TRIAL BY FIRE

Trial by Fire

Read: James 1:1–12
Bible in a Year: Judges 7–8; Luke 5:1–16

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life. —James 1:12

Last winter while visiting a natural history museum in Colorado, I learned some remarkable facts about the aspen tree. An entire grove of slender, white-trunked aspens can grow from a single seed and share the same root system. These root systems can exist for thousands of years whether or not they produce trees. They sleep underground, waiting for fire, flood, or avalanche to clear a space for them in the shady forest. After a natural disaster has cleared the land, aspen roots can sense the sun at last. The roots send up saplings, which become trees.

For aspens, new growth is made possible by the devastation of a natural disaster. James writes that our growth in faith is also made possible by difficulties. “Consider it pure joy,” he writes, “whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2-4).

It’s difficult to be joyful during trials, but we can take hope from the fact that God will use difficult circumstances to help us reach maturity. Like aspen trees, faith can grow in times of trial when difficulty clears space in our hearts for the light of God to touch us. —Amy Peterson

Thank You, God, for being with us in our trials, and for helping us to grow through difficult circumstances.

Trials and tests can draw us closer to Christ.

INSIGHT: James says trials will reveal whether our faith is genuine (James 1:3), and will strengthen and mature us (v. 4). The apostle Paul also believed that suffering is beneficial. He said, “we can rejoice . . . when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment” (Rom. 5:3-5 nlt). Read James 1:12 and consider what’s in store for those who endure testing through faith in Jesus. Sim Kay Tee

BEARING GOOD FRUIT

Bearing Good Fruit

Read: Psalm 1:1–3
Bible in a Year: Judges 4–6; Luke 4:31–44

That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season.—Psalm 1:3

The view from my airplane window was striking: a narrow ribbon of ripening wheat fields and orchards wending between two barren mountains. Running through the valley was a river—life-giving water, without which there would be no fruit.

Just as a bountiful harvest depends on a source of clean water, the quality of the “fruit” in my life—my words, actions, and attitude—depends on my spiritual nourishment. The psalmist describes this in Psalm 1: The person “whose delight is in the law of the Lord . . . is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season” (vv. 1-3). And Paul writes in Galatians 5 that those who walk in step with the Spirit are marked by “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (vv. 22-23).

Sometimes my perspective on my circumstances turns sour, or my actions and words become persistently unkind. There is no good fruit, and I realize I haven’t spent time being quiet before the words of my God. But when the rhythm of my days is rooted in reliance on Him, I bear good fruit. Patience and gentleness characterize my interactions with others; it’s easier to choose gratitude over complaint.

The God who has revealed Himself to us is our source of strength, wisdom, joy, understanding, and peace (Ps. 119:28, 98, 111, 144, 165). As we steep our souls in the words that point us to Him, the work of God’s Spirit will be evident in our lives. —Peter Chin

God’s Spirit lives in His people, in order to work through them.

INSIGHT: This pictorial psalm with its word imagery is a suitable introduction for the entire library of prayer, praise, and reflection we know as the book of Psalms. In contrast to “the world” is the believer’s joy and pursuit of gleaning gems of spiritual truth in the Word of God. The law of the Lord is his object of meditation. The Hebrew word for meditate means to “digest over and over again like a cow who chews its cud.” This is a spiritual preoccupation that draws the believer to the Word both day and night (v. 2). The analogy of a “tree planted by streams of water” (v. 3) pictures for us the life-giving water and nutrients of the soil that cause plant life to flourish. The result of a life so rooted in the Word is the overflow of fruitfulness. Dennis Fisher

IMAGE MANAGEMENT

Image Management

Read: Isaiah 43:1–9
Bible in a Year: Judges 1–3; Luke 4:1–30

You are precious and honored in my sight, and . . . I love you.—Isaiah 43:4

To celebrate Winston Churchill’s eightieth birthday, the British parliament commissioned artist Graham Sutherland to paint a portrait of the celebrated statesman. “How are you going to paint me?” Churchill reportedly asked the artist: “As a cherub, or the Bulldog?” Churchill liked these two popular perceptions of him. Sutherland, however, said he would paint what he saw.

Churchill was not happy with the results. Sutherland’s portrait had Churchill slumped in a chair wearing his trademark scowl—true to reality, but hardly flattering. After its official unveiling, Churchill hid the painting in his cellar. It was later secretly destroyed.

