Born in a Manger, Crucified on a Cross :: By Nathele Graham

Published on: April 9, 2022 by RR7

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

Holidays come and go, and we mostly follow traditions without thinking of what they are truly about. For instance, Christmas comes around, and we get into a gift-buying frenzy. We decorate our houses with trees and ornaments and put lights on the outside of our homes and city streets. We sing Christmas songs like “Deck the Halls” and “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and obey the secular humanists by being very careful not to say Merry Christmas. I, for one, like to say “Merry Christmas” because my Saviour was born, and that’s what I celebrate. School children and teachers have a two-week vacation for “winter break.” When I was growing up, it was called Christmas Vacation.

We easily forget our Lord and Saviour, who stepped into His creation to offer salvation to lost and sinful people who are dead in their sins. Sadly, many Christians fail to honor Him by celebrating His birth. It’s just a busy time of year filled with baking candy and cookies and buying gifts for family, friends, and casual acquaintances so we don’t slight anybody. There’s nothing wrong with these traditions as long as they don’t replace Christ.

“For unto us a child is born unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this” (Isaiah 9: 6-7).

We read that on many Christmas Cards but seldom stop and really think about what it means. That’s quite a responsibility to be put upon a tiny baby, but Jesus Christ was willing. Jesus was the one who spoke all things into existence. The Apostle John describes Him as “the Word.”

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men” (John 1:1-4).

John lets us know that Jesus was God and that He created everything. This refers back to Genesis chapter 1, where God spoke and all things were created. God loves His creation, even though we treat Him casually.

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

It would have been wonderful to be one of those Jewish men and women who walked with Jesus, heard His teaching, and believed His words. Today we have the writings of some who followed Jesus and know that their words were given to them directly by the Holy Spirit. Scripture is God’s truth. That baby boy born in a manger in Bethlehem fulfilled hundreds of prophecies. Because of Him, the entire world was changed.

Jesus, God in the flesh, was humbly born in a manger. Probably in the fields which Boaz (a picture-type of Jesus) owned and where he met Ruth (whom he took for a Gentile bride) and became the kinsman redeemer for Naomi (a Jewish widow). Read about these people in the Book of Ruth. Angels proclaimed Jesus’ birth to shepherds who were tending to the sheep that would be used in the Temple for sacrifices. About 30 years later, John the Baptist would see Jesus walking toward him. “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

John the Baptist was a part of the Essenes, and from the Dead Sea Scrolls, we know that these people studied prophecy. John was one who was looking for the Messiah and therefore recognized Jesus as the Lamb of God. Perhaps we need to study prophecy more.

If you stop and really think about God, who lives in Heaven, surrounded by love and praise, choosing to confine Himself to a human body, being fully God and fully human, and knowing that He was born to be the sacrificial lamb and shed His blood in order to bring salvation to humanity who were dead in sin, you will be very humbled. He grew from a baby and experienced the same skinned knees and temptations as anybody. He had to learn to take those first baby steps before He could walk on water. What wondrous and amazing love He showed by becoming a part of His creation.

When Adam chose to disobey God and eat the forbidden fruit, all of creation fell, and death became reality. The separation of man from God was a choice Adam made. That separation can only be bridged by faith in Jesus Christ. Adam sinned, but God’s love never died. God is just, and Adam knew the penalty of his action. God had told Adam that by eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, he would die. Adam ate it anyway, and death affected all of creation. God expelled Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. Still, God’s mercy was shown to them.

“Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21).

In order to make coats of skins, blood had to be shed. Today, God’s word reveals that the only way to bridge the separation from God is by placing your faith in the shed blood of Jesus on the cross.

God demonstrated that blood had to be shed in order to cover sin. Thus, the example of sacrifice for sin. After Adam and Eve were driven from the Garden, they began having children. First Cain, then Abel. These two boys grew and had to make their own sacrifices to cover their sin.

“And in the process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD” (Genesis 4:3).

It seems as if Cain didn’t care much about God’s ways and did what was easiest for him. That’s never a good choice. On the other hand, Abel was obedient.

“And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell” (Genesis 4:4-5).

Does this describe you? Do you give the least you can to God and expect Him to bless you? Maybe you need to honor God by your sacrifices rather than doing as little as possible to honor Him. Cain was very unhappy and directed his rage toward his brother and killed him. Shedding his brother’s blood was sin and was never an acceptable blood sacrifice. God does not require human blood to be shed. Except in one specific sacrifice: the blood shed by Jesus on the cross. Other than that, shedding human blood, whether in the womb or not, is sin.

