LESSON ONE * PART I

PART 3 of the MESSIANIC PROPHECIES

Psalms 40 and 41

Okay, good to see everybody in again this afternoon. For those of you out in television, we just checked with our studio audience—and, my goodness, we’ve got people from all over the country here today.  Chicago, Kansas, Missouri, Indiana, and Washington State and there might be another state or two that I’m missing.  We’re just glad to have a representation from almost coast-to-coast.  Oh, yea, I forgot about Gloria over there from Florida.  Boy, she’s been looking forward to this day for months on end.  We do appreciate it when you folks come in from a distance to spend the afternoon with us. 

All right, I’m not going to take any more time for announcements, because, you know, everybody reminds me this is the only Bible study they’ve really got.  So we have to buy up the time.  We’ll get as much in these thirty minutes as we possibly can.

All right, we’re still going to continue on our walk through the Book of Psalms, picking out the Messianic Psalms.  In other words, we will look at those Psalms that are definitively pointing to and representing the Messiah in His death, burial, and resurrection. 

Now, that doesn’t mean the rest of the Psalms doesn’t mention it, but they are not as graphic. We’re just picking out the Psalms that most graphically describe His first advent and the Glory that will follow.

Okay, now I’m going to do like we did in the last taping, maybe even the one before. I’m going to kick off every program with these verses.  Because I want people to almost see these two verses in their sleep and be aware of it when they wake up in the morning. 

I Peter chapter 1 and we’ll drop in at verses 10 and 11.  Remember now, who wrote it?  The Apostle Peter.  Who was he writing to?  Fellow Jews who were looking forward, of course, to the coming of the Tribulation—just over the horizon—and the Second Coming.  They all thought that was going to be in their lifetime.  But Peter is reminding them of something.  That’s why we’re taking an in-depth look at the Book of Psalms. 

I Peter 1:10a

“Of which salvation the prophets (the Old Testament writers) have inquired and searched diligently,…”

Now, I’ve got to stop a minute.  I can’t help it.  I wish could.  Don’t you?  Marilyn here is from Chicago. She’s been listening to me for years.  She and her friend Mary stopped by yesterday, and they put on a little skit—just for Iris and me. She’s mimicking me—all the way through from the way I start until the way I end. 

Well, it just reminded me of it, because this is part of it.  We’re going to be stopping every now and then.  When it says that they searched diligently—do you know that even today in these Jewish yeshivas (You’re going to want to know how to spell that, aren’t you, Sharon?)—in these Jewish yeshivas—which are places of learning for young Jewish men—they may spend a whole day, maybe a week, just contemplating one verse of Scripture.  Or maybe even a part of a verse.

Now, that’s what I think of when I see this word that those old prophets were looking at all these things diligently.  Not just haphazardly writing, but they were really searching and trying to get an understanding of all these Old Testament Scriptures that were looking forward to a Messiah, which they understood.  But as I mentioned the last time, and I’ll probably mention it several times before we get through with this. They could understand the coming of a Messiah—but two of them?  Now that threw them a curve. Here it comes now, and then you’ll know what I’m talking about.

I Peter 1:10b

“…they searched diligently, (those prophets) who prophesied (or foretold) of the grace that should come unto you:” Now remember who Peter is writing to.  He’s writing to fellow Jews.  And these prophets now in verse 11 were:

I Peter 1:11

“Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ who was in them (As they wrote, remember. That’s why we’re always emphasizing Holy Spirit inspiration. Otherwise, these men could have never done what they did.) who was in them did signify, when it (or I prefer He) testified beforehand (through the writing of these prophets now) the suffering of Christ, and (What?) the glory that should follow.”

Now, if you’ll remember way back when we were going through the Book of Isaiah, pretty much chapter and verse, I laid that out so clearly—that Israel was being foretold that three times they would suffer the discipline of God because of their unbelief, but it would be followed with blessings. 

The first one was the Babylonians. The second one—of course that wasn’t followed with blessings so much, but still was an act of God—was the A.D. 70 invasion and destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans and then their dispersion.  Then the third one was the seven years of Tribulation to be followed with the glory of the Kingdom to follow.   All through Scripture this seems to be the format—first the suffering and then the glory that should follow.

Now then, I had another brainstorm this morning, like I did last time we taped.  I learn these when I teach them often enough.  I know these verses now by memory.  They were searching diligently what manner of time the Spirit had testified beforehand, the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow.

And I couldn’t help but think—turn with me now to Romans chapter 8 and see if it isn’t the same thing.  It’s just unbelievable. That even Paul with the regard to the Church Age believer and its sufferings, many times—not always—I’ll make that point in a minute here.  But what’s going to follow our earthly suffering?  Oh, the glory of eternity that’s ahead of us! 

Romans 8:17

“And if (we’re) children, (And that we are, if we have become a believer for our salvation in the death, burial, and resurrection plus nothing else.) then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; (Now here it comes.) if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also (What’s the next word?) glorified together.”    See the order?

Now, I’m going to be careful here.  This does not say that unless you suffer you can’t be glorified.  It doesn’t say that.  But it says it’s a possibility that we as believers may suffer. And the Lord knows that they did for the last 2,000 years.  My goodness, even during Paul’s ministry when these people were converted out of paganism, was it a bed of roses?  Why, heavens no.  They came under intense persecution.  They came under complete rejection by their families and maybe by their employers.  And all the way up through the last 2,000 years that has been the case for most believers. 

You know, we in America have been so blessed that we don’t know what it is to suffer for our faith.  But most of Christendom has.  All right, so I’m going to qualify that in verse 17.  It doesn’t say you won’t have glory unless you suffer.  But it’s possible we might suffer.  And if it’s possible that we suffer, then we go through the suffering with the same mentality that Christ did when He suffered.  And that was what?  It was all for an end, and the end would be the glory.  All right, that’s just a theme of Scripture, that “first the suffering and then the glory that should follow.”  

All right, now maybe that’s as an introduction.  Come back with me to Psalms again.  And this time we’re going to move up to chapter 40, Psalms chapter 40.  Now the casual reader will never get the true impact of these Psalms.  The casual reader will never say, oh, this is Christ speaking.  It’ll never enter their mind.  But it is.  The Holy Spirit so inspired David, that as he wrote, he was saying it as if Christ Himself was saying it.  Now keep that in mind as we study.

Psalm 40:1

“I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.”  If at no other time, this should ring a bell—how about that night in the Garden of Gethsemane?  Right?  How He cried out to the Father knowing what was coming.  Now here’s the amazing thing of the crucifixion.  Jesus was on the one hand totally human.  He suffered as any human could have suffered.  But on the other hand, He had the Deity part of Him so that He would know what was coming.  You know that.

Even back there in Luke 18, remember, when He had the Twelve as they were getting ready to go up to the Passover.  They didn’t have a clue of what was coming.  But He knew to the last detail.  And He told them so.  But even though He told them, the Spirit kept it from them so that “they did not understand the things that were spoken.” 

But it just tells us now as believers today that, number one: Jesus knew exactly what was coming.  As I’ve said over and over through the years, He could have named those Roman soldiers who drove the spikes.  He could have named every person out there in that Jewish crowd that were hooting and ridiculing Him.  But at the same time, He suffered as a human.  And the Holy Spirit kept the understanding from the Twelve so that they didn’t know.  But anyway, if you keep that in mind, then these verses in Psalms are truly graphic. 

Psalms 40:1-2a

“I waited patiently for the LORD; (as He cried out to the Father) and he inclined unto me, and he heard my cry. 2. He brought me up (Now, this is after His death, and He’s been in the grave.) also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock,…”  In other words, after His resurrection He is now in a position to bring in salvation for the human world and also to set things in motion for His coming Kingdom.

Psalm 40:2b-3a

“…and established my goings. 3. And He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear,…”

Now don’t let that word throw a curve at you.  What is the meaning of fear, especially in the Old Testament?  The fear of God is the beginning of what?  Wisdom.    So, the fear that is used here is not a shaking in their boots, but it was an understanding of the mind of God Himself.   

Psalm 40:3b-4a

“…many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD. (That is the God of Glory.) 4. Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, (Or the place of his faith, I’ll repeat the blessing again.  Blessed is that man who) and respecteth not the proud, (Now don’t lose your negative there.  The true believer has no room in his thinking for pride.) nor such as turn aside to lies.”

My goodness, lying, lying, lying—it’s almost gotten to be the sin of the day, isn’t it?  They lie through their teeth, and it doesn’t bother them.  No…no conviction, no embarrassment—they just go on as though nothing was ever said—in the business world as well as in everyday life.   All right, verse 4 again:

Psalms 40:4

“Blessed (happy) is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, (and not the things of the ungodly world) and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.”  He doesn’t have any respect for the proud, the puffed up.  He has no respect for the liars.  That’s just opposite of the mindset of our God.

Psalm 40:5

“Many, O LORD my God, are the wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.” 

Now again, that is from the prophetic speaking of the Lord Himself.  But I can’t help but think of a verse that Paul writes, and I’m going to have to use it.  That’s why I think these things pop into my mind.  This isn’t in my preparation whatsoever.  Believe me.

But come back with me to Ephesians, because I just had a letter in the mail the other day or a phone call.  I don’t remember what it was.  But they were asking about this very term.  And if this isn’t almost a perfect parallel with Psalm 40 and verse 5.  Ephesians 3 verse 8, and again, remember who is writing.  It’s the Apostle Paul writing to Gentiles.  He’s writing to us.  So he speaks of himself here.

Ephesians 3:8

“Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the (What?) unsearchable riches of Christ;”  Now, beloved, do you get an idea of what He’s talking about?  He could never put into any language the riches of Christ.  It’s beyond human understanding.  What little we get we take by faith, and we glory in that.  But, oh, beloved, the understanding that we’re going to have someday—but here it is.  They are unsearchable. 

Well, then I had another question that followed it, and I used this for the answer.  The individual wrote and asked what it meant in verse 18.  Now just skip across the page, at least in my Bible, in the same chapter.  This is Bible study, so I don’t have to stay on a format.  That’s why I don’t use outlines.  I’d go nuts if I had to go by an outline.   But here we go across the page to chapter 3 verse 18.  And the same Apostle is still writing to us, and he says:

Ephesians 3:18a

“May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;…”  Now, what makes that so different?  There are four dimensions.  We live in three.  So what’s the fourth dimension?  The unsearchable—that’s the only way I can put it—the unsearchable that we will never be able to comprehend until we get there.  And then we’re going to have full knowledge.

All right, now you might as well keep your hand here in Ephesians, because I think when I get back to Psalms and the next verse—yea, next verse—then we’ll be going to the Book of Hebrews chapter 10.  But first, back to Psalm 40 and you’ll see what I’m driving at.  Psalm 40 verse 6, it is still speaking as if it were the Lord Himself.  David is writing it by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but it’s just as if he’s taking the words that the Lord Jesus will speak in His first advent. 

Psalm 40:6

“Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt-offering and sin-offering thou hast not required.”  Now, that was two of the four major offerings in Judaism.  Now I’ve got to stop a minute.  Another verse comes to mind.  Isaiah chapter 1—because I think this is all so apropos to what we’re talking about.  Isaiah chapter 1—start at verse 10.  I’m using these just to show you what Scripture is talking about.  What does Psalm 40 back here mean when it says, Sacrifice and offering you did not desire?  

Well, I thought that was all part of the Law, didn’t you?  Isn’t that part of Judaism, the sacrifices and so forth?  Well, under good, normal circumstances, yes.  But what had happened in Israel?  Unbelief.  Did they still practice them?  Sure.  But did it have any Spiritual significance?  No.  Why?  Because they weren’t doing it in an attitude of belief and faith.  They were just doing it because it was a prescribed religious way to do. Does that ring a bell?  That’s exactly what churches are today. 

All right, but now look what the real attitude was that God hated.  Isaiah 1 verse 10, where the prophet writes:

Isaiah 1:10-11a

“Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; (Now this is from the previous verse, a reference to Jerusalem.) Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. (Because up in the previous verse He’d said they were like Sodom and Gomorrah, but it’s Jerusalem.  All right, now here it comes, verse 11.) 11. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me?...”

Multitude.  Do you have any idea how many animals were killed every year up there at the Temple in fulfillment of these religious rituals?  Thousands of them.  I think Josephus made the claim of a million.  I find that hard to believe, but whatever.  I’m going to be a little more easy to accept.  But thousands every year were sacrificed.  How much of it amounted to anything?  Very little, because it wasn’t done in the attitude of faith.  It was just simply done as a religious ritual.  All right, read on in Isaiah.

Isaiah 1:11

“To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifice unto me? saith the LORD: I am full (Now, how would we say it today?  You’ve got it, Charlie!  I’ve had it with all of your sacrifices, God says.) of the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.”  You see that?  It didn’t mean anything to God anymore, because it wasn’t being brought in the prescribed way.

Isaiah 1:12-13a

“When ye come to appear before me, (That is in the Temple.) who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? 13. Bring no more (Or, let’s put it as we would say it.  Don’t bring me anymore.) vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons (Which were all part of Judaism, remember.) and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with;…”  And again, put it in our language.  What’s he saying?  I’ve had it!  End it.  It doesn’t do you any good. 

Isaiah 1:13c-15a

“…even the solemn meeting. 14. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: (And don’t forget who’s speaking.  God is, through the prophet.) they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. 15. And when ye spread forth your hands,…” Oh, my goodness, what did they think they were doing?  They thought they were showing worship. 

We were in a meeting one time—Iris, you remember, don’t you?  And I said what a fake.  It’s all fake.  They don’t mean anything.  And Israel was doing the same thing.  Oh, you know, they would pretend that they were worshiping. They would raise their hands and all, and God hated it.  It’s no different today.

Isaiah 1:15

“And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.”  In other words, guilt—not necessarily of murder, but they had all kinds of moral guilt.  Do you see that now? 

All right, now from Psalms, then, let’s go to up Hebrew chapter 10. This is a good parallel for Psalms 40 and verse 6.  While you’re looking, I’ll reread it. 

Psalms 40:6-7

“Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; (In other words, speaking of God, He’d had it with Israel’s religion.) mine ears hast thou opened: burnt-offering and sin-offering hast thou not required. 7. Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me.”

All right, now Hebrews chapter 10.  Let’s see how that was fulfilled.  As I feel that the Apostle Paul wrote Hebrews; so after the fact, now, Paul can reflect back on everything that the Psalmist had put in the mouth of the Lord Jesus, and see how it comes out again. 

Hebrews 10:1

“For the law (the Judaic Law) having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, (themselves--They) can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.”  Or spiritually mature.  It couldn’t do it.  Now verse 2:

Hebrews 10:2-3

“For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshipers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. (But they did.) 3. But in those sacrifices (these sheep and the goats and what have you) there is remembrance again made of sins every year.”  Reading on, verse 4:

Hebrews 10:4-5a

“For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. (Now here comes the quote from Psalms.  So we know that the Holy Spirit inspired David to write what the Lord Himself would say later.) 5. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not,…” 

Now, doesn’t that give you goose bumps?  It should.  Here he is saying the same words that David put in Psalm 40.  Now what does that tell us?  This Book is supernatural!  And yet mankind hates it.  They scorn it.  They ridicule it. They think it’s just a bunch of fables and legends and myths.  No, it isn’t!  It’s the revealed, Holy Spirit-inspired Word of God, and it’s so perfectly written out.   All right, back to Hebrews 10 verse 6 again.