Like Churchill, most of us have an image of ourselves we want others to have of us also—whether of success, godliness, beauty, or strength. We can go to great lengths to conceal our “ugly” sides. Perhaps deep down we fear we won’t be loved if the real us is known.

When the Israelites were taken captive by Babylon, they were seen at their worst. Because of their sins, God allowed their enemies to conquer them. But He told them not to fear. He knew them by name, and He was with them in every humiliating trial (Isa. 43:1-2). They were secure in His hands (v. 13) and “precious” to Him (v. 4). Despite their ugliness, God loved them.

We will find ourselves less motivated to seek the approval of others when such a truth truly sinks in. God knows the real us and still loves us immeasurably (Eph. 3:18). —Sheridan Voysey

God’s deep love means we can be real with others.

INSIGHT: It’s not easy to accept our own failures. This may be one reason the God of Israel wanted His people to remember Him as the God of Jacob—their deeply flawed national patriarch. The prophet Isaiah called them by the new name the Lord had given their father Jacob. He called them “Israel,” a people He had made and redeemed for Himself, so He could show the whole world what it means to have a God who loves us in spite of our failures. Mart DeHaan

EAST MEETS WEST

East Meets West

Read: Romans 14:1–12
Bible in a Year: Joshua 22–24; Luke 3

Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? —Romans 14:4

When students from Southeast Asia met a teacher from North America, the visiting instructor learned a lesson. After giving his class their first multiple-choice test, he was surprised to find many questions left unanswered. While handing back the corrected papers, he suggested that, next time, instead of leaving answers blank they should take a guess. Surprised, one of the students raised their hand and asked, “What if I accidentally get the answer right? I would be implying that I knew the answer when I didn’t.” The student and teacher had a different perspective and practice.

In the days of the New Testament, Jewish and Gentile converts were coming to Christ with perspectives as different as East and West. Before long they were disagreeing over matters as diverse as worship days and what a Christ-follower is free to eat or drink. The apostle Paul urged them to remember an important fact: None of us is in a position to know or judge the heart of another.

For the sake of harmony with fellow believers, God urges us to realize that we are all accountable to our Lord, to act according to His Word and our conscience. However, He alone is in a position to judge the attitudes of our heart (Rom. 14:4-7). —Mart DeHaan

Father in heaven, please have mercy on us for presuming to judge the heart of those who see so many things differently than we do.

Be slow to judge others but quick to judge yourself.

INSIGHT: When we find ourselves in a position where we disagree with other Christians, it’s good to remember that God has given us room to disagree and help for how to handle our differing opinions. We can find such help in today’s text. How has knowing Scripture helped you to deal with conflicts? J.R. Hudberg

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NOT THE ONE

Not the One

Read: 1 Chronicles 17:1–4, 16–25
Bible in a Year: Joshua 19–21; Luke 2:25–52

Do as you promised, so that it will be established and that your name will be great forever.—1 Chronicles 17:23–24

David had drawn up the plans. He designed the furniture. He collected the materials. He made all the arrangements (see 1 Chron. 28:11-19). But the first temple built in Jerusalem is known as Solomon’s Temple, not David’s.

For God had said, “You are not the one” (1 Chron. 17:4). God had chosen David’s son Solomon to build the temple. David’s response to this denial was exemplary. He focused on what God would do, instead of what he himself could not do (vv. 16-25). He maintained a thankful spirit. He did everything he could and rallied capable men to assist Solomon in building the temple (see 1 Chron. 22).

Bible commentator J. G. McConville wrote: “Often we may have to accept that the work which we would dearly like to perform in terms of Christian service is not that for which we are best equipped, and not that to which God has in fact called us. It may be, like David’s, a preparatory work, leading to something more obviously grand.”

David sought God’s glory, not his own. He faithfully did all he could for God’s temple, laying a solid foundation for the one who would come after him to complete the work. May we, likewise, accept the tasks God has chosen for us to do and serve Him with a thankful heart! Our loving God is doing something “more obviously grand.” —Poh Fang Chia

Father, we want our hopes and dreams and our hearts to align with Yours. Teach us to praise You when we are tempted to doubt Your goodness.

God may conceal the purpose of His ways, but His ways are not without purpose.

