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"For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light." Mark 4:22
A prophetic scripture compendium (with cross references) expounded with
conservative Bible commentaries
(many more can be viewed on the downloadable pages on the opposite side of this page)
The following scriptures are given to encourage you to study the above holy writings from God's prophecies as found in His word.
"It is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 13:11
"God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." 1 Corinthians 2:10
"Now to him that is able to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which hath been kept secret since the world began, 26 But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: 27 To God the only wise, {be} glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen." Romans 16:25-27
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Psalm 21:1-7, LXX, Thomson Version ; " O LORD, in Thy strength, the king will rejoice ; and exult greatly in Thy salvation.
Vs 2 Thou hast granted him the desire of his soul, and hast not denied him the request of his lips.
Vs.3 For Thou has pre-engaged him with kind blessings. Thou hast set on his head a crown of precious stones.
Vs.4 He asked of Thee life ; and Thou hast given him length of day forever.
By Thy salvation his glory is great. Thou wilt confer on him honour and magesty.
Vs. 6 For Thou wilt give him everlasting blessing ; and with the joy of Thy countenance make him glad.
Vs. 7 Because the king trusteth in the Lord ; therefore, through the mercy of the Most High, he cannot be shaken."
Cross references:
Romans 6:9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
Revelation 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
Hebrews 7:25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. {to the.: or, evermore}
Charles H. Spurgeon ; " It has been called David's triumphant song, and we may remember it as The Royal Triumphal Ode. "The king" is most prominent throughout, and we shall read it to true profit if our meditation of him shall be sweet while perusing it. We must crown him with the glory of our salvation; singing of his love, and praising his power, The next psalm will take us to the foot of the cross, this introduces us to the steps of the throne.
Ver. 1. The king shall joy in thy strength, O Lord. Jesus is a Royal Personage. The question, "Art thou a King then?" received a full answer from the Saviour's lips: "Thou sayest that I am a King. To this end was I born, and for this purpose came I into the world, that I might bear witness unto the truth." He is not merely a King, but the King; King over minds and hearts, reigning with a dominion of love, before which all other rule is but mere brute force. He was proclaimed King even on the cross, for there, indeed, to the eye of faith, he reigned as on a throne, blessing with more than imperial munificence the needy sons of earth. Jesus has wrought out the salvation of his people, but as a man he found his strength in Jehovah his God, to whom he addressed himself in prayer upon the lonely mountain's side, and in the garden's solitary gloom. That strength so abundantly given is here gratefully acknowledged, and made the subject of joy. The Man of Sorrows is now anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows. Returned in triumph from the overthrow of all his foes, he offers his own rapturous Te Deum in the temple above, and joys in the power of the Lord. Herein let every subject of King Jesus imitate the King; let us lean upon Jehovah's strength, let us joy in it by unstaggering faith, let us exult in it in our thankful songs. Jesus not only has thus rejoiced, but he shall do so as he sees the power of divine grace bringing out from their sinful hiding places the purchase of his soul's travail; we also shall rejoice more and more as we learn by experience more and more fully the strength of the arm of our covenant God. Our weakness unstrings our harps, but his strength tunes them anew. If we cannot sing a note in honour of our own strength, we can at any rate rejoice in our omnipotent God."
John Gill ; ".Jewish writers understood of the Messiah; as "the King", in Psalm 20:1,7 is in the Targum called the King Messiah; Psalm 21:4 is in the Talmud applied .. to him..'"
'Thou hast given him his heart's desire' Augustine ; "Thou hast given Him the desire of His soul" (vet. 2). He desired to eat the Passover, and to lay down His life when He would, and again when He would to take it; and Thou hast given it to Him. "And hast not deprived Him of the good pleasure of His lips." "My peace," saith He, "I leave with you:" and it was done."
"...Christ rejoices at the effectual calling and conversion of his people, when salvation is brought near unto them; and especially at their glorification, when they shall be in the full enjoyment of it; then will they be his joy, and crown of rejoicing: this is the joy that was set before him, which made him go so cheerfully through his sufferings and death for them, Heb 12:2; the reasons of this joy are, because of the great love he bears to them; the interest and property he has in them; his undertakings for them, as their surety, to bring them safe to glory; his purchase of them by his blood; his intercession for them, that they might be with him to behold his glory; and, last of all, because of his Father's glory, his own glory, and the glory of the blessed Spirit, which are concerned in the salvation of these persons."
And in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice! Everything is ascribed to God; the source is thy strength and the stream is thy salvation. Jehovah planned and ordained it, works it and crowns it, and therefore it is his salvation. The joy here spoken of is described by a note of exclamation and a word of wonder: "how greatly!" The rejoicing of our risen Lord must, like his agony, be unutterable. If the mountains of his joy rise in proportion to the depth of the valleys of his grief, then his sacred bliss is high as the seventh heaven. For the joy which was set before him as he endured the cross, despising the shame, and now that joy daily grows, for he rests in his love and rejoices over his redeemed with singing, as in due order they are brought to find their salvation in his blood. Let us with our Lord rejoice in salvation, as coming from God, as coming to us, as extending itself to others, and as soon to encompass all lands. We need not be afraid of too much rejoicing in this respect; this solid foundation will well sustain the loftiest edifice of joy. The shoutings of the early methodists in the excitement of the joy were far more pardonable than our own lukewarmness. Our joy should have some sort of inexpressibleness in it. "
R.H. Ryland ; "The prayer which the church offers up at the conclusion of the preceding Psalm now issues in a hymn of praise, the result of a believing view of the glory which is to follow, when Messiah's sufferings are ended. This is one of the beautiful songs of which we find many in Scripture, prepared by the Holy Spirit to awaken and enliven the hopes and expectations of the church while she waits for the Lord, and to give utterance to her joy at the time of his arrival. The theme is Messiah's exaltation and glory, and the time chosen for its delivery is just the moment when darkness covered the earth, and all nature seemed about to die with its expiring Lord."
'And hast not withholden the request of his lips' ; Spurgeon ; "...The requests of the Saviour were not withheld. He was and still is a prevailing Pleader. Our Advocate on high returns not empty from the throne of grace. He asked for his elect in the eternal council chamber, he asked for blessings for them here, he asked for glory for them hereafter, and his requests have speeded. He is ready to ask for us at the mercyseat. Have we not at this hour some desire to send up to his Father by him? Let us not be slack to use our willing, loving, all prevailing Intercessor."
John Gill ; " .Whatever he asked in the council and covenant of peace was granted; he asked for all the elect, as his spouse and bride; these were the desire of his heart and eyes, and they were given him; he asked for all the blessings of grace for them, and all grace was given to them in him; he asked for glory, for eternal life, and it was promised him; and not only the promise of it was put into his hand, but the thing itself; see Psalm 2:8 2Timothy 1:1,9 1John 5:11; and Psalm 20:4; whatever he requested of his Father, when here on earth, was granted; he always heard him; that memorable prayer of his in John 17:1-26 is heard and answered, both in what respects himself, his own glorification, and the conversion, sanctification, union, preservation, and glorification of his people; whatever he now desires and requests in heaven, as the advocate and intercessor for his saints, is ever fulfilled; which is an instance of the great regard Jehovah has unto him, and may be considered as a reason of his joy in him."
Ver. 3. For thou preventest ("pre-engaged", Thomson) him with the blessings of goodness, Spurgeon ; ".Mercy, in the case of many of us, ran before our desires and prayers, and it ever outruns our endeavours and expectancies, and even our hopes are left to lag behind. Prevenient grace deserves a song; we may make one out of this sentence; let us try. All our mercies are to be viewed as "blessings;" gifts of a blessed God, meant to make us blessed; they are "blessings of goodness", not of merit, but of free favour; and they come to us in a preventing way, a way of prudent foresight, such as only preventing love could have arranged. In this light the verse is itself a sonnet!"
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" Thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head. Jesus wore the thorn crown, but now wears the glory crown. It is a "crown", indicating royal nature, imperial power, deserved honour, glorious conquest, and divine government. The crown is of the richest, rarest, most resplendent, and most lasting order? "gold," and that gold of the most refined and valuable sort, "pure gold", to indicate the excellence of his dominion. This crown is set upon his head most firmly, and whereas other monarchs find their diadems fitting loosely, his is fixed so that no power can move it, for Jehovah himself has set it upon his brow. Napoleon crowned himself, but Jehovah crowned the Lord Jesus; the empire of the one melted in an hour, but the other has an abiding dominion. Some versions read, "a crown of precious stones;" this may remind us of those beloved ones who shall be as jewels in his crown, of whom he has said, "They shall be mine in the day when I make up my jewels." May we be set in the golden circlet of the Redeemer's glory, and adorn his head for ever!"
Spurgeon ; "Ver. 4. He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days for ever and ever. The first words may suit King David, but the length of days for ever and ever can only refer to the King Messiah. Jesus, as man, prayed for resurrection and he received it, and now possesses it in immortality. He died once, but being raised from the dead he dieth no more. "Because I live, ye shall live also," is the delightful intimation which the Saviour gives us, that we are partakers of his eternal life. We had never found this jewel, if he had not rolled away the stone which covered it."
"He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days for ever and ever." Ralph Wardlaw, D.D.Ver. 4 The glory of God is concerned in Christ's living for ever?
1. The glory of his faithfulness: for eternal life and blessedness were pledged to Immanuel in covenant as the reward of his work (Ps 110:1-4 Isa 9:6-7, etc.); and it was in the anticipation and confident hope of this, that he "endured the cross, despising the shame." Hebrews 12:2 Ps 16:8-11.
2. The glory of his justice. The justice of God was honoured and fully satisfied in all its righteous demands by the death of Christ. His subsequent life is the expression on the part of God of that satisfaction. His perpetual life is a permanent declaration that in him and his finished work the everlasting righteousness of Jehovah rests for ever satisfied. Death can "never more have dominion over him:" for to inflict the penalty again would be a violation of justice.
3. The glory of his grace. The glory of this grace he now lives actively to promote. John 17:2. By living "ever" at God's right hand, he appears as an eternal memorial of God's love in making him our Mediator and Substitute?our Saviour from sin and wrath; and his permanent appearance there will keep all heaven perpetually in mind that "by the grace of God they are what they are", owing all to the sovereign mercy of God through Jesus Christ. He shall appear as the blessed medium through which all the gifts and joys of salvation shall flow to the guilty for evermore. Thus the power of God and all his moral attributes secure the perpetuity of the life of the risen and exalted Saviour."
Augustine ; "He asked a resurrection, saying, "Father, glorify thy Son;" and thou gavest it him. Length of days for ever and ever. The prolonged ages of this world which the church was to have, and after them an eternity, world without end."
