.’ Now you know that’s not a complete statement; it requires a completer and yet there isn’t one. What that is is an expression of God’s ‘Jehovahness’; of what it means to be Jehovah.
“It’s sort of like He puts a blank and then He says, ‘Fill in the blank. Whatever you need me to be for you—just fill in the blank—I’ll be that.’ And that’s why you find these numerous Jehovah titles where the name Jehovah is placed with another name.
“When they asked back in verse 53, ‘Whom makest thou thyself?’ the answer is, ‘Well, let me tell you who I am. I’m Jehovah.’ You remember back in Psalm 2 when Jehovah said, ‘Unto me I bear the same identity as the father. I’m equal with the father. I’m Jehovah God. Every title belongs to Him belongs to me too because I and the Father are one’?
“That verse just sort of sticks in the craw of people. People talk about Jehovah as those He’s different from Jesus. It’s fascinating, you go through Old Testament Scripture, and time after time after time after time after time, you’ll see that what Jehovah does, and who He is and what He accomplishes, it always turns out its Jesus Christ the verse is talking about.
“Now in Psalm 2, that was God the Father who was Jehovah. In Isaiah 53, when He says, ‘The Lord Jehovah has laid on him the iniquity of his own,’ there’s the Father called Jehovah. You see, all three members of the godhead share the same title because they’re all three God. The name Jehovah is a name that can equally be applied to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.”
*****
Exodus 34:14 reads, “For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” Jordan says, “You understand Jehovah is passionate. He was passionate about His relationship with the nation Israel. He was their God and He was passionate over that relationship. And He demanded their devotion and was satisfied with nothing else. That was the first commandment He gave, if you recall: Worship no other god.
“Look at Revelation 1:8, 1:11 and 1:17, in which Christ says, ‘And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last.’
“When you see that title repeated over and over—‘The First and the Last’—you get a concordance and find back in Isaiah 46 Jehovah says, ‘I am the first and last and I’m the only one that is!’ So you read both of those verses and you say, ‘Aha, I got that! The Lord Jesus Christ is the first and the last. He’s Jehovah!’
“You see, you and I don’t have too much trouble accepting that but most people don’t get that. Most people have the idea that the God of the Old Testament is some mean, wicked, old guy sitting on a stump somewhere mad in the heavens and casting down lightning bolts. And the God of the New Testament is just this sweet little milquetoast-milksop guy who comes along and likes everybody.
“It’s none of that! It’s the same one! It’s the same God! The Lord Jesus Christ is unique among humans in that He had a pre-existing existence because He always was equally in the person of God the Son and the person of Jehovah God.”
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
All in the genes
The term “the kinsman” is used about a dozen times in the little book of Ruth. It’s the big issue. Naomi says, “Nearer than kin unto us.” In Chapter 3:11, Boaz says, “And now it is true that I am thy near kinsman: howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than I.”
Jordan explains, “Boaz is the kinsman and Naomi is going to send Ruth to claim the right from Boaz, just like Tamar was trying to claim the right from Judah, for him to fulfill his obligation as the kinsman to raise up a seed. In other words, to marry Ruth and raise up children for Naomi’s dead son. In verse 9, Boaz says to Ruth, ‘Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth thine handmaid: spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman.’
“We’ll, see that’s what she’s asking him to do is to marry her. Is to fulfill his obligation as the near kinsman and he in essence says to her in the next few verses, ‘I’d be glad to but there’s a problem. One, I’m a little old. And two, there’s somebody closer kin than me.’ But he says, ‘I’ll tell you what, I’ll go find out, and if he won’t do his obligation, I will.’ And her mother says to her down in verse 18, ‘Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall: for the man will not be in rest, until he have finished the thing this day.’
“You know who’s going to do all the redeeming? And is going to do all the work? ‘Ruth just sit here. He’ll do the work.’ It’s a great picture in chapter 4 of how he goes out and does the work and stuff, and when we study it, you’ll see God’s fantastic plan and purpose in redeeming the nation Israel from under the law.
*****
“Since we’re talking about genealogies, we’ll go to the book of genealogies: I Chronicles 1. There’s a fascinating thing in the Bible with regard to genealogies. If you take all the genealogies in Luke and Matthew and mesh them together, you’ll discover all the genealogies will tend to leave people out--one of them taken out of one and put in another--for doctrinal reasons.
“But it’s fascinating that when you list the genealogy of Christ, if you get the whole list from Scripture, there are 60 men in them. There are six groups of ten. Now, ten is a complete number. Six is the number of man. If you want to get to the seventh you got to go through those 60 and when you come to Christ, who’s the replacement? He’s the last Adam.