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HIS WONDERFUL FACE

His Wonderful Face

Read: 1 Chronicles 16:8–27
Bible in a Year: Joshua 16–18; Luke 2:1–24

Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. —1 Chronicles 16:11

My four-year-old son is full of questions, and chatters constantly. I love talking with him, but he’s developed an unfortunate habit of talking to me even when his back is turned. I often find myself saying, “I can’t hear you—please look at me when you’re talking.”

Sometimes I think God wants to say the same thing to us—not because He can’t hear us, but because we can tend to talk to Him without really “looking” at Him. We pray, but we remain caught up in our own questions and focused on ourselves, forgetting the character of the One we’re praying to. Like my son, we ask questions without paying attention to the person we’re talking to.

Many of our concerns are best addressed by reminding ourselves of who God is and what He has done. By simply refocusing, we find comfort in what we know of His character: that He is loving, forgiving, sovereign, graceful.

The psalmist believed we ought to seek God’s face continually (Ps. 105:4). When David appointed leaders for worship and prayer, he encouraged the people to praise God’s character and tell stories of His past faithfulness (1 Chron. 16:8-27).

When we turn our eyes toward the beautiful face of God, we can find strength and comfort that sustain us even in the midst of unanswered questions. —Amy Peterson

Lord, let the light of Your face shine upon us.

Our Daily Bread welcomes writer Amy Peterson! Meet Amy and all our authors at odb.org/all-authors.

Seeking the face of God can strengthen our faith.

INSIGHT: The Israelites worshiped the Lord around the ark of the covenant. To commemorate the ark’s return, David composed a song of worship for the occasion. This song exalts God’s power and celebrates His presence. David calls on the people to “seek his face always” (1 Chron. 16:11) and to fear and worship Him (vv. 25, 29-30). What does it mean for you “to seek his face always”? Sim Kay Tee

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CRADLED IN COMFORT

Cradled in Comfort

Read: Isaiah 66:12–16
Bible in a Year: Joshua 13–15; Luke 1:57–80

As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you.—Isaiah 66:13

My friend entrusted me with the privilege of holding her precious, four-day-old daughter. Not long after I took the baby into my arms, she started to fuss. I hugged her closer, my cheek pressed against her head, and began to sway and hum in a gentle rhythm to soothe her. Despite these earnest attempts, and my decade and a half of parenting experience, I couldn’t pacify her. She became increasingly upset until I placed her back into the crook of her mother’s eager arm. Peace washed over her almost instantaneously; her cries subsided and her newborn frame relaxed into the safety she already trusted. My friend knew precisely how to hold and pat her daughter to alleviate her distress.

God extends comfort to His children like a mother: tender, trustworthy, and diligent in her efforts to calm her child. When we are weary or upset, He carries us affectionately in His arms. As our Father and Creator, He knows us intimately. He “will keep in perfect peace all who trust in [him], all whose thoughts are fixed on [him]” (Isa. 26:3 nlt).

When the troubles of this world weigh heavy on our hearts, we can find comfort in the knowledge that He protects and fights for us, His children, as a loving parent. —Kirsten Holmberg

Lord, help me to look to You for my comfort in times of distress.

For help in finding God’s comfort, read The Lord Is My Shepherd: Rest and Renewal from Psalm 23 at discoveryseries.org/hp952.

God’s comfort soothes us perfectly.  

INSIGHT: In reflecting on the exile of Israel under divine discipline, the prophet Isaiah offers hope and comfort. He sees very clearly that “the Holy One of Israel” and the Creator of all things in heaven and earth are connected. Israel had a wayward heart that is characteristic of the human race. Yet the ultimate goal of Israel’s discipline was to secure their repentance and therefore a future blessing in the eternal covenant established with His people. Certainly God’s plan for Israel’s redemption included an unexpected impulse of divine grace extended to all the peoples of the world—from every tribe, tongue, and nation: “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb” (Rev. 7:9). Dennis Fisher

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THEISTIC EVOLUTION: GOOD TEACHING EDIFIES; BAD TEACHING DESTROYS

THEISTIC EVOLUTION: GOOD TEACHING EDIFIES; BAD TEACHING DESTROYS

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Paul had warned that just a little morsel of bad teaching can undermine the church:

∑       You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you.  A little leaven leavens the whole lump. (Galatians 5:7-9; 1 Cor. 5:6)

He later illustrated this. Destructive teaching can spread like gangrene:

∑       But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. (2 Timothy 2:16-17)

There are many examples of this. For example, universalism, the belief that all will be saved (even if they have to undergo post-death purging), has become fantastically popular among church millennials. However, this one idea can undermine the entirety of Biblical doctrine. After all, if all will be saved, why evangelize, study the Bible, live obediently, and even trust in the Lord. All of the Bible’s teachings are thereby corrupted.

