Bible Prophecy
Chapter 17: 10-13

“And His disciples asked Him, saying, ‘Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things.  But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished.  Likewise, the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.’  Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist.”

Before we get into this week’s lesson, I must simply make the observation that for a lot of my life I too believed that Jesus died on a Friday.  I grew up in Barbados and we celebrated Good Friday; and as a young man I never questioned the math of Good Friday to Easter Sunday.  I did understand that Easter began as a pagan celebration with the eggs and bunnies being fertility symbols.

As I got into seminary when I was about 18, then I began to understand the math of Friday to Sunday.  Thankfully, I had some awesome men as teachers who helped me to understand that Jesus died on a Wednesday and was in the grave 3 literal days and 3 literal nights as He said would be the sign to us.  He then arose on our Saturday night – the Jewish Sunday morning – and met the ladies outside the tomb as they came to anoint His dead body.

Luke 23: 50-56 “Now behold, there was a man named Joseph, a council member, a good and just man.  He had not consented to their decision and deed. He was from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God.  This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.  Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before.

“That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near.  And the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid.  Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils.  And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.”

John 20: 1-2 “Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.  Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.’”

It is important that we get the math right because Jesus was fulfilling the Spring/Summer Feasts that were set out in the OT Law.

And yes, I know that Easter began as a pagan celebration, BUT, so did many other things.  I will tell you that at no time until I was an older man did I ever question the idea of Easter being anything other than a celebration of Jesus.

To many in the church world, it may be a pagan ritual that we have stolen.  And yes, it might even be very Catholic for us fundamental Baptists.  To me Easter is a celebration of Jesus and His gracious and loving gift of His life for my sins.  He did die in the spring and He did fulfill the feasts of Passover, so I am not ashamed to speak of Jesus and His love.

Easter gives me an audience that I/we would not normally have; they expect us to speak about Jesus and they will listen or maybe just tolerate for a few days our message.  Who knows? Some may even hear and repent.  Paul was never afraid of false gods; he often used them as a way to preach about the True God.  Maybe we should too.

The New Testament makes the Old Testament come alive, verses 10-13

The Bible is full of prophecy.  God tells us things in the OT that are fulfilled in the NT; thus, making the continuity and the single-mindedness of the Bible very powerful.  God tells us future events in the OT that the people of the NT could not have orchestrated.  For instance, Mary and Joseph had no power to make the Roman Caesar call a census that drove them to Bethlehem. Thus, God superintended the details so that they happened exactly as He ordained.

These few verses that we are considering today are a fulfillment of prophecy from Malachi 4:4-6,

“Remember the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel.  ‘Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD.  He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.’”

Many of the Scribes and religious scholars understood this prophecy. In fact, you will recall that when Jesus was dying on the cross, some thought He was calling for Elijah when He cried out this famous statement in Matthew 27: 46-48,

“About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?” that is, ‘MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?’  And some of those who were standing there, when they heard it, began saying, ‘This man is calling for Elijah.’  Immediately one of them ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink.…”

Later on, in the same line of verses, someone says “Let us see if Elijah will come.” These folks understood that Elijah had to come during this process.  But they had missed Elijah.  He had already come, John the Baptist, as that man sent from God to call the nation of Israel to repentance.

From the prophet Malachi until the ministry of John the Baptist was about 400 years.  In this 400 years God sent no prophets; He was silent.  But before He issued the new covenant, He sent one last prophet in the spirit of Elijah, that great man of God, to call the nation to repentance.  But the religious leaders hated him.  The common folks flocked to him.  See Matthew 3: 1-6,

“In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!’  For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.’  Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.  Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.”

But in the very next verse we find John calling out the hypocrisy of the religious leaders.  He did much of what Jesus did in confronting the leadership of the nation of Israel.  We know that a few got saved like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, but most just rejected Jesus.

For sure they hated John the Baptist; they hated him because he could see through their facades and he had no respect for them.  But this was exactly who Elijah was; he had no regard for the king or the queen for that matter.  All he cared about was that the nation of Israel should return to God.  We see the beginning of the epic battle in 1 Kings 18: 17-18,

“When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, ‘Is this you, you troubler of Israel?’  He said, ‘I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, because you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and you have followed the Baals.’”

Ahab hated Elijah because he refused to back down; he simply kept calling sin, sin!  And he did not have any regard for the crown on Ahab’s head; he had regard for the King of kings only!

What a lesson we can learn here.  Do not be afraid of earthly kings; they can only kill the body.  Fear God and worship Him.

The disciples understood that Jesus was talking about John the Baptist.  One little line of prophecy had been fulfilled in John the Baptist— the rugged Nazarite who did not settle for the comforts of the religious leadership.  Rather he came to call Israel to repentance and died standing for the truth.  God took time to make sure that even a little one-verse prophecy from Malachi that most did not even know was fulfilled to the very letter.  Then He made sure that His people understood it.

