THE HIDDEN PORTRAITS OF THE GOOD NEWS IN THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES

 

 

This skeptic has been supremely edified by the cryptic portraits of God’s love and Gospel. These have done more to convince me of His love that the verses that have explicitly said, “God loves.”

 

The first portrait of the hidden Gospel is found when humanity most needed it – at the Fall and banishment from the perfect environment of the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve had everything they needed, but this didn’t protect them from the temptation to sin and rebel against their Creator. There had only been one thing that they were not allowed to do – to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They had even been sufficiently warned against this. However, these warning didn’t stop them:

 

·       Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life. (Genesis 3:1-17)

 

Eve was willing to trust the word of the serpent over the Word of God. Adam was no less guilty. He had been present when Eve was being tempted, yet he failed to intervene. Instead, he too partook of the forbidden fruit.

 

The effects were immediate and life-changing. Instead of acknowledging their guilt to their Creator and Benefactor, they no longer could tolerate His presence and foolishly hid themselves. Experiencing shame and guilt for what they had done, they were determined to cover the mess over with fig leaves to hide their guilt. Ever since, we have been hiding from God, covering ourselves with fig leaves of our successes, popularity, and PHDs, anything to prove that we are okay in the face of our conscience condemning us.

 

Where was God’s hidden mercy? He gave them several chances to confess their sin. He started by asking them rhetorical questions rather than making charges. However, no confession of their rebellion! Instead, their answers reflected their cover-up. Adam confessed that he was “afraid” and “naked.” Therefore, he hid from the only Source of help.

God then asked him if he had eaten from the forbidden tree. God already knew the answer, but He was giving Adam a chance to confess and to entrust himself to the mercy of God. However, his unconfessed sin had perverted his understanding of God, who had given him everything that he had needed.

 

Adam then blamed the woman God had given him:

·       “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”

 

Adam was unwilling to confess his role in the rebellion. Likewise, Eve refused to take any responsibility and blamed it on the serpent. Not a word of confession! Therefore, God cursed the serpent and promised Eve “pain in childbearing,” and cursed the ground that Adam would now have to work. However, he did not curse Adam and Eve, but their lives would now be radically changed and would end in death.

 

Where then is the hidden love of God? Hadn’t He banished the first couple from His presence and from the Garden to a life of suffering? True, but perhaps this was a necessity in their now fallen and sinful state. It also seems that our Lord had initiated the Fall “in hope” of accomplishing something greater:

·       For the creation was subjected [by God] to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. (Romans 8:20–21)

 

What did this hope entail? To learn and to seek God, we require severe consequences, even death! Without consequences, we increasingly become corrupt and will not seek understanding or what is good. Without painful consequences. We will not cry out the deliverance of our Savior. Even Jesus had to learn through suffering:

·       In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. (Hebrews 5:7–8; 2:10)

 

If He had to learn through suffering, so too must we! Even after God had delivered the verdict of death upon Adam and Eve, they seemed to remain unrepentant and unfazed by the verdict. They never repented of their sin and their subsequent lies. Instead, they seemed to remain in denial:

 

·       The man called his wife’s name Eve [“life”] because she was the mother of all living. (Genesis 3:20)

 

More appropriately, Adam might have called his wife “death.” Even after they were banned from the Garden and the Tree of Life, we are left with the impression that they relieved, cast from the presence of God and His probing questions. Even then, they didn’t ask for another chance.

 

And yet, the hidden love of God is present. For one thing, He promised a future Savior, and He would come through Eve:

 

·       I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15)

 

A Savior would arise from Eve (signifying a virgin birth?) who would eliminate sin at its source. To protect His fledgling human race, God also created a role distinction between husband and wife:

·       To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” (Genesis 3:16)

 

This had represented a reversal. Prior to this, it seemed that Eve had been in charge, even with the approval of Adam, who had failed to speak a word of warning as Eve was being tempted by the serpent. Even after God had issued the promised sentence of death and Adam, in denial, had named Eve “life,” God revealed another aspect of His continuing love:

 

·       And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. (Genesis 3:21)

 

By clothing them with animal skins, God further demonstrated the price of sin, their inadequate, attempts to cover it with fig leaves, and a glimpse of the Gospel – substitutionary atonement. Someone else would have to pay the price for their sin!