A less obvious culprit is Theistic Evolution (TE), the belief that the Biblical God had created through evolution. However, we immediately see that this conflicts with the creation account, which teaches that God had spoken everything into existence.

How then does TE explain away the many apparent contradictions? By simply claiming that Genesis does not teach history but spirituality and theology. Taking their analysis one step further, TE asserts that the Bible, errantly influenced by Ancient Near-Eastern cosmology, is mistaken in its historical assertions. However, this doesn’t matter since the Bible isn’t really concerned about history but theology.

However, this also undermines Scripture and our obedience to the Word of God. If Genesis 1-11 is mistaken about history, why not also the history of the rest of the Bible? If these chapters aren’t fully God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16-17), what reason do we have to believe that the rest of the Bible is historically accurate?

Consequently, the Bible is seriously degraded. However, this problem is greatly multiplied by the fact that theology cannot be separated from history. For example, without the history of the Cross, there cannot be a theology of the Cross. If Christ didn’t historically die for our sins, then we still bear them.

More specifically, if Genesis 1-11 is not historically accurate, the theology of the Bible cannot stand. Jesus had based His teaching on divorce on the historicity of the creation account:

∑       He [Jesus] answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female [quoting Gen. 1:26 as actual history], and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’ [quoting Gen. 2:24 as actual history]? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” (Matthew 19:4-6)

Had God not historically joined them together, divorce would not contradict what God had historically accomplished.

Similarly, Peter argued that we need to take seriously God’s promise of a future judgment, basing this on the fact that God had historically judged:

∑       For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly…then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment. (2 Peter 2:4-9)

Peter’s conclusion about the future judgment depends upon the historicity of God’s former judgments. Had they simply been parables teaching a spiritual lesson, then it would be reasonable to conclude that the promised future judgment is also nothing more than a parable.

The entire NT regards Genesis 1-11 as historical. Therefore, to deny the historicity of Genesis is also to deny the NT commentaries on Genesis.

However, TE problems do not stop here. While to deny history is to deny theology, it is also to deny any degree of certainty about our interpretations of the Bible. History grounds interpretation. If a worldwide flood did take place which destroyed the entire human race except Noah and his immediate family, this account says something concrete about the extent of sin and God’s hatred and judgment of it.

If, instead, this event did not take place, everything that it teaches remains in the darkness of uncertainty. Does God really hate sin, or is this a parable to merely scare humanity into conformity to a benign Santa Claus God? Does God judge? Perhaps not?

Historical context provides the necessary guidance to accurately interpret Scripture. Without this guidance, any interpretation is possible. Without the interpretive clarity, which the historical context provides, the TE is left without confidence. Without confidence, cultural norms fill the vacuum and become authoritative.

Consequently, it seems that TEs have been influenced in a “progressive” direction. To demonstrate this, I have often asked them, online, if they do not agree with same-sex marriage. Never has any of them gone on record to write that they do not agree with it. While they claim that they still believe in the basics of Christian teachings, their claims always seem insubstantial.

Nor do they admit that by denying the historicity of Genesis, they have placed their lives on a slippery slope. Instead, they have bitten into the bait, and it is too alluring to allow them to see its long range implications.

I grieve deeply. My only consolation is in the words of our Savior:

∑       My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. (John 10:27-28)

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WHAT ARE YOU KNOWN FOR?

What Are You Known For?

Read: Hebrews 11:23–28
Bible in a Year: Joshua 10–12; Luke 1:39–56

[Moses] regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.—Hebrews 11:26

A memorial stone stands in the grounds of a former Japanese prison camp in China where a man died in 1945. It reads, “Eric Liddell was born in Tianjin of Scottish parents in 1902. His career reached its peak with his gold medal victory in the 400 metres event at the 1924 Olympic Games. He returned to China to work in Tianjin as a teacher. . . . His whole life was spent encouraging young people to make their best contributions to the betterment of mankind.”