 God wants us to study prophecy and get it, verse 13

The disciples understood.  The Bible, we hear, is too hard to understand, but over and over again we see that Jesus helped the disciples understand the word of God.  With a few key strokes I found this tidbit:

According to “The Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy” by J. Barton Payne, there are 1,239 prophecies in the Old Testament and 578 prophecies in the New Testament for a total of 1,817. These prophecies are contained in 8,352 of the Bible’s verses. Since there are 31,124 verses in the Bible, the 8,352 verses that contain prophecy constitute 26.8 percent of the Bible’s volume.

You can find very good evidence to support that about 25% of the Bible or a little bit more is prophetic.  So for every four verses that you read, one of them has a prophecy or part thereof.  That is very significant.  There are still many prophecies to be fulfilled in our time and the short time that we have left until Jesus’ 2^nd coming.  Daniel’s prophecies are “sealed until the time of the end.”

We live in a time with the nation of Israel inhabiting the Promised Land and, more specifically, with Jerusalem as its capital.  The end is near, and the Lord’s people should be diligently reading the scriptures to see what is next or at least where we are.  But churches seem to be afraid of prophecy; a lot of God’s people refuse to study the word of God.  But I promise you that if you seek the Lord and ask Him to show you, He will.  Just like the disciples He saw face to face, He wants you to understand as well.

God is a logical God; thus, He would never write a book that you were not intended to read and understand.  We are called to be workmen (2 Timothy 2:15).  In the study of God’s word, the operative word is “work.”  God will reveal if you do the work.  Then the Bible will come alive and your faith and trust in God will grow.  Prophecy was there to magnify the power and majesty of God.  It is there to show His absolute superintendence over every aspect of this earth and her history.  Prophecy is there for us, to boost our confidence in God.

Everyone in this world wished they knew the future.  Well, we can by studying the word of God and allowing the Holy Spirit to teach us.  In Isaiah 46: 9-10 we find these awesome words,

“Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure.’”

Get out a Bible or more than one; most of us have more than one.  Begin at Genesis 1:1 and read. You will see the 1,817 prophecies come to life, and you too will understand that God truly does know what will happen tomorrow.  He has put it in place and He will make sure that everything that He has said will happen will happen to the exact details that He has said.

Missionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca

Sean Gooding, Pastor Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

 

Matthew Chapter 17: 1-9

“Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’

“While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!’ And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. But Jesus came and touched them and said, ‘Arise, and do not be afraid.’ When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, ‘Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead.’”

In the last lesson in Matthew, we talked about the importance that we be ready and willing to bare the suffering that will come when we make a stand for the Lord Jesus. Now over the past few years it has become increasingly more expensive to live openly for Jesus here in North America; and as we progress towards the end of time, the price of faithfulness will continue to rise. We need to prepare people for the cost of discipleship.

Jesus worked hard to prepare the men and women who followed Him for the coming pain of following Jesus (see Mark 13: 12-13).

“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.”

Wow, look at that verse! Your enemies will be the people in your own home. And Jesus tells them that they will be ‘hated’ because of His name. Serving Jesus has a real cost. We must be prepared in the power of the Holy Spirit to pay it.

Today we will meet the glorified Jesus. At the end of chapter 16, Jesus promises that ‘some standing here would not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.’ Well Peter, James and John are about to see Jesus in a whole new light. What they had encountered so far was a rugged man who had lots of power over demons, diseases and even death. They had seen Him calm storms, walk on water and feed the masses. But they had not yet seen Jesus in ALL of His glory; and for a few moments Jesus was about to pull back the veil and let them see Him as He is. One day we will see Him this way as well.

Jesus is transfigured so they can see Him in His glory, verse 2

Why was this necessary? Well, what had Jesus been warning them about?  His coming death. He needed to reassure them that this was a ‘God thing.’ According to Matthew Henry’s Commentary, they needed to see God! Seeing Jesus in His glory would cement in their minds that He could do all He said He would do and give them a real hope and foundation to believe on in the intervening ‘three days and three nights’ until His resurrection.

So Jesus takes them and He is ‘transfigured’ before their eyes. We see that ‘His face shone like the sun’ and ‘His clothes became as white as light.’ This was no longer just a Jewish Messiah standing in front of them. This was the Almighty God.

We are of course reminded of the prophet Isaiah’s vision of God Almighty in Isaiah 6:1,

“In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.”

Then we see the experience of Daniel in chapter 10:

“Now on the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, that is, the Tigris, I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a certain man clothed in linen, whose waist was girded with gold of Uphaz! His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, his arms and feet like burnished bronze in color, and the sound of his words like the voice of a multitude.”

