Were the Old Testament Saints Saved by Faith in the Coming Messiah?

Yes. Isaiah and other books prophesy about how the Messiah would suffer and die and be glorified, so the Old Testament prophets, and those who believed them, looked forward to the coming Christ. The Old Testament Scriptures contained, for them, the gospel message, and faith in that message was how people got saved back then, even though Jesus had not died yet.

The Bible says:
"Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into." (1 Peter 1:10–12)

So the “prophets...who prophesied” longed for the arrival of an era of grace. The “Spirit of Christ” within them was witnessing through them and to them before the work of Christ had occurred, giving them a gospel message that talked about the coming, sufferings, and glory of the future Messiah. So even before the completion of the New Testament, the Old Testament served as the Scripture for Israel, and contained the gospel message.

Acts 3:18 says, "But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled." So the gospel theme was in the Old Testament. It continues through verse 24 and says, in part, "...Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before... which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began."

So the gospel message of salvation was preached in the Old Testament, and faith in that gospel message is how people got saved, even though Jesus had not died yet. Paul explained in Romans 4 that salvation has always been, and will always be, by God’s grace, and received through faith alone. Genesis 3:15 promised that Someone would come to clear up the sin problem created by our first father Adam. As the Seed of the woman, He would be the one to battle and defeat the serpent. Even Abel understood the nature of a bloody sacrifice and the death of a substitute, and because of his faith in God, he was regarded by God as righteous (Hebrews 11:4). God has just one covenant of grace, not two, which was promised right after the fall in Genesis 3:15 proclaiming that the seed of the woman would crush the seed of the serpent.

The Gospel in the Old Testament

All are sinners

“The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.” (Psalm 14:2)


“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)


“Then I said, "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts." (Isaiah 6:5)


Sin separates us from God

“But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.” (Isaiah 59:2)


“When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.” (Exodus 34:33)


"Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.” (Daniel 12:2)


Our good deeds are not good enough

“For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment [literally, a woman’s menstruating rags]; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” (Isaiah 64:6)


God gave a blood atonement

“For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life.” (Leviticus 17:11)


“Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.” (Exodus 12:7)


“The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 12:13)


God promised a Messiah to bear our sins

The Exalted Servant
“Behold, My servant will prosper,
He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted.
Just as many were astonished at you, My people,
So His appearance was marred more than any man
And His form more than the sons of men.
Thus He will sprinkle many nations,
Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him;
For what had not been told them they will see,
And what they had not heard they will understand.

The Suffering Servant
Who has believed our message?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
And like a root out of parched ground;
He has no stately form or majesty
That we should look upon Him,
Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.
He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.
He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.
By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation, who considered
That He was cut off out of the land of the living
For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?
His grave was assigned with wicked men,
Yet He was with a rich man in His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.
But the LORD was pleased
To crush Him, putting Him to grief;
If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,
He will see His offspring,
He will prolong His days,
And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.
As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
As He will bear their iniquities.
Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,
And He will divide the booty with the strong;
Because He poured out Himself to death,
And was numbered with the transgressors;
Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,
And interceded for the transgressors.”
(Isaiah 52:13-53:12)


How do we know Jesus is the Promised One?

"But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel
His goings forth are from long ago,
From the days of eternity."
(Micah 5:2)


"Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.” (Daniel 9:26)


"I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.” (Zechariah 12:10)


“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the day time, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded. But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts. I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly. Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help. Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me. Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog. Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns. I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel. For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard. My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him. The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever. All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. For the kingdom is the LORD's: and he is the governor among the nations. All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul. A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.” (Psalm 22)


"The Motions" music video by Matthew West

Old Testament Sacrifices

In the Old Testament, there were several types of sacrifices.

The burnt offering (Lev. 1; 6:8-13; 8:18-21; 16:24) required a bull, ram or male bird (dove or young pigeon for the poor) to be sacrificed. The stipulations were that there must be no defect in the animal and that it had to be wholly consumed. This was a voluntary act of worship. The purpose was atonement for unintentional sin in general. It was an expression of devotion, signifying commitment and complete surrender to God.

The grain offering (Lev. 2; 6:14-23), required grain, fine flour, olive oil, incense, baked bread (cakes or wafers), and salt; no yeast or honey was to be used. This accompanied the burnt offering and the fellowship offering (along with a drink offering). It too was a voluntary act of worship, and signified recognition of God’s goodness and provisions, as well as devotion to God.

The fellowship offering (Lev. 3; 7:11-34) required any animal without defect from the person’s herd or flock, and a variety of breads. This was another voluntary act of worship, signifying thanksgiving and fellowship, and included a communal meal.

The sin offering (Lev. 4:1-5:13; 6:24-30; 8:14-17; 16:3-22) required (1) a young bull for the high priest and congregation; (2) a male goat for the leader; (3) a female goat or lamb for the common person; (4) a dove or pigeon for the poor; (5) a tenth of an ephah of fine flour for the very poor. This was mandatory atonement for specific unintentional sin; signifying confession of sin, forgiveness of sin and cleansing from defilement.

The guilt offering (Lev. 5:14-6:7; 7:1-6) required a ram or lamb. It was mandatory atonement for unintentional sin requiring restitution. It included cleansing from defilement, making restitution and paying a 20% fine (i.e. in addition to returning whatever he stole, took by extortion, or whatever was entrusted to him, or the lost property he found, or whatever it was he swore falsely about).