In the eyes of many, Eric’s greatest achievement was on the sports field. But he is also remembered for his contribution to the youth of Tianjin in China, the country where he was born and that he loved. He lived and served by faith.

What will we be remembered for? Our academic achievements, job position, or financial success may get us recognized by others. But it is the quiet work we do in the lives of people that will live long after we are gone.

Moses is remembered in the faith chapter of the Bible, Hebrews 11, as someone who chose to align himself with the people of God instead of enjoying the treasures of Egypt (v. 26). He led and served God’s people by faith. —C. P. Hia

Ask God to show you how you can make a difference in the lives of others. For what would you like to be remembered?

Faithfulness to God is true success.

INSIGHT: Hebrews 11 remembers a group of men and women who were a lot like us. They all had their flaws. Yet all of them are referred to as people of faith who eventually were made “perfect”—“together with us” (v. 40). Why would the author of Hebrews remember people like Moses, Rahab, and David as being people of faith who became perfect together with us? Part of the answer is that the letter to the Hebrews sees Jesus as the Savior who offers sinners like us perfect (complete, full, and restored) relationship and total forgiveness and reconciliation with God. In other words, Jesus offers His own perfect standing with the Father to all who put their faith in Him. A deeply flawed Moses is remembered for his faith in the God who gives us a heart for others by showing how much we are loved. Mart DeHaan

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REFRESHING SPRING RAINS

Refreshing Spring Rains

Read: Hosea 6:1–4
Bible in a Year: Joshua 7–9; Luke 1:21–38

He will come to us like the . . . spring rains that water the earth.—Hosea 6:3

Needing a break, I went for a walk in the nearby park. As I headed down the path, a burst of green caught my attention. Out of the mud appeared shoots of life that in a few weeks would be cheerful daffodils, heralding spring and the warmth to come. We had made it through another winter!

As we read through the book of Hosea, it can feel in parts like an unrelenting winter. For the Lord gave this prophet the unenviable task of marrying an unfaithful woman as a picture of the Creator’s love for His people Israel (1:2-3). Hosea’s wife, Gomer, broke their wedding vows, but Hosea welcomed her back, yearning that she would love him devotedly (3:1-3). So too the Lord desires that we love Him with a strength and commitment that won’t evaporate like the morning mist.

How do we relate to God? Do we seek Him mainly in times of trouble, searching for answers in our distress but ignoring Him during our seasons of celebration? Are we like the Israelites, easily swayed by the idols of our age, including such things as busyness, success, and influence?

Today, may we recommit ourselves to the Lord, who loves us as surely as the flowers bud in the spring. —Amy Boucher Pye

Lord Jesus, You gave Yourself that we might be free. Help us to love You wholeheartedly.

Though we may be unfaithful to God, He will never turn from us.

INSIGHT: The message of the prophet Hosea is as powerful as it is persistent. His book is situated first among the Minor Prophets and is one of the oldest books in this section of the Scriptures. Hosea lived and ministered in the northern kingdom about a generation before the Assyrian captivity in 722 bc. The message of Hosea mirrors the message of the entire Bible. By commanding Hosea to marry a prostitute, endure her unfaithfulness, and buy her back out of her life of prostitution, God illustrates for Israel His message of love, mercy, and forgiveness. God’s offer of redemption despite our waywardness permeates all of Scripture. How does knowing that God offers redemption despite our sin encourage you? Discover how Hosea’s life mirrored God’s message to His people. Listen to discovertheword.org/2012/05/23/discover-how-hoseas-life-mirrored-gods-message-to-his-people. Dennis Moles

RUNNING AND REST

Running and Rest

Read: Mark 6:30–46
Bible in a Year: Joshua 4–6; Luke 1:1–20

[Jesus] said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”—Mark 6:31

The headline caught my eye: “Rest Days Important for Runners.” In Tommy Manning’s article, the former member of the U.S. Mountain Running Team emphasized a principle that dedicated athletes sometimes ignore—the body needs time to rest and rebuild after exercise. “Physiologically, the adaptations that occur as a result of training only happen during rest,” Manning wrote. “This means rest is as important as workouts.”