John Gill ; "He asked life of thee, [and] thou gavest [it] him, &c.] Both for himself, as man, when he was about to die, that he might be raised to life again, which was granted him; and for his people, that they might live spiritually and eternally, and accordingly life is given to him for them; and he has power to give it to as many as the Father has given him, John 17:2;
[even] length of days for ever and ever; the life he has for himself as man is what will ever continue; he will die no more, death will have no more dominion over him; he will live for evermore, and that to make intercession for his members, Romans 6:9,16 Revelation 1:18 Hebrews 7:25; and the life which is granted them at his request is an everlasting one, both as to body and soul; for though they die as other men, they shall live again in the resurrection of the just, and never die more, but shall be like the angels in heaven; and as for the second death, that shall not harm them, nor have any power over them; they will live and reign with Christ for ever."
Matthew Henry ; "That God had assured him of the perpetuity of his kingdom, and therein had done more for him than he was able either to ask or think (Psalm 21:4):
"When he went forth upon a perilous expedition he asked his life of thee, which he then put into his hand, and thou not only gavest him that, but withal gavest him length of days for ever and ever, didst not only prolong his life far beyond his expectation, but didst assure him of a blessed immortality in a future state and of the continuance of his kingdom in the Messiah that should come of his loins."
See how God's grants often exceed our petitions and hopes, and infer thence how rich he is in mercy to those that call upon him. See also and rejoice in the length of the days of Christ's kingdom. He was dead, indeed, that we might live through him; but he is alive, and lives for evermore, and of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end; and because he thus lives we shall thus live also."
21:5 "His glory is great in thy salvation: thou wilt crown him with glory and majesty.'
Matthew Henry ; "The glory which every good man is ambitious of is to see the salvation of the Lord. Honour and majesty hast thou laid upon him, as a burden which he must bear, as a charge which he must account for. Jesus Christ received from God the Father honour and glory (2 Peter 1:17), the glory which he had with him before the worlds were, John 17:5. And on him is laid the charge of universal government and to him all power in heaven and earth is committed.
(6.) That God had given him the satisfaction of being the channel of all bliss to mankind (Psalm 21:6):
"Thou hast set him to be blessings for ever"
(so the margin reads it),
"thou hast made him to be a universal everlasting blessing to the world, in whom the families of the earth are, and shall be, blessed; and so thou hast made him exceedingly glad with the countenance thou hast given to his undertaking and to him in the prosecution of it.
See how the spirit of prophecy gradually rises here to that which is peculiar to Christ, for none besides is blessed for ever, much less a blessing for ever to that eminency that the expression denotes: and of him it is said that God made him full of joy with his countenance.
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Jeremiah 23:5-6, 9 LXX (Thomson version) , verse 5 ; "Behold the days are coming, saith the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous shoot who shall reign as king and shall understand and execute judgement and justice on the earth.
Vs 6 In his days Juda shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell securely.
And the name which the Lord will give him by the prophets shall be Josedek [Lord our righteousness]."
Jeremiah 23:5-6, AV/MT, vs.5 ; "Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.
6 In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS."
Cross references :
Isaiah 32:1 LXX (Charles Thomson version) ; "For behold a righteous king shall reign and chiefs shall rule with justice."
Isaiah 32:17-18 LXX (Charles Thomson version); "And the works of righteousness shall be peace; and righteousness shall enjoy rest. As for them who have kept up their confidence till that age-his people shall then inhabit a city of peace and dwell secure, and they shall enjoy rest with riches."
Isaiah 9:7, LXX, "His government shall be great, and of his peace there is no end, upon the throne of David, and overhis kingdom, to establish it, and to support it with judgement and with righteousness, from henceforth and forever. The seal of the Lord of hosts shall perform this."
Zechariah 3:8 "Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH." {wondered.: Heb. of wonder, or, sign}
Zechariah 6:12-13 "And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD: {grow.: or, branch up from under him}"
Vs.13 "Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both."
1 Corinthians 1:30 "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who from God is made to us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:"
Romans 10:4 "For Christ {is} the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."
John 1:45 "Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
Reading from the greek O.T. " Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch,.." This verse declares prophetically that the Messiah, the "Branch" ( grk. avnatolai avnatolh., " that means "rising", "growing","branch", "sprout of God","sunrise","light of dawn","dawn from heaven" etc.) is not only to appear and be seen rising in the ministry to Israel and to the world but also His resurrection may be discerned as well.
John Gill ; "...Who, having been delivered for our offences, rose again for our justification: and this righteousness, which He has wrought out to the satisfaction of law and justice,..."
This observation becomes even more apparent when the words " raise up" (grk. avni,sthmi " from anasthsw" anasthsw from anisthmi ani,sthmi ) here in verse 5, that means to "raise up"in resurrection. ("to raise from sleep, to raise from the dead, to build up again, to rouse to action, to rise as a champion", etc. )This form of the verb is only used four times in the New Testament and in each a resurrection context is meant.( see John 6:39, 6:40, 6:44 and 6:54) [my ft]
[ft] in the grk. (LXX) the transliteration from the Hebr. is from "pei,qw ; meaning to: "persuade, convince, win over; conciliate, satisfy (Mt 28.14); seek favor or approval from (Ga 1.10); reassure (1 Jn 3.19); pass. obey, pay attention to, listen to; be a follower (Ac 5.36, 37); pf. act. and pass. trust, rely on; have confidence, be confident; be certain or sure" from the Barclay-Newman Greek Dictionary
Matthew Henry; "... Messiah the Prince, that great and good Shepherd of the sheep, shall in the latter days be raised up to bless his church, and to be the glory of his people Israel, v. 5, 6. The house of David seemed to be quite sunk and ruined by that threatening against Jeconiah (ch. 22:30), that none of his seed should ever sit upon the throne of David. But here is a promise which effectually secures the honour of the covenant made with David notwithstanding; for by it the house will be raised out of its ruins to a greater lustre than ever, and shine brighter far than it did in Solomon himself. We have not so many prophecies of Christ in this book as we had in that of the prophet Isaiah; but here we have one, and a very illustrious one; of him doubtless the prophet here speaks, of him, and of no other man. The first words intimate that it would be long ere this promise should have its accomplishment: The days come, but they are not yet. I shall see him, but not now. But all the rest intimate that the accomplishment of it will be glorious. (1.) Christ is here spoken of as a branch from David, the man the branch (Zechariah 3:8), his appearance mean, his beginnings small, like those of a bud or sprout, and his rise seemingly out of the earth, but growing to be green, to be great, to be loaded with fruits. A branch from David's family, when it seemed to be a root in a dry ground, buried, and not likely to revive. Christ is the root and offspring of David, Rev. 22:16. In him doth the horn of David bud, Ps. 132:17, 18. He is a branch of God's raising up; he sanctified him, and sent him into the world, gave him his commission and qualifications. He is a righteous branch, for he is righteous himself, and through him many, even all that are his, are made righteous. As an advocate, he is Jesus Christ the righteous. (2.) He is here spoken of as his church's King. This branch shall be raised as high as the throne of his father David, and there he shall reign and prosper, not as the kings that now were of the house of David, who went backward in all their affairs. No; he shall set up a kingdom in the world that shall be victorious over all opposition. In the chariot of the everlasting gospel he shall go forth, he shall go on conquering and to conquer. If God raise him up, he will prosper him, for he will own the work of his own hands; what is the good pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in the hands of those to whom it is committed. He shall prosper; for he shall execute judgment and justice in the earth, all the world over, Ps. 96:13. The present kings of the house of David were unjust and oppressive, and therefore it is no wonder that they did not prosper. But Christ shall, by his gospel, break the usurped power of Satan, institute a perfect rule of holy living, and, as far as it prevails, make all the world righteous. The effect of this shall be a holy security and serenity of mind in all his faithful loyal subjects. In his days, under his dominion, Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely; that is, all the spiritual seed of believing Abraham and praying Jacob shall be protected from the curse of heaven and the malice of hell, shall be privileged from the arrests of God's law and delivered from the attempts of Satan's power, shall be saved from sin, the guilt and dominion of it, and then shall dwell safely, and be quiet from the fear of all evil. See Lu. 1:74, 75. Those that shall be saved hereafter from the wrath to come may dwell safely now; for, if God be for us, who can be against us? In the days of Christ's government in the soul, when he is uppermost there, the soul dwells at ease. (3.) He is here spoken of as The Lord our righteousness. Observe, [1.] Who and what he is. As God, he is Jehovah, the incommunicable name of God, denoting his eternity and self-existence. As Mediator, he is our righteousness. By making satisfaction to the justice of God for the sin of man, he has brought in an everlasting righteousness, and so made it over to us in the covenant of grace that, upon our believing consent to that covenant, it becomes ours. His being Jehovah our righteousness implies that he is so our righteousness as no creature could be. He is a sovereign, all-sufficient, eternal righteousness. All our righteousness has its being from him, and by him it subsists, and we are made the righteousness of God in him. [2.] The profession and declaration of this: This is the name whereby he shall be called, not only he shall be so, but he shall be known to be so. God shall call him by this name, for he shall appoint him to be our righteousness. By this name Israel shall call him, every true believer shall call him, and call upon him. That is our righteousness by which, as an allowed plea, we are justified before God, acquitted from guilt, and accepted into favour; and nothing else have we to plead but this, "Christ has died, yea, rather has risen again;" and we have taken him for our Lord." and ..." Just 490 years (70 weeks) after they came out of Babylon Messiah the Prince set up the gospel temple, which was the greatest glory of that nation that was so wonderfully brought out of Babylon; see Dan. 9:24, 25. Now the spiritual glory of the second part of that nation, especially as transferred to the gospel church, is much more admirable and illustrious than all the temporal glory of the first part of it in the days of Solomon; for that was no glory compared with the glory which excelleth."In Spurgeon's sermon entitled " Jehova Tsidkenu" The Lord Our Righteousness [ft2] he writes ;
[ft2] from his " Treasury of the Bible vol. 4 p. 88
'He is Jehova'. "Read that verse, and you will clearly percieve that the Messiah of the Jews, Jesus of Nazareth the Saviour of the Gentiles is certainly Jehova..." and ..."Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a Righteous Branch..." and ..." He Who did hang upon the tree had the creation hanging upon Him. He Who died on the cross was the Ever-living, the Everlasting One. As a man He died, as God He lives."..."Who less than God could have interposed to deliver us from the jaws of hell's lions, and bring us up from the pit, having found a ransom?"