When more than one kind of offering was presented, the procedure was usually as follows: (1) sin offering or guilt offering, (2) burnt offering, (3) fellowship offering and grain offering (along with a drink offering). This sequence furnishes part of the spiritual significance of the sacrificial system. First, sin had to be dealt with (sin offering or guilt offering). Second, the worshiper committed himself completely to God (burnt offering and grain offering). Third, fellowship or communion between the Lord, the priest and the worshiper (fellowship offering) was established. To state it another way, there were sacrifices of expiation (sin offerings and guilt offerings), consecration (burnt offerings and grain offerings) and communion (fellowship offerings ---these included vow offerings, thank offerings and freewill offerings). This procedure or order also applies to the way someone is saved. It even applies to the general order in which we should pray. As far as salvation, this is the order: (1) repentance, (2) surrender to Christ, (3) indwelling of the Holy Spirit, whereby our body becomes God’s temple.

Old Testament salvation

Some people tend to think that, in the Old Testament, people were saved by obeying the Ten Commandments (i.e., by works) and in the New Testament, people are saved by believing in Jesus (i.e., by faith).

And yet, Hebrews 11 states that those in the Old Testament were actually saved by faith. They believed God and looked forward to the coming of the promised Messiah:

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.

By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.

By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones.

By faith Moses' parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king's edict. By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel. By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.

By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.

By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.

And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”

Even Genesis says that Abraham was declared righteous (holy) by faith:
“Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” (Gen. 15:6)

Modern evangelists have often used verses from the book of Romans to illustrate the way to salvation, in what they call “The Romans Road.” Typically, it usually goes something like this:

1. We must acknowledge God as the Creator of everything, accepting our humble position in God's created order and purpose.

Romans 1:20-21:

"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened."

2. We must realize that we are sinners and that we need forgiveness. None of us are worthy under God’s standards.

Romans 3:23:

“For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.”

3. God gave us the way to be forgiven of our sins. He showed us His love by giving us the potential for life through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:8:

“But God demonstrates His love toward us, in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

4. If we remain sinners, we will die. However, if we repent of our sins, and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we will have eternal life.

Romans 6:23:

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

5. Confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead and you are saved.

Romans 10:9-10:

“That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

6. There are no other religious formulas or rituals. Just call upon the name of the Lord and you will be saved!

Romans 10:13:

“For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”

7. Determine in your heart to make Jesus Christ the Lord of your life today.

Romans 11:36:

"For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen."

And yet, I think that not many people realize that the Old Testament teaches the same basic principles:

No one does good; not even one:

“The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Psalm 14:2-3)

We are sinful at birth:

“Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” (Psalm 51:5)

The heart is deceitful above all things (i.e., we are sinners):

“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)

Unclean lips (i.e., we are sinners in need of forgiveness):

"Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." (Isaiah 6:5)

In contrast to those who think they are “good,” the Bible says that even the best ‘good deeds’ we do (our “righteous acts”) are like filthy rags (in the original language, the term means a woman’s menstruating rags) compared to God’s holiness:

“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” (Isaiah 64:6)

God will blot out sinners from His book:

“The LORD replied to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book.” (Exodus 32:33)

There was no sacrifice for willful sins:

"But anyone who sins defiantly, whether native-born or alien, blasphemes the LORD, and that person must be cut off from his people. Because he has despised the LORD's word and broken his commands, that person must surely be cut off; his guilt remains on him." (Numbers 15:30-31)

Prayer to blot out our iniquity (sin):

“Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.” (Psalm 51:9)

King David cried out to God for mercy:

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.” (Psalm 51:1 [and the rest of Psalm 51])

Isaiah, the Old Testament prophet, was saved by God’s mercy:

“With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." (Isaiah 6:7)

Sins were forgiven by a blood sacrifice:

“For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life.” (Leviticus 17:11)

Jews no longer practice animal sacrifice, and Christians never practiced animal sacrifice. In fact, the first Jewish temple (where sacrifices were performed) was destroyed for 70 years because of Israel’s disobedience, and the second temple was destroyed about 40 years after Jesus’ death (this also means that the Jewish genealogies have been lost, so that no one can claim that their lineage goes back to King David, and therefore cannot rightfully claim that they are the Messiah…the only Jewish genealogy we have left today is that of Jesus; we have both His maternal and His paternal genealogy; and His lineage DOES go back to King David, which is one requirement of the promised Messiah).

Christ Jesus’ death on the cross was the final, ultimate sacrifice for sins. For all who are believers, Christ Jesus is the ultimate and perfect High Priest. No other sacrifice for sins is needed, for Jesus has fulfilled all of that in Himself.

Why was eating blood forbidden? And why blood sacrifices?

I have seen some unbelievers/non-Christians ask, "Why did Jesus have to die?" Because of the widespread biblical illiteracy today, there are many people who don't understand why God would sacrifice His own Son. Others have accused God of being a bloodthirsty God. Still others (likely animal rights activists) have been shocked that there were animal sacrifices in the Old Testament, comparing that to ancient pagan sacrifices (which is ridiculous, because pagan sacrifices were usually human sacrifices, and were often baby sacrifices; i.e., when they would throw their babies in the fire as an offering to the (false) god Molech). I have seen others mock the ancient Jewish Kosher Laws, including the law against eating blood.

The following is an attempt to address some of these issues, at least in part.

“Any Israelite or any alien living among them who eats any blood—I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from his people. For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life. Therefore I say to the Israelites, "None of you may eat blood, nor may an alien living among you eat blood. 'Any Israelite or any alien living among you who hunts any animal or bird that may be eaten must drain out the blood and cover it with earth, because the life of every creature is its blood. That is why I have said to the Israelites, "You must not eat the blood of any creature, because the life of every creature is its blood; anyone who eats it must be cut off." (Lev. 17:10-14)

The blood shed in the sacrifices was sacred. It epitomized the life of the sacrificial victim. After sin entered into the world, God required the blood sacrifice of animals for the atonement of sins.