The same is true in our walk of faith and service. Regular times of rest are essential to avoid burnout and discouragement. Jesus sought spiritual balance during His life on Earth, even in the face of great demands. When His disciples returned from a strenuous time of teaching and healing others, “He said to them, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest’” (Mark 6:31). But a large crowd followed them, so Jesus taught them and fed them with only five loaves and two fish (vv. 32-44). When everyone was gone, Jesus “went up on a mountainside to pray” (v. 46).

If our lives are defined by work, then what we do becomes less and less effective. Jesus invites us to regularly join Him in a quiet place to pray and get some rest. —David McCasland

Lord Jesus, thank You for Your example of prayer alone with Your Father. Give us wisdom and determination to make rest a priority as we follow You.

In our life of faith and service, rest is as important as work.

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A SMALL FIRE

A Small Fire

Read: James 3:3–12
Bible in a Year: Joshua 1–3; Mark 16

The tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.—James 3:5

It was a Sunday night in September and most people were sleeping when a small fire broke out in Thomas Farriner’s bakery on Pudding Lane. Soon the flames spread from house to house and London was engulfed in the Great Fire of 1666. Over 70,000 people were left homeless by the blaze that leveled four-fifths of the city. So much destruction from such a small fire!

The Bible warns us of another small but destructive fire. James was concerned about lives and relationships, not buildings, when he wrote, “The tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark” (James 3:5).

But our words can also be constructive. Proverbs 16:24 reminds us, “Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” The apostle Paul says, “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone” (Col. 4:6). As salt flavors our food, grace flavors our words for building up others.

Through the help of the Holy Spirit our words can encourage people who are hurting, who want to grow in their faith, or who need to come to the Savior. Our words can put out fires instead of starting them. —Bill Crowder

Lord, I can always use help with the way I talk. For this day, help me to speak words of hope and encouragement to build up others.

What will our words be like today?

INSIGHT: Foolish words are likened to a powerfully destructive “scorching fire” (Prov. 16:27), and the deadly weapons of war, the “flaming arrows of death” (26:18). Jesus said that our words come from our hearts and reveal if we are good or evil. “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of” (Luke 6:45). How can you use words that will delight God and bless others? Sim Kay Tee

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UNDERSTANDING THE TORAH CHRISTOLOGICALLY

UNDERSTANDING THE TORAH CHRISTOLOGICALLY

For more great blogs as this one go to Daniel’s blog site at:

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Do the Five Books of Moses, the Torah/Pentateuch, mention Jesus? I’ve been asked this question on several occasions. Although the Torah doesn’t mention Jesus by name, there are an overflowing abundance of His portraits hanging in each of the Five Books.

Often, the Christophany (or Theophany), the manifestation of Christ, is named the “Angel of the Lord.” Interestingly, in each one of His appearances, there is evidence that this Angel is actually God the Son. Take this first occurrence of Hagar, Abraham’s concubine and mother of Ishmael:

∑       The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” The angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” The angel of the LORD also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” And the angel of the LORD said to her, “Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the LORD has listened to your affliction. He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.” So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” (Genesis 16:7-13; ESV)

This narrative claims that “the LORD [“Yahweh”] spoke to her,” and Hagar claimed that she had seen God, in the Person of the Angel of the Lord. After this:

∑       The LORD [“Yahweh”] appeared to him [Abraham] by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. (Genesis 18:1)

Please note that Yahweh, the Father, appears to no one (Exodus 33:20). Therefore, this must be a Christophany, Yahweh, the Son.  After “Yahweh’s” two accompanying angels went down to Sodom, Abraham petitioned Him. Afterwards:

∑       The LORD [“Yahweh”] went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place. (Genesis 18:33)

Jacob later wrestled with a Man, whom he later realized was God:

∑       So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” (Genesis 32:30)

Years later, Jacob identified God as the “Angel” with whom he had wrestled:

∑       And he [Jacob] blessed Joseph and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day, the Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys; and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.” (Genesis 48:15-16)

Jacob still regarded the Angel as God. Therefore, after invoking “God” twice and the Angel a third time, he implored them, in the singular, to bless his family. Therefore, Jacob understood the Angel to also be God.

Here is another observation identifying this Angel as God. Jacob claimed that it was this Angel who had “redeemed me from all evil.” However, it is God who is identified as the Redeemer (Isaiah 44:22-23; 49:7; 2 Samuel 4:9; Psalm 34:22; 121:7).

