Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.
That was mirrored in Habakkuk 2:4
But the righteous will live by his faith.
And even the “mystery” of the Gospel going to the Gentiles, articulated by Paul, was foreshadowed in the Old Testament. That is why he went to Peter and the “elders” in Galatians 2:2 to confirm that what he was teaching was corroborated by the Old Testament, even though it had some “new revelations.” It is all consistent.
Here is another interesting one. Psalm 107:29
He caused the storm to be still, So that the waves of the sea were hushed.
Does that sound familiar? Matthew 8 tells about Jesus sleeping in a boat when the seas got rough. Verses 26 and 27:
Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. 27 The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”
Matthew 14, Mark 6, and John 6 repeat this and similar events. When John the Baptist sent disciples to ask if Jesus was “the one,” or should they look for someone else, He responded. (Luke 22 and Matthew 11)
Luke 7:22 And He answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them.
These were all prophesies of Jesus in the Old Testament. Jesus could have told John the Baptist to just read his Old Testament and find how many times it was fulfilled in Jesus life. Yes, He was definitely “the One.” (And the death, burial, and resurrection had not yet happened.)
We find that the fulfillment of Old Testament prophesy goes on and on. An enticing one is found in Isaiah 22:20-25. The Lord is speaking here.
20 “Then it will come about in that day, That I will summon My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah...22 “Then I will set the key of the house of David on his shoulder, When he opens no one will shut, When he shuts no one will open.
The abbreviated explanation is that an official in Judah, during Isaiah’s ministry, before the Babylonians captured and destroyed Jerusalem, was corrupt. So Eliakim was appointed to replace him. The key phrases we are looking at is v. 22. The Key of David; and the phrase, “When he opens no one will shut, When he shuts no one will open,” accompanies it.
This is repeated in Revelation 3:7 during the message to Philadelphia.
“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens...”
This is Jesus, He has the Key of David, and is the fulfillment of the prophesy in Isaiah 22. It is partially invoked in Matthew 18:18 when Jesus was commissioning Peter.
Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth (shut) shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth (open) shall have been loosed in heaven.
It is so invigorating to Bible study to see the interlocking nature and interconnectedness of the whole Book. No unbiased observer could ever claim that it is merely a human invention. From Job (estimated early 2nd century BC, 1700-1900 BC) to Revelation (AD 95) we have approximately 2000 years or more in which the author must coordinate events, people, and dialogue. All of this must coincide and be reconciled with the 40 or so recognized and identified authors.
God “breathed” it according to Peter (2 Peter 1:21) and Paul (2 Timothy 3:16). Even in this conjunction of statements, we see the Sovereign hand and influence. What a privilege to read and study this masterpiece. I want to get back to the study.
As my wife, the librarian says, “Read.”
No comments:
Post a Comment