“But when you start counting with Adam, every tenth man in that group of 60 has a significant history and significant identity. For example, I Chronicles 1: 1-4. Adam, Seth, Enos--you count down to ten who’s the tenth one? Noah. So when you start at the beginning of the genealogy of Christ and you count the first ten guys, you come to Noah.
“Now Noah was the guy where there was an attempt by the Adversary to destroy the seed line (the messianic line) by corrupting all of mankind and in Genesis 6:9 we learn that there was only one man in the earth, one family, who’s genealogy was clean and perfect and that was Noah. Noah is a man with regard to the Flood and so forth where the attempt to destroy the messianic seed line reached an apex and was almost successful.
“Noah, Ham, Shem and Japheth. Which one of those did Christ come through? Shem. Verse 24. Now, who’s the tenth one in Shem’s line? Abraham. Well, it’s easy to know who Abraham is. He’s the one through whom God is going to establish the seed line. The seed of the woman becomes the seed of Abraham. And he’s the one out of all the nations of the earth after God scattered them at the Tower of Babel. He picked Abraham to father the chosen people and the promised seed line comes from the seed of the woman in general to the seed of Abraham in particular.
“Come over to Matthew 1:1 because that’s where you can pick back up Abraham. Count down and tell me who the tenth one is there. Isaac, Jacob, Judah--count them down. Salmon begat who? Booz? Who’s that? That’s Boaz. So the Boaz we’re going to read about in the Book of Ruth is the third tenth man. Who is Boaz? Well, that’s why Ruth is there to tell you who Boaz is.
As Ruth 4: 15 says, ‘And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him.’
"Boaz is the one who’s going to bring the restoration of life to Israel! Boaz is not an inconsequential figure. By the way, you can go on through there and find those other tenth men and find their significance. It’s fascinating. But I want you to understand the Book of Ruth isn’t just a little ditty that happened to be passed down from campfire to campfire—‘Let’s put it in the Bible because we just happen to have it lying around.’
*****
Naomi’s name means pleasant but when she comes back, she says, “Don’t call me Naomi anymore; call me Mara.” Well in Exodus 15, Israel went to the waters of Mara. It means bitterness. The one who had been blessed to live in the house of bread, praising god because of it, married to my God as king, went away full and is come back in bitterness.
Jordan says, “Jeremiah 30 talks about the time of Jacob’s trouble, out of which he’ll be saved. There’s Naomi. She’s off in that self-imposed exile; a widow desolate but then she hears there’s provision in Israel in the land and she sets her heart on going back. And when she does, Ruth clave to her.
“Ruth 1:14 says, ‘And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her.’ Naomi’s told them they need to go home; ‘Stay, don’t go with her.’ I guess it’s because of that word clave, cleaving to her—in Genesis 2 is the same word with regard to a husband and wife.
"That’s the reason that what Ruth says to Naomi is used in weddings. Ruth says in verse 16, ‘Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.’
“Those lines are used in a song that traditionally has been sung at weddings and it’s the bride talking to her groom. And I’ve often thought, ‘Now, how silly could you be?! How devoid of Bible understanding could you be to use that at a wedding when that’s a daughter-in-law talking to her mother-in-law?! Not a bride talking to her husband!’
“Here’s a gentile who’s cleaving to the God of Israel and to the Israel of God and Ruth’s a picture of the gentiles who cleave to Israel and go back into the land and wind up redeemed in the Kingdom. And the focus all through here is going to be Naomi pointing Ruth to the redeemer because the whole point of the kinsman redeemer is God tells Abraham, ‘I’ll bless you and make you a blessing and then in thee all the nations of the earth will be blessed.’ ”
Jordan explains, “Boaz is the kinsman and Naomi is going to send Ruth to claim the right from Boaz, just like Tamar was trying to claim the right from Judah, for him to fulfill his obligation as the kinsman to raise up a seed. In other words, to marry Ruth and raise up children for Naomi’s dead son. In verse 9, Boaz says to Ruth, ‘Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth thine handmaid: spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman.’
“We’ll, see that’s what she’s asking him to do is to marry her. Is to fulfill his obligation as the near kinsman and he in essence says to her in the next few verses, ‘I’d be glad to but there’s a problem. One, I’m a little old. And two, there’s somebody closer kin than me.’ But he says, ‘I’ll tell you what, I’ll go find out, and if he won’t do his obligation, I will.’ And her mother says to her down in verse 18, ‘Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall: for the man will not be in rest, until he have finished the thing this day.’