"For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life." (Lev. 17:11)

Definition of atonement:
- satisfaction or reparation for a wrong or injury; amends
- Theology: the doctrine concerning the reconciliation of God and humankind, esp. as accomplished through the life, suffering, and death of Christ
- Archaic: reconciliation; agreement

Why is blood representative of life?

We can’t live without blood in our body. Blood is essential for good health because the body depends on a steady supply of fuel and oxygen to reach its billions of cells. Even the heart couldn't survive without blood flowing through the vessels that bring nourishment to its muscular walls. Blood also carries carbon dioxide and other waste materials to the lungs, kidneys, and digestive system; from there they are removed from the body. Without blood, we couldn't keep warm or cool off, we couldn't fight infections, and we couldn't get rid of our own waste products. There are approximately 60,000 miles of capillaries in the body. Arterial circulation takes freshly oxygenated blood from the heart to all the cells throughout the body. The heart is the strongest muscle in the body. The body's blood is circulated through the heart more than 1,000 times per day. Between five and six thousand quarts of blood are pumped each day.

Since life was sacred, blood (a symbol of life) had to be treated with respect.

"And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man." (Gen. 9:5-6)

Eating blood was therefore strictly forbidden. Practically every sacrifice included the sprinkling or smearing of blood on the altar or within the tabernacle, thus teaching that atonement involves the substitution of life for life.

"The priest is to sprinkle the blood against the altar of the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and burn the fat as an aroma pleasing to the LORD." (Lev. 17:6)

"He is to slaughter the young bull before the LORD, and then Aaron's sons the priests shall bring the blood and sprinkle it against the altar on all sides at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting." (Lev. 1:5)

"He is to lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. Then Aaron's sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood against the altar on all sides." (Lev. 3:2)

"He is to dip his finger into the blood and sprinkle some of it seven times before the LORD, in front of the curtain of the sanctuary." (Lev. 4:6)

"Then the priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar." (Lev. 4:25)

"The guilt offering is to be slaughtered in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered, and its blood is to be sprinkled against the altar on all sides." (Lev. 7:2)

"In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." (Heb. 9:22)

Note: The method of slaughter was a quick, deep stroke across the throat with a perfectly sharp blade with no nicks or unevenness. This method is painless, causes unconsciousness within seconds, and is widely recognized as the most humane method of slaughter possible.

"Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, "This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words." (Exodus 24:8)

"This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. When Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. He said, "This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep." (Hebrews 9:18-20)

But the blood of animals really couldn't do the trick. The Israelites were still unfaithful to their God as evidenced by their whoring after other gods. A better sacrifice was needed.

God promised His people, the Jewish people, a new covenant about 600 years before the coming of Christ. We will see that this covenant would also require blood.

"The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah." (Jer. 31:31)

In actuality, the blood of the Old Testament sacrifice pointed forward to the blood of the Lamb of God, Who obtained for His people “eternal redemption.” The animal sacrifices of the Old Testament were only a picture of the ultimate sacrifice. When Jesus Christ went to the cross approximately 2,000 years ago, He was the ULTIMATE sacrifice.

"…because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." (Heb. 10:4)

"This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper." (Hebrews 9:9)

"He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption." (Heb. 9:12)

"The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!" (Hebrews 9:13-14)

Jesus said:
"This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." (Matt. 26:28)

Speaking of Jesus Christ, our perfect and ultimate High Priest:
"But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God." (Hebrews 10:12)

"Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself." (Hebrews 7:27)

How did the discovery of the lost Hittite civilization provide evidence in support of the biblical record?

"The Old Testament mentions the ancient Hittite civilization more than 50 times, either by their Hebrew name "Chitti" or by their designation as the sons and daughters Heth. However, prior to their rediscovery in the 19th century, there appeared to be no evidence for their existence outside of the Bible. Skeptics cited the missing evidence as evidence that the Bible actually fabricated their existence. This called the reliability of the biblical account into question. Basically the skeptics said, "We can't find any evidence for the Hittite civilization outside of the Bible. This demonstrates that the Bible cannot be trusted as an historical source."

Then, in the 19th and 20th centuries archaeologists hit the jackpot, not only identifying extrabiblical references to the Hittite civilization, but by actually finding and excavating the ancient Hittite capital city of Hattusa (modern day Boðazköy in northern Turkey). The rediscovery of this ancient civilization vindicated the Biblical record.

Evidence for the Hittites was bolstered in Egypt with the discovery of a treaty between Pharaoh Ramses II and the Hittite Empire. Originally written on silver tablets in Heliopolis and Hattusus, a huge copy was found on a wall of the great Karnak Temple. After years of fighting between the Hittites and the Egyptians, Ramses II and the Hittite king settled on a treaty whereby the territory of Syria and Canaan would be divided between them."

http://www.allaboutarchaeology.org/hittite-faq.htm

"Why does the Old Testament show a God of wrath and the New Testament a God of mercy?"

"The God of the New Testament is the same as the God of the Old Testament. The Bible says that He never changes. He is just as merciful in the Old Testament as He is in the New Testament. Read Nehemiah 9 for a summary of how God mercifully forgave Israel, again and again, after they repeatedly sinned and turned their back on Him. The psalms often speak of God’s mercy poured out on sinners.

He is also just as wrath-filled in the New Testament as He is in the Old. He killed a husband and wife in the Book of Acts, simply because they told one lie. Jesus warned that He was to be feared because He has the power to cast the body and soul into Hell. The apostle Paul said that he persuaded men to come to the Savior because he knew the "terror of the Lord." Read the dreadful judgments of the New Testament’s Book of Revelation. That will put the "fear of God" in you, which incidentally is "the beginning of wisdom."