Jeremiah 23:6 (LXX) "In his days both Juda shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell securely: and this is his name, which the Lord shall call him, Josedec among the prophets."
here the LXX has " Josedec" .josedec is the transliteration of Jehova-tsadak " the Lord has made just' [ft3]
[ft3] Wnqed>cihw"hy> Y@hovah tsidqenuw {ye-ho-vaw' tsid-kay'-noo} . AV - LORD our Righteousness 2; 2 Jehovah is our righteousness 1) a sacred name symbolically applied to Jerusalem and the Messiah.." also see " Strong's" hebr. dictionary."tsadak...just...righteous"
The Weston Bible that highlights the Biblical covenants has (in part) the following comment noted " He is slain...but as promised in the Davidic Covenant, He is raised up...( Isaiah 53:10-12 ) to reign."
Jamiesson Faucett Brown ; "... righteous Branch--"the Branch of righteousness" (Jer_33:15); "The Branch" simply (Zec_3:8; Zec_6:12); "The Branch of the Lord" (Isa_4:2).
prosper--the very term applied to Messiah's undertaking (Isa_52:13, Margin; Isa_53:10). Righteousness or justice is the characteristic of Messiah elsewhere, too, in connection with our salvation or justification (Isa_53:11; Dan_9:24; Zec_9:9). So in the New Testament He is not merely "righteous" Himself, but "righteousness to us" (1Co_1:30), so that we become "the righteousness of God in Him" (Rom_10:3-4; 2Co_5:19-21; Phi_3:9).
execute judgment and justice in the earth-- (Psa_72:2; Isa_9:7; Isa_32:1, Isa_32:18). Not merely a spiritual reign in the sense in which He is "our righteousness," but a righteous reign "in the earth" (Jer_3:17-18). In some passages He is said to come to judge, in others to reign. In Mat_25:34, He is called "the King." Psa_9:7 unites them. Compare Dan_7:22, Dan_7:26-27."
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Psalm 20:1-9, LXX,(see Thomson's Version) vs.1 ; "The Lord hearken to Thee in a day of distress!
The name of the God of Jacob defend Thee;
Vs. 2 May He send Thee help from the Sanctuary:
And assist Thee out of Sion.
Vs. 3 May He remember all Thy sacrifice;
And make Thy whole burnt offerings fat.
Vs.4 May He grant Thee thy heart's desire:
And fulfill all Thy counsel.
Vs. 5 We will rejoice in Thy Salvation, and triumph in the name of our God. May the Lord fulfill all Thy petitions!
Vs.6 Now I know that the Lord hath saved His Anointed. From His holy heaven He will hearken to Him. The Salvation of His Right Hand is with Power.
Vs.7 Some boast of chariots and some of horses; but by the name of the Lord our God we shall be magnified.
Vs.8 They were entangled and fell; but we arose and were kept upright.
Vs.9 O Lord, save the King, and hearken to us, when we invoke Thee."
Cross references:
Psalm 54:4 {LXX} "For lo! God assists me; and the Lord is the helper of my soul."
Hebrews 5:7 "Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;"
Psalms 72:15 "And He shall live, and to Him shall be given of the gold of Sheba: prayer also shall be made for Him continually; and daily shall He be praised."
Psalm 18:50 LXX (Thomson version) ; "He is magnifying the deliverances of His king, and shewing mercy to His anointed-to David and his seed forever."
Psalm 89:20-26 LXX (Thomson version) ; vs.20 "I have found David My servant; I have anointed Him with holy oil.
Vs 21 My hand will indeed support him. And him Mine arm will strengthen.
Vs.22 Over him an enemy will not gain advantage ; nor shall a son of wickedness any more afflict him.
Vs.23 For before him I will hew down his enemies : and them who hate him I will put to flight.
Vs.24 And My truth and My mercy shall be with him; and by My name his horn shall be exalted.
Vs. 25 I will put his hand on the sea; and his right hand on the rivers
Vs. 26 and he will invoke Me saying, Thou art my father ; my God and the support of my salvation."
Acts 5:31 Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
Acts 2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ."
Augustine, quoting from an ancient Septuagint:
1. This is a well-known title; and it is not Christ who speaks; but the prophet speaks to Christ, under the form of wishing, foretelling things to come.(4)
2. "The Lord hear Thee in the day of trouble" (ver. 1). The Lord hear Thee in the day in which Thou saidst, "Father glorify Thy Son."(5) "The name of the God of Jacob protect Thee." For to Thee belongeth the younger people. Since "the elder shall serve the younger."(6)
3. "Send Thee help from the Holy, and from Sion defend Thee" (ver. 2). Making for Thee a sanctified Body, the Church, from watching (7) safe, which waiteth when Thou shalt come from the wedding.
4. "Be mindful of all Thy sacrifice" (ver. 3). Make us mindful of all Thy injuries and despiteful treatment, which Thou hast borne for us.
"And be Thy whole burnt offering made fat." And turn the cross, whereon Thou wast wholly offered up to God, into the joy of the resurrection.
5. "Diapsalma. The Lord render to Thee according to Thine Heart" (ver. 4). The Lord render to Thee, not according to their heart, who thought by persecution they could destroy Thee; but according to Thine Heart, wherein Thou knewest what profit Thy passion would have.(8) "And fulfil all Thy counsel." "And fulfill all Thy counsel," not only that whereby Thou didst lay down Thy life for Thy friends,(9) that the corrupted [my ft]
[ft] apparently in the sense that Christ became sin for us and though His body did not suffer corruption, it nevertheless did indeed die. We must keep in mind that this word may have been translated incorrectly from the ancient (@ 1600 yrs.old) document
grain might rise again to more abundance;(10) but that also whereby "blindness in part hath happened unto Israel, that the fulness of the Gentiles might enter in, and so an Israel might be saved."(11)
6. "We will exult in Thy salvation" (ver. 5). We will exult in that death will in no wise hurt Thee; for so Thou wilt also show that it cannot hurt us either. "And in the name of the Lord our God will we be magnified." And the confession of Thy name shall not only not destroy us, but shall even magnify us.
7. "The Lord fulfill all Thy petitions." The Lord fulfil not only the petitions which Thou madest on earth, but those also whereby Thou intercedest for us in heaven. "Now have I known that the Lord hath saved his Christ" (ver. 6). Now hath it been shown to me in prophecy, that the Lord will raise up His Christ again. "He will hear Him from His holy heaven." He will hear Him not from earth only, where He prayed to be glorified;(12) but from heaven also, where interceding for us at the Right Hand of the Father, (13) He hath from thence shed abroad the Holy Spirit on them that believe on Him. "In strength is the safety of His right hand." Our strength is in the safety of His favour, when even out of tribulation He giveth help, that "when we are weak, then we may be strong."(14) "For vain is "that "safety of man,"(15) which comes not of His right hand but of His left: for thereby are they lifted up to great pride, whosoever in their sins have secured a temporal safety."
C.H. Spurgeon ; ".The glorious power of God defended and preserved the Lord Jesus through the battle of his life and death, and exalted Him above all His enemies. His warfare is now accomplished in his own proper person, but in his mystical body, the church, he is still beset with dangers, and only the eternal arm of our God in covenant can defend the soldiers of the cross, and set them on high out of the reach of their foes. The day of trouble is not over, the pleading Saviour is not silent, and the name of the God of Israel is still the defence of the faithful. The name, God of Jacob, is suggestive; Jacob had his day of trouble, he wrestled, was heard, was defended, and in due time was set on high, and his God is our God still, the same God to all his wrestling Jacobs. The whole verse is a very fitting benediction to be pronounced by a gracious heart over a child, a friend, or a minister, in prospect of trial; it includes both temporal and spiritual protection, and directs the mind to the great source of all good. How delightful to believe that our heavenly Father has pronounced it upon our favoured heads!"
(elsewhere Spurgeon remarks) "Before war kings offered sacrifice, upon the acceptance of which they depended for success; our Blessed Lord presented Himself as a victim, and was a sweet savour unto the Most High, and then He met and routed the embattled legions of hell. Still does His burnt sacrifice perfume the courts of heaven, and through Him the offerings of His people are received as His sacrifices and oblations."
F. H. Dunwell. "...Before our blessed Saviour departed out of this world, he prayed to the Father for those whom he had given him, that he would keep them from the evil of the world, that they might be one, even as he was one with the Father. He prayed too for his murderers. After his ascension into heaven, he sat down at the right hand of the Father, where he "maketh intercession for us." "If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous." It is to this, as many think, that the prophet refers when he says, "The Lord perform all thy petitions;" to the intercession which he is continually making for us."
Andrew A. Bonar "Whole Psalm. This Psalm is the prayer which the church might be supposed offering up, had all the redeemed stood by the cross, or in Gethsemane, in full consciousness of what was doing there. Messiah, in reading these words, would know that he had elsewhere the sympathy he longed for, when he said to the three disciples, "Tarry ye here, and watch with me." Matthew 26:38. It is thus a pleasant song, of the sacred singer of Israel, to set forth the feelings of the redeemed in their Head, whether in his sufferings or in the glory that was to follow.".
Matthew Henry ; "...But we may look further; these prayers for David are prophecies concerning Christ the Son of David, and in him they were abundantly answered; he undertook the work of our redemption, and made war upon the powers of darkness. In the day of trouble, when his soul was exceedingly sorrowful, the Lord heard him, heard him in that he feared (Hebrews 5:7), sent him help out of the sanctuary, sent an angel from heaven to strengthen him, took cognizance of his offering when he made his soul an offering for sin, and accepted his burnt-sacrifice, turned it to ashes, the fire that should have fastened upon the sinner fastening upon the sacrifice, with which God was well pleased. And he granted him according to his own heart, made him to see of the travail of his soul, to his satisfaction, prospered his good pleasure in his hand, fulfilled all his petitions for himself and us; for him the Father heareth always and his intercession is ever prevailing."
John Gill ;
Ver. 1. The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble, &c.] All the days of Christ were days of trouble; he was a brother born for adversity; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with griefs;.but more particularly it was a day of trouble with him, when he was in the garden, heavy, and sore amazed, and his sweat was, as it were, drops of blood falling on the ground, and his soul was exceeding sorrowful, even unto death; but more especially this was his case when he hung upon the cross,. when he bore all the sins of his people, endured the wrath of his Father, and was forsaken by him: now in this day of trouble, both when in the garden and on the cross, he prayed unto his Father, as he had been used to do in other cases, and at other times; and the church here prays, that God would hear and answer him, as he did:."
Ver. 4. " 'Fulfill all thy counsel'; whatever was agreed upon in the counsel and covenant of peace between him and his Father, relating to his own glory, and the salvation of his people." [my ft]
[ft] cf. Malachi 2:5 My covenant of life and peace was with him, and I gave it him that he might reverently fear me, and that he might be awe-struck at my name."
