Christ's first and second coming in prophecy and the fulfillments
Fred R. Coulter—September 16, 2017
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Greetings, everyone! Welcome to Sabbath services! Before we get into the sermon, I want to mention the sermon series Scripturalism vs Judaism. We have all of the sermons plus the transcripts, and the transcripts are really amazing! I did this in 1993—24 years ago. I do a lot of reading in #s 4-6 and there is some astounding history that we need to understand concerning Judaism.
One thing the Jews are famous for is that 'we are all united, we all believe the same thing.' Absolutely not true! Not any more than all Protestants believing the same thing. Most of them today have a better integration of what they believe, but nevertheless, it will astound you. Have you ever heard of
- Eastern Judaism?
- Western Judaism?
- Babylonian Judaism?
- Khazarian Judaism?
- Karaite Judaism?
- Essenian Judaism?
And there are many more! The secret inside thing that the Jews have is the Kabbalah. Have you ever heard of Alexandrian Judaism? It's very interesting!
Revelation 11:8: "And their bodies… [the two witnesses after they're killed] …will lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt…"
Why does God use Egypt to describe Jerusalem? We can understand about Sodom and Gomorrah, because we can see that everywhere around us. But Egypt: this talking about the western Alexandria Judaism, and it came out of Egypt.
Remember what I said about the Jewish temple and Leontopolis? I got the transcript and started reading, and it surprised me how much I did back in 1993. It is quite amazing and it will help you understand a lot of things in the Bible.
Is Alexandria and Judaism after the 70 years? Yes, considerably after! But it's very intriguing how all of that came about.
So, with all the death, doom and gloom of the hurricanes, rain and destruction, and horrible things going on—we've had that popping out on the news for the whole week—so I thought I would cover something different.
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We're going to do an overview of the Bible following the different prophecies leading up to the coming of Christ as a human being. He first was on this earth as an independent human being when He was born of the virgin Mary.
The next time that He will be on the earth will also be on the Feast of Trumpets, this time with all of the saints.
A lot of people stumble at what Jesus said in Mark 1, when He said, 'Repent! For the Kingdom of God is at hand!' It wasn't, and it still isn't; however:
- Who was Jesus? The future King!
- What do we understand in prophecy from Daniel?
- What mixes one with the other?
- King and kingdom!
So, if the King is here—though in the flesh—the Kingdom of God is near at hand, though His return is not going to be for some time, even yet. What we're going to do is see some of these very interesting things concerning Jesus. Let's note a few of things concerning Jesus:
- the #4 follows Christ
- the #4 also precedes Christ
When did God set the sun, moon and star in motion for the appointed times? We will see that God follows the appointed times according to the Calculated Hebrew Calendar. He set it, and He did that on day four.
Jesus was born on the Feast of Trumpets, and we'll see that and it's in one of the appendices in The Holy Bible in It's Original Order, A Faithful Version; Appendix E: When Was Jesus Born?
Counting from the spring—First Day of Unleavened Bread, Seventh Day of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost,
- Trumpets—#4—fourth Holy Day
- Jesus' ministry was 44 months[transcriber's correction] long (there were two leap years in that time with 30 days addition)
- Jesus was born on the 4th Feast day
When you calculate the calendar, that's the 1st Feast day. That's why you find in Exo. 12, that God said to Moses, 'This is the beginning of months for you.' It's always been the first day of the seventh month from creation, but for the flow of the Feast days—from the exodus down to the return of Christ—the first month is in the spring.
- He started His ministry on the 4th day of the week—26A.D. (Wednesday Atonement).
This year we have a Saturday Atonement.
Sidebar: We have not had a Wednesday Passover for almost 10 years. Dwight Blevins has analyzed a lot of those places where Passover falls ten years without a Wednesday Passover, and it's always a time of trouble much more than at other times.
- The temptation was 40 days
- He was crucified on the 4th day of the week—Wednesday—30A.D.
- After He died He rose to be accepted of the Father on the 4th day
- He came back and was with the apostles for 40 days
All of that is associated with Jesus Christ. All of those things could not have happened by accident, but planned.
Isaiah 46:9: "Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is none else, I am God, and there is none like Me."
The reason that He said that at this point was because God the Father had not yet been revealed. God the Father is only mentioned as The Most High and The Ancient of Days.
Verse 10: "Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things, which were not yet done, saying, "My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.'"
Notice the challenge, Isaiah 45:17: "But Israel shall be saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation…." Notice that a lot of these prophecies give us absolutely no time setting, but in the mind of God it is as good as done. In our lives it doesn't work that way.
"…You shall not be ashamed nor disgraced even into the ages of eternity… [that's how God thinks] …for thus says the LORD the Creator of the heavens, He Himself is God, Who formed the earth and made it; He has established it. He created it not in vain, but formed it to be inhabited. 'I am the LORD, and there is no other. I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth. I did not say to the seed of Jacob, "Seek me in vain." I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right. Gather yourselves and come; draw near together, you who have escaped of the nations; they have no knowledge who carry the wood of their graven image, and those who pray to a god that cannot save. Declare and bring near; yea, let them take counsel together. Who has declared this of old? Who has told it from ancient times? Have not I, the LORD? And there is no other God besides Me; a just God and a Savior; there is none besides Me'" (vs 17-21).
So then, He challenges them: What can you bring forth?
Gen. 3:15 is a prophecy of the coming Savior. Can you think of another verse way later in the Bible that actually in time setting precedes this, specifically of the Savior? From the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8)!
This is another way of understanding the Bible. A bit here, a bit there; some early, some late; some easy to understand and some difficult to understand.
Genesis 3:15—Jesus is speaking to Satan: "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed… [referring to Christ] …He will bruise your head… [] …and you shall bruise His heel"—speaking of the crucifixion.
What does this tell us in the way of time setting? Nothing! We have no way of knowing. Remember, this is the way that God hides things in plain sight in the Bible.
We've covered recently the covenant with Abraham—The Mystery of Protestantism #4—Covenant Law. Remember the covenant with Abraham? What did God say to him? Leave your country and go to where I tell you to go, and I will bless you and make you a blessing. In you shall all the families of the earth be blessed!
- What a prophecy?
- How far does that prophecy run?
From that time all the way through the fulfillment of the Last Great Day!
- How can it be all the families of the earth unless it was spread out that far?
This after Abraham willingly offered up Isaac, and Isaac willingly went on the altar:
Genesis 22:15: "And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham out of heaven the second time, and said, 'By Myself have I sworn,' says the LORD…'" (vs 15-16). God swore by His existence! Living forever! Other places He swears by heaven and earth.
Verse 17: "That in blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your seed like the stars of the heavens, and as the sand, which is upon the seashore. And your seed shall possess the gate of his enemies." That seed Paul identifies in Gal. 3 as Christ.
We're just going to look at some of these prophecies that refer to Jesus as the Messiah; they're all through the Bible. There are many things in the Bible, the greatest book in the world. It tells us:
- Who God is
- where He is
- who we are
- what we need to do
- how to be successful in life
- how to find God
- the history of mankind in the past
- the history of mankind in the future
It's the only book in the world that you can read that has been inspired by God with His Spirit. You get not only the literal meaning but also the spiritual meaning, and through it God talks to you.
What does John 6:45 say after the Father draws us? "…'And they shall all be taught by God.'…." How can that be? Think as God thinks, from the beginning to the end.
Jesus said, 'I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.' How does He do that? Through His Word! Though His Spirit! If you read and study the Bible, when you come to Church—a place where we hear the Word of God in Truth and in righteousness—we can all grow in grace and knowledge. That's what it says about the priests; 'the priests lips should know the Law of God' (Mal. 2). Not that I'm a priest, I'm not a priest! We are to teach.
When Jacob called his 12 sons to him and he told them, Genesis 49:1: And Jacob called to his sons and said, 'Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in the last days.'" Think about how long ago that was.
Verse 8—concerning Judah: "Judah, may your brothers praise you. May your hand be on the neck of your enemies. May your father's sons bow before you. Judah is a lion's whelp. My son, you have gone up from the prey. He stooped, he crouched like a lion; and like a lioness, who shall rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come. And to Him shall be the obedience of the people" (vs 8-10).
The scepter is the crown of the throne. It came down from Judah down to David, and David down to Christ. Judah would have "…a lawgiver…[only] until Shiloh…"—which is another prophecy of Christ's first coming. That's why there is no central authority of Judaism teaching the Word of God. Christ came and superseded that with His apostles and the New Testament. Supersede does not mean to do away. That means to raise to a higher level. It's very interesting when you look at these.
Deuteronomy 18:15—Moses speaking: "The LORD your God will raise up unto you a Prophet from the midst of you, of your brethren, One like me…."
What was Moses? Acting as the king under God! But he was a king; he was an intercessor, mediator and direct representative of God. He was also the one who spoke the Word of God! God would say to Moses, 'Speak to the children of Israel and say…'
"…To Him you shall hearken, according to all that you desired of the LORD your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, 'Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, so that I do not die'" (vs 15-16).
So, they said, 'Moses, you go to God and He'll tell you what to do, and you come and tell us what to do, and we'll do it.' They rarely did!
Verse 17: "And the LORD said to me, 'They have spoken well what they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, One like you, and will put My words in His mouth. And He shall speak to them all that I shall command Him'" (vs 17-18). What did Jesus say about what God said?
- I do nothing of Myself!
- As I see what the Father does, that's what I do!
- As the Father has commanded Me, that's what I speak!
Verse 19: "And it shall come to pass, whatever man will not hearken to My words, which He shall speak in My name, I will require it of him."
What did Jesus say about prophets in the end-time? Many prophets shall arise saying, 'I am the Christ' and shall deceive many! Then it talks about what's going to happen to them.
In going through the sermon series Scripturalism vs Judaism a man who has been studying the Dead Sea Scrolls, and helping translate it, sent me a very nice e-mail. We've communicated back and forth a couple of times, and he brought out Isa. 7:14.
- in the Hebrew it reads: a virgin
- in the Septuagint it reads: the virgin
The Septuagint was one that was greatly used during the time of Christ. In translating this verse, I chose to put the, as it is in the Septuagint. But this man says it reads in the Hebrew a virgin. That's fine. But what happens when it is a virgin? Which is good, and this is what God intended. A virgin is not necessarily wrong, but if he says a virgin, the questions are: Which one? Who?
When we get to the New Testament, we will see that it's the virgin, a particular special virgin!
Isaiah 7:14: "Therefore, the LORD Himself shall give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bring forth a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel." What does that mean? God with us!
Here was a birth in Isa. 8 who was the result of the prophet and a virgin, but his name was not called Immanuel.
Isaiah 8:3: "And I went to the prophetess. And she conceived and bore a son. Then the LORD said to me, 'Call his name Maher-shalal-Hash-Baz.'" That's not Immanuel! God wanted them to know that this isn't the one!
Isa. 9 presents a great consternation to the Jews. This is quite a sweeping prophecy.
Isaiah 9:6: "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulders…" Look at all the things this is saying of the coming Christ. That's why when Christ came into Galilee and said to 'repent, the Kingdom of God is at hand'; Who is the King? Christ!
Do we need good government? Yes! We need really good government! Stop and think, if the government would enforce the Ten Commandments, what it would be like.
- Wouldn't you like to live in a town where there's no lying, cheating and stealing?
- Wouldn't you like to live in a city where there are no robberies? no drugs?
- Wouldn't you like to live in a city where everyone is so honest that you don't need any locks or bars or keys?
That's what's going to happen in the Millennium!
Notice that all of the following are names of God; "…and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" (v 6).
When the Jews were looking for the Messiah, they didn't know what to look for. They have left the Word of God so far. Virtually all of these pertain to Christ's second coming, not His first coming.
Verse 7: "Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and over His kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with righteousness from henceforth, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this."
That's quite a thing! That is fantastic prophecy, indeed! Picture this: We know that the Jews during the time of Jesus were looking for the Messiah. I'm sure that they were looking for someone like this in Isa. 9:6. Weren't they disappointed?
Let me just say that in Isaiah and the Psalms there are more prophecies of Jesus than anyplace else in the Bible. What is so interesting with the prophecies in Isaiah? How do you suppose it's put together? What the first lesson in Bible study that you find in Isa. 28? Line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little; precept upon precept!
We're going to see some of the prophecies blend His first coming and second coming together. There will be a prophecy about His first coming and then it jumps ahead to the Millennium in the next verse. That's why you've got to understand the Sabbath and the Holy Days to know how all of these are applied.
Isaiah 40:1—I want you to think about Jerusalem: "'Comfort ye, comfort ye, My people,' says your God. 'Speak comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished…'" (vs 1-2). There has never been a time that there hasn't been war in Jerusalem since the fall of Judah in 586B.C. When will this be? At the second coming!
"…that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has received of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins" (v 2).
Now it jumps back to John the Baptist, v 3: "A voice is calling out in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of the LORD…'"
This is why it's difficult to read the Old Testament and think in linear ways of thought, chronologically. That's a normal way of thinking. God has hidden it in such a way that only He can reveal it when you understand the Holy Days of God.
"…make straight in the desert a highway for our God" (v 3)—first coming!
Verse 4: "Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough places plain"—second coming!
Verse 5: "And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed…" When? When the heavens roll back as a scroll (Rev. 6:14[transcriber's correction])!
"…and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken" (v 5). Amazing, isn't it? When God says that "…the mouth of the LORD has spoken" you know it's going to happen! But in the way that God thinks!
Here's another on concerning Christ, but it does not name Him. It does not say that this is what Immanuel will do. Again, it's hidden, though in plain sight!
Isaiah 42:1: "Behold My Servant, Whom I uphold; My Elect, in Whom My soul delights…. [Didn't God say that of Jesus? Yes, He did!] …I have put My Spirit upon Him; He shall bring forth justice to the Gentiles."
When did Jesus receive the Spirit and anointing for preaching? Obviously He had the Spirit of God from conception. That was at His baptism with John the Baptist! The Holy Spirit came down in the form of a dove. John said, 'That's the one!' John didn't know who He was until then.
"…He shall bring forth justice to the Gentiles." There have been Gentiles brought into the Church. But this is not speaking of that alone. That would be a minor fulfillment of it through the Church. This is when Christ sets up the government on the earth. We have first coming and second coming within the same verse!
Verse 2: "He shall not cry out, nor lift up, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street." He's not coming with a mass movement of rebellion to setup a new government.
Verse 3: "A bruised reed He shall not break, and a smoking wick He shall not quench; in Truth He shall bring forth justice." That can be the Gospel and the teachings, but the application of the judgment of justice does not come until the Kingdom of God is on earth with all the saints, ruling and reigning with Him.
Look how much is in that one verse. "…in Truth He shall bring forth justice." He says "…He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles (v 1).
Verse 4: "He shall not fail nor be discouraged until He has set justice in the earth; and the isles shall wait for His Law." That tells us a lot! You can see how the first and second coming of Christ is all intermixed in all of these things.
Verse 5: "Thus says the LORD God, 'He who created the heavens and stretched them out, spreading forth the earth and its offspring; He who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it. I the LORD have called You in righteousness…'" (vs 5-6). This is a prophecy of God the Father, Who is part of Elohim.
"…and will hold Your hand, and will keep You, and give You for a covenant… [the New Covenant] …of the people, for a Light to the Gentiles; to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness out of the prison house. I am the LORD; that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another…" (vs 6-8).
This is what people need to understand concerning 'religion.' If you think that God is really, really strict—which He is—remember Moses and striking the rock with the rod when God had told him to speak to the rock. What happened? God said that Moses didn't believe Him! 'You come up here on the mountain where I'm going to bury you, but before you die you're going to look out and see the Holy Land, but you're not going in it because you struck the rock.' So, on certain things God is very, very strict!
"…nor My praise to graven images. Behold, the former things have come to pass. And new things I declare; before they happen, I tell you of them" (vs 8-9).
Right in the middle of something else, v 21: "The LORD is well pleased for His righteousness sake; He will magnify the Law and make it glorious." The King James says honorable, but that's a bad translation because that implies that the Law until that time was dishonorable. That isn't true!
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Isa. 50 intermixes many things together in a few verses; Isaiah 50:1: "Thus says the LORD, 'Where is your mother's bill of divorce, with which I have put her away?…. [a prophecy of the removal of the 10 tribes and later the Jews] …Or to which of My creditors have I sold you? Behold, you yourselves were sold for your iniquities, and your mother is put away for your transgressions. Therefore, when I came, why was no one there? When I called no one answered. Is My hand shortened at all so that it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver? Behold, at My rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness; their fish stink because there is no water, and die for thirst" (vs 1-2).
They have found that's exactly what happened to the Nile River; God made it dry up! They've recently been working on a dry lake that used to have water in there from the Nile River. So, they were drilling down in the core to try and find out when this happened. They couldn't find anything in the core, so they deduced that this happened, that it dried up and the wind blew away all of the sediment and there was nothing left.
- Who controls the wind?
- Who controls the heat?
- Who fulfills His Word?
- God does!
Verse 3: "I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering." Right smack in the middle He says, in a different way, 'I've created the heavens and the earth'—just that single verse!
Then He jumps ahead to something else, an actual prophecy of how Jesus was taught:
Verse 4: "The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of the learned, to know to help the weary with a word. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to hear as one being taught." That's how Jesus was taught, directly by God the Father, every morning!
Verse 5: The Lord GOD has opened My ear, and I was not rebellious, nor turned away backwards."
Notice to where it jumps to from there; from infancy and childhood… Remember when Jesus was in Jerusalem and stayed back during the Feast of Unleavened Bread at the temple at 12-years-old? He was there with all of the priests and all of the scholars asking questions, and answering their questions, speaking to them concerning things in the Bible. They were totally amazed! What did they say of Him later? He was not schooled! God never left Jesus' education to the rabbis; He took care of it Himself personally.
Notice what happens, and a perfect example of how it jumps ahead to something else. This was talking about His infancy and childhood. Of course, God taught Him all the way through His entire life. Then:
Verse 6: "I gave My back to the smiters, and My cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting." That's when He was being scourged.
Verse 7: "For the Lord GOD will help Me; therefore, I have not been disgraced. On account of this I have set My face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. He is near who justifies Me; who will contend with Me? Let us stand together; who is My adversary? Let him come near Me. Behold, the Lord GOD will help Me…" (vs 7-9). How did the Lord help Him? Resurrection!
Isa. 53 is all about what Jesus suffered during the crucifixion, which we won't get into. Tie that in with Psa. 22.
Isaiah 52:13: "Behold, My Servant shall rule well; He shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high." But it says that He was meek and lowly—doesn't it? When will this first one be accomplished? After His resurrection and when He returns!
Verse 14: "Many were astonished at Him—for His body was so disfigured—even His form beyond that of the sons of men. So shall He sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths because of Him; for they will see that which was not told to them; yea, what they had not heard, shall they consider" (vs 14-15).
Have you ever heard of Bullinger, who has put out a study Bible? He's done very well with it, but there are a couple of things he didn't do too well. Every place in the Old Testament where the Jews changed YHVH to Adonai—134 places—and one of them is in Psa. 110.
Psalm 110:1: "The LORD [YHVH] said unto my Lord…"—the Jews changed to Adonai; but what they did, since they changed it, they annotated that they changed it, which becomes important that if you dig you can really find the Truth.
"…'Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies as Your footstool.'" (v 1). Did the apostles not quote that quite often?
There are many, many other places in the book of Psalms, so as you read and study that, you can pick up on that.
Psalm 2:1—end-time prophecy: "Why do the nations rage and the people plot in vain?…. [How long has that been going on?] …The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the LORD and against His Christ, saying" (vs 1-2). This can be a combination of the first coming and the second coming!
Verse 3: "'Let us break Their bands asunder and cast away Their cords from us.' He who sits in the heavens laughs; the LORD scoffs at them. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and in His fury He terrifies them. 'Yea, I have set My King upon Zion, My Holy mountain'" (vs 3-6)—second coming!
Verse 7: "I will declare the decree of the LORD. He has said to Me, 'You are My Son; this day I have begotten You.'" That has to be the day when He begat the virgin Mary. Then the rest of it goes into His second coming.
We will see that Gabriel was the angel in charge of the prophecies and the fulfilling of them concerning the coming of Christ in the flesh.
Daniel 7:13—after talking about the beast: "I saw visions in the night and, behold, One like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven… [How many times was that brought out by Christ?] …and came to the Ancient of Days… [the Most High or God the Father] …and they brought Him near before Him. And dominion and glory was given to Him, and a kingdom, that all people, nations and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed" (vs 13-14)—second coming!
Dan. 9—here we have His first coming specifically spelled out. Here's what's interesting, that this was a known time in history. It's pretty easy to date this:
Daniel 9:1: "In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus…" you can find that date; I think it's 536B.C. or maybe a little later.
Verse 17: "And now, therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of Your servant… [supplication, repentance and asking God to forgive them for their sins] …and his supplications, and cause Your face to shine upon Your sanctuary that is desolate for the LORD'S sake. O my God, incline Your ear and hear. Open Your eyes and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name. For we do not present our supplications before You on account of our righteousnesses, but because of Your great mercies. O LORD, hear; O LORD, forgive; O LORD, hearken and do. Do not delay, for Your own sake, O my God; for Your city and Your people are called by Your name" (vs 17-19).
Verse 20: "And while I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin, and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the Holy mountain of my God; yea, while I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel… [the angel appearing as a man] …whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, came to me, about the time of the evening sacrifice" (vs 20-21).
Then Gabriel said, 'Your prayer has been heard and gave Daniel the 70-week prophecy. It says specifically:
Verse 25: "Know, therefore, and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem, to Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks…."
Each week was a period in prophecy of seven years. This comes right down to the time when Jesus should appear. So, they're getting closer. Malachi is even closer, yet; this is a prophecy of John the Baptist.
Malachi 3:1: "'Behold, I will send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, Whom you seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in Whom you delight. Behold, He comes,' says the LORD of hosts." That's His first coming!
Verse 2: "But who can endure the day of His coming?…."—second coming!
It's amazing how many things are there. All of these are prophecies, and now we're going to look at their fulfillments. It's very interesting that in the original order of the Scriptures, Acts and the Gospel are…
- How many divisions of the Bible are there? Seven! The Law, the Prophets and the Psalms (Writings)!
- How many Gospels? Four! To talk about the man on Who everything happens on #4!
- Who talks more about God the Father and Jesus Christ than John? His is the fourth Gospel!
We're going to look at the genealogy first.
Matthew 1:1:"The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." When you come down to the fulfillment of this one comes through Solomon:
Verse 7: "And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa." And this comes down to:
Verse 16: "And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, from whom was born Jesus, Who is called the Christ."
Joseph was to be the guardian father of Jesus and to be the husband of Mary. But Jesus' physical genealogy did not come through Joseph, because Joseph was not His father. Joseph had to be of the tribe of Judah and this shows it.
Verse 20: "But as he pondered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary to be your wife, because that which has been begotten in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she shall give birth to a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus; for He shall save His people from their sins.' Now, all this came to pass that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, 'Behold, the virgin…'" (vs 20-23).
The Greek here is the; not any virgin, but the virgin. So, all the way down through the line God was selecting everything necessary for the birth of Jesus.
"'…shall be with child and shall give birth to a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel,' which is being interpreted, 'God with us'" (v 23).
This is why the one in Isa. 7—with the prophet and the virgin there—was not the fulfillment of it, because they did not call him Immanuel.
Verse 24: "And when Joseph was awakened from his sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded, and took his wife to wed; but he did not have sexual relations with her until after she had given birth to her Son, the firstborn; and he called His name Jesus" (vs 24-25).
Now let's see that this fantastic, because God takes care of everything. Everything is at the set time. Gal. 4 says that He was born at the fulfillment of the times. God prepared everything for this. Since Jesus was to be King and Priest, He had to have the bloodline of Judah through David, and He had to have the bloodline of Levi through Mary. How did that happen? Let's solve that mystery first.
This is talking about the receiving of the Holy Spirit after His baptism (Luke 3:21).
Luke 3:22: and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in a bodily form like a dove; and there came a voice from heaven, saying, 'You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.'…. [We read that prophecy] …And Jesus Himself began to be about thirty years old…" (vs 22-23).
Why does it say "…began to be about thirty years old…"? This was in the fall and the Feast of Trumpets does not come in the same week of the year every year, because there are times when there are leap years with an extra month. You will see that this year, the Feast of Trumpets is earlier, and next year it's going to be later.
"…being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph…" (v 23). But He wasn't. Joseph was the son-in-law of Eli and Eli was the father[transcriber's correction] of Mary. Since the line comes down through the male you have to have Joseph—who was of the tribe of Judah—the son-in-law of Eli who had to be of the tribe of Judah. His wife had to be of the tribe of Levi, or Aaron.
How do we know this? We can deduce this as Truth! We'll see it in just a minute.
Verse 31: "The son of Meleas, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David."
When you read the genealogy in Mat. 1, that's Joseph's genealogy, but it came through Solomon. Solomon was not included within the physical genealogy to Jesus because of Solomon's sins. So, Nathan was the brother of Solomon and David was the father of Nathan, and this genealogy comes all the way down to "…Adam, the son of God" (v 38).
See how God had to plan this out? Luke writes and is giving a full narration of it:
Luke 1:4: "So that you might know the absolute certainty of the things in which you have been instructed. There was in the days of Herod… [we're starting with a date] …the king of Judea, a certain priest of the course of Abijah…" (vs 4-5). Most people who read that will not know what that means or why it is it there, and why it's important.
Go to 1-Chron. 24:7-19[transcriber's correction] and you will find the courses of the priests. The courses of the priests were to begin in the first month of the year. They were to work one week from noon Sabbath to noon Sabbath. Why did they have it from noon to noon? To give only half a day's labor on the Sabbath to the priests in bringing the offerings and sacrifices!
The course of Abijah was the 8th course (1-Chron. 24:10). All 24 courses, which there were, were to come for the Holy Day seasons:
- Passover and Unleavened Bread
- Pentecost
- Trumpets
- Tabernacles
We've got all of this in The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, Appendix E: When Was Jesus Born? Zacharias worked the week before Pentecost and the week of Pentecost, and with the Calculated Hebrew Calendar we can find out the exact date that was God takes care of it down to the very finest.
Still, if you don't search out what it means "…course of Abijah…" you never know what v 5 means. It shows that:
"…Zacharias by name; and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron… [from the tribe of Levi of the house of Aaron and so was Zacharias] …and her name was Elizabeth. Now, they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord" (vs 5-6).
God did not choose anyone who was walking in the traditions of the Jews.
Verse 7: "But they did not have a child, as Elizabeth was barren; and both were well advanced in age"—meaning they were approximately 70-years-old.
Zacharias didn't believe Gabriel, so Gabriel told him that he would be dumb until the child was born. This fantastic thing occurred and all the people were waiting fro Zacharias to come out and wanted to know what happen, and he couldn't tell them a thing because He couldn't speak, and couldn't speak until after the child was born and named.
Let's look at the connection between Mary and Elizabeth. Mary had to be young, I would say no more than 20-years-old and probably 18.
Verse 26: "And in the sixth month of her pregnancy, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the lineage of David; and the name of the virgin was Mary. And after coming to her, the angel said, 'Hail, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you; blessed are you among women.' But when she saw him, she was greatly perplexed at his message, and was considering what kind of salutation this might be. Then the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, because you have found grace with God; and behold, you shall conceive in your womb and give birth to a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give Him the throne of David, His forefather; and He shall reign over the house of Jacob into the ages, and of His kingdom there shall be no end.'" (vs 26-33).
Verse 34: "But Mary said to the angel, 'How shall this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?' And the angel answered and said to her, 'The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest…'" (vs 34-35). What is the Holy Spirit? The Power of the Highest, not a person!
"…shall overshadow you…" (v 35). It was already to go. Gabriel was there, the Spirit of God was there. How long would it be after Gabriel said shall? Immediately afterward, no delay in time!
"…and for this reason, the Holy One being begotten…" (v 35). That is absolutely correct in the Greek; present tense passive, meaning happening at that minute that he spoke. He was telling her what was happening within her at that time.
"…in you shall be called the Son of God. Now behold, Elizabeth your kinswoman…" (vs 35-36). She's 70-years-old, so she would have to be Mary's aunt, not cousin as it says in the King James.
Remember that Elizabeth was of the house of Aaron. Mary was of the tribe of Judah. But Mary's mother had to be of the house of Aaron for Jesus to receive the bloodline physically of Priest and King. I know that's deducing a lot away, but it had to be that way, because God particularly did it this way. Then it says:
"…has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren" (v 36). John the Baptist was born six months ahead of Jesus. Check the Appendix E: When Was Jesus Born? We will bring this down all the way from the first month of 6B.C. to show when Jesus was born in 5B.C., and it had to be on the Feast of Trumpets.
Jesus was baptized about 30 years of age, and immediately after receiving the Holy Spirit He went into the wilderness (Luke 4). What was in the wilderness? Satan the devil!
Let's jump forward just a little bit with the Day of Atonement. Where was the goat for Azazel or Satan released? In the wilderness! So, that's where Jesus went! We don't know how long it took for Him to get from the Jordan River into the wilderness where this is, but let's say it took Him three days to walk down there. Then the temptation began on the Day of Atonement and lasted for 40 days.
When we come to the book of Revelation, let's just take a look at Rev. 1 and 22 and how important this is. Let's understand that in translation men can make mistakes, but those mistakes are always found. There are no mistakes in this, but notice what this does. Rev. 1 identifies Jesus Christ and everything about Him wrapped up into this one chapter:
Revelation 1:4: "John to the seven churches that are in Asia…" The churches are called The Body of Christ; so the first message goes to the churches.
These were letters that John wrote that were dictated by Jesus Christ to write. When someone says that Jesus never wrote anything in the Bible, yes He did! If you have a secretary write it for you, you still wrote it.
"…Grace and peace be to you from Him Who is, and Who was, and Who is to come; and from the seven spirits that are before His throne." This identifies Jesus Christ!
Verse 5: "And from Jesus Christ, the faithful Witness, the Firstborn from the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him Who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood." Talk about a lot contained in each one of these verses.
Verse 6: "And has made us kings and priests to God and His Father; to Him be the glory and the sovereignty into the ages of eternity. Amen." He's making it very clear that He is Ruler of the kings of the earth. He sets one up and takes another one down.
- What did He say of Nebuchadnezzar, a pagan king? My servant!
- What did He say of Cyrus, a pagan king from Persia? My servant!
Then it tells us what we're going to be doing.
Verse 7: "Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye shall see Him, and those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen." How is every eye going to see Him? That's those who are alive at the time of His return!
Verse 8: "'I am the Alpha and the Omega…"—first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. All of those who say that it was written in Aramaic are liars. Every Aramaic New Testament has been proven to be a translation from the Greek.
"'…the Beginning and the Ending,' says the Lord…" (v 8). What does that tell us? Goes right back to the beginning: "In the beginning, God…"
"…Who is, and Who was, and Who is to come—the Almighty" (v 8). Notice that all of this is devoted to the identification of Jesus:
- Who He is
- Who He was
- what is going to take place
- how these things have occurred
Verse 9: "I, John, who am also your brother and joint partaker in the tribulation and in the kingdom and endurance of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos because of the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Day of the Lord…" (vs 9-10). Some translations have changed "…Day of the Lord…" to Sunday. The Day of the Lord is the day of His return!
"…and I heard a loud voice like a trumpet behind me, saying, 'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, and what you see, write in a book, and send it to the churches that are in Asia: to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamos, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.'" (vs 10-11). Then John shows the Son of man in His power and His glory!
How does He end it?
Revelation 22:12: "And behold, I am coming quickly…" Compared to eternity, it's just seconds. But to us it may be many lifetimes. For John, who wrote this, we're looking at 1900 years right now.
"…and My reward is with Me, to render to each one according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last" (vs 12-13). So, He signs off just like He began so that we know Who it is.
A lot of commentaries say that we don't know who wrote the book of Revelation, because 'when we compare it to the Gospel of John and John's three epistles, it's nothing like he wrote.' Why? Because the vision came from God! It's what God wanted written! So, John wrote what he should write in the way that it was given. As a secretary do you not do that? Yes, indeed!
So this is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to Him to give to His servants.
Therefore, we can look at the Feast of Trumpets as also the day that Jesus was born physically, and that was the first day He was here bodily on the earth separate from His mother. When He returns, He's going to put His feet on the Mt. of Olives on the Feast of Trumpets.
Spend a little time watching TBN and see what they have all missed. It is really very sad!
Scriptural References:
- Revelation 11:8
- Isaiah 46:9-10
- Isaiah 45:17-21
- Genesis 3:15
- Genesis 22:15-17
- John 6:45
- Genesis 49:1, 8-10
- Deuteronomy 18:15-19
- Isaiah 7:14
- Isaiah 8:3
- Isaiah 9:6-7
- Isaiah 40:1-5
- Isaiah 42:1-3, 1, 4-9, 21
- Isaiah 50:1-9
- Isaiah 52:13-15
- Psalm 110:1
- Psalm 2:1-7
- Daniel 7:13-14
- Daniel 9:1, 17-21, 25
- Malachi 3:1-2
- Matthew 1:1, 7, 16, 20-25
- Luke 3:22-23, 31, 38
- Luke 1:4-7, 26-36
- Revelation 1:4-11
- Revelation 22:12-13
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- Mark 1
- Exodus 12
- Revelation 13:8
- Galatians 3
- Malachi 2
- Isaiah 28
- Revelation 6:14
- Isaiah 53
- Psalm 22
- Galatians 4
- Luke 3:21
- 1 Chronicles 24:7-19
- Luke 4
Also referenced:
Sermon Series Scripturalism vs Judaism
Sermon: #4 The Mystery of Protestantism—Covenant Law
Appendix E: When Was Jesus Born?(The Holy Bible in It's Original Order, A Faithful Version)
FRC: bo
Transcribed: 9/24/17
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