The Prophecy

God has promised, since the day man fell, to send One, who would crush the works of the enemy. It is not God’s desire that man walks in the dark. He has given several ways, times, and events, that reveal his intentions.

He sent another man with a message for the people. The message was about the One, who God was sending.

God exalts this Person, and held him in high esteem. But, he is not someone the people would expect. He would be lowly in life. People would not esteem him. Indeed, people would even consider that he was rejected by God.

But the message specifically says that he was pierced, crushed, and struck down. All this, because of our sins, and transgressions. All of the punishment for our rebellion fell on him.

He did nothing wrong. He did not sin. So, he became the perfect sacrifice for sin. He became the complete sacrifice. When we give our allegiance to Jesus, and the Father, this sacrifice is credited to us. Our account is forever paid in full.

Our lives are changed, because our hearts are changed. Moving to, and growing with, our God-given design becomes full, and satisfying. Sin grows distasteful.

God’s heart is for love, joy, and peace. Sin leads to selfishness, misery, animosity, and commotion. Our relationship with Father is vital, central, and necessary to move us toward God’s heart for us. This act of service, and sacrifice, of this Person was the watershed moment of history. The ability of an individual to recognize it is the watershed moment of that person’s life.

The Song

There is a large section of the Bible, that is a collection of songs and poems. One of the more well-know poems is a comparison of God as a shepherd, and God’s people as sheep.

The writer, David, was a king of Israel. But growing up, he was a shepherd, responsible to watch, and care for, his family’s sheep. He knew what was necessary to care for sheep. He knew what they needed to be whole, and healthy. And he knew the bad habits, wrong attitudes, and mindsets of sheep. And how they got into trouble without a shepherd – a good shepherd – to watch over them.

Sheep need good, healthy grass. Sheep will destroy and entire meadow by eating every last morsel of plant life. The meadow will become a desert, and a wasteland. And the sheep will remain in the former meadow, looking in vain for anything green.

So, a wise shepherd will move the flock from place to place. This keeps the sheep well-fed, and the pasture land remains healthy.

Sheep need good, clean water. They will drink the water, but also use it as a lavatory. So, the shepherd needs to encourage the former, and – to keep the flock healthy – discourage the latter.

Sheep also need still water. Apparently, sheep frighten easily. They have been know to stampede, if while they are drinking, a sudden gust of wind causes ripples on the water. (I seem to remember someone saying that sheep can be frightened, when they go to drink, and they see their reflection in the water.) If the sheep scatter out of fear, the shepherd needs to track them down, repair any damage they do to themselves in their panic, and gather them together again. All sorts of damage, and problems, can occur, because of panicked reactions.

The poem goes on to underscore disease prevention, and treatment, protection from enemies, and maintaining the environment. In all of these situations, it is the presence, and the actions, of the shepherd that make the difference between life and death. Safety, peace, and security as opposed to disaster. Health and wholeness as opposed to pain, disease, and suffering.

Like sheep, people are designed to function better, when they are in relationship to the Shepherd. We need to move, while in connection, and communication, with our Shepherd. Itg is best if we think, speak, and act, in ways that do not disrupt the connection, but rather enhances the connection.

The Sacrificial System

Scripture says that sin breaks the relationship between God and man. People are unable to live out their design. Sin degrades the meaning, and significance, of man’s life. The God-man relationship, which is the main, and essential, factor for meaning and significance is broken.

The Old Covenant said: if someone sins, when they recognize the sin, they should offer a sacrifice to repair the broken God-man relationship.

People sin. Sometimes intentionally. Sometimes unintentionally. But intention does not matter. Any sin breaks the relationship between God and man.

These sacrifices show the seriousness of sin, and the broken relationship. A sacrifice should be made for each sin. And sacrifice is costly. But it is not God’s final solution.

In the Old Covenant, sacrifice was God’s method of dealing with sin. But sacrifice only covers sin. It only hides sin. Man’s sacrifice is not strong enough to satisfy God’s justice. Man’s sacrifice cannot remove sin.

If man’s sacrifice was sufficient, it would completely, and permanently, meet God’s requirements. But, both the giver and the gift are imperfect. But, there is God’s final solution.

NOTE: God gave the Law to reveal to people the completeness of sin. In other words, people cannot say: “Yes, I mess up in this area, but I do pretty good in these areas, and I’m really good in these areas.” In reality, we are broken in all areas.

God gave the sacrificial system to reveal to people the extent of sin. In other words, people cannot say: “Yes, I sin in all areas, but only a little.” In reality, we sin more than we realize, and, certainly, more than we admit.

The Law

God’s people have fled a natural disaster to a land of refuge. Then, they left that land, which became a land of oppression, after the Lord delivered them. Then, they returned to the land given to them, to build God’s family.

God brings them to a mountain, where they will stay for a time. They will prepare to enter into a covenant with God.