Ver. 6. "Now know I that the Lord saveth his Anointed, &c.] Not David, though he was the anointed of the God of Jacob, and was anointed with material oil to be king of Israel by Samuel, at the express order of God Himself; but David is not here speaking of himself, nor the church of him, but of the Messiah; anointed by Jehovah king over His holy hill of Zion, with the oil of gladness, or the Holy Spirit. The church in prayer rises in her faith, and is strongly assured of the salvation of the Messiah; that though His troubles would be many and great, He should be delivered out of them all; should be heard and helped in the day of salvation, and be freed from the sorrows of death and hell, He should be encompassed with; that He should be raised from the dead; have all power in heaven and earth given Him; ascend on high, and triumph over all His enemies; and all His people, all the members of His body, should be saved through Him, which is in a sense the salvation of Himself;
He will hear him from his holy heaven; where His throne and temple are, which is the habitation of His holiness, whither the prayers of the Messiah when on earth ascended, where they were received, heard, and answered. Before the church prays that He might be heard, now she believes He would; and that,
with the saving strength of His Right Hand; that is, by the exertion of His mighty power, in strengthening Him as Man to bear up under His sorrows, go through His work, and finish it; by upholding Him with His Right Hand while engaged in it, and by raising Him up from the dead with it, and setting Him down at it in the highest heavens."
Augustine ; " 'Now have I known that the Lord hath saved his Christ' (ver. 6). "Now hath it been shown to me in prophecy, that the Lord will raise up His Christ again. "He will hear Him from His holy heaven." He will hear Him not from earth only, where He prayed to be glorified;(12) but from heaven also, where interceding for us at the Right Hand of the Father,(13) He hath from thence shed abroad the Holy Spirit on them that believe on Him. 'In strength is the safety of His right hand.' "
Spurgeon ; "The church pleaded that the Lord Jesus might win the victory in His great struggle, and now by faith she sees Him saved by the Omnipotent Arm. She evidently finds a sweet relish in the fragrant title of "anointed;" she thinks of Him as ordained before all worlds to His great work, and then endowed with the needful qualifications by being anointed of the Spirit of the Lord; and this is evermore the choicest solace of the believer, that Jehovah Himself hath anointed Jesus to be a Prince and a Saviour, and that our shield is thus the Lord's own Anointed.
He will hear Him from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His Right Hand. It is here asserted confidently that God's holiness and power would both come to the rescue of the Saviour in His conflict, and surely these two glorious attributes found congenial work in answering the sufferer's cries. Since Jesus was heard, we shall be; God is in heaven, but our prayers can scale those glorious heights; those heavens are holy, but Jesus purifies our prayers, and so they gain admittance; our need is great, but the divine Arm is strong, and all its strength is "saving strength;" that strength, moreover, is in the hand which is most used and which is used most readily?the right hand. What encouragements are these for pleading saints!"
Spurgeon ; vs. 8 ".The victory of Jesus is the inheritance of his people. The world, death, Satan, and sin, shall all be trampled beneath the feet of the champions of faith; while those who rely upon an arm of flesh shall be ashamed and confounded for ever."
"Ver. 9. The Psalm is here recapitulated. That Jesus might himself be delivered, and might then, as our King, hear us, is the two fold desire of the Psalm. The first request is granted, and the second is sure to all the seed; and therefore we may close the Psalm with the hearty shout, "God save the King." "God save King Jesus, and may he soon come to reign."
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Genesis 49:9-12 LXX ; vs. 9 "Juda is a lion's whelp: from the tender plant, my son, thou art gone up, having couched thou liest as a lion, and as a whelp; who shall stir him up?
10 A ruler shall not fail from Juda, nor a prince from his loins, until there come the things stored up for him; and He is the expectation of nations.
11 Binding His foal to the vine, and the foal of His ass to the branch of it, he shall wash his robe in wine, and his garment in the blood of the grape.
12 His eyes shall be more cheering than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk."
Justin Martyr quotes a Greek text of this passage ; "Judah is a lion's whelp, from the germ (seed) my son, thou art sprung up. Reclining, he lays down like a lion, and like a whelp ;who shall raise him up? A ruler shall not depart from Judah, or a leader from his thighs, until that which is laid up in store for him shall come, and he shall be the desire of nations."
cross references:
Isaiah 11:10 LXX ; "And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, and He that shall arise to rule over the Gentiles; in Him shall the Gentiles trust, and His rest shall be glorious."
1 Corinthians 15:24 "Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 62:11 LXX (Thomson version) ; "For lo! the Lord hath published this to the end of the earth. Say to the daughter of Sion, Behold the Saviour is come for thee, having His own reward and His work before Him. [12] And He will call this a holy people, redeemed by the Lord; and thou shalt be called the city Sought and not Forsaken.
Revelation 5:5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof."
Hippolytus (early church "father") ; "Now, as our Lord Jesus Christ, who is also God, was prophesied of under the figure of a lion, on account of His royalty and glory,. The Saviour raised up and showed His holy flesh like a temple, ..." and elsewhere he says ; "And an ark of imperishable wood was the Saviour Himself. For by this was signified the imperishable and incorruptible tabernacle (of His body), which engendered no corruption of sin.
Victorinus (an Ante-Nicene church "father") ; "Judah, thy bretheren shall praise thee; thou hast lain down and slept, and hast risen up again as a lion, and as a lion's whelp.For He is called a lion for the overcoming of death; but for the suffering for men He was led as a lamb to the slaughter."
" Therefore it is with reason that it is only sealed by the Lamb slain, who, as it were a lion, has broken death in pieces, and has fulfilled what had been foretold ; and has received as a possession the substance of the dying person, that is, of the human members ; that as by one body all men had fallen under the obligation of its death, also by one body all believers should be born again unto life, and rise again."
The prophetic Messianic resurrection message can clearly be seen in Genesis 49 as referenced.
A.Cleveland Cox D.D. writes; "But Cyprian had in hand the 'Old African' (manuscripts) which seem to follow the LXX and St. Jerome's Vulgate did not." and again;
"Its springtime imagery corresponding with Easter, he reads into it all the New Testament fulfillment : "Thou layedst down and sleepest as a lion, and as a lion's whelp, but from the shooting of the first verdure in spring, Thou hast gone up on high; Thou hast ascended."
Cyprian ; "In the blessing of Judah also this same thing is signified, where there also is expressed a figure of Christ, that He should have praise and worship from his brethren; that He should press down the back of His enemies yielding and fleeing, with the hands with which He bore the cross and conquered death; and that He Himself is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and should couch sleeping in His passion, and should rise up, and should Himself be the hope of the Gentiles."
John Gill ; verse 10 "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah "... signifies dominion, power, and authority, as the sceptre always does, it being an emblem of it, . and this intends either the government, which was in the heads and princes of the tribe, which commenced as soon as it became a tribe, and lasted as long as it remained one, even unto the times of the Messiah; or kingly power and government, which the sceptre is generally thought to be an emblem of, and which first commenced in David, who was of the tribe of Judah, and continued unto the Babylonish captivity, when another sort of governors and government took place, designed in the next clause: 'nor a lawgiver from between his feet'; which may be rendered disjunctively, 'or a lawgiver'; any ruler or governor, that has jurisdiction over others, though under another, as the word is used, . and the sense is, that till the Messiah came there should be in the tribe of Judah, either a king, a sceptre bearer, as there was unto the captivity; or a governor, though under others, as there were unto the times of Christ under the Babylonians, Persians, Grecians, and
Romans; such as Gedaliah, Zorobabel, &c. and particularly the sanhedrim, a court of judicature, the members of which chiefly consisted of the tribe of Judah,"... "or prince of it, was always of that tribe, and which retained its power to the latter end of Herod's reign, when Christ was come; and though it was greatly diminished, it had some power remaining, even at the death of Christ, but quickly after had none at all: and if by the "lawgiver" is meant a scribe or a teacher of the law, as all the Targums, Aben Ezra, Ben Melech, and others interpret it, who used to sit at the feet of a ruler, judge, or prince of the sanhedrim; it is notorious there were of these unto, and in the times of the Messiah: in short, it matters not for the fulfilment of this prophecy what sort of governors those were after the captivity, nor of what tribe they were; they were in Judah, and their government was exercised therein, and that was in the hands of Judah, and they and that did not depart from thence till Shiloh came; since those that were of the other tribes, after the return from the captivity all went by the name of Judah: 'until Shiloh come'; which all the three Targums interpret of the Messiah, as do many of the Jewish writers, ancient and modern ; and is the name of the Messiah in their Talmud {ft1},
[ft1] T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 98. 2.]
and in other writings {ft2};
[ft2]Echa Rabbati, fol. 50. 2.]
and well agrees with him, coming from a root which signifies to be "quiet", "peaceable", and "prosperous"; as He was of a quiet and peaceable disposition, came to make peace between God and men, and made it by the blood of His cross, and gives spiritual peace to all His followers, and brings them at length to everlasting peace and happiness; having prospered and succeeded in the great work of their redemption and salvation He undertook: 'and unto him shall the gathering of the people be'; not of the Jews, though there were great gatherings of them to hear Him preach, and see His miracles; as there were of all His people to Him at His death, and in Him as their head and representative, (Ephesians 1:10) but of the Gentiles; upon His death, the Gospel being preached to all nations, multitudes among them were converted to Christ, embraced His doctrines, professed His religion, and abode by Him, (my ft 3)
[ft3] Isaiah 11:10 LXX ; "And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, and He that shall arise to rule over the Gentiles; in Him shall the Gentiles trust, and His rest shall be glorious."]
some render it, "the obedience of the people" {ft}
{ft NKJV, NRSV, YLT etc}
from the use of the word in Pr 30:17, which sense agrees with the former; for those who are truly gathered by the ministry of the word yield an obedience to His doctrines and ordinances; and others read, "the expectation of the people" {ft};
{ft Septuagint}
the Messiah being the desire of all nations, Hag 2:6-7 {ft}
{ft LXX Haggai 2:6-7 ; "For thus saith the Lord Almighty; Yet once I will shake the heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; 7 and I will shake all nations, and the chosen ( grk. eklekta evklekta. from eklektos evklekto.j) of all the nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord Almighty."