 

Nevertheless, even after their banishment from the presence of God and the Garden, there was not a word of repentance or a plea for mercy. However, God continued to reveal His broken heart to His people.

 

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Sacrifice of Isaac

 

After many apparent “setbacks,” culminating in the worldwide flood and the dispersion of humanity after they had built a tower to reach heaven, God scaled back His primary focus to only one man - Abraham. God had even preached to him His hidden Good News:

 

·       And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you [your Offspring] shall all the nations be blessed.” (Galatians 3:8)

 

However, the Good News had been preceded by what seemed to be bad news. Abraham was commanded to sacrifice His beloved child Isaac as an offering to God. However, after following his God for more than 40 years and seeing how God had continued to rescue him, Abraham did as he was told. He knew that God would somehow rescue his beloved Isaac:

 

·       He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. (Hebrews 11:19)

 

Therefore, he and Isaac embarked upon a 3-day journey to the region of Moriah (Jerusalem) from his home in Beersheba, about a 50-mile trek.

 

 

Genesis 22:10–19 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.” And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven ¹⁶and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”

 

Does this account contain a hidden portrait of the love of God? What evidence do we see that God had revealed His hidden Gospel to Abraham?

 

God had asked Abraham to offer up his “only [begotten] son” Isaac as a burnt offering, a substitutionary atonement. But Abraham’s firstborn had been Ishmael. Therefore, we need to understand this terminology figuratively.

 

Jesus is also known as God’s “only begotten Son” (John 3:16; Psalm 2:5-7). He too had been offered as a “burnt offering,” as a substitutionary atonement for our sins. Both also had been restored to life, suggesting that Genesis was drawing a parallel between the two offerings.

 

This comparison is made even more clear in the name that Abraham had given to the mountain - “God will Provide.” This is odd. Shouldn’t Abraham have named Mt. Moriah, “God has Provided” to commemorate how God had intervened to save Isaac? Instead, Abraham had given it a prophetic name indicating that, on this mountain, God will provide Someone in line with Abraham’s offering of his “only son.” Israel also had recognized the prophetic rationale for this name and likewise named it, “On the Mount of the Lord It shall be Provided.”

 

What then must they have understood? The Angel of the Lord, who is later referred to as “Yahweh,” reiterated the promise, which had previously been made to Abraham:

 

·       “I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” (Genesis 22:17-18)

 

“Offspring” can refer to either one descendant or to many. The second and third time “offspring” is used here, it is referring to one individual referred to as “his.” It is through this offspring of God’s Son—the Messiah—that the nations would be blessed through. No wonder Jesus had revealed to the Pharisees:

 

·       “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad”…Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” (John 8:56, 58)

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Renewal of the Abrahamic Covenant

 

I am going out on a limb here, but I think that Jesus’ words also refer to Abraham’s prior encounter with “Yahweh” (Genesis 15:1, 4).

 

It had been 11 years since Abraham had departed from his family in Padan Aram to the Promised Land at the call and promise of God:

 

·       Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. (Genesis 12:7)

 

However, no offspring! Abraham’s faith had lapsed. He no longer trusted that God would provide Him with a son to be his heir. Therefore, he designated his trusted servant, Eliezer, as his heir, but God had other plans:

 

·       And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness. And he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates. (Genesis 15:5-18)

 

Abraham needed reassurance. Therefore, God directed him to prepare animals in order to make a covenant, a formal pledge that He would keep His Word. God would pass between the animal parts and pledge that He would keep His promise, lest the same fate would happen to Him as had happened to the dead animals. (See Jeremiah 34 for an example of covenant-making.)

 

However, this covenant-making ceremony was accompanied by surprises and anomolies:

 

·       Abraham would have to wait for God’s appearance. Meanwhile, he would also to drive away the vultures from devouring the dead animal parts.

·       During his sleep, “dreadful and great darkness fell upon him.” Why? He should have been celebrating this formal covenant renewal, right?

·       God’s promises take time to unfold. God warned that the Promised Land would not become a reality until after 400 years of painful bondage.

·       When God appeared, He manifested Himself as “a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch,” objects of wrath and anger, as He passed through the path laid out by the animal parts and pledged to keep His Word. However, against whom would God’s anger and wrath be directed?