Hebrews 10:6-8a

“In burnt-offerings and sacrifices for sins thou hast had no pleasure.  7. Then said I,   Lo, I come (in the volume of the book (That is in the Word of God.) it is written of me,)    to do thy will, O God. 8. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt-offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not,…”  Now, you see why I read Isaiah 1?  Why not?   Because it wasn’t amounting to anything; it was done without faith.  It was just a ritual that they thought they had to do because their neighbor was doing it.  This is the way Mama and Daddy did it.  This’s the way Grandpa did it.  But it had no redeeming value whatsoever.

LESSON ONE * PART II

PART 3 of the MESSIANIC PROPHECIES

Psalms 40 and 41

Okay, good to have all of you back from your coffee break. We’re going to pick right up where we left off.  You can go back with me to chapter 40 of Psalms, and then we’ll probably go back up to Hebrews again. 

Anyhow, for those of you out in television—again, we always want to be reminded that because of your prayers and your financial help, we are reaching more and more people every day.  I’ve said it before on the program.  I never considered myself a soul-winner per se.  I always felt my ministry was primarily to just teach believers.  But, oh, my goodness, you ought to read our mail – how many people will say that for the first time in their life they’ve heard the plan of salvation.  They’ve come into it, and they just rejoice in it.  So that tells us that the Lord is blessing it beyond anything we could have ever dreamed.

I don’t know—maybe I’ll take time sometime this afternoon and give a brief explanation of how in the world we ever got on television.  Well, I’m going to tell you right now, it wasn’t my idea, believe me.  But maybe in the next program I’ll take two or three minutes—because it’ll be a long time before the program comes on where we explain all of that (Book 42).

Okay, we’re going to keep right on where we left off in that first half hour.  We were in Psalms chapter 40.  One of the Messianic Psalms where David the prophet is actually speaking, many times, the exact words that Christ used—or at least it’s a close explanation of His first advent ministry.  And, you remember, we got down as far as verses 7 and 8 where he said:

Psalms 40:7-8

“Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, 8. I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.”  Now, let’s go back to Hebrews 10 for just a moment.  I’m afraid I left off a little too quickly when I ran out of time in the last lesson.   So come back with me to Hebrews 10, and then we’ll go back to Psalms. Then we’re going to come back to John’s Gospel.  That’s Bible study.

Hebrews chapter 10 verse 9, where Paul is using the exact quote of Psalms chapter 40. 

Hebrews 10:9

“Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God.  (Now that’s God the Son speaking to God the Father.) He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.”  Now you’ve got to remember, Paul, here in the Book of Hebrews—now I recognize some don’t think Paul wrote it. But I’m not going to get all exercised over that.  But nevertheless, I want to point out that whoever wrote it, what is he showing here when “He took away the first that he might establish the second”?

What’s he talking about?  Well, the system of Law—sacrifices, Temple worship, and the feast days.  That was all done away with by the work of the cross.  So he says here in verse 9 that “He taketh away the first, (That is the whole system of Law and Temple worship.) that He may establish the second”—which is this Age of Grace.

We’re not under Law. We’re under Grace—which most of Christendom still can’t get through their head; but nevertheless, it’s so obvious.  Now in verse 10:

Hebrews 10:10

“By the which will (That is the will of God.) we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”    Now let’s see, we’re going to have another one in maybe the next Psalm, where we have a reference to the fact that He was given a physical body.  All right, stay here in Hebrews 10 for just a little bit. 

Hebrews 10:10b-11

“…through the offering of the body (the human body) of Jesus Christ once for all.   (Not just once a year.  Not just once every hundred years, but for all eternity.) 11. And every priest (in the old economy) standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:” Animals’ blood couldn’t atone for anything.  All right, now verse 12:

Hebrews 10:12-13

“But this man, (the man Christ Jesus) after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;  (Now I’m glad I came back, because I wanted you to see verse 13.)  13. From henceforth (That is where He has been positioned ever since His ascension in Acts chapter 1.  He has been seated positionally at the right hand of the Father.) From henceforth (That is from the time that He went back to Glory He is waiting for the day that--) expecting till his enemies (Christ-rejecting mankind, Israel in particular, that they would--) be made his footstool.” 

Now, what does the footstool imply?  He’s got them under His feet.  They are no longer in a position to resist Him.  He’s ready to come back and exercise His power and His Kingship.    Now let’s go back to Psalms, and we’ll move on—back to Psalms 40, verse 8.

Psalms 40:8-10

“I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart. 9. I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest. 10. I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy loving kindness and thy truth from the great congregation.”  Who’s the great congregation?  Israel.  The Nation.

Now don’t ever forget Romans 15 verse 8.  “Now I say--” Maybe we’d better look at it.  Keep your hand here.  I’m through in Hebrews.  Keep your hand in Psalms 40.  Come back with me to Romans. And if you happen to hit John’s Gospel, put a mark in it; because we’re going to come to it in just a minute.  But here in Romans chapter 15 is a verse that I use over and over because it says it all.  And again, what most of Christendom knows nothing of.  Oh, it’s awful, isn’t it, Charlie, how little people know?  Oh, it’s so sad.  And the Book is here.  They’ve had it for 2,000 years.  And they just don’t know what it says.

Romans 15:8a

“Now I say that Jesus Christ (Jesus of Nazareth) was (past tense) a minister of the circumcision,…”  Who is the circumcision?  Israel.  That’s who He was a minister to.  Not to the whole world, not up front.  Remember, I’m always reminding people—I’m not saying ever, but up front.  When He made His appearance, it was only to the Nation of Israel.  And it wasn’t until Israel’s rejection that it brought about Salvation for the whole human race.  But keep everything in its order. 

Romans 15:8b

“Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, (It was His plan.  It was for His purposes that He came to His own, but His own received him not.  And why did he come?) to confirm the promises made unto (Whom?) the fathers:”  Not to the Gentile world.  He came to the Nation of Israel to fulfill all those Old Testament prophecies. 

Now if you’ll flip back to Psalms just a minute, then we’re going to jump back up to John’s Gospel.  Now reading verse 9:

Psalms 40:9a

“I have preached righteousness in the great congregation:…”  In Israel.  For three years He proclaimed who He was and all the promises attendant with faith in Him as the Messiah. 

Psalms 40:10a

“I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart;…”  He declared everything.

Psalms 40:11

“Withhold not (Or we would say – do not withhold.) thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me.” 

I’m going to stop there, and we’re going to jump up to John’s Gospel. Go to chapter 17.  I think that’s the chapter a lot of people call the high priestly prayer.  I think I’ve almost never used any of this in a previous program.  So I want to take time today.  I didn’t really intend to do this over maybe a minute or two, but I think I should.  John’s Gospel chapter 17 as Jesus is pouring out His heart in prayer.

Now always remember, don’t ever forget, that Jesus operated on two levels.  He was totally man.  He was totally God.  He never let them intertwine, but yet He would go from one to the other.  Okay, now the point I want to make—whenever Jesus prayed to the Father, He was not using the Deity side.  He was using which side?  The human.  When He suffered, He suffered in the human realm.  But His Spirit also suffered in the Godly realm, or the God-realm.  So as you read these, you’ve got to understand that He’s pouring out His heart—as He said in Psalms 40 He would—to God the Father.  But He’s praying from His humanity.

John 17:1-2a

“These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, (So He’s going to be addressing God the Father.  And He said:) Father the hour is come: (Now remember, He’s probably in the Garden, if I’m not mistaken here.) glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee. 2. As thou has given him power over all flesh,…”  Now remember who’s speaking.  Jesus of Nazareth, pouring out His heart from the human side, to God the Father. 

John 17:2

“As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he (speaking of Himself) should give eternal life to as many as thou (God the Father) hast given him.”

Now again, we always have to realize that the work of the Holy Spirit and the Father and the Son all work in consort to open the hearts and minds of lost people to come to faith.  Now remember, we’re dealing primarily with the Nation of Israel. 

John 17:3a

“And this is life eternal,…”  Now you’ve got to remember—oh, just put all these things together.  With the woman at the well—when Jesus was speaking of life-giving water, what kind of a question did that bring out of that woman? 

Well, this is Jacob’s well.  What’s the matter with this water?  And what did Jesus tell her?  I’m not talking about H₂O.  I’m talking about spiritual water—life-giving water; eternal, life-giving water.  Now, it’s the same concept here.  What Jesus is talking about is not physical life, but eternal life.

John 17:3

“And this is the life eternal, that they (That is the Nation of Israel.  That’s all He’s concerned about at this point in time.) might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”  What did God want?  He wanted Israel to understand who this Jesus really was. 

Now I’m thinking again of something else.  We use it all the time.  Come back.  Keep your hand in John.  Matthew 16 and this is exactly what the Lord had in mind for all of Israel, not just for Peter, but for all Israel.  Matthew 16, you should know these verses by memory.  We use them often enough.  Here, once again, we’re at the end of His three years.  They are about ready to go up to Jerusalem for the Passover and the Crucifixion. But they are up in Northern Israel, so they’re a few days away.

Matthew 16:13-14

“When Jesus came into the borders of Caesarea Philippi, (the headwaters of the Jordan River) he asked his disciples, (the Twelve) saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14. And they (the Eleven) said, some say that thou art John the Baptist: some Elijah; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” 

Matthew 16:15-16

“He (Jesus) saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? (And here Peter speaks up.  I don’t think he did in the first guessing of what people thought, but now he does.) 16. And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, (the Messiah, the Promised One, see) the Son of the living God.” 

Now that’s all Jesus is praying to the Father that Israel would recognize.  Oh, that they could just see who I am!!  But what was their answer?  “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”  See that?  Okay, back to John’s Gospel verse 4.

John 17:4-5

“I have glorified thee on the earth: (He’s had His three years of ministry.) I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. (In other words, to convince Israel who He was, even though He didn’t succeed.  He spent His whole three years.) 5. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world (even) was.”  What does that mean?  From eternity past.

I asked one of my classes the other night—have you ever, if you wake up in the middle of the night, or if you’re just resting in your easy chair during the day, or you’re out for a walk, whatever—have you ever stopped to just analyze eternity?  Have you ever stopped to figure out how long back, as well as forward, eternity is?  Well, think about it some time.  

You can’t get far, because there’s no way we can comprehend forever and ever and ever and ever back.  And ever and ever and ever into the future—we can’t begin.  But see, this is what the Lord Jesus is claiming.  God the Father and God the Son were already together in the eons of past eternity.   

I just had a thought and I lost it.  I was going to go to another verse with regard to the eternalness of it all.  But maybe it’ll come back.   All right, oh, I know where I was going to go.  Look at verse 5 again. 

John 17:5

“And now, O Father, glorify me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” All right, now here’s the thought I want to leave you.  When Christ came to earth, if I understand Scripture correctly, the only thing He laid aside and did not bring with Him was His Glory.  Is that right?

I’m going to qualify that.  I’m going to show you in a minute why that was wrong.  Only three men ever got a glimpse of His glory while He was on earth.  What am I talking about?  The Transfiguration.  Yeah, some of you have been with me long enough.

Go back to Matthew.  I think it is verse 16 or 17.  This is the kind of a glory that He knew from eternity past.  And you know what?  It’s the kind of a glory we’re going to see when we see Him.  It’s beyond comprehension.  But it was just a little, brief glimpse of His glory.  All right, Matthew—oh, my goodness, I’ve got to go up to the last verse of chapter 16, because I get a lot of questions on this verse. 

Matthew 16:28

“Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the son of man coming in his Kingdom.” What was He talking about?  Well, He was talking about the transfiguration when He told the Twelve that there were some of them that would not die until they saw the Son of Man in all His glory.  And that was, of course, Peter, James, and John. 

Matthew 17:1-2a

“And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, (just the four of them) 2. And (He) was transfigured before them: (before Peter, James, and John—the three of them) and his face did shine as the (What?) the sun,…”  Can you look into the bright noonday sun and get away with it?  No, you cannot.  It’ll burn your eyes.  That’s the kind of a glory that He was showing to these three men. 

Matthew 17:2b

“…His face did shine as the sun, and his raiment (His clothing, whatever He was wearing.) was white as the light.”  And those men caught it.  Just a glimpse of it. 

All right, now come back to John.  This is what He’s referring to.  This was the kind of glory that He had to lay aside, or everybody that met Him would have ended up blind.  In fact, I think, really, that’s what happened to the Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus. 

I think that light from Heaven was just like a welder’s torch. It just seared his eyes, and he was blind.  And I think that was the malady that he carried with him the rest of his life.  Now that’s speculation, and I can’t prove that.  I always make a note when I bring this in.  But nevertheless, this was the glory that He had with God before the world was ever created.   All right, now here it comes, almost word-for-word out of the Book of Psalms.

John 17:6

“I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world:  (That is the Eleven believing disciples.  We’re going to talk about Judas a little later this afternoon.) thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.”  Now verse 7, now remember, this is a prayer.  He’s praying to the Father.

John 17:7-8

“Now they (these Eleven) have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. (It’s a God connection.) 8. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have (What’s the next word?) believed that thou didst send me.” 

In other words, those Eleven believers—I’m leaving Judas out—those Eleven believers now got a comprehension of who Jesus of Nazareth really was.  He was a member of the Godhead.  He was the Creator of everything.  Verse 9 and this is the Lord Jesus pouring out His heart that night just before His arrest. 

John 17:9-10

“I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them (These Eleven, especially, maybe He was including some of those other believing Jews.  But He’s praying primarily for these Eleven disciples.) which thou hast given me; for they are thine. 10. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.”

John 17:11

“And now I am no more in the world, (In other words, He’s about ready to go through His death, burial, and resurrection. And then His ascension where He’ll be back with the Father.) but these are in the world, (These eleven men, they’re in the world.) and I come to thee.  Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.” 

In other words, that relationship between the believer and God the Son and God the Father.  We have that same thing, of course, in our glorious Age of Grace. That comes back to Romans chapter 8—that if we’re born from above, we are heirs of God; we are joint-heirs with Christ.

All right, I love this.  John 17, I don’t know why I’ve never taught it before in the program setting, but I haven’t.  Verse 12:

John 17:12

“While I was with them in the world, (those three years) I kept them in thy name:  (That’s why they were so insulated from all the hatred and all the things that were constantly around them.) those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, (Except who?) but the son of perdition; (Here it comes now.) that the scripture might be fulfilled.”  And we’ll come back to that again in the next Psalms. 

John 17:13

“And now I come to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.”

Let’s go back to Psalms, so we make a little headway anyway.  Come back with me now to Psalms chapter 40.  I just wanted you to see how everything that David by inspiration wrote was actually fulfilled in the life of Christ in His three years of earthly ministry.

All right, now let’s go back and rehearse how the Psalmist puts it.  Then, I think, you’ll see the connection.  Psalms 40 verse 9 again:

Psalms 40:9-10

“I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: (in other words, the Nation of Israel) lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest. 10. I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; (In other words, He was constantly letting Israel know who He was.  The only reason they didn’t know it was because they couldn’t believe it.) I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation.”