this, with what goes before, clearly shows that the Messiah must be come, since government in every sense has departed from Judah for 1900 years or thereabout, and the Gentiles have embraced the Messiah and His Gospel the Jews rejected: the various contradictory senses they put
upon this prophecy show the puzzle and confusion they are in about it, and serve to confirm the true sense of it"...' Binding his foal unto the vine, and His ass's colt untothe choice vine,' "&c.figuratively, of Christ's causing the Gentiles, comparable to an ass's colt, for their impurity, ignorance of, and sluggishness in spiritual things, to cleave to Him the true vine, (John 15:1) in the exercise of faith, hope, and love, or to join themselves to his church and people, sometimes compared to a vine or vineyard, (Isaiah 5:1,2 27:2,3)"
The latter portion of Dead Sea Scroll 4Q252 interprets verse 10 in the text known as " The Genesis Florilegium" ( without "supplying" any missing words for a smoother reading as this is conjectural) ; "...until the Messiah of Righteousness, the Branch of David comes. For to Him and His seed was given the Covenant of the Kingdom of His people for everlasting generations"
Hengstenberg ; " The exalted person in whom, according to our passage, the dominion of Judah was to culminate, must then necessarily belong to the house of David"..."we have an excellent fountainhead for all the prophecies of a personal Messiah; in its significant, enigmatical, and expressive brevity, it is most suitable for such a purpose."..." In the Davidic psalms, the Messianic prophecy already more strongly resembles a stream than a fountain."
the early church "father" Chrysotom ; " 'Thou didst lie down and slumber as a lion, and as a lion's whelp; who shall raise him up?' Here he called death a slumbering and a sleep, and with death he combined the resurrection when he said "who shall raise him up?" No one indeed save he himself - wherefore also Christ said "I have power to lay down my life, and I have power to take it again," and again "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up." And what is meant by the words "thou didst lie down and slumber as a lion?" For as the lion is terrible not only when he is awake but even when he is sleeping, so Christ also not only before the cross but also on the cross itself and in the very moment of death was terrible, and wrought at that time great miracles, turning back the light of the sun, cleaving the rocks, shaking the earth, rending the veil, alarming the wife of Pilate, convicting Judas of sin, for then he said "I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood;" and the wife of Pilate declared "Have nothing to do with that just man, for I have suffered many things in a dream because of Him." The darkness took possession of the earth, and night appeared at midday, then death was brought to nought, and his tyranny was destroyed: many bodies at least of the saints which slept arose. These things the patriarch declaring beforehand, and demonstrating that, even when crucified, Christ would be terrible, said "thou didst lie down and slumber as a lion." He did not say thou shall slumber but thou didst slumber because it would certainly come to pass. For it is the custom of the prophets in many places to predict things to come as if they were already past. For just as it is impossible that things which have happened should not have happened, so is it impossible that this should not happen, although it be future. On this account they predict things to come under the semblance of past time, indicating by this means the impossibility of their failure, the certainty of their coming to pass. So also spake David, signifying the cross; "They pierced my hands and my feet." He did not say they "shall pierce" but "they pierced" "they counted all my bones." And not only does he say this, but he also describes the things which were done by the soldiers.
"They parted my garments among themselves, and upon my vesture did they cast lots." And not only this but he also relates they gave Him gall to eat, and to drink. For he says "they gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." And again another one says that they smote him with a spear, for "they shall look on Him whom they pierced." Esaias again in another fashion predicting the cross said He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before his shearer is dumb, so openeth he not his mouth." In his humiliation his judgment was taken away."
Zondervan's "Pictorial Encyclopedia"says "egersis, lit. awakening, is used only of Jesus' resurrection. Genesis 49:9 LXX 'Judah is a lion's whelp: from the tender plant, my son, thou art gone up, having couched thou liest as a lion, and as a whelp, who shall stir Him up." 'stir' here is egerei (from egeirw) ; raise, awaken, stir up etc."
In the New Testament John 2:19b the Messiah Jesus says ; "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The word "raise" used here is the greek verb "egeirw" (Greek evgeirw) "wake", "rouse", "raise"(the dead) etc. See the "Word Pictures" section of this study for a more in-depth look at this and other words key to understanding the original languages of the Old Testament.
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1 Chronicles 17:9-27,LXX (Vaticanus) vs.
9 "And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and I will plant him, and he shall dwell by himself, and shall no longer be anxious; and the son of iniquity shall no longer afflict him, as at the beginning,
10 and from the days when I appointed judges over my people Israel. Also I have humbled all thine enemies, and I will increase thee, and the Lord will build thee a house.
11 And it shall come to pass when thy days shall be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
12 He shall build me a house, and I will set up his throne for ever.
13 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son: and my mercy will I not withdraw from him, as I withdrew it from them that were before thee.
14 And I will establish him in my house and in his kingdom for ever; and his throne shall be set up for ever.
15 According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so spoke Nathan to David.
16 And king David came and sat before the Lord, and said, Who am I, O Lord God? and what is my house, that thou hast loved me for ever?
17 And these things were little in thy sight, O God: thou hast also spoken concerning the house of thy servant for a long time to come, and thou hast looked upon me as a man looks upon his fellow, and hast exalted me, O Lord God.
18 What shall David do more toward thee to glorify thee? and thou knowest thy servant.
19 And thou hast wrought all this greatness according to thine heart.
20 O Lord, there is none like thee, and there is no God beside thee, according to all things which we have heard with our ears.
21 Neither is there another nation upon the earth such as thy people Israel, whereas God led him in the way, to redeem a people for himself, to make for himself a great and glorious name, to cast out nations from before thy people, whom thou redeemedst out of Egypt.
22 And thou hast appointed thy people Israel as a people to thyself for ever; and thou, Lord, didst become a God to them.
23 And now, Lord, let the word which thou spokest to thy servant, and concerning his house, be confirmed for ever, and do thou as thou hast spoken.
24 And let thy name be established and magnified for ever, men saying, Lord, Lord, Almighty God of Israel: and let the house of thy servant David be established before thee."
Cross references :
Luke 1:32,33." He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:"
Isaiah 9:7 Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon His kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this."
Romans 1:3-4 ; "Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
Vs 4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:"
Acts 2:29-30 ; vs. 29 ; "Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. {let me: or, I may}
30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;"
2 Samuel 7:16 And his house shall be made sure, and his kingdom for ever before me, and his throne shall be set up for ever."
Jeremiah 23:5-6, 9 LXX (Thomson version) , verse 5 ; "Behold the days are coming, saith the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous shoot who shall reign as king and shall understand and execute judgement and justice on the earth.
Vs 6 In his days Juda shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell securely.
Vs 9 (LXX) And the name which the Lord will give him by the prophets shall be Josedek [Lord our righteousness]."
1 Chronicles 17:12 LXX, "He shall build me a house, and I will set up His throne for ever." ;
John Gill (notes taken from his exposition of 2 Samuel chapter 7 which is for the most part the same) ; "...the establishment of his throne and kingdom for ever, in which he has respect to the Messiah, that should spring from him,.."-
"... 'He shall build an house for my name,' &c.] For the honour of it, for the worship and service of God, as it is well known Solomon did; and so his antitype the Messiah, Zechariah 6:12,13; "and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever; that is, for a long time. Solomon's reign was forty years, and the kingdom of Judah continued in his posterity until the Babylonish captivity, and a prince that descended from him was the ruler of the people when they returned: this has its fulfilment more eminently in Christ, Who was of his seed, to whom God has given "the throne of His father David", and Who "shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever", Luke 1:32,33." He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:"
'I will be his father, and he shall be my son, &c. "This is applied to Christ, the antitypical Solomon, who was, in an higher sense, the Son of God, even by natural and eternal generation;" see my footnote for Gill's commentary on the remainder of this verse [my ft]
[ft] Ver. 13. I will be his father, and he shall be my son, &c.] That is, I will be as kind unto him, and careful of him, as a father of a son; or he shall be, and appear to be my son, by adopting grace, as no doubt Solomon was, notwithstanding all his failings. ... see Hebrews 1:5; "if he commit iniquity; which cannot be supposed of Christ; for though he was made sin by imputation, he neither knew nor did any, but may be supposed of his spiritual offspring, whom he represented as an head and surety, as of Solomon, who committed many sins and transgressions:.'
vs.14 " he saw with his eyes in his son Solomon, and with an eye of faith in his greater Son the Messiah, in whom only these words will have their complete fulfillment;"
vs 24 ; "And let thy name be magnified for ever, &c.] David desired the performance of the above things not so much for his own sake, and for the sake of his family, as for the glory of God; his great concern was, that God might be magnified, and his greatness displayed, in making him and his family great; and particularly that he might be magnified and glorified in that famous Son of his, the Messiah, as he has been, John 13:31,32; and by all His people in succeeding ages:"
Matthew Henry ; "...of the kingdom of the Messiah, who should descend from his loins, and Whose throne should be "established forever"
Keil and Delitzsch "The house which David's seed will build to the Lord is the house of the Lord in his kingdom: in this house and kingdom the Lord will establish Him for ever; His kingdom shall never cease; His rule shall never be extinguished; and He himself, consequently, shall live for ever. It scarcely need be said that such things can be spoken only of the Messiah. The words are therefore merely a further development of the saying, "I will be to him a Father, and I will not take my mercy away from him, and will establish his kingdom for ever," and tell us clearly and definitely what is implicitly contained in the promise, that David's house, kingdom, and throne will endure for ever (Sam.), viz., that the house and kingdom of David will be established for ever only under the Messiah.." (see the full text verion for a detailed analysis)
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Leviticus 14:1-7 LXX ( see vs.7 "let go the living bird") "And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
2 This is the law of the leper: in whatsoever day he shall have been cleansed, then shall he be brought to the priest.
3 And the priest shall come forth out of the camp, and the priest shall look, and, behold, the plague of the leprosy is removed from the leper.
4 And the priest shall give directions, and they shall take for him that is cleansed two clean live birds, and cedar wood, and spun scarlet, and hyssop.
5 And the priest shall give direction, and they shall kill one bird over an earthen vessel over running water.
6 And as for the living bird he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the spun scarlet, and the hyssop, and he shall dip them and the living bird into the blood of the bird that was slain over running water.
7 And he shall sprinkle seven times upon him that was cleansed of his leprosy, and he shall be clean; and he shall let go the living bird into the field."
Cross references:
Heb 9:21 "Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.
Hebrews 9:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water."
Hebrews 9:24-28 "For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: 25 Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; 26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Hebrews 12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel."