“You know who’s going to do all the redeeming? And is going to do all the work? ‘Ruth just sit here. He’ll do the work.’ It’s a great picture in chapter 4 of how he goes out and does the work and stuff, and when we study it, you’ll see God’s fantastic plan and purpose in redeeming the nation Israel from under the law.
*****
“Since we’re talking about genealogies, we’ll go to the book of genealogies: I Chronicles 1. There’s a fascinating thing in the Bible with regard to genealogies. If you take all the genealogies in Luke and Matthew and mesh them together, you’ll discover all the genealogies will tend to leave people out--one of them taken out of one and put in another--for doctrinal reasons.
“But it’s fascinating that when you list the genealogy of Christ, if you get the whole list from Scripture, there are 60 men in them. There are six groups of ten. Now, ten is a complete number. Six is the number of man. If you want to get to the seventh you got to go through those 60 and when you come to Christ, who’s the replacement? He’s the last Adam.
“But when you start counting with Adam, every tenth man in that group of 60 has a significant history and significant identity. For example, I Chronicles 1: 1-4. Adam, Seth, Enos--you count down to ten who’s the tenth one? Noah. So when you start at the beginning of the genealogy of Christ and you count the first ten guys, you come to Noah.
“Now Noah was the guy where there was an attempt by the Adversary to destroy the seed line (the messianic line) by corrupting all of mankind and in Genesis 6:9 we learn that there was only one man in the earth, one family, who’s genealogy was clean and perfect and that was Noah. Noah is a man with regard to the Flood and so forth where the attempt to destroy the messianic seed line reached an apex and was almost successful.
“Noah, Ham, Shem and Japheth. Which one of those did Christ come through? Shem. Verse 24. Now, who’s the tenth one in Shem’s line? Abraham. Well, it’s easy to know who Abraham is. He’s the one through whom God is going to establish the seed line. The seed of the woman becomes the seed of Abraham. And he’s the one out of all the nations of the earth after God scattered them at the Tower of Babel. He picked Abraham to father the chosen people and the promised seed line comes from the seed of the woman in general to the seed of Abraham in particular.
“Come over to Matthew 1:1 because that’s where you can pick back up Abraham. Count down and tell me who the tenth one is there. Isaac, Jacob, Judah--count them down. Salmon begat who? Booz? Who’s that? That’s Boaz. So the Boaz we’re going to read about in the Book of Ruth is the third tenth man. Who is Boaz? Well, that’s why Ruth is there to tell you who Boaz is.
As Ruth 4: 15 says, ‘And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him.’
"Boaz is the one who’s going to bring the restoration of life to Israel! Boaz is not an inconsequential figure. By the way, you can go on through there and find those other tenth men and find their significance. It’s fascinating. But I want you to understand the Book of Ruth isn’t just a little ditty that happened to be passed down from campfire to campfire—‘Let’s put it in the Bible because we just happen to have it lying around.’
*****
Naomi’s name means pleasant but when she comes back, she says, “Don’t call me Naomi anymore; call me Mara.” Well in Exodus 15, Israel went to the waters of Mara. It means bitterness. The one who had been blessed to live in the house of bread, praising god because of it, married to my God as king, went away full and is come back in bitterness.
Jordan says, “Jeremiah 30 talks about the time of Jacob’s trouble, out of which he’ll be saved. There’s Naomi. She’s off in that self-imposed exile; a widow desolate but then she hears there’s provision in Israel in the land and she sets her heart on going back. And when she does, Ruth clave to her.
“Ruth 1:14 says, ‘And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her.’ Naomi’s told them they need to go home; ‘Stay, don’t go with her.’ I guess it’s because of that word clave, cleaving to her—in Genesis 2 is the same word with regard to a husband and wife.
"That’s the reason that what Ruth says to Naomi is used in weddings. Ruth says in verse 16, ‘Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.’
“Those lines are used in a song that traditionally has been sung at weddings and it’s the bride talking to her groom. And I’ve often thought, ‘Now, how silly could you be?! How devoid of Bible understanding could you be to use that at a wedding when that’s a daughter-in-law talking to her mother-in-law?! Not a bride talking to her husband!’
“Here’s a gentile who’s cleaving to the God of Israel and to the Israel of God and Ruth’s a picture of the gentiles who cleave to Israel and go back into the land and wind up redeemed in the Kingdom. And the focus all through here is going to be Naomi pointing Ruth to the redeemer because the whole point of the kinsman redeemer is God tells Abraham, ‘I’ll bless you and make you a blessing and then in thee all the nations of the earth will be blessed.’ ”
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