Perhaps the most fearful display of His wrath is seen in the cross of Jesus Christ. His fury so came upon the Messiah that it seems God enshrouded the face of Jesus in darkness so that creation couldn’t gaze upon His unspeakable agony. Whether we like it or not, our God is a consuming fire of holiness (Hebrews 12:29). He isn’t going to change, so we had better ...before the Day of Judgment. If we repent, God, in His mercy, will forgive us and grant us eternal life in heaven with Him."

http://www.evidencebible.com/witnessingtool/whydoestheOTGodwrathNTGodlove.shtml

Tiny tablet provides proof for Old Testament

By Nigel Reynolds, Arts Correspondent
Last Updated: 2:14am BST 13/07/2007

"The sound of unbridled joy seldom breaks the quiet of the British Museum's great Arched Room, which holds its collection of 130,000 Assyrian cuneiform tablets, dating back 5,000 years.

But Michael Jursa, a visiting professor from Vienna, let out such a cry...He had made what has been called the most important find in Biblical archaeology for 100 years, a discovery that supports the view that the historical books of the Old Testament are based on fact.

Searching for Babylonian financial accounts among the tablets, Prof Jursa suddenly came across a name he half remembered - Nabu-sharrussu-ukin, described there in a hand 2,500 years old, as "the chief eunuch" of Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon.

Prof Jursa, an Assyriologist, checked the Old Testament and there in chapter 39 of the Book of Jeremiah, he found, spelled differently, the same name - Nebo-Sarsekim.

Nebo-Sarsekim, according to Jeremiah, was Nebuchadnezzar II's "chief officer" and was with him at the siege of Jerusalem in 587 BC, when the Babylonians overran the city.

The small tablet, the size of "a packet of 10 cigarettes" according to Irving Finkel, a British Museum expert, is a bill of receipt acknowledging Nabu-sharrussu-ukin's payment of 0.75 kg of gold to a temple in Babylon.

The tablet is dated to the 10th year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II, 595BC, 12 years before the siege of Jerusalem.

Evidence from non-Biblical sources of people named in the Bible is not unknown, but Nabu-sharrussu-ukin would have been a relatively insignificant figure.

"This is a fantastic discovery, a world-class find," Dr Finkel said yesterday. "If Nebo-Sarsekim existed, which other lesser figures in the Old Testament existed? A throwaway detail in the Old Testament turns out to be accurate and true. I think that it means that the whole of the narrative [of Jeremiah] takes on a new kind of power."

Cuneiform is the oldest known form of writing and was commonly used in the Middle East between 3,200 BC and the second century AD. It was created by pressing a wedge-shaped instrument, usually a cut reed, into moist clay.

The full translation of the tablet reads: (Regarding) 1.5 minas (0.75 kg) of gold, the property of Nabu-sharrussu-ukin, the chief eunuch, which he sent via Arad-Banitu the eunuch to [the temple] Esangila: Arad-Banitu has delivered [it] to Esangila. In the presence of Bel-usat, son of Alpaya, the royal bodyguard, [and of] Nadin, son of Marduk-zer-ibni. Month XI, day 18, year 10 [of] Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/11/ntablet111.xml

Is God Real?

In College, I was required to read a book by Freud that had very strong, convincing 'proof' that God does not exist.

After reading that book, for the very first time in my life, I seriously thought that maybe God does not exist after all...that maybe I had been wrong all along. But then I began to think back on the events of my life...and after a few minutes of serious doubt and unbelief, and thinking that maybe my entire life I had believed a lie, that maybe there was no such thing as 'God' after all, I realized that God really does exist. I was totally confident of this because of the things that had occurred in my life.

There have been many, many things in my life that give me complete confidence that God is real. Many of them, however, are things which I cannot adequately describe in words, because they are so beyond the normal human experience. Other things, taken individually, might be dismissed as mere coincidence; however, such things happen so frequently that the excuse of them being 'coincidences' becomes insurmountably inadequate; taken as a whole, they become overwhelming, glaring evidence of God working in my life. Still more things have happened in my life that are so extraordinary, unusual and miraculous that most people would not believe it. Because of all this, I will try to limit my examples to only those things which most people should, hopefully, be able to logically comprehend or relate to, or at least limit my examples to those things which are not as hard to believe as some of my other experiences. Not only that, but to list everything would take many, many pages of writing. Therefore, please realize that the following examples are only the tip of the iceberg.

Let me just preface it by saying that, just as is true with every born-again believer, I have met, and know, God personally (and please, don't ask me the silly question, "Well, then, what does He look like?", because God is spirit, not flesh; so He obviously does not have a physical body), and I, like every regenerated believer, have a personal, intimate relationship with Christ Jesus, God the Son, Who is my Lord and my Savior. I have been made into a new creation...the old is gone. In addition, God the Holy Spirit lives and dwells in me. God lives inside me! Not in the sense of, "Well, God lives in everyone," because that is not true. Not all people, contrary to popular belief, are children of God. You are only a child of God if you have been born again. Everyone is a creation of God (not a direct creation, like Adam and Eve, but a reproduced creation); but not everyone is a child of God.