Justin who was martyred comments; "By the two birds Christ is denoted, both dead as man, and living as God.He is likened to a bird, because He is understood and declared to be from above, and from heaven. And the living bird, having been dipped in the blood of the dead one, was afterwards let go. For the living and divine Word was in the crucified and dead temple [of the body], as being a partaker of the passion(Christ's sufferings and death),..By that which took place in the running water, in which the wood and the hyssop and the scarlet were dipped, is set forth the bloody passion of Christ on the cross for the salvation of those who are sprinkled with the Spirit, and the water, and the blood. Wherefore the material for purification was not provided chiefly with reference to leprosy, but with regard to the forgiveness of sins, that both leprosy might be understood to be an emblem of sin, and the things which were sacrificed an emblem of Him who was to be sacrificed for sins."
Spurgeon:"For this reason, consequently, he ordered that the scarlet should be dipped at the same time in the water, thus predicting that the flesh should no longer possess its natural [evil] properties. For this reason, also, were there the two birds, the one being sacrificed in the water, and the other dipped both in the blood and in the water and then sent away, just as is narrated also respecting the goats. The goat that was sent away presented a type of Him who taketh away the sins of men. But the two contained a representation of the one economy of God incarnate. 'For He was wounded for our transgressions, and He bare the sins of many, and He was delivered for our iniquities.'"
again Spurgeon ; "..You will perceive, first, that the priest went to the leper, not the leper to the priest. We go not up to heaven, first, till Christ comes down from His Father's glory to the place where we as lepers are shut out from God. Oh! glorious High Priest, methinks I see thee this morning coming out from the tabernacle of the Most High, where thou hast offered thy complete sacrifice and thou comest down to us loathsome and abhorred sinners. Thou dost take upon Thyself the form of man. Thou dost not disdain the Virgin's womb; thou comest to sinners, thou eatest and drinkest with them! But the coming of the tiniest was not enough, there must be a sacrifice, and on this occasion, in order to set out the two ways by which a sinner is saved, there was sacrifice mingled with resurrection. First, there was sacrifice. One of the birds was taken, and his blood was shed in a vessel which was full, as the Hebrew hath it, of "living water," - of water which had not been stagnant, but which was clean. Just as when Jesus Christ was put to death, blood and water flowed from his side to be "of sin a double cure," so in the earthen vessel there was received, first, the "living water," and then the blood of the bird which had just been slain. If sin is put away it must be by blood. There is no way of putting sin from before the presence of God except by the streams which flow from the open veins of Christ. It was nothing that the leper did. You notice he does nothing whatever in the whole affair but stand still and humbly partake of the benefits which are given to him through the mission of the priest, and through the slaughter of the bird. And then the second bird was dipped into the blood until all its feathers were red and dropping with gore. It was doubtless tied round the cedar stick at the end of which was the hyssop to make a kind of brush. The birds wings were tied along the stick, and the whole was dipped in the blood of the bird that was slain; and when this had been done seven times, the strings were cut, and the living bird allowed to fly away. This is a lively picture of Christ. As a living bird He ascends on high, after being slain for us, - scattering the red drops of atonement He rises above the clouds, which receive Him out of our sight, and there before His Father's throne, He pleads the full merit of the sacrifice which He offered for us once for all.."
John Calvin ;beginning with verse 3 "... 'And the priest shall go forth'. This is the examination, which was more fully treated of in the last chapter, without which it was not lawful to receive him who had been once rejected. The priest's command, which is mentioned immediately afterwards, I refer to the Levites, some one of whom probably accompanied the priest to prepare the sacrifice, that thus the priests might only discharge the principal duty. The sum of the rite respecting the two birds tends to this, that the cleansing from leprosy was a kind of resurrection Two birds were placed before their eyes; the liberty of one was purchased by the blood of the other; because the former was not let go until it had been first dipped in the blood and the water; and thus the matter of sprinkling was prepared for the man's purification."
Spurgeon ; " To sum up the whole sermon in one or two short sentences. Sinner, if thou art this day unrenewed and unregenerate, thou art loathsome to thyself; thou art incapable of fellowship with God; thou art preparing thyself for the pit of hell. But the way of salvation is simply this: If thou art to-day full of sin, laden with iniquity, if thou art ready to confess there is no good thing in thee, if thou art willing to take the place of a prisoner who has been tried, condemned and cast, then Christ has died for thee. Christ has shed the blood, Christ has risen up on high, and thy salvation is finished. Say not in thy heart, "I do not feel this, I do not feel that." It is not thy feeling or doing; it is what Christ has done. He must do all for thee, and all he asks of thee is simply to stand in the place of the unjust that he may come to thee in the place of the just, while he stands in thy room and stead.
Is this too easy for you? Are you too proud to be saved by such a system as this? Then, what can I say to you, but that you deserve to die if you neglect a plan of salvation so simple and so admirably adapted to your case?"
Adam Clarke ; "Verse 7. " 'Shall let the living bird loose'- ... Ainsworth piously conjectures that the living and dead birds were intended to represent the death and resurrection of Christ, by which an atonement was made to purify the soul from its spiritual leprosy. The bird let loose bears a near analogy to the scapegoat."
Psalm 97:11 LXX, (Thomson version) ; " A Light is sprung up for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart."
Psalm 96:11 (Douay-Rheims American Edition); "Light is risen to the just, and joy to the right of heart."
Cross references:
Psalm 112:4-6 LXX (Thomson version) "To the upright light sprang up in darkness. He is merciful, compassionate and just; [5] a beneficent man who commiserateth and lendeth. He will manage his affairs with judgment; [6] because he is never to be shaken; the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance:"
Isaiah 60:1-2, Dead Sea Scroll; "Rise, shine; for your light is come, the glory of YHWH is risen upon you. (2) For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the nations but He shall ariseeven YHWH will shine on you, and his glory upon you shall be seen."
Micah 4:2 LXX (Thomson version) "But to you who fear My name the Sun of righteousness will arise with healing in his wings; and you shall go forth and leap for joy like young bullocks loosed from yokes."
Isaiah 62:1-5, LXX (Thomson version) ;vs1 "For Sion's sake I will not be silent, and for the sake of Jerusalem I will not rest; until the righteousness thereof break forth as light, and my salvation blaze like a torch; [2] and nations see thy righteousness, and kings this glory of thine. When he shall call thee by a new name which the Lord Himself will give thee; [3] then thou shalt be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. And thou shalt no more be called, Forsaken; nor shall thy land any more be called The desert; but thy name shall be called My delight; and that of thy country, The inhabited land. Because the Lord is well pleased with thee, therefore thy land shall be thickly inhabited: and as a youth cohabiting with a virgin bride, so shall thy sons inhabit it; and as a bridegroom will rejoice in his bride, so will the Lord rejoice over thee."
Revelation 22:5 "And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever."
Proverbs 16:15 LXX (Thomson version) ; "The son of a king is in the light of life : and they who are acceptable to him are as an evening cloud."
Spurgeon, speaks of God the Son as a Sower ; "He sowed happiness for His people when He joined the Father in covenant and promised to be the substitute for His saints. But the actual sowing took place when He came on earth and sowed Himself in death's dark sepulchre for us. Well did He Himself say, 'Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die it abideth alone, but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit.' He dropped Himself like a priceless seed-corn into the tomb, and what fruit He has brought forth let heaven and all the blood washed company declare. The flower that springs from His root is immortality and life. Jesus Christ has brought all manner of heavenly things unto His saints, and made them rich to all the intents of bliss, by the sowing of Himself as the life of His people."
"...when He arose from the dead , the fact of His resurrection was a preparing and storing up of future blessedness for His redeemed. When He ascended up on high, leading our captivity captive, did He not then scatter gladness for us? And when He received gifts for men, yea, for the rebellious also, did He not acomplish a boundless sowing of light for the elect people ! At this moment, standing as He does the High Priest of our profession, pleading before the Majesty of heaven, what are those pleadings but a sowing of happiness for us, a laying up of bliss which we possess today in measure, and shall enjoy hereafter without measure in His presence before the throne?"
again Spurgeon ; ".Seed that is sown is not in hand. After the husbandman has scattered his wheat he cannot say, "Here it is." It is out of sight; gone from him. You may walk over the fields for the next few weeks and see no trace of it, and fools might say, "Ah! now so much wheat is gone from him; he is so much the poorer; he has it not." So the gladness which belongs to the righteous is not to be regarded as a thing of the present. Their great store of pleasure is yet to come; it is light that is sown, not light that now gleams upon their eyes; it is a gladness that has been buried beneath the clods for a special purpose, not a gladness which is now spread upon the table as bread that has been baked in the oven. The believer's greatest happiness is not like bread ready for food, it is seed buried by the sower. Brethren, let us remember that this world is not our rest.
"We look for a city that hands have not piled,
We seek for a country by sin undefiled."
To look for happiness here were to seek for the living among the dead. Christ is not here, for He hath risen; and our joy is not here, for our joy has risen with Him. Seed sown then is not within sight; and the great bulk of the Christian's happiness is not a thing of present enjoyment, not what he can see with the eyes, and hear with the ears, and touch with the hands; it is a matter of faith; it is not to be feasted on to-day, but for a purpose it is withheld until patience has had her perfect work, and seen her joy blossom and bud, and open and ripen under the smile of the Lord her God."
John Gill; "The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions, render it, "light is risen for the righteous"; and so the Targum, "light is risen and prepared for the righteous;" Christ, the light of the world, the sun of righteousness, is risen for them, and upon them, with healing in his wings, which bring joy and comfort to them:"and gladness for the upright in heart"; such as have new hearts and right spirits formed in them, and are Israelites indeed, that have the truth of grace and the root of the matter in them: gladness is prepared, provided, and promised to them, and sooner or later they shall have it; the seed of it is sown, and it will spring up, and a large crop shall be enjoyed. Kimchi's note is, "light is sown for the righteous in this world, and they shall reap light and joy in time to come, in the days of the Messiah." [my ft]
[ft] David Kimchi ( c.1160-1235) opposed the Christian interpretations of Scripture but wittingly or unwittingly often supported the Messianic Christian views in his commentaries as John Gill has obviously deduced in his commentaries.
Matthew Henry;..."What is sown will come up again in due time; though, like a winter seedness, it may lie long under the clods, and seem to be lost and buried, yet it will return in a rich and plentiful increase."
"...And those that rejoice in Christ Jesus, and in his exaltation, have fountains of joy prepared for them. Those that sow in tears, shall reap in joy."....and... "Christ told his disciples, at parting (John 16:20), You shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy."; and elsewhere Matthew Henry states; "The exaltation of Christ, and the advancement of God's glory among men thereby, are the rejoicing of all the saints"
Benjamin Keach ; ".'Light is sown for the righteous,' the explication follows, 'and gladness for the upright in heart [my ft]
[ft] quoted from the King James Version
The word 'sowing' is also emphatical, as if he had said, it is reposited and hidden, as seed is in the ground, but in it's own time it will certainly come forth. See Isaiah 61:11, Collosians 3:3-4. It is sown with the seed of the heavenly Word, and a most full and bright harvest of this celestial seed will follow in the resurrection to eternal life."