The Nation of Israel should have known.  How many times have you heard me say that?  Israel should have known who He was.  Israel could have known who He was.  But Israel what?  They never knew.  Isn’t it sad?  But, you know, it’s the same way today.  It’s the same way today.  My goodness, America of all places, from coast-to-coast, should know the God of this Book.  But I read something last night that scares the socks off of me. 

There have been a lot of books published and brought on the market just in the last three or four months written by atheists.  And they are selling by the millions.  That was the word that the guy used.  These books authored by these atheists are selling by the millions here in our beloved America.  Well, what does that tell you?  Our younger generation is going down the tubes spiritually.  They’re the ones that I’m most concerned about in this coming election.  They have absolutely no spiritual concept anymore.

I’ve got time enough.  In one of George Barna’s recent polls, and I may have referred to it in an earlier program, he was polling only young people below the age of 17 from evangelical churches.  Eighty percent of them didn’t even know what a Damascus Road experience was.  Imagine! One of the fundamental stories in our Bible and 80% of evangelical kids did not know what it was.

LESSON ONE * PART III

PART 3 of the MESSIANIC PROPHECIES

Psalms 40 and 41

Okay, good to have you all back again. For those of you out in television, you don’t know what you’re missing.  Come in some afternoon, and every thirty minutes you can go get another cup of coffee and another something to eat. We just have a good time all afternoon.  Anyway, we appreciate everybody coming in. For those of you out in television, we just thank you again for your letters.  My, how we feast on your letters and to know that the Lord is accomplishing more than we had any idea.

Okay, now let’s go back to where we left off in the last lesson.  We’re still in the Messianic Psalms. We are presently working on Book 79.  If you want to know how many programs are available for the next few years, multiply 79 times 12.  And that’s pretty close to a thousand programs.  So, if something happens to me, the program will keep right on going.  We’ve got girls in the office that are handling all that.  So if you ever have the question: what if something happens to me or both of us together?  Why, everything will keep right on going as long as the Lord wishes it to be done.

Okay, back to Psalms chapter 40.  We want to finish that before we go into the next one, which will be chapter 41.  But come back to Psalms 40.  We made reference to the Lord responding in His earthly ministry to the very things He spoke of here in verses 9 and 10.  Now, let’s come down to verse 12, and all of a sudden there’s a different kind of language. 

Psalms 40:12-13

“For innumerable evils (Now we’re talking about the other side of the coin.) have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head; therefore my heart faileth me. 13. Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me.”  Now remember, this is still from the lips and the mind of the Lord Jesus as He is suffering there at the cross.

Now jump all the way up—and I think the best verse I can find to explain this, in the whole New Testament in this case, will be in Paul’s  II Corinthians chapter 5.  And get the picture here in Psalms. “Innumerable (uncountable) evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I’m not able to look up.  They are more than the hairs of mine head; therefore my heart faileth.” 

Well, what’s He talking about?  Well, it’s not His own sin; it’s the sin of the world.   Now II Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21 and, again, it’s a verse, I think, that encompasses everything that we talk about—how that Christ suffered and died for our sins by taking them upon Himself.

Now a word that some Bible scholars will use is substitutionary.  Christ became our substitute by taking our sin upon Himself.  Even though it was 2,000 years ago, yet my sin was laid upon Him back there, as well as yours and anybody that’s still out in the future.  And that’s beyond human comprehension.  But, here we have it.

 II Corinthians 5:21

“For he hath made him (Who has? God made Christ Jesus--) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; (He was sinless Himself, but God laid upon Him all of our sin, and He became our substitute.  He took our place.  And what’s the result?) that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

Okay, now Paul puts it so beautifully.  Back up a few pages, if you will, to Romans chapter 3.  I’m going to start at verse 20.  We’ve done this before, but can it can never be repeated enough.  That now we’re coming out from the system of Law, and we’re into Paul’s Gospel of Grace—which is unmerited favor.  God became our substitute in the person of Jesus Christ. 

Romans 3:20-21a

“Therefore by the deeds (or the keeping) of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: (No one.  Why?) for by the law is the knowledge of sin. (The Law tells us what God’s mind is concerning our activity as humans.) 21. But now…” Now you remember we had a whole bunch of those—and I think it was a pretty good series, if I say so myself (Books 64-68). 

Romans 3:21

“But now the righteousness of God (What righteousness?  God’s righteousness—which is beyond human comprehension.  God does not know how to sin.  All right, reading on then.) without the law (See that?) is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; (That’s why I’m doing these Psalms lately. It is to show that all the Old Testament writers, even though they didn’t understand what they wrote—it was back there.  All right, so here it is as Paul now puts it.) witnessed by the law and the prophets;”

Romans 3:22a

“Even the righteousness of God which is by the faith…” 

Now, I had an interesting little article come in the mail yesterday.  I read it, and if it didn’t just confirm what I’ve always done here with that word faith in verse 22.  The guy put it in the form of grammar that got me off the hook.  Because so many times I have said when I teach this, I think the better way to understand this is to use the word faithfulness.  And look at it in that light. 

Romans 3:22a

“Even the righteousness of God which is by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that (Keep the Law?  No.)  believe:…”

All right, now what the gentleman did with that word faith is he put it in an objective and a subjective mood.  And then, of course, it made sense.  But he confirmed what I’ve always said.  Why is the finished work of the cross capable to fulfill our faith?  Because Christ is faithful.  He will never renege on His promises.  We can rest assured that nothing will change.  He is faithful, and we place our faith in the One who is faithful. 

And I’ve used it over and over.  When you came in this noon, you didn’t check the chair to see if it was capable of holding you, did you?  Why?  You knew you could trust it to hold you.  The chair then becomes faithful, and that’s what Christ was when He finished the work of the cross and proclaimed it as God’s remedy for our sin.  We can trust it because He is faithful.      All right, back to the verse.

Romans 3:22

“Even the righteousness of God which is by faith (Yes, the trust and believing in Jesus Christ and His finished work, but it’s also that Christ is faithful.) unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:”  Now—between Jew and Gentile, we all, in this Age of Grace, must come in because of our faith in the Faithful One.

All right, now then, I hope you didn’t lose my thought of II Corinthians.  Christ took on all the sin of the whole human race from Adam to the end of time, however long it’s going to go.  As long as man needs redemption, the work of the cross was sufficient for them.  He took on all the sins. 

Well, we can’t comprehend that.  I can’t even comprehend all the sin of Tulsa, Oklahoma, being placed on One man.  But the sin of the whole world?  And not just for the present 10 years or a 100 years, but for all of human history?  Now think about that.  All of that was in the mind of God and poured out on that beloved Son of God on the cross of Calvary.  And that’s exactly what the Psalmist is referring to.  Now come back to Psalms 40, if you aren’t there.  Verse 13:

Psalms 40:13-14a

“Be pleased, O LORD, (In other words, accept my work of redemption.) to deliver me:  O LORD, make haste to help me. 14. Let them…”  Now we’re going back to the human race.  And at that time it was primarily Israel that He was dealing with—the crowd of scornful, the crowd that was jeering at Him.  What were they?  Jews.  Not Gentiles.  It was His Own covenant people that were ridiculing Him. 

Psalms 40:14a

“Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward…”  Now, I don’t know if I’m being correct in that, but I had to think.  Immediately, when they went to arrest Him in the Garden, what happened?  Poof!  Maybe that’s where these guys get it.  I don’t know.  But anyway, we know that those Roman soldiers were just smitten backward by the force of the Holy Spirit.

Now, I’m not sure that that’s what the Psalmist is referring to. But nevertheless, it’s certainly an indication that the power of God will at one point do evil to those who were scorning Him there at the cross. 

Psalms 40:14b-15

“…let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil. 15. Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that say unto me, Aha, aha.”  In other words, a laugh of ridicule.  And the prayer is, let them receive their reward.  Did they?  Israel has suffered for 1,900 and some years because of how Israel treated their Messiah. 

Let’s just see how Peter puts it.  Keep your hand in Psalms. We’ll be back, hopefully.  Acts chapter 2 and, remember, this is Peter preaching shortly after the death, burial, and resurrection.  However, Peter has no indication of the Age of Grace, or what we call Paul’s Gospel, that would come to those who believe that Christ died for them and was buried and rose from the dead.  Remember, all Peter and Israel were expected to believe for salvation was the Gospel of the Kingdom—which was recognize who Jesus was.  And who was He?  The Promised Messiah!  He was that Promised Redeemer who was to make atonement for their sin—which the animal blood could never do.

All right, so here we are on that Day of Pentecost, fifty days later.  That’s only seven weeks.  That’s not all that long.  And Peter is pleading with the Nation of Israel. While you’re here, I’m going to again rehearse what we used in the last taping—how that all these things that I’m saying were David actually giving out the words of the Lord Jesus. Peter makes it so plain.

Now maybe you’ll remember it, and then we’ll go back to what I really wanted to do.  But since we’re here, let’s look at it a minute.  Peter has been rehearsing to Israel, again, who this Jesus that they’ve crucified really was.  All right, verse 25 of Acts 2, Peter is quoting from the Psalms just like I’ve been doing now the last several programs. 

Acts 2:25-26

“For David speaketh concerning him, (Jesus of Nazareth.  And what did David say?) I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: 26.Therefore (David wrote) did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope:” Now, Peter is quoting the Psalmist, who is quoting Christ. 

Acts 2:27-28

“Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, (That’s how the words of Christ are put back there in Psalms.) neither wilt thou permit thine Holy One to see corruption. 28. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.”  That was all from the Psalms, attributed to the Lord Jesus, and quoted by Peter.   Now Peter explains how it all works.  Verse 29:

Acts 2:29-30

“Men and brethren, (fellow Jews) 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.  30. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, (David’s loins) according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his (That is on David’s.) throne;” All right, now verse 31, this is what ties it all together.  So don’t take Les Feldick’s word for it.  Take the Book.  And this is what it says.

Acts 2:31

“He (David) seeing this before (way back a thousand years before it happened) spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul (His Spirit) was not left in hell, (the place of the dead) neither did his flesh see corruption.”  And yet David wrote it all as if it was first person.  All right, now I’m in verse 32, Peter goes on. 

Acts 2:32-33

“This Jesus (Who was speaking to us through the prophet David in the Psalms.) hath God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses. 33. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.”  Now verse 34, again comparing what David wrote in the Psalms—that it was actually the words of Christ merely prompted through David.

Acts 2:34-35

“For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, (Well, that wasn’t David speaking.  That was God the Father speaking to God the Son.) 35. Until I make thy foes thy footstool.”

Acts 2:36

“Therefore let the whole house of Israel (This isn’t for you and me on Gentile ground. This is Jewish ground, and, oh, people can’t see it.  They are blinded.  This is Jewish ground.) know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, (Jesus of Nazareth, who walked with you for three years.) whom ye have crucified, (What?) both Lord and Christ.”  He hasn’t diminished one whit because of His crucifixion.  He is alive, and He is still part of that Eternal Godhead. 

All right, as a result of the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, these Jews who were surrounding the cross—probably some of them are here in Peter’s audience—are convicted.  What did they cry out? 

Acts 2:37b-38a

“…Men and brethren, what shall we (the Nation of Israel) do? (How are we to compensate for rejecting our Messiah.  And what was Peter’s answer?)  38. …Repent, (Of what?  Of rejecting their Messiah) and be baptized…”  What does that mean?  John’s baptism of repentance.  That was the same baptism.  So a baptism of repentance was necessary for Israel to make compensation for having rejected their Redeemer and Messiah.  It all ties together.

All right, we’ve got a few minutes left.  Come back with me to Psalms once again.  Back to Psalms 40.  My goodness, I thought I was going to get 40, 41, and 45 done today, but it doesn’t look like it.  Psalms 40 verse 14—again, speaking of those Jews who were hissing at Him, laughing Him to scorn, and ridiculing Him.  You know the things that they said.  Well, if He’s the Son of God, let Him just call down fifteen legions of angels (or whatever it was) and let them take Him off the cross.  See how they ridicule.  All right, that’s all implied in here 

Psalms 40:14-16

“Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.  15.  Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that say unto me, (an evil laughter) Aha, aha. 16. Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified.” 

Now we come to those who were being convicted and repented and followed with baptism as Acts chapter 2 instructed. 

Psalms 40:16b-17

“…The LORD be magnified. (through it all) 17. But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.”  All right, now that’s the end of the cry, then, of Christ in His work of redemption here in Psalms chapter 40. 

All right, now we’re going to go right on into the next Messianic Psalm; where, again, we’re going to have Christ epitomized in the Psalms as the Son of God—the Redeemer and the Messiah of Israel. 

Psalms 41:1a

“Blessed is he that considereth the poor:…” Now, you have to do a little word search.  If you look up this word “poor” in the Hebrew, it usually meant, or was translated, “to be weak and sick.” 

Now, that reminds me of something that I hadn’t thought of before.  One of His parables, I’m thinking it might be when He changed the water into wine (John 2).  But one of the parables actually indicated that very thing—that Israel was spiritually weak and sick.  Spiritually! 

Oh, they may have had all the energy in the world for the material, but spiritually they were weak and sick.   And one of the miracles that Christ performed—I’ll have to go back and check it out.  But the whole picture was that He was the remedy for their spiritual sickness.  That’s easy enough to understand, isn’t it?  He was the remedy.  Had they just embraced Him and taken Him as the Messiah, they could have been blessed beyond imagination.  But they would not.  And you see this all through Israel’s history—where they reject God’s overtures, and they do it in unbelief.

Psalms 41:1

“Blessed is he that considereth the poor: (who can understand sickness and weakness, because--) the LORD (the God of Israel) will deliver him in time of trouble.”  Oh my, now what are we speaking about?  What’s the time of trouble that all of Scripture is always bringing to the top like cream on a bottle of milk?  The Tribulation.

The whole world is getting ready for it today.  It’s coming.  I’m not a date setter.  But, my goodness, I just shared with the studio audience a little bit ago.  Somebody came in a little while ago and had just heard on the news that because of all the financial garbage that’s going on, they’re starting to promote a world currency.

Well, that doesn’t surprise me.  That’s just the next step to get the world ready.  It’s coming in so fast.  But all right, now here we’ve got Tribulation out in front of the Nation of Israel.  Verse 2:

Psalms 41:2

“The LORD (Israel’s Jehovah) will preserve him, and keep him alive; (Now here I think the pronoun is referring to the Nation, not the Messiah, the Nation.) and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.” 

Well, when will that happen?  When Christ returns and sets up the Kingdom—then Israel will be able to come in and have rest from all her enemies. She’ll be blessed like no nation has ever been blessed.

In fact, let’s just go back.  I’ll just give you a little taste of it—just a little taste of the blessings that are awaiting the Nation of Israel. That’d be back in Deuteronomy.  Deuteronomy 28 and we can start at verse 1.  Deuteronomy 28, see, this has never happened yet, but it’s going to.  You know, Israel has been through chastisement and hatred and persecution for thousands of years. And I always remind my listeners; remember, it’s because Satan knows that if he can destroy Israel, then he defeats all of God’s purposes.  So it isn’t that they’re so deserving, necessarily, as it is that Satan is just bound and determined to try and annihilate them.   All right, but here is where we get a brief picture of the blessings that are awaiting them once the King and the Kingdom arrive. 