Anyway, when I was 19 years old, I repented of all my sins, turned to Jesus, and asked Jesus Christ to forgive my wicked, sinful life; I acknowledged that I was a wicked sinner who deserved eternal torment in Hell, because of my evil, selfish, prideful rebellion against God, my Creator, and against His holy Law. I knew that I fully deserved God's wrath. I asked Jesus to come into my life, and to be my Savior and the Lord of my life from now on. I have surrendered my life and my future to Him. The sacrificial blood of Christ Jesus has cleansed me of all my sins, and because of His sacrifice for me, Christ's perfect righteousness has been applied to my account, so that God the Father considers me to be sinless, holy and perfect. Just as, in the Old Testament, where the broken tablets of the Ten Commandments (broken by Moses because of man's sin, showing man's inability to obey God's Law perfectly) were covered over by the Mercy Seat, and the sacrificed animal's blood covered the Mercy Seat, so that, when God the Father looked down at His Law broken by man, He saw the sacrificial blood between the broken Law and Himself. Similarly, when God the Father looks at me, He sees the sacrificial blood of His Son, Christ Jesus the Messiah, the Lamb of God, the King of all Kings, the Lord of all Lords, God the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, the "I Am," the Alpha and Omega, the only Intercessor between God the Father and man, the Second Adam, the One Who always was, Who is, and Who is to come...when the Father looks at me, He sees His Son's blood covering over my sins; He sees the perfect, holy, sinless life of Christ Jesus being imputed to my account; He sees me as a holy saint. Being now a clean, holy vessel, the Holy Spirit indwells me, and I became a living temple of God. The Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, the last time being around 70 A.D. God now dwells within those chosen, predestined individuals who have been regenerated/born again/made righteous and holy in God's eyes.

Years ago I was hiking with a group in North Carolina. For some reason which I don't even now remember, I got really, really, mad...I was EXTREMELY agitated! In fact, I was SO agitated, angry and irritated, that I took my walking stick and, in a fit of immature anger, smashed it in half against a tree. I was the last one in the line of hikers, so, realizing I could not go on with such an attitude, which would ruin everyone else's (and my) day (because, if I continued with that attitude, I knew people would start saying things like, "What's your problem? Why are you acting like such a jerk?"), I dropped to my knees and quietly (yet very sincerely) prayed. A few minutes later, I didn't stand up...instead, I actually LEAPED up with incredible JOY and EXUBERATION! I was extremely EXCITED and incredibly HAPPY---SO happy, that I lifted up my hands to God, rejoicing, and began jumping up and down for joy! I ran...actually, I BOUNCED...jumping up and down in excitement, to catch up to the rest of the group. God had not only taken away my furious anger, but He had replaced it with His joy. My attitude had been INSTANTANEOUSLY changed, to the very opposite extreme..to a RADICAL degree.

Now, I am the type of person that can nurse a grudge, and I tend to let things boil inside of me, until I explode like a volcano. At that point, I become so enraged, that it takes me a long, long time to cool down. (In the years since, God has been working on me to teach me not to be so much like that.) During that hike, when my furious anger was not only instantly erased, but replaced with ecstatic JOY, that was something that only God could do in me, because there was absolutely NO earthly or natural reason for me to not only stop being mad, but become instantly joyful and exuberantly excited.

Another time...and this happened after I had already been saved...I was deeply burdened with guilt over a specific sin that I had committed...this was the most burdened and guilty I had ever been and felt in my entire life. For the first and only time in my life, I seriously began believing (in ignorance) that I had committed the unpardonable sin. I began to consider that, no matter what I did from that point on...even if I asked for forgiveness...I was still going to burn in Hell forever. Everything that I had done and believed in my life didn't matter, because I had now possibly committed a sin that was absolutely unforgivable. I wondered if, no matter what happened, I was now destined for Hell, and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. I felt like there was a heavy, black cloud of depression and hopelessness over me. I was so upset and distraught over this, that it actually caused me to throw up!

Well, since I had nothing to lose, I knelt down and prayed. Even though I didn't believe I could be forgiven, I begged for forgiveness anyway, pouring my heart and soul out to the Lord Jesus, turning away from my sin and turning to Him for help. I was completely, totally, deeply sincere with God, and it was a true, heartfelt prayer. Suddenly, and instantly, I felt a huge, gigantic, incredibly heavy weight being lifted off of me! The 'dark cloud' which had seemed to cover me, suddenly vanished!

People often use the phrase, "it was like a heavy weight had been lifted off of me," to the point of being over-used, so that it is almost a meaningless phrase anymore. Well, for the first time in my life, that phrase became real to me. I suddenly felt an unearthly peace...not a peace like you feel sitting in a quiet meadow or beside the ocean as you relax...no, something far deeper. I suddenly knew that all was right with my soul. I was confident that nothing could harm me, because I was restored to God, and He was protecting me. Even someone being rescued after being buried for days by an earthquake could not feel such soul-deep peace. I felt like I had gone from Hell to Heaven in an instant...from a sense of the darkest depression, total futility, and complete hopelessness, to a peace and exhilaration, release and comfort, unlike anything else in the world! And this change had occurred in a split-second!

These are merely a couple examples of many, many events that have happened to me which, especially when you add them all up, provide unmistakable, personally-experienced evidence that God is not only real, but that He lives within me, and that He loves me. May each person reading this (if you have not already surrendered your life to Christ Jesus as your Lord, and become a new creation in Him) repent of their sins and ask Christ Jesus, Who is God the Son, to wash away all your sins, and follow Him forever. If you do so, the Holy Spirit, Who is the Comforter and the Teacher, will indwell you, and you will then KNOW He is real, because you will know Him personally and intimately.

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Jacob in Genesis

Jacob in Genesis: A summary, including some discovered gems
(written by Jeff Jenkins, 7/15/07, with some help from NIV footnotes)

Jacob and Esau were twin sons of Isaac and Rebekah. Esau was born red and hairy, and grew up to become a hunter. When Jacob was born, his hand was grasping Esau's heel (Gen. 25:26), and so he was named Jacob, which means, "he grasps the heel," or, figuratively, "he deceives."