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Leviticus 16: 3-14, LXX ;vs. "Thus shall Aaron enter into the holy place; with a calf of the herd for a sin-offering, and having a ram for a whole-burnt-offering.
4 And he shall put on the consecrated linen tunic, and he shall have on his flesh the linen drawers, and shall gird himself with a linen girdle, and shall put on the linen cap, they are holy garments; and he shall bathe all his body in water, and shall put them on.
5 And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin-offering, and one lamb for a whole-burnt-offering.
6 And Aaron shall bring the calf for his own sin-offering, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house.
7 And he shall take the two goats, and place them before the Lord by the door of the tabernacle of witness.
8 and Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats, one lot for the Lord, and the other for the scape-goat.
9 And Aaron shall bring forward the goat on which the lot for the Lord fell, and shall offer him for a sin-offering.
10 and the goat upon which the lot of the scape-goat came, he shall present alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon him, so as to send him away as a scape-goat, and he shall send him into the wilderness.
11 And Aaron shall bring the calf for his sin, and he shall make atonement for himself and for his house, and he shall kill the calf for his sin-offering.
12 And he shall take his censer full of coals of fire off the altar, which is before the Lord; and he shall fill his hands with fine compound incense, and shall bring it within the veil.
13 And he shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord, and the smoke of the incense shall cover the mercy-seat over the tables of testimony, and he shall not die.
14 And he shall take of the blood of the calf, and sprinkle with his finger on the mercy-seat eastward: before the mercy-seat shall he sprinkle seven times of the blood with his finger.
Cross references :
Leviticus 16:2 And the Lord said to Moses, Speak to Aaron thy brother, and let him not come in at all times into the holy place within the veil before the propitiatory, which is upon the ark of the testimony, and he shall not die; for I will appear in a cloud on the propitiatory.
Hebrews 10:9-14 9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. 10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: 12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; 13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. 14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
2 Corinthians 5:21 "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Hebrews 7:26 For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from vs.27 Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.
Hebrews 9:23-24 ; It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
Vs.24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
1 John 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world."
Hebrews 10:1-6 vs.1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. 2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. 3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. 4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. 5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: 6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure."
John Gill ; "one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat: one had written upon it, as in the above account, "for the Lord"; and the other had written upon it, "for Azazel"; directing that the goat on which the lot for the Lord fell was to be slain and offered up for a sin offering to him; and the other, on which the lot for Azazel fell, was to be kept alive and let go: now, however casual and contingent the casting of a lot may seem to men, it is certain to God, the disposal of it is of him, and according to his determination, ..; and this, in the mystical sense, here denotes, that the sufferings and death of Christ were according to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, and so were foretold in the Scriptures, and came to pass according to his appointment, will, and command, as was also his resurrection from the dead,."
Adam Clake ; ". the ordinance of the scape-goat, typified the death and resurrection of Christ, and the atonement thereby made, I beg leave to refer to Hebrews 9:7-12, and 24-26, which I shall here transcribe, because it is a key to the whole of this chapter. "Into the second [tabernacle] went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people. The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. But Christ being come, a high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the BLOOD of GOATS and CALVES, but by his OWN BLOOD; he entered into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with the blood of others; (for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world;) but now once in the end of the world, hath he appeared TO PUT AWAY SIN BY THE SACRIFICE OF HIMSELF."
Verse 7. 'And he shall take the two goats? It is allowed on all hands that this ceremony, taken in all its parts, pointed out the Lord Jesus dying for our sins and rising again for our justification; being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. Two goats are brought, one to be slain as a sacrifice for sin, the other to have the transgressions of the people confessed over his head, and then to be sent away into the wilderness. The animal by this act was represented as bearing away or carrying off the sins of the people. The two goats made only one sacrifice, yet only one of them was slain. One animal could not point out both the Divine and human nature of Christ, nor show both his death and resurrection, for the goat that was killed could not be made alive. The Divine and human natures in Christ were essential to the grand expiation: yet the human nature alone suffered, for the Divine nature could not suffer; but its presence in the human nature, while agonizing unto death, stamped those agonies, and the consequent death, with infinite merit. The goat therefore that was slain prefigured his human nature and its death; the goat that escaped pointed out his resurrection. The one shows the atonement for sin, as the ground of justification; the other Christ's victory, and the total removal of sin in the sanctification of the soul. Concerning these ceremonies we shall see farther particulars as we proceed. According to Maimonides [my ft]
[ft] twelfth century Jewish "sage"
fifteen beasts were offered on this day. "The daily, or morning and evening sacrifice, was offered as usual: besides a bullock, a ram, and seven lambs, all burnt-offerings; and a goat for a sin-offering, which was eaten in the evening. Then a bullock for a sin-offering, and this they burnt; and a ram for a burnt-offering: these both for the high priest. Then the ram for the consecration, (see ver. 5) which is called the people's ram. They brought also for the congregation two he-goats; the one for a sin-offering, the other for a scape-goat. Thus all the beasts offered on this great solemn day were FIFTEEN: the two daily sacrifices, one bullock, two rams, and seven lambs: all of these burnt-offerings. Two goats for sin-offerings; one offered without and eaten on the evening, the other offered within and burnt; and one bullock for a sin-offering for the high priest. ."
Matthew Henry ; "As he is the high priest, so he is the sacrifice with which atonement is made; for he is all in all in our reconciliation to God. Thus he was prefigured by the two goats, which both made one offering: the slain goat was a type of Christ dying for our sins, the scape-goat a type of Christ rising again for our justification. It was directed by lot, the disposal whereof was of the Lord, which goat should be slain; for Christ was delivered by the determinate counsel andforeknowledge of God. First, The atonement is said to be completed by putting the sins of Israel upon the head of the goat. They deserved to have been abandoned and sent into a land of forgetfulness, but that punishment was here transferred to the goat that bore their sins, with reference to which God is said to have laid upon our Lord Jesus (the substance of all these shadows) the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6), and he is said to have borne our sins, even the punishment of them, inhis own body upon the tree, 1Peter 2:24. Thus was he made sin for us, that is, a sacrifice for sin, 2 Cointhians 5:21. He suffered and died, not only for our good, but in our stead, and was forsaken, and seemed to be forgotten for a time, that we might not be forsaken and forgotten for ever. Some learned men have computed that our Lord Jesus was baptized of John in Jordan upon the tenth day of the seventh month, which was the very day of atonement. Then he entered upon his office as Mediator, and was immediately driven of the Spirit into thewilderness, a land not inhabited. Secondly, The consequence of this was that all the iniquities of Israel were carried into a land offorgetfulness. Thus Christ, the Lamb of God, takes away the sin the ofworld, by taking it upon himself, John 1:29. And, when God forgives sin, he is said to remember it no more (Hebrews 8:12), to castit behind his back (Isaiah 38:17), into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:19), and to separate it as far as the east is from the west, Psalm 103:12."
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Psalm 2:6-7, LXX (Thomson's Version), vs. 6; "But as for me, by Him I am appointed king on Sion, His holy mountain.
Psalm 2:7 I proclaim the decree of the Lord; to me the Lord said: Thou art My son, this day I have begotten thee,
Cross references:
Psalm 45:6 "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a sceptre of righteousness."
Psalm 89:27 And I will make him my first-born, higher than the kings of the earth.
Psalms 89:36 His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me.
Psalms 89:37 Psalm 89:37 and as the moon that is established for ever, and as the faithful witness in heaven. Pause.
Psalms 110:1 Yahweh said unto my Master, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
Psalm 110:2 The Lord shall send out a rod of power for thee out of Sion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.
Isaiah 9:6 -7, LXX (Thomson version), vs 6 ; "Because for us a child is born, and to us a son is given, whose government is on his own shoulder ; and his name is called The Messenger of Great Counsel. For I will bring peace on the rulers of health for him.
Vs. 7 His government shall be great and to his peace there is no boundary, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to re-establish it, and support it with judgment and justice, henceforth and forever. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will do this."
Daniel 7:13, LXX, ; "I beheld in the night vision, and, lo, one coming with the clouds of heaven as the Son of man, and he advanced to the Ancient of days, and was brought near to him.
Daniel 7:14, LXX ; "And to him was given the dominion, and the honour, and the kingdom; and all nations, tribes, and languages, shall serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom shall not be destroyed."
Matthew 19:28 And Jesus said to them, Verily I say to you, that ye who have followed me in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Acts 13:33 (AV/KJV) "God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee."
Romans 1:4 "And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:"
Hebrews 1:1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;
3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
5 For to which of the angels did He ever say: "You are My Son, Today I have begotten You"? And again: "I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son"?
6 But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: "Let all the angels of God worship Him."
7 And of the angels He says: "Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire."
8 But to the Son He says: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your Kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions."
Cf. Hebrews 5:5-8 ; vs. 5 ; "So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: "You are My Son, Today I have begotten You."
6 As He also says in another place: "You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek";
7 who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear,
8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered."