As time passed, after Adams’ sin, God first called Abraham out of his pagan life, and he became the father of the Jewish nation… God’s chosen people. Through this nation, the world would be blessed. God gave them the Law. That law included animal sacrifices to cover sin. Those sacrifices could never take sin away.

“But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins” (Hebrews 10:2-3).

The Jewish Law also provided for a kinsman redeemer. If a person lost something of value, then a near kinsman was able to redeem it. That kinsman had to be willing. Adam sinned, and paradise was lost for all of creation. Jesus Christ, God incarnate, was conceived by the Holy Spirit, so He was fully God. Therefore, His blood was not tainted by Adam’s sin. He was also fully human since His mother Mary was merely a human woman, not a goddess or in any way anything but human. She was willing to do all she could to serve God. Christ willingly entered His creation knowing that He would shed His blood to take our sin away.

As we prepare to celebrate Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, consider how you honor Him. “Easter” is a pagan celebration based upon astrological positions of the sun and moon. The pagan celebration was all about fertility, represented by rabbits and eggs. These things have nothing to do with God’s sacrifice and His victory over death. As you hide colored eggs and eat chocolate bunnies, be sure to share the Gospel. What is that Gospel? The Apostle Paul spells it out.

“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

Eggs and bunnies won’t bring you salvation, only faith in Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.

He was born in a manger and crucified on a cross. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved” (John 3:16-17).

God bless you all,

Nathele Graham

twotug@embarqmail.com
ron@straitandnarrowministry.com

Recommended prophecy sites:

www.raptureready.com
www.prophecyupdate.com
www.raptureforums.com

All original scripture is “theopneustos,” God-breathed.

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Fulfilments of Leviticus 23 Festivals :: By Gene Lawley

Published on: April 9, 2022 by RR7

It may seem rather distant in our range of consideration, but the summary of all of the sacrifices and statutes of the Old Testament is fulfilled in Christ. Perhaps it can be summed up in Paul’s declaration in Galatians 2:21: “I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”

The commandments of God actually reveal the morality of His person. That is, if we are to be like Him, then we are to obey and take up those commandments as our way of life. And the very image of God, the Father, is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. These fulfilments are right in step with the conclusion of all things in Christ.

That first “festival” in Leviticus 23, surprisingly, is the Sabbath. It is the fourth commandment of the ten and is the first of the ten calling for a positive response from mankind. The first three are “don’t do” commands. It is a command to “take a rest” and be refreshed in the Lord.

In Luke 6, it is told that Jesus and His disciples were going through a grain field, and the disciples were eating of the grains of the field. The scribes and Pharisees took offense because it was the Sabbath and against its rules, as they had interpreted them. Thus, they accused Jesus of allowing them to do that terrible thing. Jesus closed the criticism with this reply: “The Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath” (Luke 6:5).

In Matthew 11:28-30, we see the invitation of Jesus to come to Him for rest: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Eventually, the trail of faith will lead a believer to Hebrews 4:10:

“For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.”

It is the rest of faith in the completeness of Christ, the Lord of the Sabbath.

The seven feasts then named after this one are all together in one annual pattern. If you watch closely, you will see that those seven feasts or festivals are telling the story of the high points of the Christian era, the age of the church. They were placed on the Jewish calendar for each year by the direction of God to Moses. But they are Christian events portrayed, not Jewish. They are called convocations in Leviticus 23, which means “rehearsals” for the actual coming events.

The first one is the Feast of Passover, remembered by the Jews as the mark of their deliverance from the bondage of Egypt. For the Christian, it marks the death of the Redeemer, Jesus Christ, on the cross. That is the means of deliverance of sinners from that bondage. Once His blood, by faith, is spread on the doorposts of his heart, man is delivered from the bondage of sin. It is celebrated on the Gentile calendar about the middle of March each year.

The second festival is called the Feast of Unleavened Bread and follows the Passover immediately. It depicts, as unleavened bread suggests, death in the grave. There is an interesting development in the Jewish practice here, for after Passover, there is a seven-day period of unleavened bread, not two days. Why is that, we may ask.

It seems to be answered by the absence of that third feast, the Feast of First Fruits, which depicts the resurrection of Christ. In Jewish thinking, there is no resurrection of Christ because they are not looking for a Messiah who has nail holes in His hands.