In Gen. 25:23, before the twins were born, Rebekah asked the Lord why she felt the babies fighting ("the babies jostled each other within her"), and the Lord's answer was "two nations are in your womb" and "one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger" (Gen. 25:23). This prophecy was fulfilled in II Samuel 8:13-14 when David conquered the Edomites in a great battle ('Esau' may mean "hairy;" he was also called 'Edom,' which means "red;" the Edomites were Esau's descendants), and from that time, through the reign of Solomon, the Edomites were subject to the descendants of Jacob.

Jacob, true to his namesake ("he deceives") got Esau to sell his birthright to him by taking advantage of the situation (Gen. 25:29-34). (Esau was out hunting, and came back famished, and Jacob was cooking up some stew. Esau asked for some, and Jacob said 'only if you sell me your birthright.')

Jacob also deceived his own dad, Isaac, and stole Esau's blessing that rightfully belonged to Esau as the eldest (Gen. 27). (Jacob's dad was blind in his old age, and, with the help of his mom, he wore animal skin so he would feel hairy like his brother, and wore some of Esau's clothes, so that he would smell like Esau. Though Isaac was suspicious because he heard Jacob's voice instead of Esau's, the animal skin and clothes, along with the freshly killed meat that Jacob brought, was enough to deceive Jacob's dad.)

However, what goes around, comes around. Jacob got a taste of his own medicine when Laban, Jacob's uncle, later deceived Jacob (Gen. 29:15-25 and again in Gen. 30:35-36). Tit for tat.

Yet God had predetermined to bless Jacob. You might ask, "How could God bless someone who was such a deceiver?" We have to remember, however, that no one is perfect. (The only perfect and sinless human being Who ever lived was Jesus the God-man, Who was and is God the Son, the second Person of the Trinity.) The Bible doesn't whitewash it's heroes; it is honest about their faults. If God only blessed those who were perfect, then no one would ever be blessed. After all, David was an adulterer, Moses was a murderer, etc. Even Abraham, the father of the faith, was a liar: Abraham, Jacob's grandfather, lied and said that his wife was his sister, in Gen. 20. Interestingly, Jacob later did the exact same thing (like grandfather, like grandson?), saying that his wife was his sister, in Gen. 26:7-11.

One example of how God blessed Jacob, despite Jacob's faults, is in Gen. 30:25-43. Jacob and Laban make a deal. Jacob had worked for Laban for 7 years to get Laban's daughter Rachel as a wife. At night, Laban tricked Jacob and sent his oldest daughter, Leah, into the dark tent instead. Jacob slept with her and in the morning, discovered the deception. Jacob got angry, but because he loved Rachel so much, he agreed to Laban's offer to work for Laban 7 more years for Rachel.

Because God blessed Jacob, Laban's flocks increased under Jacob's care. Well, after 20 years of working for Laban (Gen. 31:38), during which time Laban changed Jacob's wages 10 times (Gen. 31:7), Jacob wants to leave, and Laban wants him to stay and continue working for him. Nevertheless, Laban says "name your wages, and I will pay you," and Jacob asks that he be allowed to go through Laban's flocks and remove every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb and every spotted or speckled goat, for his wages (sacrifices could only be made with spotless lambs, so basically, Jacob was asking for the inferior ones). Though Laban agreed, he again deceived Jacob by secretly removing all the male goats that were streaked or spotted, and all the speckled or spotted female goats, and all the dark-colored lambs. He placed them in the care of his sons and sent them on a 3-day journey, so that Jacob wouldn't find them.

Well, Jacob proceeded to work his craftiness again. In Gen. 30:37-43, Jacob took cut tree branches and peeled the bark away, exposing the white inner wood of the branches. He placed those peeled branches in all the watering troughs so they would be directly in front of the flocks when they came to drink. The flocks mated in front of the branches and bore young that were streaked or speckled or spotted. In this way, he grew prosperous and came to own large flocks.

Now, for years I was confused about this. I thought that this was some long-forgotten scientific secret concerning breeding. But it sounds so ridiculous and unbelievable. I have even heard unbelievers use this as an example of how the Bible is full of myths, saying that peeled tree branches in drinking water cannot affect breeding, claiming that this is just one more example of how the Bible is a fairy tale. However, the Bible merely REPORTS that Jacob did this, and reports what resulted from it; the Bible is not claiming that this is a scientific method that will actually work. In fact, this was merely a superstitious belief (comparable to ones we have today, such as throwing salt over your shoulder) that Jacob had apparently heard either from his family or his culture. I think that mere genetic probability might have accounted for some of his success. But in any case, the REAL reason that it worked, was that God was continuously blessing Jacob.

Another thing that has confused me for years was the account of Jacob wrestling with God in Gen. 32:22-32. How could Jacob, a mere man, successfully wrestle with an angel, let alone God, all night long? It sounds impossible and ridiculous. Angels are far more powerful than humans. However, God (or possibly an angel, I'm not sure which) came to Jacob in such a form that Jacob could wrestle with him successfully...sort of like the way Jesus, God the Son, came to this earth in weak human flesh. But at the same time, he showed Jacob that he could still easily disable Jacob at will when, in verse 25, the angel (or God) touched Jacob's hip and caused it to be disjointed. I think this is an illustration of how godly men often "wrestle with God" in prayer. Jacob's persistence was soon rewarded and Jacob finally acknowledged that the blessing must come from God. Now that Jacob had acknowledged God as the source of blessing, the Lord acknowledged Jacob as His servant by changing Jacob's name ("he deceives") to Israel (which means "he struggles with God"), from which the nation of Israel got her name and her characterization: the people who struggle with God (memorialized in the name Israel) and with men (memorialized in the name Jacob).

(some of the above information comes from NIV footnotes, and some of it comes from my own discoveries and my own summary of the verses)

A Look At Psalm 2, Part 6

“Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” (Psalm 2:9)

The NIV footnote says, “This word will be fulfilled in the triumphant reign of Christ.”

“She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.” (Rev. 12:5)

"Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty." (Rev. 19:15)

"To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations — 'He will rule them with an iron scepter; he will dash them to pieces like pottery'" (Rev. 2:26-27)

The NIV footnote for Psalm 2:9 states, “Christ declares that He will appoint those who remain faithful to Him to share in His subjugating rule over the nations.”

“…thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
The NIV footnote for Jer. 19:11 says, “Egyptians of the 12th Dynasty (1991-1786 B.C.) inscribed the names of their enemies on pottery bowls and then smashed them, hoping to break the power of their enemies by so doing.” ).

And now we come to the last three verses in Psalm 2:

“Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.” (Psalm 2:10-12)

The NIV footnote says, “The rebellious rulers are warned.” Regarding the word “rejoice” in verse 11, the NIV footnote says, “Hail the Lord as King with joy,” and regarding the word “trembling,” it says, “Awe and reverence.” The footnote for verse 12, regarding the word “kiss” says, “As a sign of submission. Submission to an Assyrian king was expressed by kissing his feet.”

“Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way…” Either submit to Christ Jesus as your Lord and Savior, the King of Kings, and follow Him in fellowship, loving obedience and an intimate relationship…or perish in Hell forever as a wicked rebel who refuses to obey their Creator.

So even Psalm 2 contains the gospel message of salvation.

A Look At Psalm 2, Part 5

“I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.” (Psalm 2:7-8)

Jesus’ prayer to the Father in John 17 reveals the fulfillment of this:
"I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.” (John 17:6-8)

God the Father gives a gift to God the Son: the Father gives the heathen as the Son’s inheritance:

“Before the creation of the world, He chose us through Christ to be holy and perfect in His presence.” (Ephesians 1:4)

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)

“But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.” (II Thessalonians 2:13)

Therefore, the Church (made up of all who are born again) is the spotless, pure, holy Bride of Christ:
“That He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.” (Ephesians 5:27)

The Bride of Christ will be dressed in white:
"After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands." (Revelation 7:9).

A Look At Psalm 2, Part 4

“Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.” (Psalm 2:5)

One definition of “vex” is “to afflict with physical pain.” The plagues that God brought upon Egypt because of their sinfulness are one example of this.

According to the “SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES TOP NEW LIST" (from the website http://www.jqjacobs.net/writing/std.html):
"The three most common infectious diseases in the United States are sexually transmitted according to a new Centers for Disease Control report. In 1995, the Center reported about 475,000 cases of chlamydia, 390,000 of gonorrhea and 71,500 new cases of AIDS." And, not surprisingly, "Persons having multiple sex partners are most at risk."

Who is most likely to get AIDS or some other STD? Homosexuals, drug users, and persons having multiple sex partners. In other words, those practicing sin, which is in direct rebellion against God’s Law and Commands. Why do we have latchkey kids, children born out of wedlock, birth disorders, abortion, divorce, etc.? Because people are sinners, and are doing things that are in direct violation of God’s Law. If everyone always walked in obedience to God’s commands, none of us would be vexed, and God’s wrath would not be against anyone…and no one would ever be cast into Hell.

“Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.” (Psalm 2:6)

The NIV footnote says that “holy hill” is “the site of the Jerusalem temple.”

In the midst of expressing God’s wrath against the wickedness of man, this is an announcement of Good News for all mankind! Even though we are all sinners, and have all rebelled and mutinied against God and His holy Law, turning against the will of our Creator, God steps in as the ultimate Hero in the midst of our sinfulness. For those who are willing to be rescued from sin and saved from Hell (and even this willingness is a gift of faith from God, given to the elect…so that even the willingness to accept salvation is something that we cannot claim to our own merit), God offers the free gift of eternal life, through His Son, the King of Kings! All we have to do is sorrowfully repent (not just regret, but be completely willing to turn away) from our sinful ways and ask Him for this free gift of salvation, which is only available through Jesus Christ Who is God the Son.

A Look At Psalm 2, Part 3

“He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.” (Psalm 2: 4)

The NIV footnote says, “The Lord mocks the rebels. With derisive laughter the Lord meets the confederacy of rebellious world powers with the sovereign declaration that it is He who has established the Davidic king in his own royal city of Zion (Jerusalem).”

How does God look at all these ungodly, humanistic heathens who verbally attack the Bible, attack Judeo-Christian morals, and attack Christians? Is God afraid of what these people might do? Is God worried? Hardly. This is the only verse in the entire Bible that speaks of God laughing. However, He’s not laughing with them; He’s laughing at them. God is laughing at His enemies who challenge Him and challenge His will and His Word. He sees these rebellious unbelievers---those who would mock God and challenge His will---and their worldly, humanistic reasoning, which comes from sin, as a pitiful joke. “Derision” means ridicule or mockery. These unbelievers, who are enemies of God, mock and ridicule God, His Son Jesus Christ, His Word the Bible, and His People (i.e., all who are born again). But God has the last laugh, and it is God Who will, in the end, mock them, when He throws them into Hell. One definition of “derision” is “mockery or laughter which shows scorn and contempt.” You may say, “Yes, I agree that God hates sin, but He LOVES the sinner!” However, the Bible would suggest that God’s wrath is against unrepentant sinners who are unbelievers:

“The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity.” (Psalm 5:5)

“God is a just judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day.” (Psalm 7:11)

"The Lord trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence His soul hateth" (Psalm 11:5).