Much later, Isaiah wrote that the “Angel of His Presence” had “saved” and “redeemed” Israel:

∑       In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them; in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bore them and carried them all the days of old. (Isaiah 63:9)

Isaiah equated this Angel with God. Then the Angel appeared to Moses in the midst of the burning bush in the middle of the desert:

∑       And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” (Exodus 3:2-4)

Notice that this Angel is also called “LORD” [“Yahweh”] and “God.” All of these appearances provide us with evidence that God or “Yahweh” is not the single Person that the rabbis claim about the Godhead. All of these references should also put to rest the rabbinic claim that God does not take on human form. Instead, these appearances of a Messianic figure provide us with evidence for the Trinity.

The Angel continually appears throughout the Pentateuch. As strange as it may seem, He was the One who brought Israel out of Egypt:

∑       When we cried out to the Lord, He heard our voice and sent the Angel and brought us up out of Egypt. (Numbers 20:16)

However, other verses claim that it was God who brought Israel out of Egypt.

∑       And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. (Exodus 13:21)

∑       “The LORD has said to me [Moses], ‘You shall not go over this Jordan.’ The LORD your God himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, so that you shall dispossess them, and Joshua will go over at your head, as the LORD has spoken… (Deuteronomy 31:2-3)

Well, did God accompany Israel or didn’t He? How do we resolve this apparent contradiction? Again, it seems that the Angel Himself is God, but a distinct Person.

Elsewhere, God distinguishes Himself from His Angel:

∑       "Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him… For My Angel will go before you… and I will cut them off.” (Exodus 23:20-23)

If God’s “name” is in Him, this is the same as saying that “My essence or nature is in Him.” Elsewhere, God the Father again makes a sharp distinction between Himself and the Divine Angel (or “Messenger” – an alternate meaning of the same word, “malach”):

∑       “And I will send My Angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite and the Amorite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people." (Exodus 33:2-3)

God, the Father, could not be in the presence of Israel. Therefore, He sent His Angel, the second Person of the Trinity to accompany Israel out of Egypt.

Here is further evidence that the Father could not have appeared to Israel. He claimed that He could never be seen because He dwells in unapproachable light (1 Timothy 6:16): 

∑       But He said [to Moses], "You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.” (Exodus 33:20)

Nevertheless, God was seen:

∑       So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle. (Exodus 33:11)

How can we resolve this paradox that God is seen but cannot be seen? It must have been the the Son who was seen, not the Father.

Again, we see this paradox. God reprimanded Moses’ sister and brother who were attempting to usurp some of Moses’ authority:

∑       And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” (Numbers 12:6-8)

This again sounds like a contradiction. Either God cannot be seen or Moses had actually seen Him, unless Moses had seen God the Angel, the second Person of the Trinity. Without an understanding of multiple Persons in the Godhead, there doesn’t seem to be a way to resolve this paradox.

Elsewhere, the Angel is mentioned interchangeably with God, also suggesting that the Angel is God:

∑       And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. (Exodus 14:19)

∑       Now it came to pass, in the morning watch, that the Lord looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and He troubled the army of the Egyptians. (Exodus 14:24)

∑       And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. (Exodus 13:21)

Therefore, again, the Angel seems to be God Himself but also a distinct Person.

The rabbis and the various cults do not seem to want to engage this evidence. It simply does not accord with their worldview. However, these verses provide for us another glimpse of the Trinity in the Torah.

However, these Christophanies do not exhaust the Pentateuchal evidence. In a mysterious encounter with Melchizedek (“Righteous King”), the King of “Salem” (“peace” in Hebrew), the priest of the “Most High God,” Abraham recognizes His authority and gives tithes to Him (Genesis 14:20; also see Psalm 110).

Melchizedek seems to be more than human. We are told that He had no parents:

∑       He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever. (Hebrews 7:3)

Only God had no beginning or end. Therefore, Melchizedek must have been a Christophany.

Judging from Abraham’s subsequent words with the King of Sodom, this encounter seems to have been transformative.

In the following chapter (Genesis 15), Abraham seems to have had another Divine encounter, a Christophany. Abraham had asked God to confirm His promises to him. God complied through a covenant-making promise. In the forms of a torch and a smoking lamp, symbols of wrath and judgment, He passed between parts of animals, pledging to keep His Word through the wrath He would unleash upon Himself.

