You said last issue that because “God is the judge of all the earth”, He will judge both Israel and the Gentiles at the last day. But are not His judgements related to His work with Israel and of a redemptive nature?
Yes, redemption is of the Jew and will be ultimately for both Jew and Gentile (Romans 11). But judgement will be poured out upon both first, then will come repentance and redemption. No flesh, Jew or Gentile, can glory before God. Further, though Israel is central to God’s plan, He will judge nations quite apart from their dealings with her (e.g. Amos 2:1; Jonah, etc.) on the basis of His righteous laws which are in the earth.
When Abraham said: “God will provide Himself the lamb” (Gen. 22:8), was He thinking specifically of the promised Messiah?
Yes, I think so. It was probably to that occasion that Jesus was referring in John 8:56. The writer to the Hebrews adds further to that incident (Heb. 11:19) when he says that Abraham received Isaac back from the dead “in a parable”, implying that he not only saw the sacrificial death of the Lord, but also his subsequent resurrection. No wonder he rejoiced.
Who was the first mortal king of Israel?
Moses (see Deut. 33:5), “Moses commanded us a law… and he was king in Jeshurun”. Later, Abimelech, the son of Gideon, became a king over Israel (Judges 9:22). Years later God chose Saul, the son of Kish, (1 Sam. 15:1) to be king of Israel under Him.
To whom did God say: “I will be to him a father” (2 Sam. 7:14)?
In the original context the words applied to Solomon, but the writer to the Hebrews (1:5) shows them to be pre-eminently applicable to Jesus, in whom the holy and sure promises made by God to David and his house find their realisation (cf. Isa. 55:3 and Acts 13:34), You could say that the primary application to Solomon typically foreshadowed the larger and more complete requirements in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Do you think that Jesus’ words, “I am He” in John 18:5, refer to Exod. 3:14?
Yes, I do; and it is evident from the context that his hearers made some such connection. Certainly more is implied than a simple affirmative. The divine claim appears also to be in vv. 24 and 28 of the same chapter, though the connection is probably more direct with Isa 41:4, where the same idea is contained. But with our understanding of the Theophany this should not present any great difficulties.
Does Matt. 8:17, in quoting Isa. 53:4, suggest that Jesus made atonement for our sicknesses?
No. The context must determine the meaning. This is the only place in the N.T. where Isa 53:4 is quoted and Matthew gives the two verbs (`took’ and ‘bore’) the meaning of “taking away”, rather than the alternate “taking to himself”, as in the sacrificial sense of the word as Peter uses it (1 Peter 2:24). Jesus cured the people of their diseases, but sicknesses do not require to be atoned for; they need to be relieved and removed (`taken away’). This the Lord did in the course of his larger ministry.
When Isaiah says, “He was reckoned with transgressors” (Isa. 53:12), to what incident is he referring?
Certainly to the incident of the swords (Luke 22:36), as Luke clearly shows (the disciples, with the two swords, becoming transgressors). The critics allow this as the only place in the gospels where Isa. 53:12 is quoted. But, in spite of the omission by the R.V., R.S.V., N.E.B. et al, I also connect it with the crucifixion as in the A.V. of Mark 15:28. And though not quoted, I see it as a reference to the Lord’s entombment (“he made his grave with the wicked”); and also, generally, to his identification with sinners in his role as Saviour. To me the outworking of the prophecy is a marvellous example of the multi-level possibilities of a single prophetic line. Oh, the riches of Christ, past finding out!
Doesn’t the new covenant of Jeremiah 31:33 indicate that, with God’s law written in our hearts, the fear of God has, for us, become obsolete; for where perfect love reigns, fear has been cast out?
I’m afraid not. What a mixed grill this question offers! The message of John’s epistle is that fear of God ceases when perfection is attained; for fear cannot exist when the believer keeps all the commandments of the Lord perfectly. “Herein is love perfected, that you keep his commandments.” Perfect obedience will certainly expel fear, for it is only those who sin who retain a fearful expectation of judgement. Sure: no sin, no fear. But the Lord says that under the new covenant of Jer. 31, “I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more” (v.34).
Thankfully, David’s words are still true for us today, “If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared” (Psa. 130:3-4).
Why would God reveal, in Daniel 2, the future history of the world to Nebuchadnezzar, who was a pagan?
He didn’t. The bestowal of the key to the future is contingent upon worthiness (Rev. 5:9) and, as observed, Nebuchadnezzar didn’t have that necessary qualification. What, then, was he given? Simply the lesson that God’s sovereignty determines the destiny of all kingdoms, present and future. The revelation, that there would be a succession of three temporal but limited kingdoms after his own before God acts to set up His universal and everlasting kingdom over all the earth, was meant to humble this proud monarch carried away with his own inflated estimation of himself. (We might, with the advantage of historical hindsight, identify the succeeding kingdoms of silver, brass and iron; but Nebuchadnezzar would have no way.)
The salutary lesson for him required merely the identification of the head of gold. That the point was too much for him to grasp and hold is evident from what happened. He had to be “lopped down to size” until he learnt the essential truth that God is Sovereign of all (Daniel 4).
Was the visionary ‘angel’ that appeared to Daniel on the banks of the Tigris (ch.10), a redeemed man of the age to come?
I think not. Certainly the fantastic picture we have of him might encourage such an interpretation, were it not for the fact that he goes on to explain that he has been engaged, with Michael, in a warfare against the king of Persia (v.13) and is returning to continue the fight (v.20). To the unenlightened world it would appear that Persia was overthrown by Alexander and his Greeks (v.20), but Daniel records the unseen reality of the angelic role in these affairs.
The resurrected saints of the future age (even yet in their graves) could take no part in that overthrow, though they will certainly share in the ultimate effects. Daniel spoke to a spirit being, a flame of fire (Heb. 1:7, 14), sent forth to minister for the sake of them that shall inherit salvation. In short, I believe it WAS an angel.
In Acts 2:20, Peter quotes Joel 2:31 as being fulfilled at that time. Was this a reference to the impending eclipse of the Jewish political and ecclesiastical heavens in A.D.70?
You could read it that way. I prefer to understand it as referring to something that was to happen before the day of the Lord in A.D.70. Just over seven weeks ago, on the afternoon of the Lord’s crucifixion the sun had actually been turned into darkness (Mark 15: 33). Whatever caused the darkness (it could not have been an eclipse since it was full moon) would probably have made the Passover full moon to rise blood red in the sky later that afternoon. And since, according to Joel, these signs in the sky were to be the harbingers of the day of the Lord, many who had witnessed these wonders would remember and believe, calling on the name of the Lord for salvation (v.21).
In the last issue, were you inferring that Elijah was to turn the hearts of the people to God, which he had been unable to do during his prophetic ministry?
Yes. I am aware that Malachi 4:6 says “And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers” (A.V.), but the margin allows as an alternative “And he shall turn the heart of the fathers with the children, and the heart of the children with their fathers” (to God). This, to me, gives special point to the coming role of Elijah in the light of his expressed desire in 1 Kings 18:37 “Hear me, 0 Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again”. Elijah will come to turn the hearts of the people of God.
Jacob’s Prophecy in Gen 49 and Other Discussion Questions