A covenant is similar to a contract. But it is different, in that a contract is based on legal penalties. A covenant is based on promises. Marriage is the most commonly understood covenant. And it is becoming more like a contract, because of pre-nuptial agreements. But, covenants are based on the character of those keeping the covenant. So, God is eternally faithful, and completely, and totally, honest. He will always keep his promises. He will always uphold his covenants.

People not so much.

Even when people enter covenants sincerely, fully intending to keep them, they cannot always do it. Circumstances often work against them. They are simply not strong enough, no matter how hard they try.

The covenant that Israel entered into, with God on that mountain, was based on their desire to follow God, and their agreement to follow his Law.

God’s Law falls into two basic parts. One, to honor, and worship, the one true God alone, above all other gods. Two, to honor other people in thought, word, and deed. And no matter our good intentions, and desires, no one — not Israel, not us — has successfully completed that covenant. There are passages in the Bible, where the writers explain that this covenant was made to demonstrate our failure to keep it. It was made to show our need for another, different kind of covenant.

God Illustrates the Plan #2

The family of the man and woman began to grow. But, while it was still relatively small, the needed to move to Egypt for refuge, because of a natural disaster.

And, because God warned the family about the natural disaster, the family was able to warn the nation of refuge, who were then able to prepare.

But, after a time, the family grew to nation size, and “what have you done for me lately?” was a popular mind set, even back then. So, the nation of refuge began to view the family/nation as a threat. And the nation of refuge became the nation of oppression.

So, God’s family/nation began to seek his help. And God acted. He began to show that he was superior to this nation, to their gods, to their king, and their army, by a series of disasters. Culminating in death going to each household, that did not identify with God, by using a sign that God specified. The blood of a sacrificed lamp on the door, marked those who identified with God.

And God inaugurated the first holiday for this family/nation. Each year, they were to set aside time to remember the oppression, and God’s extraordinary acts of deliverance.

The family/nation was in a position of being slowly, but surely, destroyed. If they acted on their own, they would have only accelerated the destruction. They were helpless, and hopeless.

God’s motivation, intention, and plan is to bring peace, joy, and love to the peoples of the world. Ultimately, this means restoring his original plan, and people’s relationship with him.

This is another picture. God delivering the helpless, and hopeless, when they identified with God, through the blood of a lamb — a substitute.

God Illustrates the Plan #1

So, the man and his wife moved to the land God directed them to. And, after many years, the man and the woman had a son.

And God told the man, that he would build his family through this son. Through the son’s children, God would produce the people group to represent him. Through the son’s children, God would produce that one person, who would become the way, and means, to a restored relationship between God and man.

But then, God commanded the man to offer his son as a burnt offering.

This must have been very confusing. God says it’s wrong to kill the innocent. God says this boy will be the start of a large people group, and the ancestor of God’s Savior. And God says, give this boy as an offering.

Did God lie?

It is against God’s nature to lie. So, the man believed God’s promise. And he believed God’s command. So, how could God create a family, and a people, through this boy, if he was sacrificed? It says in another part of Scripture, that the man knew God created the world. If the boy was killed, as a sacrifice, and his body burned, God was able to re-assemble his atoms, and breather life into the boy. In short, God could keep his promise, and he could obey the command, because God would restore him from the dead.

So, he acted to obey God. And when the son asked, why didn’t they have a lamb for the sacrifice, the man responded that God would provide.

But, instead of raising the dead, God told the man to stop, just in time. And he provided a ram for the sacrifice.

Sometimes, God’s commands are difficult to obey. God never contradicts his Word. God will never command sin. He will only command what will complete his design, and give life. Scripture says that love fulfills his commands. So, he will only command what shows love.

Sometimes, God’s commands are difficult to obey. But people are able to obey them. People will always be better off, if they obey them. And the world will be better if people obey God’s commands.

NOTE: Throughout history, God gave pictures of his heart for people. Here the picture of man, who rebels against God, and his ways. Each one will pay with his life for that rebellion. Except God provides a substitute. The substitute is sufficient to meet the requirements of God’s justice, and the depth of man’s helplessness. He gives us his sufficiency.

The Start of the Solution

Then, God begins a plan to rebuild his family. A plan that will take thousands of years to complete.

God chooses a man to begin his family. He sends the man, and his immediate family, to a place far from his birth family. He sends them far away, so his birth family would not have a controlling effect on what he will do.

God tells the man that his family will become a large people group. And this people group will bless all people groups everywhere.

God intends that this people group will represent him, and demonstrate who he is. The world will see the nature of the one Creator God in this people group. And from this people, God will produce a man, who will be the bridge between God and man. This man will enable all mankind to move back to a restored relationship with Father.

God is able to build this bridge. And the man will be able to cross it. The relationship that defines what life was intended to be, and what man was designed to be, can, and will be, rebuilt.

In reality, we see that the people does a pretty poor job of demonstrating who Father is. They fail, because they are broken, like all people are broken.

But, they do produce God’s bridge. The man, who by his life, and his choices, enables all mankind to have restored relationships with the Father.