The Jewish calendar goes next to the Feast of Weeks, called Pentecost, the festival of the early harvest. We know what happened at Pentecost. A major Christian era event took place, the entry of the Holy Spirit into the lives of believers in Christ. Just as 1 Corinthians 6:17 says, “But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him,” it became a reality, as God had promised, but not for the Judeo faith. This feast occurs about mid-May into early June.

There is a long period of absence for any of the remaining three feasts until fall time, for the next feast is called the Feast of Trumpets and depicts the ending harvest in the agricultural season. Then comes the time of ingathering. In John 4:35, Jesus said, “Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!”

The time of the year was after Pentecost, and normal growth time for fruit and crops was at hand, not a harvest. But Jesus is talking about the harvest of the Great Commission that He was to establish, to go into all the world and spread the gospel. This season of sowing and reaping for a future ingathering has been long, allowing the gospel to reach many tongues, tribes and nations.

At the time of the fall harvest from the fields, the festival called the Feast of Trumpets is celebrated. The Jewish event is seen as the beginning of a time of fasting and repentance until the ten days to the Feast of Atonement arrives. It is a time of spiritual harvesting of redeemed souls into the presence of the Savior, the Rapture of the church. Just as Paul details it in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, it will come to pass: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”

What a controversial prophetic declaration as for its reality and timing! This feast has received a nod of recognition over the centuries, then they pass on to “really learn when the Lord is going to return.” The Feast of Trumpets is a two-day event, and Jesus said, “No one knows the day or the hour of His coming.” Neither does anyone know what year it will happen. However, many signs point to the times and seasons when that Day will occur. The Jewish recognition of it does not present the highlight it is in the Christian era, where it is a major event, obviously. The harvest of the fruit of the Great Commission is this event of the Christian age of grace. It is not like the Holy One to remove this feast from His set pattern.

Other references of it as the time of the Rapture are John 11:25-26; Luke 21:28 and its surrounding context; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7; 1 Corinthians 15:50-53; and Revelation 4:1-4. (I list these only because of lack of space for the article.)

The sixth feast is called the Feast of Atonement and is remembered by the Jews as a time for fasting and repentance, again, but not with any reference, apparently, to One who atones for their sin. It is a feast that is first in the seven years of tribulation, the “time of Jacob’s trouble,” according to Jeremiah 30:7. It is the time of the 70th week of Daniel’s prophecy in Daniel 9 of God’s punishment of the Jews for their rebellion.

In Zechariah 12:10 is told how the Jewish people turn to Christ as their true Messiah, for it is apparent that their fascination with the Antichrist must have ended when he shuts down their temple worship and declares himself God halfway through the seven years.

Zechariah wrote this: “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.”

Why their fascination with the Antichrist? According to Daniel 9:26-27, he is the one who confirms a peace covenant for them and authorizes the rebuilding of their temple, which has not existed since 70 A.D. His deception was enhanced by the fact that he did not have nail holes in his hands, as did the one the Christians claimed.

Factoring in the anointment of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists in Revelation 7 and their ministry that reaches into every tribe, tongue and nation in the world, we know that the Jews will have found their true Savior. Still, two-thirds of the Jews are to be killed, and one-third will be protected from Satan’s wrath, according to Zechariah 13:8 and Revelation 12:14-15. Are these, then, the remaining mortals who will inhabit the millennium to rebuild the earth’s population?

The final feast, called the Feast of Tabernacles, depicts the return of Christ to the earth to dwell in it. Just as John 1:14 says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,” at His first advent, He comes to live among us as King of Kings and Lord of Lords just as Revelation 19:15-16 declares.

Zechariah also describes the Second Coming of Jesus in different details that are quite impressive. His writings in Zechariah 14 follow chronologically after those quotations above regarding God’s regained relationship with the Jews, reported in chapters 12-13. Chapter 14 starts off with this in verse 1: “Behold, the day of the Lord is coming,” then in verse 4, he writes this:

“And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley. Half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south.”

This final chapter of Zechariah relates much of what happens during those thousand years when Jesus reigns on earth. It is not hard to understand when the millennium begins and ends. It begins when Jesus returns to the earth at His Second Coming, and He makes His presence known, as related above.

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). And so, the festivals of the Lord of Israel are fulfilled.

Contact email: andwegetmercy@gmail.com