Notice that in both cases in Daniel and in Matthew we see that the face of the man was bright. In Isaiah 60:19 and on we see that Jesus is the Light of the New Jerusalem:

“No longer will you have the sun for light by day, nor for brightness will the moon give you light; But you will have the LORD for an everlasting light, And your God for your glory. Your sun will no longer set, nor will your moon wane; For you will have the LORD for an everlasting light.”

This is reconfirmed in Revelation 21:23, “The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it.”

So these men, Peter, James and John got to see Jesus in His glory. This was especially important for Peter as he was the one who wanted to correct Jesus about the events that were to follow, in the previous chapter. In addition to Jesus, these men saw Moses and Elijah; but it does not appear that they had gotten out of the ‘human’ vision of Jesus. They saw Jesus; he looked like the same Jesus they had spent about three years with, but just brighter. They wanted to build tabernacles for Jesus, Moses and Elijah. They wanted this time to last; a glimpse was too short.

Maybe they had questions for Moses and Elijah. They just wanted to be there. Do you long to be in the presence of Jesus? Do you look forward to meeting all these men and women we read about and rejoice with them in person? What will it be like to meet Abraham, Adam, Mary, Ruth, Joshua, Gideon, Daniel, Rahab, Solomon, David or Nebuchadnezzar? What will it be like when we first meet Jesus? Most people just fall at His feet; I suppose we will as well.

Moses and Elijah are alive, verse 3

In the book of Mark chapter 12: 26-27 we find these reassuring words,

“But regarding the fact that the dead rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND THE GOD OF ISAAC, and the God of Jacob?’ He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken.”

These men, Peter, James and John saw firsthand that Moses and Elijah were alive and well. Not just that, but also that they were able to stand, walk and speak. They were alive; men that they had grown up hearing legends and stories about were right there in front of them alive and well. Not only that but they knew who they were on sight. They recognized these spiritual heroes. They had real bodies and would be able to sit under a tabernacle, a nice word for a small hut made of branches.

This is a good look for us of what we are going to be like in Heaven with the Lord. We too will know the people there and they will know us. We will have real bodies and we will walk and talk with the Lord. Does this remind you of anywhere? Yes, it does. God walked and talked in the Garden with Adam and Eve. We will have the sweet, face to face fellowship with our Lord and Saviour again. More than that, we will remember why we have that fellowship, as we will see our Saviour every day.

God again identifies Jesus as God, verse 5

We have talked about this before, but it is such a fundamental doctrine of Christianity that we must repeat and revisit this all the time. Jesus is God! Not a god, THE GOD—the God who spoke the worlds into existence and the God who sustains that world as we see it today.

In Luke 22:70 when Jesus was asked if He was the Son of God, He answered, ‘You are right to say that I am.’  In John 5:18, when He claimed to the Son of God, the people took up stones to kill Him. He asked them why they were trying to kill Him, and they said ‘that by claiming to be God He had made himself equal with God.’

It is impossible to claim to be a Christian and deny that Jesus is God. That is the defining line in the sand, so to speak. In fact, the thing that separates religion and true relationship with Jesus is that one has to believe that He is God to have a relationship with Him. If you deny Him, then you just have a religion. God began Jesus’ ministry by identifying Him as God. And now, as His earthly ministry comes to an end, He again reminds the apostles of who Jesus really is.

Notice their reaction; they fell to the ground and were “greatly afraid.”  Be wary of people who claim that they have died and saw Jesus and claim that they were all ‘buddy buddy’ with Him. Whenever sinful men, even redeemed men, come face to face with the knowledge of who Jesus is, they fall on their faces. Daniel did, these apostles did, John the Revelator did, and on and on we can go.

Don’t tell anyone until after the resurrection, verse 9

This little gem kept the apostles, especially these three as the leaders, grounded until the resurrection. They needed just that little bit of spiritual power to get through the next few days and to get to the other side. What a wonderful lesson for us! God always equips us with all we need to get through whatever He knows is coming.

I have found that a verse I read is one that will play in my head so that it sinks in; and then something will happen, and that verse will jump right out at me. Or, someone will send a word of encouragement at just the right time. Money will show up; God gives you stuff that you did not even know that you needed, and then the need arises.

No part of the Christian life is an accident. God has your life planned out and will take you to and through events as He sees fit. Each event has two basic goals: to help us to be more dependent upon Jesus, and then to impress more and more the image of Jesus in us. God literally shapes the image of Jesus in each one of us. The idea is for us to be less like you and I and more like Jesus, but in so doing become a better you and I.

The longer I serve the Lord, the more I understand that I can’t serve the Lord. He has to give me the desire, the faith and the ability to serve Him. He, Jesus, is everything. Any crown I may earn in this life will be cast at His feet since it is He and He alone who has done it all.

Now we get to tell everyone about the resurrection. We get to tell the whole world that Jesus is alive. We can tell them that there is a Hell to shun and a Heaven to gain in Jesus. So, let’s get to it.

Acts 1:8 “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Missionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca

Sean Gooding Pastor Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church