God the Son painted a portrait of His future suffering in other ways. As the Son of a woman, He would reverse the Fall by crushing Satan, the malevolent force behind the serpent. However, in the process, the “serpent” would bite His heal (Genesis 3:15).

Elsewhere, as a prefiguration of His future suffering, Abraham was asked to sacrifice his “only son” Isaac on Mt. Moriah. However, the Angel of the Lord intervened and provided a ram for an offering instead of Isaac:

∑       And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son… (Genesis 22:15-16)

Interestingly, Abraham understood far more about this encounter than seems apparent. Instead of naming the mountain, “God has provided,” Abraham named it “God will provide,” suggesting that God would provide His own Son in the future:

∑       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.” (Genesis 22:14)

What would be provided? An offering similar to the one Abraham had been asked to provide. Perhaps Jesus had been thinking of this account when He said:

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

What did Abraham see? Well, what was Jesus’ “day?” It was the day of His Glory:

∑       And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:23-24)

What did Abraham understand? He understood that God would offer His only-begotten Son, not only in place of Abraham’s son but in place of the sins of the entire world.

God had given Israel many snapshots of the Cross. He was always preaching the Gospel. ShortIy after celebrating God’s goodness in bringing them to safety through the sea, Israel rebelled against the Lord. Thirsty, they wanted to stone Moses. He cried out to the Lord.

∑       The LORD answered Moses, "Walk on ahead of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will stand there before you by [“upon”; KJV] the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink." So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. (Exodus 17:5-6)

Israel wanted to indict God, and He was ready to comply. Moses was instructed to take his staff of judgment and, followed by the elders, he was to walk through the people, signaling that there would be a trial and an execution. God would stand as a defendant before them, and Moses would symbolically strike Him down with his staff. However, instead of Israel being punished, they would be blessed exceedingly from the most unlikely place. From a rock, waters would flow.

From the most unlikely place, this world would later be blessed. In the midst of the worst rebellion imaginable, Israel and the Gentiles would strike down the Savior of the world. Instead of the punishment falling upon them, it would fall upon the innocent One, but they would be blessed.

Again, after the Israelites had rebelled against the Lord and were dying from poisonous serpent bites:

∑       The LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live. (Numbers 21:8-9)

Fifteen hundred years later, Jesus explained the symbolism:

∑       And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. (John 3:14-15)

While Israel would receive physical healing by looking to an evil serpent, we would experience spiritual healing by looking to our Lord, who had taken evil upon Himself. Jesus would become sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God.

God had even revealed King Jesus in the midst of Israel to the false prophet Balaam. God had given him a series of astounding prophecies. Balaam was shown an Israel without any iniquity (Numbers 23:21). How could this be? Because the King was in their midst! Balaam even saw the loveliness of Israel’s worn tents (Numbers 24:5). After this, God again revealed to Balaam this mysterious King in the midst of Israel. Paradoxically, Balaam prophesied:

∑       I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel. (Numbers 24:17; Genesis 49:10)

Their King was there, but He wasn’t. He was present, but not in His fullness. Unwittingly, the Roman magistrate:

∑       Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” (John 19:19)

However, this troubled the chief priests:

∑       So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” (John 19:21-22)

Interestingly, Jesus never called Himself “King of the Jews.” Instead, Pilate had been divinely led to write this. One evil man had prophesied the coming King. Another evil man acknowledged the fulfillment of this prophecy, and the rabbis could do little to change what had been destined.

Usually, when we think of Christ in the Pentateuch, we think of this prophecy:

∑       “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen… ‘I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.’” (Deuteronomy 18:15-19; Exodus 23:20-23)

However, we must not overlook one last portrait of our Savior. God gave Moses a song to teach the Israelites about their future. It concludes:

∑       Rejoice, O nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants; he will take vengeance on his enemies and make ATONEMENT for his land and people. (Deuteronomy 32:43; NIV)

How strange – God would make atonement! Why not the Levites, who He had appointed to make atonement through the sacrificial system? Only God could provide an adequate atonement, a payment for the sins of the world, a payment that the blood of animals could not provide.

Jesus reveals Himself throughout these Five Books, preaching His Good News to all who had eyes to see and ears to hear.