Deuteronomy 28:1

“And it shall come to pass, (Hasn’t yet.  We’re getting close. Remember, this is Moses writing to the Nation of Israel.) if thou (the Nation) will hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments (In other words, to become a nation of believers.) which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:” Israel is going to be the primary nation of the world in the Kingdom Age. 

Deuteronomy 28:2

“And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.” It’s conditional.  But we know that once they get into the Kingdom, it’s going to be a guarantee. 

Deuteronomy 28:3-4a

“Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. 4. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle…”  In other words, it’s going to be a prosperous production of everything—children, livestock, fruit, and food.  It’s going to be beyond human comprehension.  All right, let’s come on down to verse 9.

Deuteronomy 28:9-11

“The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways.  10. And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee. 11. And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of the body, (just a repetition of that up above) and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD swore unto thy fathers to give thee.”

And remember, that’s not just the little neck of land between the Jordan and the Mediterranean.  It’ll be the whole Middle East all the way out to the Euphrates River.  And then verse 12:

Deuteronomy 28:12a

 “The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure,…”  Verse 13:

Deuteronomy 28:13

“And the LORD shall make thee the head, (That is of the Nations.) and not the tail; (As they’ve always been.) and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:”  

So, all of these glorious blessings are awaiting the Nation of Israel—those that will become the believing remnant that goes into the Kingdom.

LESSON ONE * PART IV

PART 3 of the MESSIANIC PROPHECIES

Psalms 40 and 41

For those of you out in television—I trust most of you know by now that we tape four of these in a row.  Then we put three months, or twelve programs, together in a little booklet, a video tape, a DVD, and so forth.  So whenever you buy one of these products, you’re getting twelve programs.   We also thank you for your response and your prayers and everything that goes with it.

All right, we’re going to keep right on now with our series in the Messianic Psalms.  We are in Psalms 41.  Then in the next taping, we’re going to jump up to the next Messianic Psalm, which I’ve picked out as Psalms 45.  Now, like I said earlier this afternoon, that doesn’t mean there are not other Psalms that make a reference to Christ.  But it’s not as graphically as these that I’m picking out.  All right, Psalms chapter 41 and we got down as far as verse 7.

Psalms 41:7-8

“All that hate me whisper together against me: against me do they devise my hurt. (In other words, that’s the ridiculing crowd around the cross.) 8. An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him: (Anything to put scorn and rebuke upon him.) and now that he lieth he shall rise up no more.” 

I think that’s a reference to His death. They thought surely that since He was dead, He wouldn’t be bothering them any more. Because that’s what they really thought, you know.  They thought He would just be bringing misery to Israel, because He was reprimanding them for their self-righteousness, for their religion, and for knowing nothing of faithfulness to the God of Israel.  So they hated Him.  And that’s always been that way.  The Truth cuts deep, and people don’t like it.

All right, now verse 9. We’ve got a different subject to cover for a little bit.  I imagine a lot of people do not realize that Judas was so completely foretold as he is here in this Psalm. 

Psalms 41:9

“Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.”  Who’s He talking about?  Judas!   All right, now let’s do it scripturally.  Let’s go back to John’s Gospel chapter 13.  Because the beauty of Scripture is that it all fits if we’ll just take the time to find it.  John’s Gospel chapter 13 and we’ll drop in at verse 10. 

Now here, you remember, He was washing the disciples’ feet.  And this is one time I know I have taught these verses a long time ago.  And, you remember, when the Lord came to Peter—now I always qualify—I know they weren’t sitting on chairs like we do today.  But had they been, and He came to Peter, what did Peter do with his feet?  Boy, he just pulled them back under the chair, so to speak, and he says what?  “You’re not going to wash my feet.”  And then the Lord gave that classic statement, “If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.”

All right, now come to verse 9.  I’m just picking up the flow here—get the picture of Jesus washing the feet of these twelve men.  Just showing how that He was not above being their servant. 

John 13:9-10

“Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. (And then Peter said, well, then give me a bath.  And look at Jesus’ answer.) 10. Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save (or except) to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but (What?) not all.”  Eleven of you are.  But the twelfth one, who was it?  Judas.  He wasn’t a believer.  He was an impostor.  He was a hypocrite. 

He was a master at hypocrisy, do you know that?  For three years the other eleven men never caught on to who he was.  He could go right along with everything, with the ebb and flow, and nobody caught on that he was a rebel, until it was the night at the Garden.  Jesus knew, of course, verse 11.

John 13:11-12

“For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean. (One of you is not a believer.) 12. So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?” And now, of course, He explains the whole idea of the servitude of even the Master.  Verse 13:

John 13:13-14

“Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. 14. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; (A humiliating task, if ever there was one.) ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.”  Now there are some groups that still practice foot washing.  I don’t condemn them for it.  But I maintain that Paul doesn’t teach it in his epistles, so neither do I.  But whatever.  It was a lesson in humility.  Verse 15:

John 13:15-16

“For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. 16. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.”  Now you know He’s referring here to His relationship between Himself and the Father.    Verse 17:

John 13:17-18

“If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. (Now, here it comes.) 18. I speak not of all of you: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.”  Where did He get it?  Psalms 41—I’ll read it.   You don’t have to turn back to it.

Psalms 41:9

“Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.”  All right, here is where Jesus is quoting it, now; and it becomes a reality.  Now verse 19:

John 13:19

“Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he.”  Now this is the whole scope of all of Scripture.  It is to give us an understanding of how miraculously it is the Word of God.  We can believe it.  We can trust it, because it proves itself over and over.  And the Lord makes the point in verse 19—I am telling you that what David wrote in Psalm 41 is now becoming a reality.   How did David know?  By inspiration. 

All the other points of Scripture prove everything, as I’ve been laying it out, I guess, for the last 15 years.  That’s my joy.  It is to show how what He wrote in Genesis we can believe today.  It’s not just myths and stories and legends.  It’s the revealed Word of God, and we can trust it.  We can believe it.  And the purpose of Scripture is to consistently prove itself.   Now verse 20:

John 13:20

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him who sent me.”  Well, now we’ve got to jump across the page to John 14 a minute, so we get the understanding of what Jesus is saying.  Who is He talking about as giving Him understanding and He in turn serving?  Well, it’s His relationship between Himself and God the Father.

All right, jump across the page to John 14, a well-known Scripture.  But we’ve got to make the point.  Here we have the proof, again, that Jesus is a member of that Triune Godhead as Paul calls it.  Verse 1:

John 14:1

“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God,…”  Now, stop again.  Who was God in scriptural terminology?  The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit!  The Triune God. 

All the way through from Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created…”  And then you come back to Hebrews chapter 1 where it was God, but He spoke through the Son.  So we have that constant reference to a three-part Godhead—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Yet they can be separately individualistic. 

So now, when Jesus speaks of God, the Jews—especially those that had a semblance of faith—they recognized the Triune God.   

John 14:1b-2a

“…ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2. In my Father’s house are many mansions:…” Now, I don’t think that’s speaking about heavenly mansions.  I think it’s speaking about the apartments in the Temple complex that the priests enjoyed. 

Some people don’t like that.  They say, well, you’re taking my mansion away from me.  No, I’m not taking anything away from anybody.  Because, you know, we’re going to have something far more than just the mansions that Jesus is speaking of here.  But anyway, He says:

John 14:2c-4

“…I go to prepare a place for you. 3. And if I prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. 4. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.”

All right, now let’s just do a little fun-hopping—what we’ve done before.  Many of you will recognize these verses, but go back with me to Matthew 19.  Remember what Jesus just said, “…that where I am, there ye may be also.”  In other words, they’re going to be in close proximity again, as they were in those three years.  And how much closer can you get than what you got in Matthew 19.  Drop down to verse 27.  You’ll recognize this scenario, at least most of you. 

Matthew 19:27

“Then answered Peter and said unto him, (unto Jesus) Behold, we have forsaken all, (Our families, our fishing business, and our jobs—whatever the case may have been amongst the Twelve.) and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?”  What’s our reward?  He’s not talking about salvation; he’s talking about reward.  And, you know, this reward is something that Peter never forgot until his dying day. 

Matthew 19:28a

“And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto that you, That ye which have followed me, (The Eleven.  Now we know that He knew Judas is out, or would be.  But He knew the Eleven would stay true to the end.) in the regeneration…”  When the earth is made back as it was in the beginning, and the curse is lifted, and He’s going to set up His Kingdom and usher in all the promises of the Old Testament economy. 

Matthew 19:28b

“…ye who have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, (But it’s going to be on the earth.  That’s why we got a little glimpse of the transfiguration.  It’s going to be in Mt. Zion in Jerusalem. Now watch this, as this is the reward for those eleven men.) ye also (you eleven men) shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

Well, now that should put up a great big red flag.  How can eleven men hold down twelve thrones?  Well, they can’t.  So what are they going to do in Acts chapter 1?  Appoint a replacement for Judas.   Now that reminds me.  I’m hearing it too often, where preachers are saying that Peter shouldn’t have gotten in such a big hurry.  He should have waited for Paul to fill that twelfth apostleship.  Ridiculous! 

Come on you preachers, read Scripture.  Go back to Acts chapter 1.  And I know good men have made that claim.  I won’t say who.  I’m not up here to name names.  But how ridiculous that highly educated men can’t read plain language.  Acts chapter 1 and of course Peter’s in a hurry to fill the twelfth spot.  He thought Christ was coming back as soon as the Tribulation had run its course.  And you can’t have eleven men fill twelve thrones.  So, he’s got to find a replacement. 

All right, verse 21, we’ll do this quickly.  Well, let’s go to verse 20.  So Peter, too, knew the Psalms.  And he says:

Acts 1:20-22a

“For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick (his office as an apostle) let another take.  (Now here come the requirements.) 21. Wherefore of these men (That are gathered there in the upper room—120.) who have companied with us (That is Jesus and the Twelve.) all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, (Now watch it.) 22. Beginning from the baptism of John,…” 

At the very beginning of His earthly ministry—it had to be someone who had become a believer way back then and had continued as a follower of Jesus and these Twelve men for the whole three years. 

Acts 1:22

“Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that He was taken up from us, (Back earlier in chapter 1 at the ascension.) must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.”

Now that’s plain language.  What were the requirements to fill Judas’ spot?  It had to be one of those 120 that were gathered in the upper room, who had become a believer during John’s ministry and had continued all the way until the resurrection and ascension and were still a viable follower.  That was the requirement.  Paul didn’t come until ten years later.  And there’s nothing to indicate that Paul could have been saved during that three years.

Paul was saved on the road to Damascus in Acts chapter 9.   Isn’t it unbelievable how they can twist the Scriptures and get away with it?  I thought politicians were the only ones that could do that.  But see, they lie.  They tell it from the pulpit, and then people think – yep, that’s the way it was.  No, beloved.  You go back to the Book. And if they need to be helped, show them.  There’s nothing wrong with that.  Well, anyway, back to Matthew 19 and verse 28.

Matthew 19:28b

“…ye who have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, (He’s now the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, ruling from Jerusalem.  We’re going to be looking at that if we’ve got time enough when we get back to the next Psalms.) ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, ruling (in a government set up) the twelve tribes of Israel.”  Well, those twelve tribes are going to be around whose throne?  The Lord Jesus Himself. 

Now, I just picture them in the mind’s eye. Here is the Lord and His throne, and around on a lower level will be the Twelve with their particular areas of responsibility.  They’ll be in constant proximity with one another throughout the whole Kingdom period.  And that’s what Jesus was talking about, of course, through Kind David here.  Now remember, this is all as the Holy Spirit led David to write.  So the Lord will have proximity with the Twelve all through the thousand-year reign.

All right, now I just covered verse 9 of Psalms 41, “Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, (which was the prophetic reference to Judas) who did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.”  Now verse 10:

Psalm 41:10-11

“But thou, O LORD, (Now here, again, Christ is crying out to God the Father.) be merciful unto me, raise me up, (That is from crucifixion death.) that I may requite them. 11. By this I know that thou favorest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me.”  And what’s the proof of Satan’s defeat?  Resurrection.  Resurrection power is what destroyed Satan’s power over the believer. 

You know, I had an interesting conversation.  I shared it, I think, with a couple of my classes in the last week or two.  We had a fellow who we’ve known a long time.  He used to come to one of my classes here in Oklahoma. He’s been doing mission work over in Thailand, independently.  He just uses his own income and goes over there and for six months does missionary work of various types. The last time he was over, a fellow worker took him along up to one of the most uncivilized tribes in northern Thailand. And for the first time in all my readings and everything concerning foreign missions, I have never heard the likes of this. 

This tribe had no god.  Now, even most uncivilized tribes have all these gods and so forth.  This tribe had no god, no knowledge of God.  But what do you suppose they knew?  The evil spirits.  So, they had all these fetishes hanging around in the jungle to ward off the evil spirits, but they knew nothing of a god.  I’ve never heard that before.  But isn’t it amazing how powerful Satan can be to the unenlightened. 

But, you see, Satan can’t touch us with stuff like that.  I don’t have to worry about demon attacks.  We’re completely surrounded with the power of God, beloved.  You don’t have to worry about some demon thing approaching you or controlling your house.  No, we are completely surrounded by the power of Christ because of His resurrection.    That’s when the satanic powers were broken, at least for the believer.   All right, so verse 11 again.  This is the guarantee. 

Psalm 41:11-12a

“By this (His resurrection) I know that thou favorest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me. 12. And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity,…”  Now, in view of the financial corruption, what have all these men lost?  Honesty and integrity. 

Now, I don’t like to get on a “bully pulpit.”  I want to stay out of that stuff.  But listen, what caused it?  Well, you see, beginning with the sixties and the hippy movement, most of those people moved on up into the university circles and became professors and administrators.  And what was the first thing they kicked out of Harvard and Yale and all the rest of them?  God and Scripture.  And, as I mentioned in an earlier program, atheism is becoming the popular religion of the time.  Well, when you kick God out, what goes out with Him?  Honesty and integrity! 

I can remember a quote from one of our Founding Fathers.  I don’t remember if it was Benjamin Franklin or Thomas Jefferson, one of those fellows.  I’ll never forget it when I read it.  He said, “If ever our republic departs from biblical principles, it will go down the tube.”  And that’s it.  If you cannot deal honestly, you cannot survive.  I don’t care what society you’re in.  Honesty has to be the bedrock of any form of government or whatever.  And we’ve lost it.  Honesty and integrity is unknown amongst those people, and we’re going to see the results of it.  And why did we lose it?  They kicked God out.  Okay, that was all free for nothing. 

Psalm 41:12

“And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, (Remember what we looked at last program?  Why can we trust Him?  Because He’s faithful.  And why is Christ faithful?  Because of His integrity.  His honesty.  His righteousness.) and settest me before thy face for ever.”  Oh, my, a verse just pops to mind.  And I asked the Lord again a little while ago, “Lord, give me every verse that You want given.” 

Daniel chapter 7—now remember what the Psalmist just said.  Verse 12, “As for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, (my honesty) and settest me before thy face for ever.”  All right, that’s what made me think of this verse in Daniel.  I’ve got time enough, so let’s look at it—Daniel chapter 7 verses 13 and 14.  Oh, now remember this – how the Scripture fits again.  How the Psalmist says the exact words that describe what Daniel is prophesying.  It’s all prophecy. It hasn’t happened, yet.  It’s still future, but it is coming. 

Daniel 7:13

“I saw (Now remember, this is Daniel writing.) in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man (That’s Jesus the Christ.) came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, (I feel that that’s a picture of God the Son coming before God the Father.) and they brought him (God the Son) near before him.”  Now look at verse 14 compared with Psalm. 

Daniel 7:14

“And there was given him dominion, and glory, 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 (a Kingdom) that which shall not be destroyed.”

Now back to the Psalms for the few seconds we have left.  All because of verse 12 and His resurrection power.

Psalms 41:12-13

“And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, (His honesty, His righteousness) and settest me before thy face for ever.  (Exactly as Daniel pictured it—they brought him before God the Father, presented Him as the King of a Kingdom that’s going to include all the nations of the world.  And then verse 13 is the capstone of it all.) 13. Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting.” He will never change.  See, there’s not a word in here yet about Gentile promises.  These are all promises made to the Nation of Israel.  And, oh, that’s what people have to understand!

LESSON TWO * PART I

PART 4 of the MESSIANIC PROPHECIES

Psalms 45, 46, and 47

Okay, good to have everybody in this afternoon.  I just rehearsed with the crowd here that this is the most we’ve ever had.  The camera that was over here has now gone all the way to the back.  But anyway, those of you joining us on television, we just want to welcome you to an informal Bible study.  We try to keep it simple, and yet we don’t want to over-simplify.

Again, I want to take this opportunity—as I can’t answer every letter, I try to answer those with questions.  But all your good letters, how I wish I could answer them, but I can’t.  So I have to take this opportunity – thank you, thank you for your kind remarks and for your encouragement and letting us know that the Word is indeed changing hearts and lives across the country.  And we want to thank you for your financial help.  Now, in spite of all the financial crunch that has gone through, we still had, without any drop, the biggest month ever last month. And all I can do is say, “Praise the Lord,” because we realize that all the people are going through some hard financial times.

All right, we’re going to keep right on in our study in the Psalms today.  We’ve had a lot of requests for this over the years, “When are you ever going to teach something from Psalms?”  That’s one reason I’m doing it. Yet, I just feel that it’s what the Lord would have us do.  And as we always have to do when we look at the Old Testament, we always have to remember that the whole picture was first the suffering and then the what?  The glory that should follow.

All right, Peter puts it so perfectly in his little epistle—I Peter chapter 1.  I always like to start with verse 9.  Now, we’ve been doing this at the beginning of almost every taping session.   I’m getting old, but I’m not senile.  I do this on purpose. I want to just drill this in, and maybe after a period of time you’ll actually know it from memory.  Because that’s how memory works—if you repeat it and repeat it and repeat it, pretty soon you don’t even have to read it.  You’ve got it.

All right, I Peter chapter 1 starting at verse 9—now remember, who is Peter writing to?  Fellow Jews.  Believing Jews.  They’re not the believers of the Age of Grace, but they’re believers in what?  The Kingdom Gospel which was that Jesus was the Christ.  They’re still under the Law.  Nobody has told those Jews to stop Temple worship.  The Temple is still operating.  It’s not A.D. 70 yet. 

So always keep that in mind, that there is not—as I’ve taught it when we put it in the program years back—these little Jewish epistles do not have one word of church language.  Not one word and I don’t know how all these theologians can miss that, but it’s a fact of life.  Go through there with what we call a fine-toothed comb and you will not find one reference to the Body of Christ.  You will find not one reference to salvation through faith in the death, burial, and resurrection as Paul shares in I Corinthians 15:1-4 for us in the Body of Christ!   Not one.  It’s all for the Jews, whereas our Gospel of Grace is for the Gentiles. 

So always be aware (I’ve said it over and over on this program) of what is not said in a portion as well as to what is said.  Now, Peter is addressing the twelve tribes.  He’s writing to Jews under the Kingdom economy.  There’s nothing here of what we learn from Paul.  The reason I use this as a kick-off for things in the Old Testament is just that very reason.

I Peter 1:9-10a

“Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. 10. Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently,…”  Now stop and think when you read something like that.  What does that mean?  They looked and they looked and they studied and they searched, and they couldn’t find what they were looking for.  That’s what it means. 

I Peter 1:10b

“…have inquired and searched diligently, (these same prophets) who prophesied (or foretold) of the grace that should come unto you:” At a later time and we’re going to be seeing that as we go through the Psalms today.  Now then verse 11.

I Peter 1:11a

“Searching…”  Now, you and I have no idea how the Jewish people—when they’re in a theology situation in Yeshiva—how they will sometimes look at nothing but one verse (if I can believe what I read) one verse maybe for weeks on end trying to see if they can pull something up that somebody else has never seen before.  All right, so this is what it means—they searched and they searched.  They studied.  They contemplated.  They meditated. 

I Peter 1:11

“Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit (That is the Holy Spirit) of Christ who was in them (Now you’ve got to remember, the Holy Spirit inspired every word of Scripture just as much as with Paul or any of the New Testament writers.  All right, so these Old Testament Prophets: like Isaiah and Jeremiah and Hosea and all the rest of them--) searching what manner of time the Holy Spirit of Christ within them did signify, when it (He, the Holy Spirit through His inspiration, remember.) testified beforehand (Before anything ever happened. The beauty of Scripture is prophecy.) the sufferings of Christ, (But it doesn’t stop there.) and (What?) the glory that should follow.”

Remember when we first started this series several tapings back—go back with me now to Psalms chapter 2, which I have used over the last thirty years in my teaching as the outline of that Old Testament timeline—the Old Testament timeline that completely knew nothing of this Age of Grace.  It knew nothing of Paul and his apostleship—as everything was Jewish looking forward to the time when the King and the Kingdom would reach out to the Gentile world through Israel.

All right, Psalms chapter 2 and always use this, like I said, as an outline of the Old Testament program. Let’s start with verse 4.

Psalms 2:4-5

“He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: (Because of their rejecting the Messiah and killing Him.) the Lord shall have them (Jews and Gentiles) in derision. (confusion) 5.  Then (the Lord God from Heaven) shall he speak unto them in his wrath, (Not Grace, but rather wrath!) and vex them (He won’t sooth them.  He won’t bless them.) in his sore (What?) displeasure.”  His wrath, after 6,000 years of letting man do as he wanted, is finally going to fall.  And we’re getting closer every day.

My, how the world is getting ripe for this judgment that’s coming.  They don’t want to hear it.  They like to ridicule. They think I’m some kind of a nut and don’t know what I’m talking about.  Well, I’ve got news for them.  I’m not a nut.  I do know what I’m talking about, because the Book is sure. 

Psalms 2:5b-6

“…and vex them in his sore displeasure.  (But what’s going to follow?) 6. Yet have I set my king (The King of Kings and the Lord of Lords is yet going to be set--) upon my holy hill of Zion.”  And where’s Mount Zion?  Jerusalem.  That’s what we’re going to be looking at now in the next few moments.

All right, turn with me to where we left off in our last taping. We were in Psalms 41. And remember, I’m just looking primarily at what we call a Messianic Psalm.  I think I can define that as any one of the Psalms that can be corresponded with a New Testament reference that it’s Jesus of Nazareth that’s being foretold.  Not every Psalm is, although some are still definitely Messianic, but not to the point that these special ones that we pick now. 

So, 41 was the last of the Messianic Psalms that we had, now I’m going to jump up to Psalms 45.  And before the chapter is over, we’re going to see that Israel’s Messiah, the Son of God, the Anointed One, and the one we know in the New Testament as Jesus the Christ is going to be pictured here as the groom.  He’s going to be the groom of the bride—the bridegroom.  We will start at verse 1. And remember, it’s the groom who is speaking.  These are the words of Christ as the Holy Spirit inspired David to write them. They become a reality at some future day. 

Psalms 45:1a

“My heart is inditing (or is promoting) a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the (What?) king:…” Now this is the whole concept of Old Testament prophecy.  It is this coming King and Kingdom. 

You’ve heard it from me for the last twenty years, admonishing that as the keynote of Old Testament prophecy—a coming King and His Kingdom.  But before the King could come, what did He have to do?  He had to suffer.  And after the King would suffer, there had to be the wrath and so forth of God’s judgment upon mankind.  So, all the Old Testament is constantly looking forward to the suffering—which, of course, was the work of the cross—and then the horrors of the Tribulation and then the Glory—the Kingdom which would follow.  Now back to verse 1.

Psalms 45:1

“My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.”  Now that’s a nice way of putting the statement, isn’t it?  The tongue that was on the lips of the Lord Jesus Himself was as ready to go as someone getting ready to write. 

Now, I’m not a good letter writer.  I am horrible.  But you know why?  As soon as I say Dear Someone and a comma, I go blank.  Totally blank.  Now some people are terrific letter writers.  They can hardly wait to get past that comma.  I can’t, because I just turn blank.  But that’s not the case here.  Here the prophet is speaking of Christ as being ready to speak forth as quickly as someone who is ready to write a letter. Verse 2:

Psalms 45:2a

“Thou art fairer than the children of men:…” What are we talking about?  The Messiah.  The Coming King.   Even though it’s His own words coming through David.  Now, I’m going to be repeating that all afternoon; otherwise, you’re going to miss it.  King David is writing at what point in time historically?  A thousand years before Christ. 

And everything, as we’re going to see from New Testament comparison, that was spoken back there in the Psalms was also spoken in His earthly ministry, one way or another.  The Holy Spirit inspired David to write the actual words of the Messiah.  Am I making that plain?  I know that sounds like gobbledy-gook, but I hope it isn’t. And this is the whole concept—that David is writing in the Psalms what the Messiah is actually going to speak and do at His first advent when He brings about the work of the cross. 

Psalms 45:2

“Thou art fairer than the children of men: (He’s the Son of God) grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever.”  Now, always keep the concept—God is the invisible Triune Godhead.  And God the Son is one of those Three.  I’m always showing it as He steps out of that invisible Godhead and became visible and so forth.  All right, so what we have here, then, is that God the Son is still being blessed by the Godhead, which includes all three: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Let me show you where I get the term Godhead.  I have to do this scripturally.  Keep your hand in Psalms.  Jump up to Colossians chapter 2, and let’s drop in at verse 8.  I’m waiting until all the pages stop turning.  You know, this is what thrills me so in my teaching experience—that everybody has their own Bible.  And, you know, we hear it from stem to stern.  Why do all of your people have their own Bible?  Well, because they’re there to study.  They’re not just there to kill time, and how can you study without a textbook?  You don’t know how much I appreciate the fact that you come in having your own Bible and follow along with me.

Colossians 2:8-9

“Beware (There’s a warning.) lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, (And that’s most religions, remember.  It’s men’s ideas put together, and it becomes tradition.  All right, that’s the warning.  Don’t follow--) after the rudiments (or the natural things) of the world, and not after Christ. (See how plain that is?  But here’s the verse I wanted.) 9. For in him (in Christ, in the Lord Jesus of Nazareth) dwelleth all the fullness of the (What?) Godhead bodily.”   The Godhead is an invisible Spirit, but what is God the Son?  He’s visible.

And that’s why I’m always putting it on the board.  We’ve done it over the years.  Here we have the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  That’s the Godhead.  But whenever God’s dealt with humanity or creation or whatever and in order to come down and do the work of the cross, God the Son stepped out of the invisible and became what?  Visible.  Tangible.    That’s the whole teaching of Scripture.  So when we see that God the Son is referring to God, don’t throw God of the Son out of the God concept, because it’s a Godhead of all three Persons.

All right, let’s go back to the Psalms 45.  Now, you know, I didn’t intend to do that.  So, that’s free for nothing.

Psalm 45:2b-5

“…therefore God hath blessed thee forever. (Yes, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit as the Godhead blessed God the Son.) 3. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty. 4. And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. (Tribulation) 5. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies; whereby the people fall under thee.”  What’s He referring to?  The Tribulation again. 

All right, now let’s go back to Revelation.  I’ve got to put all this down scripturally so that you get the full picture.  Not only is He filled with Grace and Mercy and Truth, but oh, my goodness, He’s also going to be coming as the God of judgment and wrath and the punishment of the human race.  Revelation chapter 19 and that’s what all these things are putting together.  And that’s what we have to do.  I will never stop using as many Scriptures as I can.  I don’t care if your thumb does get tired; we’re going to look at as many Scriptures as possible, because that’s how it all comes together. 

All right, Revelation 19 starting at verse 11 and this is after the horrors of the Tribulation have run their course.  Armageddon is part and parcel of His Second Coming, of course.  And we were just there at Megiddo a few days ago.  Quite an experience, wasn’t it?  To be there where this final battle is going to be fought. 

Revelation 19:11-12

“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.” 

Revelation 19:13

“And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.”  Just like John 1:1 -- “In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”    All right, verse 14:

Revelation 19:14-15a

“And the armies which were in heaven (Now I’ve got some along with this thinking here, but I’ll pass on that for the time being.) followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword,…” 

Remember how Psalms 45:5 put it? “Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies.”  And also in verse 3, “Gird thy sword upon thy thigh.” All right, back to Revelation 19.

Revelation 19:15

“And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: (Which, of course, will take place as soon as He sets up that glorious Kingdom.) and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.”  That’s Armageddon as we refer to it. 

Revelation 19:16

“And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”  Now, you can’t get any plainer than that, can you?  That’s Christ at His Second Advent. 

All right, back to Psalms and let us see how perfectly David pictures it in his own day and time a thousand years before.  Again in verse 3:

Psalms 45:3-4

“Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty.  4. And in thy majesty ride prosperously (That makes reference to the White Horse, of course.) because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.”  And the word “terrible” is just simply that it’s going to be beyond the norm.  Now verse 5, this is all part of His fighting the enemy of satanic powers and the human race in general.

Psalms 45:5

“Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies; whereby the people fall under thee.”  Now I’m going to jump ahead to Psalms 110 verse 1.   I’ll probably give you this verse several times before the day is over, so bear with me. This verse is a reference to His ascension, when He left the Mount of Olives. You know, in our tour of Israel last week, a lot of our people thought the Mount of Olives was the most touching place. Because it was from the Mount of Olives that He walked down and came in through the Golden Gate on Palm Sunday.  And it was from the Mount of Olives, of course, that He ascended.  That’s what made me think of it.  From the Mount of Olives He ascended and went back to Glory.  Now Psalms 110 verse 1 is the prophecy. 

Psalms 110:1

“The LORD (God the Father) said unto my Lord, (God the Son) Sit thou at my right hand, until (What kind of a word is that?  Time word, at some point in the future on a particular month, day, and year.) I make thine enemies thy (What?) footstool.”

What does that denote?  They’re under His feet.  Little David killed Goliath—what did he do with him?  Put him under his foot, didn’t he?  Sure.  What did it denote?  Total defeat of the enemy.  All right, that’s what God is going to do with Satan and the hordes of humanity who have been rebelling against Him for 6,000 years.

Well, we’re never going to finish everything I intended to finish, but we’ll go as far as we can. We’ll pick it up in next half hour.  Come back to Psalms 45.  Now, after the horrors of the Tribulation—when He has totally defeated the enemy, and the human race has come under the judgment and the vexation of a righteous God—now we come into the proof that this is a Messianic Psalm.  Verse 6:

Psalms 45:6-7

“Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the scepter (or that denoting kingly power) of thy kingdom is a right (or a righteous) scepter. 7. Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness; therefore God, thy God, (in other words, the Father) hath anointed thee (the Son) with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.”  In other words, above the rank and file of Israel.

All right, in the couple of minutes we have left, I think we can do this.  Go back with me to Hebrews chapter 1, and this is what ties this in as a Messianic Psalm.  Here we have an exact repetition in a New Testament setting.  Hebrews chapter 1 and let’s drop in at verse 2.  Hebrews chapter 1, let’s drop in at verse 2.  The God of verse 1:

Hebrews 1:2

“Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, (Jesus of Nazareth) whom he hath appointed heir of all things, (In other words, when we see back there in Colossians and in Paul’s other epistles that everything was consigned to the Son.) by whom also he made (or created) the worlds;”

Hebrews 1:3

“Who (this same God the Son) being the brightness of his glory, (remember the Transfiguration) and the express image of his person, (In other words, He became the visible manifestation of the invisible God.) and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, (with the work of the cross) sat down (That’s Psalms 110 verse 1.) on the right hand of the Majesty on high;” 

Hebrews 1:4-5

“Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. (That is the angels.) 5. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, (the Scripture says) I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?”

Hebrews 1:6-8

“And again, when he bringeth in the first-begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. 7. And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. 8. But (Here it comes now.  Just as we saw in Psalms 45.) unto the Son (Jesus of Nazareth) he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom.” And here’s another verse that is a repeat.

Hebrews 1:9

“Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.”  Now, do you see how exactly it was spoken back through the pen of David, and now it comes back to the writer of the Book of Hebrews—that same person, the same Son of God, the same Coming KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

LESSON TWO * PART II

PART 4 of the MESSIANIC PROPHECIES

Psalms 45, 46, and 47

All right, let’s just go right in to where we left off in our last half hour in Psalms chapter 45. We just established in our closing remarks that this is a Messianic Psalm, because the Book of Hebrews quotes it word-for-word. These are indeed the words of the Lord Jesus as the Holy Spirit inspired David to write them.  

Now always remember the timeline. David’s writing in 1,000 B.C.  But as we’re going to see in one of our later programs, if I get that far, the Holy Spirit evidently prepared some of these Psalms to be used at a later time by Israel’s King.  It’s just one of the amazing aspects of Scripture.

So, he is writing in 1,000 B.C. these very things that were spoken and fulfilled at the time of Christ’s first advent.  Now we come into something that is further into the future.  And that is the reference to when He becomes not only the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, but He’s going to be the bridegroom.  We’re going to look at that aspect in the rest of this chapter.  And the language is so evident. 

Psalms 45:8-9a

“All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.  (In other words, all the perfume that was attendant with the bride.) 9. Kings’ daughters were among thy honorable women:…” In other words, what we would call the bridesmaids and so forth—the wedding company. 

Psalms 45:9

“Kings’ daughters were among thy honorable women: upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir.”  Now when you think of someone being dressed in gold, what do we call it?  Gold what?  What’s the word?  Lamé, isn’t it?  That’s right. 

Gold Lamé, it’s just like thin tissue paper.  It’s gold, but it feels like a material.  Well, that’s exactly what the ancients would do when they had all the wealth from their subjects.  So here we have the beauty of this glorious union between the bridegroom and his bride.

All right, before we go any further, I’m probably going to shock some of you as I was almost shocked as I started chasing some of these things down.  Turn with me to Isaiah. You know, when I get ready for all of these things, I have to make up my mind.  Am I going do this early or late?  Shall I do it after I’ve taught the chapter or before we teach it?  So, I’m going to take it before.  Turn with me to Isaiah chapter 62.  I may get some repercussions.  I don’t know.  Somebody may just say “Les, you’re nutty as a fruitcake.”  But I’m going to go where I feel the Book is teaching.  Isaiah chapter 62 and we’re going to establish who this bride is who is going to become part of the bridegroom who is the King and the Messiah and God the Son.

Isaiah 62:1

“For Zion’s sake I will not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.”  Who are we talking about?  Jerusalem. 

I wish you could have been with us the other day.  Am I right, Roberta?  Chuck?  Jodi?  Did you see it?  Oh, what a glorious panorama, even from the wicked situation it is today.  Can you imagine it when it becomes the capital of the Prince of Peace, and it’s going to be the capital of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth?  It just boggles the mind.  And that’s what I want you to get a glimpse of now—that this is what the Psalm is referring to.

All right, reading on in Isaiah 62.  I don’t want to read too much, or I’ll lose your attention.  But on the other hand, nothing speaks better or louder than the Scripture itself.  All right, verse 2:

Isaiah 62:2-3

“And the Gentiles (Now we will see reference to them back in Psalms 45.) shall see thy righteousness, (Well, that’s not evidenced today.  Oh, anything but.  But the day will come when Jerusalem will be the epitome of righteousness.) and all kings thy glory: and  thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name. 3. Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem (which speaks of kings and queens) in the hand of thy God.”  Now remember, what are we talking about?  Jerusalem.  Don’t forget that now. 

Isaiah 62:4

“Thou (Jerusalem) shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but, thou shalt be called Hephzi-bah, and thy land called Beulah: (You know the song “O Beulah Land.”) for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be (What?) married.”  You weren’t expecting language like that, were you?  But this is the whole concept.  When Christ returns and sets up His capital on Mount Zion, where David had his in the city of Jerusalem, it will be God’s bride.  All right, let’s read on.  This is too good to leave.  Verse 5:

Isaiah 62:5

“For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: (Who?  Jerusalem—the city) and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.”  You know what I did to this the other night.  I practiced it on Iris. Didn’t I?  I practiced it on her.  I said, “Honey, do you see what it’s talking about?  Jerusalem—that gorgeous city on the top of the mountain in pure white.” All right, read on in verse 6.

Isaiah 62:6a

“I have set watchmen upon thy walls, (Now doesn’t that make it plain?  What are we taking about?  The city.  The walls that surround the city.) O Jerusalem,…”  Oh, don’t lose it.  Don’t lose this.  Oh, I wish you all could have been with us, and you could have seen what I’m talking about.  Oh, it was just gorgeous this time for some reason or other. Maybe it was because of this.  

Isaiah 62:6b-8a

“…O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence, 7.  And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. 8. The LORD hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, Surely I will no more give thy corn (or grain) to be food for thine enemies;…” That’s always been the case, you know.  The Syrians would come in, and the Babylonians would come in, and the Egyptians would come in and take their crops of grain.

Isaiah 62:8b-10a

“…Surely I will no more give thy grain to be food for thine enemies; and the sons of the stranger shall not drink thy wine, for the which thou hast labored:  9. But they that have gathered it shall eat it, and praise the LORD; (See, that’s what Israel is going to enjoy when their King sets up this glorious Kingdom.) and they who have brought it together shall drink it in the courts of my holiness. 10. Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones;…” 

Stones!  Have you ever seen so many?  I mean the land is covered with rocks. But, of course, where they till it—you remember that, Nancy.  You’ve been there years back.  But, you see, I have to talk to her.  She was on one of the first trips we made.  Now it’s expanded and expanded and expanded.  You remember when we were in the field there where He preached the Sermon on the Mount?  It went down like a dish that was all just weeds and grass.  Now it’s all bananas.  Only this is unbelievable.  How the land is increasing in production areas.  But it has to be cleared.  It’s solid rock!

Isaiah 62:10b-12

“…gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people. 11. Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, (And who’s the daughter of Zion?  Jerusalem!) Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. (Now here it comes.  This is frosting on the cake.) 12. And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou (Jerusalem) shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.”  Now, isn’t that gorgeous.    All right, now with that as a backdrop, come back to Psalms 45 verse 10.

Psalm 45:10-11a

“Hearken, (listen) O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house; 11. So shall the king (God the Son, Jesus of Nazareth, now, as King of Kings and Lord of Lords) greatly desire thy beauty:…”  Whose beauty?  Jerusalem’s—don’t lose it.  Jerusalem’s beauty! 

Psalm 45:11b-13

“…for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him.  12. And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; (Now, Tyre was a Gentile city up on the Mediterranean Sea coast.  So the Gentile city of Palestine will be there like guests at a wedding.) even the rich among the people shall entreat thy favor. 13. The king’s daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold.”  Gold lamé again, that’s what it’s called—where actually the thin sheets of gold can be constructed in a way that become a garment. 

Psalm 45:14

“She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee.”  In other words, that will be the fellow companions of the Nation of Israel. 

Psalm 45:15-16

“With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought: they shall enter into the king’s palace. 16. Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth.”  In other words, out of Jerusalem, you see, the Jews will scatter throughout that kingdom period of the 1,000 years. They’re going to be actually the leaders of all the Gentile part of the world. 

All right, come back with me a minute to Deuteronomy.  We looked at it I think maybe in our last taping.  But some of these things bear repeating, now, when we talk about Israel’s role in this thousand-year millennial reign. Because they’re not just going to be cooped up in the little land of Israel, they are going to be evidenced throughout the Kingdom.  And Israel as God’s righteous people will be superior to all the other Gentile nations and what have you.

Deuteronomy 28 and let’s jump in at verse 9.  Deuteronomy 28 and goodness sakes, who wrote Deuteronomy?  Well, Moses.  How long before King David was Moses?   Five hundred years.  So you’ve got Moses at 1,500 B.C., and David at 1,000 B.C.  Then in one of our next programs, we’re going to be dealing with Isaiah who was 300 years still later. He was only 700 B.C.  Everything fits.  Hundreds of years in between and it all fits.  That’s why I love this Book.  It’s so supernatural.  This isn’t the work of men.  This is the Word of God! 

Deuteronomy 28:9

“The LORD shall establish thee (the Nation of Israel) an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways.”  Now this, of course, is at the onset of Israel’s nationhood.  But of course, it will come to reality in the Kingdom, because only believing Jews will be part of that—just like believing Gentiles are part of the Body of Christ.  See, it doesn’t include the lost, the unbeliever, but only the believers.

Deuteronomy 28:10-11

“And all people of the earth (From stem to stern, see?) shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee. (because of their position) 11. And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, (In other words, they’re going to have children till who knows.) and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land (the Promised Land) which the LORD swear unto thy fathers to give thee.” 

They’re finally going to get it.  And nobody’s going to argue with them.  Nobody is going to try and take it away from them, because their King is in their midst.  I’ll be coming to that in another half hour this afternoon—how the Lord is in the midst of Israel throughout this 1,000 year period of time.  All right, now verse 11, I just read that one—verse 12.

Deuteronomy 28:12

“The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thy hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.”  My, wouldn’t Wall Street love to have this?  Israel is going to be the money center of the world.  The King of Kings is going to be in control of whatever financial needs they’re going to have.  Oh, my goodness, this is beyond comprehension. 

Deuteronomy 28:13a

“And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail;…” See how plain that is?  Today, if you were to depict all the Nations of the world in a beast of some sort, an animal, where would Israel be?  Put on at the tip of a tail.  That’s what the Scripture’s saying—you’re not going to be the tail; you’re going to be the head.

That’s Israel’s future, beloved, get excited for them.  They’ve been downtrodden for 4,000 years, ever since Abraham.  They’ve been the scorned and persecuted.  But, oh, their day is coming.  Remember what our verses say?  First the what?  First the suffering and then what?  The Glory that’s going to follow.  Here it is.  Their glory is still coming. 

Deuteronomy 28:13

“And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; (They’re not going to be at the bottom of the totem pole. They’re going to be at the top.) if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:”  Well, that’s Israel’s future once the King and the Kingdom are brought in.  But, of course, we have to realize that can’t happen until the Body of Christ is complete, because that’s where God is dealing today. 

He’s dealing with the Gentile world right now.  He’s calling out a people for His name (I Corinthians 15:1-4).  All of that (in the verses above) is part of the timeline regarding the Tribulation and the Second Coming and then the bringing in of this glorious, glorious Kingdom.

Psalm 45:16a

“Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children,…”  In other words, there’s going to be a tremendous reproduction in the Kingdom economy.  They’re going to have children. 

That reminds me.  I think I’ve got time.  Let’s jump ahead to verses we have used before.  Jump ahead to Isaiah chapter 11.  I knew I wanted to use it sometime this afternoon.  I just didn’t know exactly when.  But this is probably as good as I can take when it speaks of their children.  They’re going to be reproducing.  They’re going to have families.  There’s going to be a tremendous reproduction—Isaiah chapter 11 verse 1, speaking again of God the Son, the Messiah.

Isaiah 11:1

“And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem (or the family line) of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:” The word Branch is capitalized, because it is referenced as God the Son throughout the Old Testament. 

Isaiah 11:2

“And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;” Those are all the seven-fold spirits, or attributes, of the Spirit.  They’ll all be centered on the King.  All right, verse 4:

Isaiah 11:4

“But with righteousness he shall judge (or rule) the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, (Which, of course, is previous to all this during the Tribulation.) and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.”  Everything that is unrighteous will be removed.

Isaiah 11:5

“And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.”  In other words, all the attributes of God Himself will be shown forth in this King of Kings.  All right, now you jump down from the authority of the King, and we see the operation of the Kingdom itself in the everyday life of the people. 

Isaiah 11:6

“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, (In other words, no more carnivorous activity.  They will not be hungry and seeking out food from another species.) and the leopard shall lie down with the (baby goat) kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; (Now here it comes.  This is what made me think of these verses.) and a little (What?) child shall lead them.”  Well, where did the child come from?  From their Jewish parents who were part of this glorious Kingdom. 

Isaiah 11:7

“And the cow and the bear shall feed; (That is in the same pasture.) their young ones shall lie down together: and (Oh, this is shocking, isn’t it?) the lion (the most carnivorous of all) shall eat straw (or forage like cattle or) like the ox. 8. And the nursing child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.”  They’ll be put out with these wild (what we call wild) carnivorous animals, but they’re going to be tame as pets.  And here’s the reason in verse 9.

Isaiah 11:9a

“They shall not hurt nor destroy (no death because of these wild animals) in all my holy mountain:...”  That is His whole Kingdom like I said earlier—from stem to stern, from one end of this earth to the other.  From pole to pole, it’s all going to be a heaven-on-earth environment.

Isaiah 11:9b

“…for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.”  That’s going to be the environment of this Kingdom.  There will be no evil.  There will be no unrighteousness.  There will be no weeds or thistles or things that deter food production.

All right, let’s come a minute to chapter 45 of Psalms.  To verse 16, where he said:

Psalm 45:16-17

“Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, (That’s why I went back to this in Isaiah.) whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth. (They’re not just going to be confined to Israel.  They’re going to be used throughout the Kingdom.) 17. I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations: (And remember, I think we’re still talking about the bride.  We’re talking about the city of Jerusalem.) therefore shall the people praise thee for ever and ever.”

Now, all of the Old Testament is looking forward to this glorious Kingdom.  I haven’t got enough time to start on chapter 46. But let’s pursue a few more of these prophetic scriptures concerning this Kingdom.  Jump ahead to Isaiah chapter 2. These are verses that we have used in times gone by.  But when I think something was less than couple of months ago, I come to find out it was a couple of years ago.  I mean, it’s just unbelievable. So it’s probably been that long since we used these.  Isaiah chapter 2 dropping in at verse 2, and it’s all in reference to this same Kingdom over which Christ will rule in Jerusalem which will be the bride, the wife of Jehovah. And the Jewish people will be preeminent in everything that they do.  Verse 2:

Isaiah 2:2

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, (And how do I always follow those words?  When the Bible says it’s going to happen…it’s going to happen.  Maybe not as soon as we think, but it is going to happen.) And it shall come to pass in the last days, (In other words, after the Tribulation and the Second Coming have taken place.) that the mountain (or the Kingdom) of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of mountains, (In other words, it will be above any earthly kingdom that has ever existed.  It’s going to be superior to anything.) and shall be exalted above the hills; (or any other previous empires or kingdoms) and all nations shall (What?) flow unto it.”

In other words, I’ve said it over and over.  All the world looks to America.  Whenever they get into a jam, or there’s a big disaster or whatever, what do they look for?  They look for America.  They hate us, but, oh, they want all that we can do for them.  And it’s the same way now with this financial debacle.  Even though we’ve triggered it, yet they are looking for us to be able to bring the whole thing to fruition.  And that’s going to be Israel’s role someday.

LESSON TWO * PART III

PART 4 of the MESSIANIC PROPHECIES

Psalms 45, 46, and 47

Okay, again, it’s good to see everybody back. We’re ready for program three this afternoon.  And again, I want to welcome our television audience wherever you are.  I know we get all kinds of letters.  Some of you watch it in the shower, and some of you watch it in the living room. Some of you watch it on the den, and some of you get woken by the dog because he knows he’s going to get a walk after our program.  And then we get some that have to cover up the canary.  We get all kinds of descriptions of where they watch our program.  But anyway, we just like the fact that you are watching and listening and learning.

My goodness, how people are learning—it’s just unbelievable.  And we always like to thank you for your financial help and your prayers as well as your encouraging letters.

All right, we’re going to start out again with the letter to Peter like we did in the first program this afternoon.  Because like I said, I’m going to use it often enough that maybe you’ll even have it memorized before we finish this series in Psalms.  So, before we go back and take Psalms 46, let’s look at I Peter chapter 1 again starting at verse 9.  Because this is the whole theme of the Old Testament prophetic program—first the suffering, and then the glory that would follow.

I Peter 1:9-11

“Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. 10. Of which salvation the prophets (the Old Testament writers) have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied (or foretold) of the grace that should come unto you: (They knew there was something different on the agenda, but they couldn’t figure it out. These prophets were--) 11. Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ who was in them did signify, when he testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory which should follow.” 

Never lose sight of that—all the way through the Old Testament that’s the format—the suffering and the glory which should follow.  Now, if you want to see how Paul puts it, just back up a little ways and stop at Romans chapter 8. We have very nearly the same kind of language even for believers of the Church Age.  Even though we may have to go through suffering, yet we know that the glory is going to follow.  Romans chapter 8 verse 17.  Here Paul is writing to Gentiles in the Body of Christ.  Peter was writing to Jewish believers in the Kingdom economy, yet the format is still pretty much the same. 

Romans 8:17

“And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified.”  Same process—the suffering and the glory that will follow.

All right, back to Psalms chapter 46, and now the bridegroom of chapter 45 is going to be the Almighty, All-Sufficient God of chapter 46.  And that’s what ties it together.  Psalms chapter 46 and I’m going to have to teach this much like I did chapter 45—with another portion of Scripture.  Again, I’m debating whether to do it early on or wait until we’ve gone into it a ways.  I think we’ll start with Psalms 46, then we’re going to go back and look at some of the history that was no doubt going to be associated with this particular Psalm.

Psalms 46:1-4a

“God (The All Sovereign, All Supreme God) is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; 3. Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.  Selah. 4. There is a river,…”

Now, who knows where I’m going to go?  What King saved Jerusalem by chiseling out a place where a river could flow and become the place of safety?  Come on, you just saw it the other day.  Hezekiah’s tunnel.  Okay, let’s go back.  I haven’t done this in a long time.  I hope you out there as listeners will be patient with me.  Let’s go back and look at some of Israel’s history during the time of Hezekiah—who was one of the few good kings in Israel.  There weren’t many.  Most of them the Scripture says—and King so-and-so did what?  “Evil in the eyes of the Lord.”  But Hezekiah is one of the few of which that is not spoken, so Hezekiah is one of the better kings. 

I’m just debating as to how much time I can spend back here. Let’s look at Hezekiah conversing first with Sennacherib.  II Kings chapter 18, I’m not going to read it all verse-by-verse.  We’re going to hit some of the highlights. Hopefully enough that you get the jist of what’s taking place.  And remember, Hezekiah is ruling from Jerusalem, so he has access to the Temple mount and the priesthood and all that goes with it.  Isaiah is the contemporary prophet. 

Now, I think we can surmise here that Psalms 46 was written around 1,000 B.C.  But Hezekiah and Isaiah held forth about what point in time?  Seven hundred B.C.  So what can we sort of intimate?  That God in the work of the Holy Spirit caused David to write Psalms 46, which in turn would be an encouragement for Hezekiah who is under the siege of the Syrian General, Emperor Sennacherib. 

Now try to keep that in concept.  David wrote it about 1,000 B.C., but it was so appropriate for Hezekiah’s day 300 years later.    That’s why I went as far as the term “the river,” because that was one of the strong points for Jerusalem. Even though they were surrounded and they were under siege, yet because of Hezekiah’s tunnel, they were able to bring fresh water into the center of the city; and they were no longer under the threat of thirst. 

So, let’s go back and pick up the history of all of this in II Kings chapter 18. Let’s jump in at verse 13.  Like I said, I’m going to have to kind of hit some of the high points.  We haven’t got time to read it all.  You can do that at home.  Do that in your spare time. 

II Kings 18:13

“Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them.”  In other words, he’s just running rampant across the land of Israel. 

II Kings 18:14

“And Hezekiah the king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, (which is up in Northern Israel) saying, I have offended; (In other words, he’s coming sort of like a milk-toast before Sennacherib.) return from me: that which thou puttest on me I will bear.  And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.” 

II Kings 18:15-16

“And Hezekiah gave him all (Hezekiah gave in hoping to allay a breach of the wall and so forth.) the silver that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king’s house. 16. At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.”  Hopefully to appease him and keep him from invading the city. 

Well, Sennacherib just ridiculed all that. He sends word back to Hezekiah that that’s not going to delay him one bit. He’s still going to knock down the walls, the gates, or whatever; and he’s going to invade Jerusalem.  Now, of course, Hezekiah realizes the only hope he has is the God of Israel, because all the cities have already capitulated. Jerusalem alone is standing against this Syrian army. 

II Kings 18:17

“And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rab-shakeh to Lachish to King Hezekiah with a great host (the armed forces of Syria) against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem.  And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller’s field.”

II Kings 18:18

“And when they had called to the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder. 19. And Rab-shakeh said unto them, speak ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?”

II Kings 18:20-21a

“Thou sayest (but they are but vain words,) I have counsel and strength for the war. (Now Sennacherib says to King Hezekiah--) Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me? (Got that?) 21. Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt…” In other words, Sennacherib thinks that Hezekiah is depending on Egypt to come to his defense.  But that’s not what Hezekiah is depending on.  Hezekiah is depending on the Lord of Israel.  All right, verse 22:

II Kings 18:22-23

“But if ye say unto me, We trust in the LORD our God: is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem? 23. Now therefore, I pray thee, (Now this is the Assyrian talking.) give pledges to my lord the king of Assyria, and I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.”  Verse 25:

II Kings 18:25

“Am I now come up without the LORD against this place to destroy it?  The LORD said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.”   Now, did the pagans have an idea of the God of Israel?  Well, just enough to know that He was always coming to Israel’s defense—miraculously.  So they could use the name of the Lord, even though they had no conscience relationship with Him.  That’s what they’re doing. They’re ridiculing Hezekiah for depending on the God of Abraham to defeat the Syrian host.  They’re just ridiculing them.    All right, now I’m going to come down all the way to verse 29.

II Kings 18:29-30

“Thus saith the king, (That is of Assyria—Sennacherib.) Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand; 30. Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city (Jerusalem) shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.” 

II Kings 18:31

“Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, make an agreement with me by a present, (In other words, more gold, more silver, more this and more that--) and come out to me, and then eat ye every man of his own vine, and every one his fig tree,…” In other words, he’s conning the king of Israel to let him come in by negotiation, as they say today.  Well anyway, Hezekiah knew better than to come in on any of that. 

Now, let’s just come a little further.  Chapter 19.   Now Hezekiah’s in a dilemma.  This Syrian army is surrounding the city, and the rest of Judah has already been defeated by the Syrian army. The only hope he has left is the God of Abraham.  Now, of course, Isaiah is holding forth north of Jerusalem up in the mountain area.  And somehow or other he’s able to communicate with Isaiah.

II Kings 19:1-3

“And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, (In other words, this scornful rebuke from Sennacherib.) that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD. 2. And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.  3. And they said unto him, (That is unto Isaiah.) Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.”  In other words, the whole city of Jerusalem was in fear and trembling to the point that even a mother didn’t have the strength to deliver her child.  That’s what it’s emphasizing.

II Kings 19:4

“It may be the LORD thy God will hear all the words of Rab-shakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard; wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left. 5. So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.”  All right, now we’ve got to pick up Isaiah’s answer in verses 6 and 7.

II Kings 19:6-7

“And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, (Hezekiah) Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7. Behold, (Now here it comes.  Here comes God’s promise.) I will send a blast upon him, (That is the Syrian, Sennacherib.) and he shall hear a rumor, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.”  All right, in the next few verses Sennacherib again ridicules the God of Hezekiah.  But now we’ll come all the way over to verse 14, still in chapter 19.

II Kings 19:14

“And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD.”  Can’t you just picture this?  He just lays all this out.  He says, all right now, Lord, I’m putting it in your hands. 

II Kings 19:15-16

“And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, who dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth. (You’re the Creator of everything!) 16. LORD, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, LORD, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, who hath sent him to reproach the living God.” 

II Kings 19:17-19

“Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands, (He’s powerful.) 18. And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them. 19. Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all of the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God, even thou only.” All right, now verse 20:

II Kings 19:20

“Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.”  Now, for sake of time, let’s jump all the way to the end, verse 35, still in chapter 19.

II Kings 19:35

“And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred and eight-five thousand men: (What mayhem.)  and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.”  That was God’s answer on behalf of Hezekiah to the king of Assyria. 

All right, now what did the prophecy say that we just read up in verse 7?  “That he would have his life ended in his own land.”  Okay, now come down to verse 36 and here that comes.

II Kings 19:36-37

“So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. (Which was the capital of Assyria, just over there northeast of present-day Baghdad.  It’s in the news periodically. Now here’s Sennacherib’s prophesied end.) 37. And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia.  And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.” 

So there is the background for what we feel is the reason for Psalms 46.  Now come back to that, and for the moment we have left, we will just consider how appropriate this Psalm of encouragement was to Hezekiah at the time of certain annihilation.  All right, we’ll just go back to verse 1.

Psalms 46:1a

“God is our refuge and strength,…”  Now, how many of you are aware of the Orthodox Jews presently in Jerusalem? You’ll see them with the black hats and the long curls and all that.  What is their attitude toward military service?  They will not serve and are not for any kind of military.  Why? 

Their approach is like this—the God of Israel will take care of us.  Well, the problem is, Israel is not in the same relationship with Jehovah today as they were then.  If Israel didn’t have a military, they wouldn’t last 24 hours.  But those Orthodox Jews—and that’s why it’s kind of a thorn in the side of the rest of Israel—why don’t those people defend us like we do?  Why don’t their kids have to go into the service like we do?  But they don’t.  They will not serve.  And they will not promote anything that would indicate using anything but the power of God to spare them.  But always remember, Israel is not in the same relationship that they were back in Old Testament days. 

Psalms 46:1-2

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help (When?) in trouble.  (Now keep your mind on Hezekiah who is being surrounded by the hosts of the Assyrians.) 2.   Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;” Now I’m going to come back later to this word “midst,” which is used so often in the Hebrew Scriptures—denoting God’s presence in the Nation throughout her history. 

Psalm 46:3

“Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.  Selah.”  In other words, the tumult of an invading army surrounding the city.  Now you and I can’t comprehend what that could be like, where the city is totally surrounded by enemy troops waiting to knock down the city gates and come in and destroy the city and the people—which they had already done to most of the land of Israel. 

Psalm 46:4a

“There is a river,…”  And, of course, that was one of the salvation aspects of Hezekiah’s—he had had his people dig a tunnel that went from one of the fresh water pools clear into the center of the city, where they were able to get their drinking water and so forth during the siege.

Psalms 46:4-5a

“There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, (Jerusalem) the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. 5. God is in the midst;…” There it comes again. 

Over and over “in the midst.”  Maybe I should take the time right now before we go any further.  Let’s just chase down a few of these where we have a reference to the “midst.”  Let’s go first to Isaiah chapter 12 verse 6.  We’ll do this quickly, because this happens too often to not be a thread of Scripture. 

Isaiah 12:5-6

“Sing unto the LORD; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth.  6. Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: (That’s Jerusalem, remember.) for great is the Holy One of Israel in (What?) the midst of thee.”  He’s right in the center of their citywide activity.

All right, let’s go to Ezekiel chapter 43 verse 7.  I’m just showing how this is a thread that carries all the way through these prophetic scriptures.

Ezekiel 43:7

“And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoredom, nor by the carcasses of their kings in their high places.”

All right, let’s turn to another one in Joel.  Just keep going ahead—Joel chapter 2 verse 27.  I want to make that impression on you, that this is not just a little quirk of one prophet.  This is a theme of all the prophets coming up through Israel’s history, that the day is coming when Israel will have God in their midst in the person, of course, of the Son. 

Joel 2:27

“And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else; and my people shall never be ashamed.”  That is once He takes that place “in their midst,” which, of course, He is not tonight.

All right, let’s jump up ahead for just one more, a brief look at Zechariah chapter 5.  We’re going to jump in at chapter 2 verse 5. 

Zechariah 2:5

“For I, saith the LORD, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.”  See how that’s a constant promise?  All right, then we can go on to just one more while we’re Zechariah.  Chapter 8 verse 3 and we’ll have to close. 

Zechariah 8:3

“Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.”  Now you’ve heard a lot about Jerusalem today, haven’t you?  But, you see, that’s the very core of God’s dealing with His promised people – the city of Jerusalem.

LESSON TWO * PART IV

PART 4 of the MESSIANIC PROPHECIES

Psalms 45, 46, and 47

It’s good to see you all back for the last lesson today.  I suppose that coffee pot is about empty, isn’t it?  Well, good to have everybody in here this afternoon. For those of you joining us on television, I know most of you have this program with a cup of coffee, if I can believe our mail.  So we know exactly what you’re doing.

Okay, we’re going to continue on in our study in the Psalms. We’re going to go from 46 right on into chapter 47. If we run out of material before we run out of time, I’m going to go on to chapter 68, which would be the next Messianic Psalm.