 

Why the vultures, the “dreadful...darkness” and the wrath? It seems that this pledge was surrounded by threat, but threat of what? For Abraham, this renewed covenant should have been a celebration, but not for the covenant-maker! Why not? Perhaps He had been putting His signature on the dotted line of His own death, the wrath, which would be unleashed upon His own Son! Could this reflect the fact that all God’s promises must be fulfilled by the Cross:

·       For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. (2 Corinthians 1:20)

 

This brings us back to the central concern of Abraham – How could he be reassured that he would have his own promised child? God had already given His Word. Wasn’t this covenantal process simply a repeat of the same promise, or had something else been added to the promise? More must have been revealed to Abraham – perhaps even the revelation of God’s secret Gospel, which would cost Him dearly:

 

·       By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. (Hebrews 11:8–10)

 

What had Abraham been shown? Perhaps not just a Son but also the City of God – a City that depended upon the wrath poured out upon His Son Jesus:

 

·       And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” (Galatians 3:8)

 

At some point(s), Abraham had been shown the Messiah, and according to Jesus,  this had made him glad:

·       Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” (John 8:56)

 

 

THE ANGEL OF PENIEL

 

Jacob also had the hidden Gospel preached to him. He had been a master conniver. He had taken his brother Esau’s birthright as the firstborn son and then stolen his blessing from their father Isaac. As a result, he had to flee for his life to his uncle Laban from the angry Esau. In Laban, Jacob had encountered the father of all connivers. After serving Laban for 20 years for his two wives, two concubines, and great herds, Jacob escaped with all his possessions while Laban and his sons were out in the field – destination? Back to the Promised Land.

 

After Jacob heard that Esau was approaching with 400 armed men, Jacob quickly concocted a plan. He would divide his great company into three parts. The first group would be comprised of his least valuable people and animals. They would appease Esau with a generous gift from Jacob’s herds. The last group would contain his most valuable animals and family. It would be positioned on a hill where they would be able to see if Esau had attacked the first two groups. If so, Jacob would resort his #1 strategy - flight.

 

·       Now he arose that same night and took his two wives and his two maids and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream. And he sent across whatever he had. Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob's thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. Then he said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking." But he said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." So he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." He said, "Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed." Then Jacob asked him and said, "Please tell me your name." But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And he blessed him there. So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, "I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved." (Genesis 32:22-30)

 

This account is perplexing. We know nothing about:

 

·       Why the two got into a wrestling match?

·       Why Jacob wouldn’t let this “man” go until he received a blessing?

·       How Jacob knew that the “man” was capable of blessing him?

·       Why the name change to “Israel” (probably meaning that Jacob wrestled with God) represented a blessing?

·       How had Jacob wrestled with God and then prevailed?

·       When and how did Jacob know that he had been wrestling with God?

·       How was he able to prevail over God?

·       Should we too wrestle with God to receive His blessings.

 

In Hebrew thought, the name was intended to represent the essence of the person. Jacob—meaning “usurper”—had been so named because he was seen emerging after his twin brother Esau, holding his ankle, as if trying to usurp Esau’s status as the firstborn. Consequently, his name change to Israel was an improvement.

It seems that only gradually did Jacob realize that this “Man,” later referred to as an “Angel” or “Messenger” was actually God. The fact that he asked for the name of the “Man,” indicated that Jacob was catching on to the fact that this wasn’t an ordinally man. It therefore seems that the Man’s answer, “Why is it that you ask my name?," was as if to ask, “Don’t you realize yet who I am?”

 

But did Jacob do the right thing by wrestling with God, and should this be a model for us? No! Hosea answers that Jacob had once again done the wrong thing:

 

·       The Lord also has a dispute with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; He will repay him according to his deeds. In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his maturity he contended with God. Yes, he wrestled with the angel and prevailed. (Hosea 12:2-4)

 

Hosea also confirms that the angel was actually God! However, this raises other perplexing questions – How was Jacob able to prevail over God. Was God just having a bad day? There is only one possible answer – God allowed him to sinfully prevail over Him! But why? And why would God bless Him with a new name in the midst of his sin?

I think that this perplexity has only one answer, which ties all the pieces together. Our God wants to be known, even regarding what is most central to Him and His glorious plan—the Cross. However, He only reveals it to those who are seeking the truth of God.

 

God allowed Himself to be beaten to display His future revelation of grace to all who would come. From the Cross, the worst sin ever to be committed by humanity would come the greatest blessing to humanity and from the most unlikely place.