John Gill; ".Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee:(Heb. 1:5) and if not to any of the angels, much less to David, or any other; and is therefore very justly produced by the apostles, as a proof of the Messiah's resurrection, which is very aptly expressed by a begetting, even as the general resurrection of the dead is called paliggenesia (Greek: paliggenesi,a|), the regeneration, or a begetting again;(Matthew 19:28) and it is upon this account that Jesus is called the first born from the dead(Col. 1:18). Besides, as there is a very great affinity between the birth and resurrection of a person, so the resurrection of Christ was really natalis imperii, the birthday of his kingdom, or when he was made or declared to be both Lord and Christ; nay, he was thereby declared to be the Son of God with power, so that these words, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee, are very pertinently applied by the apostles to this present purpose."
again John Gill ; Ver. 6. Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion.] "...by Zion is meant the church of God, especially under the Gospel dispensation; see Hebrews 12:22 , Revelation 14:1; so called, because, as Zion was, it is the object of God's love and choice, the place of his habitation and residence; where divine worship is observed, and the word and ordinances of God administered; and where the Lord distributes his blessings of grace; and which is the perfection of beauty, through Christ's comeliness put upon her; and will be the joy of the whole earth: it is strongly fortified by the power and grace of God, and is immovable and impregnable, being built on Christ, the Rock of ages; and, like Zion, it is an high hill, eminent and visible; and more especially will be so when the mountain of the Lord's house is established upon the tops of the mountains: and it is an Holy One, through the presence and worship of God in it, and the sanctification of his Spirit. And over this hill, the church, Christ is King; he is King of saints, and is acknowledged by them; and it is for their great safety and security, their joy, comfort, and happiness, that he is set over them: he is called by his Father "my King", because he who is King of Zion is his Anointed, as in Psalm 2:2; and his Son, his begotten Son, as in Psalm 2:7; his firstborn, his fellow and equal; and because he is his as King; not that he is King over him, for his Father is greater than he, as man and Mediator, or with respect to his office capacity, in which he is to be considered as King; and therefore he is rather King under him: but he is a King of his setting up, and therefore called his; he has appointed him his kingdom, given him the throne of his father David; put a crown of pure gold on his head, and crowned him with glory and honour, and the sceptre of righteousness in his hand, and has given him a name above every name. He did not make himself a King, nor was he made so by men; but he was set up, or "anointed" by God the Father, as the word here used signifies; and may refer either to the inauguration of Christ into his kingly office, and his investiture with it from all eternity, as in Proverbs 8:23, where the same word is used as here; and anointing with oil being a ceremony performed at the instalment of kings into their office, the phrase is used for the thing itself: or rather, since Christ was anointed with the Holy Ghost in the human nature, at his incarnation and baptism, and especially at the time of his ascension, when he was made or declared to be LORD and CHRIST; this may refer to the time when he, as the ascended Lord and King, gave gifts to men, to his apostles, and qualified them in an extraordinary manner to carry his Gospel into the Gentile world, and spread it there, as they did with success; whereby his kingdom became more visible and glorious, to the great vexation of the Jews; for, in spite of all their opposition, Christ being set by his Father King over his church and people, continued so, and his kingdom was every day more and more enlarged, to their great mortification."
Matthew Henry ; " 'This day have I begotten thee', which refers both to His eternal generation itself, for it is quoted (Heb. 1:5) to prove that He is the brightness of His Father's glory and the express Image of His person (v. 3), and to the evidence and demonstration given of it by His resurrection from the dead, for to that also it is expressly applied by the apostle, Acts 13:33. He hath raised up Jesus again, as it is written, 'Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten Thee'. It was by the resurrection from the dead, that sign of the prophet Jonas, which was to be the most convincing of all, that He was declared to be the Son of God with power, Rom. 1:4. Christ is said to be the First-Begotten and First-Born from the dead, Rev. 1:5; Col. 1:18. Immediately after His resurrection He entered upon the administration of His mediatorial kingdom; it was then that He said, All power is given unto Me, and to that especially He had an eye when He taught His disciples to pray, 'Thy kingdom come'.
Adam Clarke ; "I will declare the decree] These words are supposed to have been spoken by the Messiah. I will declare to the world the decree, the purpose of God to redeem them by my blood, and to sanctify them by my Spirit. My death shall prove that the required atonement has been made; my resurrection shall prove that this atonement has been accepted.
This day have I begotten thee - "By thy resurrection thou art declared to be the Son of God, εν δυναμει, by miraculous power, being raised from the dead. Thus by thy wondrous and supernatural nativity, most extraordinary death, and miraculous resurrection, thou art declared to be the Son of God. And as in that Son dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, all the sufferings and the death of that human nature were stamped with an infinitely meritorious efficacy. We have St. Paul's authority for applying to the resurrection of our Lord these words, "Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee;" - see Act_13:33; see also Heb_5:6; - and the man must indeed be a bold interpreter of the Scriptures who would give a different gloss to that of the apostle. It is well known that the words, "Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee," have been produced by many as a proof of the eternal generation of the Son of God. On the subject itself I have already given my opinion in my note on Luk_1:35, from which I recede not one hair's breadth. Still however it is necessary to spend a few moments on the clause before us. The word היום haiyom, Today, Is in no part of the sacred writings used to express eternity, or any thing in reference to it; nor can it have any such signification. To-day is an absolute designation of the present, and equally excludes time past and time future; and never can, by any figure, or allowable latitude of construction, be applied to express eternity. But why then does the Divine Spirit use the word begotten in reference to the declaration of the inauguration of the Messiah to his kingdom, and his being seated at the right hand of God? Plainly to show both to Jews and Gentiles that this Man of sorrows, this Outcast from society, this Person who was prosecuted as a blasphemer of God, and crucified as an enemy to the public peace and a traitor to the government, is no less than that eternal Word, who was in the beginning with God, who was God, and in whom dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily: that this rejected Person was he for whom in the fullness of time a body was prepared, begotten by the exclusive power of the Most High in the womb of an unspotted virgin, which body he gave unto death as a sin-offering for the redemption of the world; and having raised it from death, declared it to be that miraculously-begotten Son of God, and now gave farther proof of this by raising the God-man to his right hand."
Edersheim ; contrasting the animal sacrifices with that of His Begotten and Beloved Son ; " ... God gave His sanction to a far different offering, by for ever substituting animal sacrifices for that surrender of the Best Beloved which human despair had prompted for an atonement for sin. And yet God Himself gave up His Beloved, His own only Begotten Son for us, - and of this the sacrifice of Isaac was intended to be a glorious type; and as Abraham received this typical sacrifice again from the dead "in a figure," so we in reality, when God raised up His own Son, Jesus Christ, from the dead, and has made us sit together with Him in heavenly places."
Flavel ; "It is spoken of the day of his resurrection, when He had just finished His suffering. And so the apostle expounds and applies it, (Acts 13: 32, 33). For then did the Lord wipe away the reproach of His cross, and invested Him with such glory, that He looked like Himself again. As if the Father had said, now Thou hast again recovered Thy glory, and this day is to Thee as a new birth-day.
These are the encouragements and rewards proposed and promised to Him by the Father. This was the "joy set before Him", (as the apostle paraphraseth it in Hebrews 12:2) which made Him so patiently to 'endure the cross, and despise the shame.' "
F.F. Bruce ; "An interpretation of Psalm 2:7 in reference to Christ's resurrection has indeed been supported by a passage in Midrash Tehillim (on Ps. 2:7) and Midrash Samuel, ch 19 (with the readings of Yalqut Shim'oni ii 620): 'Rabbi Huna says in the name of Rabbi Acha, The sufferings are divided into three parts : one for David and the fathers, one for our own generation, and one for King Messiah, as it is written, 'He was wounded for our transgressions', etc. And when the hour comes, the Holy One, -blessed be He!- says to them, I must create Him a new creation, even as it is said, 'This day have I begotten thee.' This the hour when he is made a new creation.' "
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1 Kings 17 :17-23, LXX (Thomson Version) ; " And it happened that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and the disorder increased till there was no breath left in him.
vs. 18 Upon which she said to Elias, ? What hast thou to do with me, O man of God? Art thou come to me to bring my sins into rememberence and cause my son to die?'
vs. 19 And Elias sid to the woman, Give me thy son. So he took him out of her bosom and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his bed.
vs. 20 Then Elias cried and said ? Woe is me! O Lord! Here is the witness of the widow with whom I dwell. Thou hast afflicted her in causing her son to die .
vs. 21 And when he had breathed on the child three times and called on the Lord, he said, ? O Lord, my God, I beseech Thee let this child's life be restored to him'
vs.22 And so it came to pass and the child cried.
Vs.23 Then Elias brought it down from the upper chamber, and delivering him to his mother, said, See, thy son liveth. "
Cross references :
2 Kings 4:34 LXX "And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands; and bowed himself upon him, and the flesh of the child grew warm.
Deuteronomy 32:39 "See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
1 Samuel 2:6 The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.
2 Kings 13:21 And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.
Luke 8:54 And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise.
John 5:28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
John 5:29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
John 11:43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.
Acts 20:12 And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted.
Romans 14:9 For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.
Revelation 11:11 And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them."
Alfred Edersheim ; "...The story speaks to us of Him through Whom "death is swallowed up in victory." As we think of Him Who, as God Incarnate, and as the Sent of the Father, is to us the Representative and the Prophet of God in a unique sense, we recall that it was not, as by Elijah or Elisha, through prayer and personal contact, but by the Word of His power that He raised the dead (Mark 5:39-42; Luke 7:13-15; John 11:43, 44). And beyond this we remember that "the hour.... now is, when the dead shall hear the Voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live"; and that "whosoever liveth and believeth" in Christ "shall never die" (John 5:25; 11:26)."
Keil and Delitzsch ; " Through this miracle, in which Elijah showed himself as the forerunner of Him who raiseth all the dead to life, the pious Gentile woman was mightily strengthened in her faith in the God of Israel. She now not only recognisied Elijah as a man of God, as in vs. 18, but percieved that the word of Jehovah in his mouth was truth, by which she confessed implicite her faith in the God of Israel as the true God."
A. Rowland of the Pulpit Commentary ; ".AN EARNEST OF TRUE RESURRECTION. Elijah could not give life, but he could ask God for it. Nor can we arouse to new life by preaching, though God can do so through preaching. Our words are only the media through which the Holy Spirit works. The Atlantic cable is useless except as the message is flashed forth by mysterious unseen power.
This distinguishes the miracles of our Lord Jesus from those of His servants. (Compare Luke 7:14 with Acts 3:12-16.) There is a resurrection wherein saints shall be raised by the power of God to a life of immortality, the promise and pledge of which we have in the resurrection of Christ, who is the "firstfruits of them that sleep." There is also a spiritual resurrection, to which Paul refers when he appeals to Christians as those "risen with Christ; and of this, as well as of that, is there an illustration in our text. Raised to newness of life we, like the child Elijah prayed for, have to live for awhile in the old sphere. The prophet gave the child to his mother. Jesus restored Lazarus to his sisters, the young man at Nain to his mother, and the ruler's daughter to her parents; and so to us, who have "passed from death unto life," He says, "Return to thine own house, and show how great things God hath done for thee." This miracle constrained the widow to accept as God's truth the declaration of His servant (ver. 24).
How much more reason have we, who believe in the supernatural works of His Son, to say, "We know that thou art a teacher come from God; for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him!" ?
MacDonald of the Pulpit Commentary ; ".Why did Elijah stretch himself upon the child? He was a type of Christ.
So he made himself like the dead to foreshow that Christ by dying in our room should give us life. This He does morally. Also physically, viz., in the resurrection of the body. (Comp. 2 Kings 4:34; John 11:43-45;."
J. Waite of the Pulpit Commentary ; "It is prophetic of the future glorious resurrection. We see here one of the many witnesses that gleam out amid the obscurity of the olden times to the truth that God would surely one day "bring life and immortality to Light," while it points us on to the time when, "at the voice of the son of God, all that are in their graves shall come forth." "Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory"