OUR FATHER WHO IS PLEASED BY OUR FAITH

The book of Hebrews chapter 11 verse 9, speaking of the patriarch Abraham leaving his home to settle in a foreign land,  says this;

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. 

Faith was what Abraham was exercising when he left the security of his homeland to dwell in a distant land as a stranger.

On the strength of the promise of God, he sojourned sight-unseen to a land he was promised and lived in tents as did his descendants Isaac and Jacob who were in line for the same promise.

By holding steadfast to the promise, they overlooked the fact that they lived in tents and instead focused on the greater eternal promise that the Lord had given them a glimpse of and it was faith that they leaned on to trust the hope even when they did not plainly see the final result.

The life of faith is one where the life in tents (or, as it were, the temporal life in the body), may hold no semblance to the eternal promise but we believe and look forward to the day when the incorruptible is revealed.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO PREPARED OUR LORD AS A SACRIFICE FOR US

The book of Hebrews chapter 10 verses 2 - 3, speaking of the limitations of the yearly sacrifices of the old covenant, says this;

Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins.

The writer asks that if the temple sacrifices were sufficient for the cleansing of sins and alleviating the peoples' guilt, wouldn't a one-time offering of those sacrifices have been enough? Instead, those sacrifices, repeated yearly, served only as reminders of sin rather than the removal of guilt.

Hebrews chapter 10 verses 5 - 7, quoting Psalm 40 verses 6 - 8,  relegates the temple sacrifices to the status of shadows and then points to the Lord Jesus Christ as the one who was written about in the scroll and who willingly gave His life as a once-and-for-all sacrifice for many.

 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased.

Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, my God.’”

The sacrifice of the Lord Jesus was perfect and of eternal worth and able to cleanse from sins and forever remove guilt.

Amen

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OUR FATHER WHO INTERVENED TO STOP THOSE WHO EXALTED THEMSELVES ABOVE ALL

Isaiah chapter 18 verse 4 verse 44 says this;

This is what the Lord says to me:  “I will remain quiet and will look on from my dwelling place like shimmering heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”

In this verse, the prophet Isaiah records the Lord speaking to him and telling him that at the time when tall and smooth-skinned people who send their envoys in papyrus boats are under threat and when a banner is raised for everyone to see and a trumpet is blown for everyone to hear, He, the Lord, will watch the events from the place where He dwells.

The Lord describes Himself as being like the shimmering of heat in the sunshine or like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest. He will hover over the harvest fields. 

Then, just prior to the harvest, as Isaiah chapter 18 verse 5 says;

For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he will cut off the shoots with pruning knives, and cut down and take away the spreading branches.

Here, we read of the Lord being in quiet repose observing the activities on earth and then suddenly, He moves to prune the growing global entity before its fruit is fully mature and even its branches that are spread over the earth will be cut away and disposed of.

Those who exalted themselves above all others as they plotted to take over the affairs of men are destroyed and left to the vultures and carrion-eating animals.

In gratitude for the Lord's intervention to save them from those who had planned to annihilate them, the tall and smooth-skinned people will bring gifts to Zion in honor of the Lord as captured in Isaiah chapter 18 verse 7;

 At that time gifts will be brought to the Lord Almighty from a people tall and smooth-skinned, from a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers—the gifts will be brought to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the Lord Almighty.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO MADE A BETTER COVENANT FOR HIS PEOPLE

The book of Hebrews chapter 8 verse 12 quotes from the book of Jeremiah chapter 31 verses 31 -  34 ending in this verse;

For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

The prophecy by the prophet Jeremiah foretells of a new covenant that would make the old covenant obsolete and the passage lists the defining characteristics of the new covenant between God and His people.

This list looks at the characteristics of the old covenant and compares them with those of the new covenant listed by Jeremiah;

• Recording media 
• The old covenant was written on stone
• The new covenant would be written in their minds and hearts

• Entry into the Covenant
• In the old covenant, the Lord chose His people by their descendancy from Abraham 
• The new covenant would be with people who chose the Lord to be their God through faith

• Access to God
• In the old covenant, Moses and the leaders knew God and taught the people
• In the new covenant, from least to greatest, all people would know God directly and would be taught by Him

• State of Pardon
• In the old covenant, the sins of the people were removed from them and cast as far as east is from west
• In the new covenant, the Lord would forgive the peoples' wickedness and erase their sin from His mind

This comparison shows how the new covenant has better promises and thus it rendered the old covenant obsolete as Hebrews chapter 8 verse 13 says;

By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO PRE-FIGURED THE LORD JESUS AS MELCHIZEDEK THE KING AND PRIEST

The book of Hebrews chapter 7 verses 4 - 6, referring to the mysterious figure named  Melchizedek the King of Salem to whom Abraham gave a tenth of the spoil of war, says this;

Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder!  

Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people—that is, from their fellow Israelites—even though they also are descended from Abraham.  

This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 

The name Melchizedek means King of Righteousness and His title,  King of Salem, means King of Peace.

In the scripture, He appears without any mention of His lineage or His origins or His end.

He is an eternal priestly figure to whom even the patriarch Abraham, who had the promises, paid tithes and who had the authority and stature to bless the patriarch.

Furthermore, He is a priest who was installed as an eternal priest by an oath of God as Hebrews chapter 7 verse 21 says.

“The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: ‘You are a priest forever.’”

Thus it is said to the Lord Jesus in Psalm 110 verse 4;

 “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”

This means that the Lord Jesus, serves as a priest but He, not being from the tribe of Levi, serves as an eternal priest after the pattern of Melchizedek, in the priestly office created for an eternal being.

Melchizedek was a pre-figuration of the Lord Jesus to whom Abraham paid tithes along with all those who paid tithes to the Levitical priests.

This is because they were, in a manner of speaking, in the body of Abraham at the time he met Melchizedek and thus the tithe payments made to them as Levitical priests were streamed to the Lord Jesus as Melchizedek, through the hand of Abraham when he encountered the Lord.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO GIVES HIS SERVANTS GREAT GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT

The book of Daniel chapter 4 verses 9 - 10 says this;

 I said, “Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you, and no mystery is too difficult for you. Here is my dream; interpret it for me. 

These are the visions I saw while lying in bed: I looked, and there before me stood a tree in the middle of the land. Its height was enormous. 

This passage is an excerpt from the testimonial letter that Nebuchadnezzar,  King of Babylon, wrote of his encounter with the Most High God.

Nebuchadnezzar wrote that he had a dream that concerned him and no wise men of his court could interprete it for him until Daniel the prophet, whom the king had named Belteshazzar, arrived.

The king wrote that he had great confidence in Daniel because the spirit of the holy gods was in him and that no mystery was beyond his ability.

The gifts of the Spirit in which Daniel was operating had commended Daniel to the high courts of the land and thus he had been appointed chief magician.

Nebuchadnezzar asked Daniel to interprete the dream for him and proceeded to tell of the visions he saw of a great tree standing in the middle of the land.

As he looked, a loud voice spoke directing that  the great and lofty tree be cut down and the stump be bound up in iron and bronze and remain in the ground among the grass.

The voice commanded that he be covered in dew and that his mind leave him and be replaced with the mind of an animal. 

The spiritual gift in Daniel responded to the dream and he was terrified by the thoughts that entered his mind.  

Nebuchadnezzar wrote that he told Daniel not to let the dream or its meaning alarm him. Daniel then told him that the dream was not about his enemies but about him and that it foretold that he, though great and mighty, would fall from power and be like an animal in the field covered in dew and eating grass.

Daniel also indicated that the king would remain in that state for seven years but would be restored to his rightful mind and have the splendor of his kingdom restored to him.

The king then wrote in his testimony that the things that Daniel has said of the dream came to pass precisely and that He, Nebuchadnezzar, was  now testifying of the greatness of God.

Daniel chapter 4 verse 37 concludes  Nebuchadnezzar's testimony this way;

Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO DESIGNATED A HIGH PRIEST FOR US WHO ARE BEING SAVED

The book of Hebrews chapter 5 verses 8 - 9, speaking of Jesus' appointment to the office of high priest and His intercession for us all in cries and tears, says this;

Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him

This verse speaks of the perfection attained by Jesus when He obeyed God the Father even in the face of suffering. By maintaining absolute obedience of God even to the point of death, He publicly demonstrated His perfection and through this, became the salvation of any in the whole world who obeyed Him.

And for those who are saved, the Lord Jesus was designated by the Father to be a priest of the highest order.  As Hebrews chapter 5 verse 10 says;

and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

Amen.

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