The NIV footnote says, “God’s anger is always an expression of His righteousness.”

You might say, “Yeah, but that’s the OLD Testament!”

And what exactly, I would reply, do you mean by that? Do you mean that the God of the Old Testament is a completely different God than the God of the New Testament? Do you mean that God’s character changed completely from the Old Testament to the New Testament?

God does not change. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” (James 1:17)

Neither did God save people in a different way in the Old Testament from the way He saves people today. People in the Old Testament were saved the same way that people are saved today. Good works did not save people in the Old Testament. People back then could not perfectly keep the Law, just like people today cannot perfectly keep the Law. The entire chapter of Hebrews 11 (in the New Testament) shows how even the Old Testament saints were saved through faith, not by works. The entire chapter of Romans 4 (again, in the New Testament) shows how Abraham was justified by faith alone, and not by works; i.e., "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." They were saved by their faith in the coming Messiah (i.e., looking forward and believing, with faith, at what will take place one day); we are saved by faith in the Messiah Who has come (i.e., looking backward and believing, in faith, at what already took place).

Neither were they saved by animal sacrifices; if they were, then Jesus wasted His time on the cross. Those animal sacrifices were only a foreshadowing…a picture…an object lesson…of what was to occur in the future, much like Communion or the Lord’s Supper is an object lesson (symbolism) of what has already occurred…it’s a physical way for us to remember what has already occurred in the life of every born-again believer, and it gives us a physical, tangible way to relate to something of extreme importance…in this case, the sacrificial death of Christ Jesus on the cross.

The God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament are the same God. In fact, the New Testament speaks of God’s wrath against unrepentant sinners as well:
“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.” (Romans 1:18)

A Look At Psalm 2: Part 2

“Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One. “Let us break their chains,” they say, “and throw off their fetters.” (Psalm 2:1-3, NIV)

The NIV footnote says that Psalm 2 is “a royal psalm, originally composed for the coronation of Davidic kings.” “Later, prophetic words of judgment against the house of David and announcements of God’s future redemption of his people through an exalted royal son of David highlighted the Messianic import of this psalm.” “…it proclaims the blessedness of all who acknowledge the lordship of God and his anointed and “take refuge in him.” “This psalm is frequently quoted in the NT, where it is applied to Christ as the great Son of David and God’s Anointed.”

The NIV footnote says, “The nations rebel. In the ancient Near East the coronation of a new king was often the occasion for the revolt of peoples and kings who had been subject to the crown. The newly anointed king is here pictured as ruler over an empire.”

In Acts, we see a New Testament application of this:

"You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:
" 'Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together
against the Lord and against his Anointed One.'
Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen." (Acts 4:25-28)

The NIV footnote says that the question “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?” is “a rhetorical question that implies, “How dare they!” It also says “to rebel against the Lord’s Anointed is also to rebel against the One Who anointed Him. The psalm refers to the Davidic king and is ultimately fulfilled in Christ. The English word “Messiah” comes from the Hebrew word for “anointed one,” and the English word “Christ” from the Greek word for “anointed one.”

A Look At Psalm 2: Part 1

“Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.”
(Psalm 2:1-3, KJV)

“Why do the heathen rage?” If you want to see how much the World (System, i.e., our society) hates Christ Jesus and Yahweh the Father, just go into an Internet Discussion Board on Religion and post some messages about how Jesus is the only Way to eternal life, how Jesus is God, how the Bible is the absolute standard for Truth, etc., and it won’t be long before you (or at least, Christians in general) will be verbally attacked.

I was just watching a talk show on t.v. where a father and his daughters, ranging from 12 years old to the oldest who was married, were involved with an abstinence organization where a daughter covenants with her dad to be sexually pure, and to abstain from sex until marriage, and then to remain always faithful to her husband. A female doctor was also there as the local “expert,” and that doctor was doing everything she could to challenge and question and come against what that father and his daughters believed and stood for. I had to change the channel, because the things that doctor was saying irritated me to such a degree (because I saw the utter foolishness and sheer folly in what that doctor was saying, though our society in general would have totally agreed with her) that I just could not stand watching it anymore. However, I noticed that the father and his daughters were being incredibly respectful and courteous, despite the constant badgering and challenges that the doctor put forth. It was interesting to note that, because of the high level of respect and courtesy the father and daughters were showing, the doctor, the host and the hostess also showed restraint and a certain level of respect in return. I was just hoping that the ungodly things the doctor was spouting would not poison those young girls. The doctor kept trying to imply that the father was some kind of dictator who forced his daughters to follow a lifestyle that was against their will, even though both the father and his daughters continually affirmed, calmly and confidently and respectfully, that such a choice was completely up to the girls, and that the father never in any way forced them to make such a decision. Another thing the doctor kept asking was (and I’m paraphrasing), ‘How could a young 12-year-old girl make such a decision when a child that young can in no way understand what that means? A child of that age should be free to explore her own body and her sexuality.” This is one of the things that angered me, especially since I didn’t see anyone challenging the doctor with the implications of what she was saying. Was the doctor saying that a 12-year-old girl should sleep around like a prostitute or whore? I’m sure she wouldn’t outright admit to that, but that’s what the implications were. And was the doctor saying that getting AIDS or some other sexually transmitted disease, having an abortion, and having children out of wedlock are all preferable to practicing abstinence until marriage? As the Psalm asks, “Why do…the people imagine a vain thing?” It seemed to me that this doctor’s attitude against abstinence was the same as the rebellious attitude shown in verse 3 of Psalm 2, which represents what those who would challenge God's commands would say regarding God's Law and the moral lifestyle of Christians: “Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.” Unregenerate man does not want to be accountable to his Creator.