 

Am I simply reading this message into this otherwise bizarre account? How did Jacob understand it? Did he perceive the Good News? Before his death, his beloved son Joseph, who had been appointed by Pharaoh as his second rescued Jacob and his family from seven years of famine and proved for them an oasis from the drought under his protection in Egypt. Jacob was advanced in age and had become blind. Therefore, Joseph called upon this seasoned patriarch to bless him his and two sons:

 

·       He blessed Joseph, and said,

1.     "The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,

2.     The God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,

3.     The angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads.” (Genesis 48:15-16)

 

The word “bless” is in the singular! This means that Jacob regarded his two references to “God” and the one to the angel as one God. He also credited the angel for having “redeemed me from all evil.” To what must this redemption refer? To the evil of having wrestled with the angel. But Jacob mentions redemption “from all evil!” It wasn’t simply a matter of his life having been spared. Instead, he regarded the Angel as his redeemer.

 

Israel had also recognized that something weighty had also occurred. Jacob’s hip had been put out of joint. It seems that he had become permanently disabled:

 

·       The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip on the sinew of the thigh. (Genesis 32:31–32)

 

It is unthinkable that Israel wanted to merely remember Jacob for his infirmity. Evidently, they sensed that something greater had taken place, which had to be commemorated. Perhaps they too understood this account as God’s redemption. Perhaps also Israel understood that infirmity can serve as the harbinger of spiritual maturity.

 

This infirmity clearly had altered Jacob’s plans. He would now have to trust in God as he never had. Therefore, he was the first to approach his brother Esau and fell on his knees hoping for mercy. Esau, however, was more than merciful. Instead, he wanted to provide Jacob with an escort for his travels!

 

 

ISRAEL’S REBELLION

 

It was probably about a month after Israel’s exodus from Egypt and God’s miraculous deliverance of Israel by dividing the waters of the Red Sea that Israel rebelled again against their Savior:

 

·       Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, "Give us water, that we may drink." And Moses said to them, "Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the Lord?" And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and said, "Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?" So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, "What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me!" And the Lord said to Moses, "Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink." And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. So he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, "Is the Lord among us or not?" (Exodus 17:1-7)

 

Despite all He had already done for Israel, Israel was ready to kill Moses and had brought malicious accusations against their God. Therefore, Moses took his woes to God, who gave him some perplexing instructions. He directed Moses to take some of the elders and his staff and walk among the people until they reached the rock at Mt. Sinai.

 

For Israel, what did this symbolize? The charges they had made against God would now be given its day in court. The rod represented the judgments of God, which had been used to bring judgments against Egypt. Besides, God would “stand before” Israel as the defendant on trial for His faithlessness. As the defendant to be examined, He would also stand on the defendant’s rock and submit Himself to their unjust judgment.  Moses then symbolically struck Him down as he brought down his staff upon the rock where God was standing.

 

Instead of Israel being struck down because of their rebellion against the Lord, the Lord took the punishment they deserved. He then blessed them with what they needed most of all—water—but from the most unlikely place. 

 

Does this sound like the hidden Gospel? I often asked myself was I simply seeing what I wanted to see—God’s single design and plan throughout?  I don’t think so:

 

·       They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. (1 Corinthians 10:3-4) 

 

Approximately 38 years later, before the Israelites would enter the Promised Lord, the Israelites once again complained that there was no water. This time, God had directed that Moses simply speak to the rock instead of striking it. Instead, Moses struck the rock. Again, the water came forth, but God was angry at Moses for disobeying:

 

·       And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.” (Numbers 20:12)

 

Why such a stiff punishment? Moses seemingly had been faithful in every other respect. Why wouldn’t God simply forgive this one? For one thing, God’s leader is liable to a greater judgment:

·       Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. (James 3:1)

 

Moses had been the gold standard of faithfulness. His unfaithfulness would lead to rampant unfaithfulness within the congregation. Perhaps more importantly, Moses had undermined God’s holy purposes—His proclamation of His holy Gospel, the centerpiece of all His plans.

 

How? Exodus 17 illustrated that the Messiah would be struck down once and for all. However, Moses striking the rock in Numbers 20 illustrated another Gospel and another Christ who would have to be struck down to pay for Israel’s sins. Instead, it might have been God’s intention to demonstrate that once the Christ died for the sins of humanity, those who trusted in Him needed only to speak to Him.

