Continuing with out thought.
Paul is the writer of this Epistle of Hebrews, Paul is going to appeal to his Jewish-Christian readers or listeners - that on the basis of all the Old Testament Patriarchs, it’s always been by trusting God's faithfulness. Always. Well what was the basis of salvation back in the Old Testament? It’s always been by trust. Not faith plus nothing, like we have today in this Age of Grace, but it was always based on their trusting, first and foremost. Many of them though the Bible does not in so many words say it knew God. It reveals that they talked with Him and they walked with Him and these are figurative expressions of a relationship with Him, they knew Him. And so this great chapter 11 is a review of the trusting relationship of these Old Testament people by which we learn. When we have a right relationship with someone we start by what? Trusting them and after time that trust becomes faith because the party we are trusting proves to be trustworthy, he is faithful and does what he promises, when they promise.
I think before we go any further, that we’ll flip back to Romans chapter 15 - and I like to use a verse like this just to show that we cannot come into some of these Old Testament portions, or into an Epistle like Hebrews for example, and find the plan of salvation and lead someone to the Lord. Looking at the Epistles of James, Peter, and John, they too were all predominately to Jewish-Christians ei..believers. You can’t go into one of those letters and find the plan of salvation and lead someone to the Lord - it’s next to impossible because it’s not in them.
As I’ve said from day one, the plan of salvation isn’t in the Epistle of Hebrews; and it’s not in the Old Testament. You have to go to Paul to find that. But, look what Paul says in Romans chapter 15 verse 4, and this is the whole crux of the idea. This is the heart of why we study all of the Scriptures even though we pick up our basic tenets of doctrines from Paul. We're to ‘learn.’ Remember also that true Christianity is Christ and that Christ is Christianity or God expressing of Himself through the person and ontological essence of Christ. Who is restored to the receiving believer by faith. Guess that I should say this much of what we've been sharing comes from such teachers as Major W. Ian Thomas, Andrew Murry, William Law and from our present day, Les Feldick (from whom much of this study outline came), and James A. Fowler of Christ In You Ministries.
Romans 15:4a
"For whatsoever things were written aforetime (in the Old Testament, they) were written for our learning,…"
Because even though we are saved by trusting plus nothing, yet our trust has to rest on all that’s gone before and so in order to have a good understanding of what you believe, you have to go back to the beginning and see how all of this has progressed up through human history and so this is why Paul says, "all these things were written for our learning." So that you’ll know why you believe what you believe. As it is all foundational in that it reveals Christ throughout and if we don't see Christ in it then we've fallen short in some way and we're to examine ourselves to find out why and where. So repeating the verse again:
Romans 15:4
"For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope."
That’s the whole purpose then, of studying all these Hebrew portions of our Bible. When our eyes are opened we begin to see how God throughout has revealed both His nature and character as He does what only He has right to do. And how that He never steps outside His character to do what He does. For even Jesus as the expressed image of God never violated God's character in word or action. All right, come back to Hebrews chapter 11 and we’ll move on. And now it’s by faith then in verse 24:
Hebrews 11:24a
"By faith Moses, when he was come to years,…"
Now we in the English-speaking world, with our Western mindset, we immediately think of what age? Twenty-one years old. But it wasn’t 21 in the case of Moses - it was 40. When Moses was 40 years old, after having spent those first 40 years in the house of Pharaoh (as Pharaoh’s daughter, remember, picked him up out of the river Nile and named him). Forty years he had been living as a son of Pharaoh. Now again, we’ve got to go back to Acts chapter 7, that great dissertation by Stephen who was filled of the Holy Spirit to do what, bear witness ei...testimony of Christ.
Stephen picks up with things that were left out in the Old Testament account, he like Paul and others quotes from the LXX of the Septuagint, and that’s why we have to look at some of these other portions. Acts chapter 7 verse 20. And remember Stephen is rehearsing all this to the Nation of Israel, which of course, they’re going to reject and they’re going to stone him by the time we get to the end of the chapter. There second time of rejecting Christ Jesus and the kingdom (spiritual) offered them. NOT a physical kingdom restored but rather a spiritual or supernatural kingdom restored. But here’s what he says:
Acts 7:20-21
"In which time (that is after the Pharaohs and after Joseph had died) Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, (we covered that in a previous verse) and nourished up in his father’s house three months: (his legitimate parents) And when he was cast out, (that is in the little ark or basket in the river Nile) Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son."
Now look at verse 22, as a son of Pharaoh’s daughter, living in the palace:
Acts 7:22
"And Moses was learned (educated) in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds."
You’ve heard me say this over and over - in antiquity, Egypt was the United States of that period of time. Egypt was the consumer nation of antiquity. Egypt was the high point of civilization. Even in its Idolatress worship of its many gods. You see Moses isn’t stuck in some antiquated, pagan, uncivilized society - it’s a thriving economy and a very Religious pagan society. They’re building, they’ve got tremendous military; and for their day and time, they were the innovators and the scientists - you see the Scripture tells us that Moses was educated in all of that. He had everything going for him. On top of being the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, he's got all of the perks that went with it. The lifestyle, the sumptuous living, the banqueting, the beautiful women, just like our pro athlete’s today - you know, there’s nothing withheld from them nor was anything with held from him.
It was no different back there, probably even more so. And so Moses had all of this at his disposal. Non-Scripture information tells us that he was probably even a civil engineer - they think Moses was probably one of the ‘movers and shakers’ of building some of the cities of Egypt as the Hebrews were the labor force and it was forced labor. He was a tremendous individual. All right, now come back to Hebrews and I’m doing all this to show that Moses turned his back on it all. Even as we're to do the same, that is the meaning of the cross and our death to the world and the spirit of the world that drives it. Even though God over sees all things. In other words He allows it as it serves His ultimate end and purpose. All right, chapter 11 verse 24:
Hebrews 11:24-25
"By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;"
No comments:
Post a Comment