 

 

Who could Live in the Presence of God

 

Israel couldn’t tolerate the presence of God. When the Law was given on Mt. Sinai, Israel was terrified:

·       Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” (Exodus 20:18–19)

 

Nor did God want the Israelites to enter His presence. Any Israelite would be struck dead if they entered His Temple. This is God’s world, and He has the right to set the rules, as Psalm 24 proclaims:

 

·       The earth is the Lord's, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein. For He has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the waters.

 

3Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord [“Yahweh”]?

Or who may stand in His holy place?

4He who has clean hands and a pure heart,

Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,

Nor sworn deceitfully.

5He shall receive blessing from the Lord,

And righteousness from the God of his salvation.  

Such people may seek you and worship in your presence, O God of Jacob. (NLT)

 

7Lift up your heads, O you gates!

And be lifted up, you everlasting doors!

And the King of glory shall come in.

 

8Who is this King of glory?

The Lord strong and mighty,

The Lord mighty in battle.

9Lift up your heads, O you gates!

Lift up, you everlasting doors!

And the King of glory shall come in.

 

10Who is this King of glory?

The Lord of hosts,

He is the King of glory. (Psalm 24:1-10)

 

I had found this Psalm and its sister Psalm 15 to be very depressing. Both demanded of me requirements that I couldn’t fulfill. How then could I believe that I would be able to savingly come in the presence of the Savior! I felt doomed until I could muster the courage to face this Psalm again and found that it presented another portrait of the hidden Gospel, the greatest News in the world!

 

I wasn’t the only one who was “depressed.” Even the gates into the Temple were drooping down. They seemingly had become impassable. Why? No one could be found who possessed the necessary qualifications to pass through the gates and into the presence of God to experience His mercy.

 

However, this was followed by two commands to the gates to be “lifted up” so that someone who did possess the qualifications could pass into the presence of God.

 

Consequently, the two “who” questions in verse 3 were later addressed by the two rhetorical questions in verses 8 and 10—"Who is this King of glory?” He could enter the presence of Yahweh! But who is He? The question is answered in verse 10— “The Lord [“Yahweh” in the Hebrew] of hosts, He is the King of glory.”

 

Only Yahweh possessed the needed qualifications. I suddenly realized that I was safe. The Lord of Hosts would pave the way before me. Only Yahweh could approach Yahweh.

 

The Apostle John faced a similar dilemma. No one could be found who had the qualifications to open God’s scroll to enable His plan to go forward:

 

·       And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?" And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it. So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it. But one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals." (Revelation 5:1-5)

 

Understandably, John wept! All was lost, at least until someone who had fulfilled the requirements arrived— “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David,” our Savior. I suspect that John’s weeping had now been replaced by tears of relief.

 

But why is the bible so often cryptic?  There are two major reasons. One involves the enemies of the Gospel, the other involves its friends:

 

• No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (1 Corinthians 2:7-8)  

 

Nor could Jesus’ disciples endure His Light:

 

•  “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” (John 16:12–13)

 

I too had been relieved, not only by the assurance that, if we have Christ, we have all we need (Colossians 2:8-10). These hidden portraits of the Gospel served as a great support to my faith. They provided evidence for the overall intelligent and coherent design of the Bible—a design which required one supreme intelligence. Why couldn’t or wouldn’t the various authors of the Hebrew Scriptures have conspired to implant these portraits into the Bible?

 

·       They were not motivated to do so.

·       At best, their readership would have regarded them as bizarre and unhelpful, at worst, absurd. (Like Jacob prevailing over God or God symbolically not striking down rebellious Israel)

·       All these accounts point cryptically towards a Gospel about which they had little understanding. Why then were they even included by the human authors? (Like Yahweh, the King of Glory, entering before Yahweh. What sense would that have made to the human authors?)

·       Conclusion—These accounts serve as evidence that they must have been authored from Above.

 

Besides, we are informed that the writers of the Hebrew Scriptures often didn’t understand what they had been writing:

·       Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. (1 Peter 1:10–12)

 

These verses confirm that the Bible had been authored by God, even though through human authors. Therefore, throughout the Scriptures we encounter one divine plan of love unifying the entire Bible in a way that human author could never have done.