All right, Psalms chapter 47.  Now we’ve seen God the Son, the Messiah, pictured as the bridegroom of Jerusalem. Then we saw Him as the great God who intervened in the history of Israel from time to time.  That reminds me, I probably should have done this while we were doing the last lesson.  But jump up a minute to Zechariah, because a lot of times when I use these verses, people probably wonder—what does he mean by—he has done in the foretime. 

Zechariah chapter 14 and this is just one example of what the prophet is talking about. How the Lord at the last moment will come in and rescue the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Zechariah 14—we can start at verse 1.  This, of course, is the great prophecy concerning His Second Coming. 

Zechariah 14:1-3

“Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. 2. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem (See, there’s that city again.) to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; (or raped) and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, (And then when it seems like there is no hope.) and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.  3. Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.”

Well, there was more than one time.  But the one we just looked at back there in II Kings with King Hezekiah is just one of those times when God interceded on behalf of Jerusalem, in particular, and Israel in general.

All right, now we can come back to Psalms chapter 47. We’ll just take these verses one-by-one and see how the God of Israel supplies all their needs.  And, of course, they’re going to need this especially in the Tribulation period—which, of course, is making it so appropriate for today, because we certainly feel that the Tribulation is not that far out into the future.  It just seems as though everything is coming together so quickly.

Psalms 47:1-2a

“O Clap your hands, all you people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph. 2. For the LORD most high is terrible;...”  Now ordinarily we think of God as what?  The God of love. 

But as Psalms 2 put it—we’ve looked at it often enough—after mankind has rejected the cross and crucified Him, next will come that time of what?  Wrath and vexation.  And that is exactly what it’s going to be.  It’s going to be the wrath of God poured out, and He will indeed be “terrible.”  Love will be a past thing.  His judgment is being meted out.  So now here we have it. 

Psalms 47:2

“For the LORD most high is terrible; (when His wrath is poured out for--) he is a great King (and again) over all the earth.”

Now I’m just reminded.  Someone just asked me how to witness to someone. Of course, the first thing I like to impress on someone who is a complete rebel and probably even claims to be an atheist—come back with me to Colossians.  I’ve used these verses over and over. You know what I’ve said about them.  I want people to know who Jesus Christ really is.  Who is He?  What has He accomplished so that we can rest on the fact that the rest will be accomplished?  Well, Colossians chapter 1, I think these verses are so vivid. They are so simplistic in language that even the most agnostic, the most rebellious, would be able to see who this Jesus of Nazareth with whom we have to do is.   All right, Colossians 1 and we’ll start at verse 13.

Colossians 1:13

“Who (That is God the Father in verse 12.) hath delivered us from the power of darkness, (in other words, at our salvation) and hath (already) translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:”  Now we’re in the Body, but the Body is in the Kingdom.  Now verse 14:

Colossians 1:14

"In whom (that is the Son) we have redemption (the process of being bought back) through his blood, (Which is the price of redemption.  We’ve been bought back by His blood, and along with that we have--) even the forgiveness of sins:” We’re forgiven!  We are blameless is the way Paul puts it in two different places. Because we’re forgiven!   That happens when we believe for our salvation that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and rose again, as we see in I Corinthians 15:1-4.    But here’s the part I want everyone to see.

Colossians 1:15a

“Who is (This Jesus of Nazareth, He is--) the image (or that visible appearance) of the invisible God,…” Which I referred to earlier this afternoon.  Remember now, that this Godhead, as we looked at it way back in the first program, is comprised of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  But God the Son stepped out of the invisible Godhead and became the visible manifestation of that invisible God.  That’s what verse 15 says. 

Colossians 1:15

“Who (the Son) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature;” In other words, He’s the first that was ever made visible.  He is from eternity past with the rest of the Godhead.

Colossians 1:16a

“For by him (God the Son, Jesus of Nazareth) were all things created,…” Now most people just refuse to give Him credit, and say He wasn’t the one who created.  Oh, yes He was!  Absolutely, He was.  Now the other two persons of the Godhead were involved, but it’s God the Son who was given the responsibility to call for creation. 

Colossians 1:16

“For by him (God the Son, Jesus of Nazareth, I’m going to keep repeating it.) were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, (That is political powers, empires—doesn’t make a bit of difference.) or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things (everything) were created by him, and for him:”  They are His to do with as He pleases.

He’s Sovereign. The whole universe is His!  When you look up at that starlit sky—my goodness, lately, you know, I just love to look up and see Orion.  I almost feel like he’s just hanging up there watching over me.  And some of these other bright, brilliant stars—and to think they’ve been there for thousands of years.  Have they moved?  No.  The ships still sail by them, you know.   He’s the Creator of everything.  He knows every star by name.  He holds them all together.  And then on top of that, verse 18:

Colossians 1:18

“And He is the head of the body, the church:…” Notice it doesn’t say He is the King, because He’s the head of the Body.  He’s our Saviour. 

That’s what sets us apart from all of these promises given to Israel. Because through all of Israel’s history, as I’ve been stressing over and over now lately, this promise of a King and a Kingdom came about shortly after the Nation appeared.  And then especially after King David, all of these promises fell into place.  All right, back to Psalms chapter 47. 

Psalms 47:2b-3

“…he is a great King over all the earth.  3. He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet.”  Now remember I showed you in one of these programs earlier this afternoon, Israel isn’t going to be beneath.  Israel’s going to be where?  Above.  And that’s exactly what the Psalmist is referring to here.  The nations of the world are going to be under the feet of Israel and not the other way around.  Verse 4:

Psalms 47:4

“He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom he loved.”  See how exclusivist this is.  This isn’t for a Gentile.  This is strictly for the Children of Israel coming out of the loins of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 

Psalms 47:5-6

“God is gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.  6. Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, (And again it’s repeated.) sing praises.”  And Israel did.  That was all part of their worship experience.  Now Paul gives us likeminded instructions.  I have to go look at it a moment. 

Come back with me to (keep your hand in Psalms) Ephesians chapter 5. This is why I’m always emphasizing that Paul gives us all of the necessary instructions for salvation and for our Christian walk while we’re here on planet earth and for our hope for the end.  It’s all in these Romans through Philemon letters of the Apostle Paul.  And everything else in Scripture pertains primarily to His Covenant People Israel.  But now look what Paul writes to us in Ephesians chapter 5 starting at verse 18. 

Ephesians 5:18

“And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled (or controlled) by the Spirit;” The Holy Spirit, Who is also designated in Luke 24 as the power from on High.  All right, now verse 19, under the control and the leadership of the Holy Spirit we:

Ephesians 5:19

“Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;” That’s appropriate. Of course it is.  And that’s why I’m still an advocate of the old Hymns.  The old Hymns made sense. 

The old Hymns had a lot of theology to them.  Some of them might have been a little bit off, but for the most part they had relatively good theology.  This stuff we’ve got lately is empty.  There’s just nothing to it.  Totally empty, but, oh, my goodness, this isn’t where the Scripture puts us.  It puts us “singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.”

And then verse 20, here is the appropriate access to the throne room. I get this letter almost once a week: how do we pray?  Well, here it is. 

Ephesians 5:20

“Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Now, isn’t that plain enough?  How do we pray?  We pray to the Father, and we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.  And that gives full credit to everything concerned.  So, you see, it wasn’t just Israel that was instructed to sing.  Paul tells us to do the same thing – make our hearts happy and joyful with melodious songs and hymns.  All right, back to Psalms 47, verse 7.

Psalms 47:7

 “For God (Again, the Triune God, but the King part of the Godhead is the Son.) is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.”  See, there again is the Deity of Jesus Christ.  We know that Christ is the King.  Christ is the Anointed One.  He’s the Messiah.  And yet He is the God that is the King. 

Now when it comes to using these terms of Deity in different ways, I like to come back to Exodus chapter 3.  Come back there with me.  Because I think we have to understand that as we glean from Scripture, we have this constant reference to God, the Lord. And yet it comes down to the final analysis of—who is the voice in the burning bush?  Well, it’s God the Son.  It’s Jehovah.  It’s the Jesus Christ of the New Testament, but He’s not called that back in the Old. 

All right, Exodus chapter 3, I think we’ve got plenty of time.  In the first four verses we have Moses noticing this bush that’s afire and isn’t burned up. So he turns aside.  Because after all, that would be interesting, wouldn’t it?  To have a bush on fire and yet it just keeps burning and burning and doesn’t disappear. 

Exodus 3:3-4a

“And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. 4. And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush,…” Now right there in one verse you have two terms for Deity.  The Lord and God.  Well, are they two different persons?  Of course not.  It’s the same voice coming out of the burning bush.

Exodus 3:4b-5

“…God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses.  And he said, Here am I. 5.  And God said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.” Now watch this.

Exodus 3:6

“Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. (Plain enough?  Well, that’s just as plain as language can make it.  It’s the God with whom Israel has to do.) And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.”   Now we come down to verse 7.  What’s the term of Deity?  LORD. 

Exodus 3:7

“And the LORD said, (Same person that’s in the burning bush.) I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;”

Exodus 3:8-9

“And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.  9. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.”  All right, now for sake of time come down to verse 11.

Exodus 3:11

“And Moses said unto God, (Well, he could have just as well said, And Moses said unto the Lord.  These are all interchangeable terms of Deity.  And that’s all I wanted to point out here.) Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?” 

Now you’ve got to remember.  What’s the situation?  Moses has been out there herding sheep for forty years on the backside of the desert.  He’s almost become unattached to civilization.  And he says, who am I to go before a King?  I’m just an old, lowly forty-year shepherd.  But that’s where he had to be before God could use him.  Verse 12:

Exodus 3:12-13a

“And God said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. (Now here we go again, the terms of Deity.) 13. And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name?...” 

What made him say that?  How many gods did Egypt have?  Well, we can’t number them.  But every one of them had a what?  Had a name.  And old Moses knew that. He says, listen, if I speak of a God to the people of Israel, the first thing they’ll say is—which one?  Which God?  What’s his name?’  All right, now God doesn’t scold Moses, not one bit.  He just simply says--

Exodus 3:14

“And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.”

All right, now I always have to follow this up with a New Testament account in John’s Gospel chapter 8.  And this, again, just nails it down.  That even though we have all these terms of Deity, yet it is Jesus of Nazareth as we know Him in the New Testament.  One and the same.  Let’s jump in at verse 48.  The Jews were always tormenting Him, especially the upper crust. 

John 8:48-49

“Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a demon?  49. Jesus answered, I have not a demon; but I honor my Father, and ye do dishonor me.”

John 8:50-52a

“And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth. 51. Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep (or believe) my saying, he shall never see death.  52. Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a demon….” If He’s going to claim to have power over life and death, they think He has a demon.

John 8:52b-54

“…Now we know that thou hast a demon.  Abraham is dead, and the prophets; (They’re dead.) and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. 53. Art thou greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? (He has been for 2,000 years.) and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?  54. Jesus answered, If I honor myself, my honor is nothing: it is my Father that honoreth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God:”

 John 8:55-56

“Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: (Because you say you do and you don’t.) but I know him, and keep his saying. 56. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he a saw it, and was glad.” Boy, they caught that full force, didn’t they?  That was like hitting a homerun.  And they got all shook up and said, now wait a minute, wait a minute. 

John 8:57

“Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?”  Two thousand years ago?  Like a young man on the elevator in Jerusalem—we were talking about the end-time, another fellow and I.  In fact, he was a retired fighter pilot. We were talking about that, and this twenty year old looked up at us real quizzically, and I said, “Yeah, everything is getting ready for the end-time.”  And I’ll never forget his answer.  “Ah, come on.”  What does that tell you?  He thought I was way out in left field.  But see, these guys thought the same thing.  You’ve seen Abraham?  Aw, come on.  Come on, let’s get with it.  But now look what Jesus said.

John 8:58

“Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”  Do you think those Jews caught it?  Full force—because they knew chapter 3 of Exodus.  They knew what God told Moses. 

And here was His explicit answer that He was the same God of Abraham that spoke in the burning bush.  He was the same God that opened the Red Sea. And all the way through Israel’s history, it’s God the Son who is the One who communicates and brings about all of these things on planet earth.   All right, let’s go back and finish Psalms chapter 47 a moment and verse 7 again.

Psalm 47:7a

“For God (God the Son in this case, God the Son, Jesus of Nazareth, the Crucified Resurrected Ascended Lord of Glory, He--) is the King of all the earth:…”  Now He’s not tonight, because who is the ruler of this world?  Satan is.  Satan is the ruler of this world tonight.  He’s not the King of the church—He’s the Head of the Body.  So He will not assume Kingship until He returns.

Now, I think I’ve got time.  Let’s go back up to Matthew a moment. Because I want to make sure that everyone in my listening audience understands that Jesus of Nazareth is that coming King.  Come into Matthew chapter 19, because here’s where it’s put so explicitly—that when He returns, He will assume His Kingship.  Tonight He’s at the Father’s right hand.  God the Father is on the throne.  But when He returns and sets up this glorious Kingdom there in Jerusalem, it will be God the Son.  All right, Matthew 19—this is during the end of His closing days of earthly ministry.

Matthew 19:27

“Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?”  As the Twelve.  For reward.  For their following and being faithful for these last three years.  Now watch Jesus’ answer.

Matthew 19:28

“And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye who have followed me, (these last three years) in the regeneration (When the world is made back as it was in the Garden of Eden.  It’s going to be as a result of the horrors of the Tribulation and the power of restoration that will take place at His Second Coming.) when the Son of man (Jesus of Nazareth) shall sit in the throne of his glory, (You see that?  Why?  Because He’s the King.  And He’s going to sit on that throne in Jerusalem.) ye also (the Twelve) shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”   But I want you to see that when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of His Glory, that’s when He’ll be the King, then, of Psalms chapter 47.

All right, just got one minute left.  Let’s go back and finish the chapter.  Psalms 47 once again, verse 8:

Psalms 47:8-9a

“God reigneth over the heathen: (the Gentile world, when He takes up the Kingdom rule) God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness. 9. The princes of the people are gathered together, (That is the princes of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.) even the people of the God of Abraham:…”  The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is this same King that’s coming.  It’s the same Son of God who suffered and died the death of the cross and brought about salvation for the whole human race. 

Psalm 47:9b

“…even the people of the God of Abraham: for the shields of the earth belong unto God: he is greatly (What?) exalted.”  And that’s the word we can close with!

LESSON THREE * PART I

PART 5 of the MESSIANIC PROPHECIES

Psalms 68, 69, and 72

Okay, good to have everybody in again this afternoon. For those of you who have traveled a ways, and you’ve come from out of state, we just want to give you a special welcome.  And for all the rest of you, you’ve been old hands.  They know you all over the country.  We always have to show our appreciation for you, as well. 

Now, for those of you out in television, again, we want to thank you for your prayers and your letters.  And my, the letters keep getting better all the time.  We just can’t believe how hearts are being affected by this simple ministry.  And that’s what they like—the simplicity of it.  And again, we just want to thank our TV audience for everything—your prayers and your financial help.  After all, we do have to pay our bills, and we appreciate every dollar that comes in. 

All right, we’re going to finish Book 79 today—which will wind up, at least for now, my study in the Book of Psalms.  I’d already been debating as to where to go from here.  I asked the Lord, you know.   I’m not one of those who think God’s going to tell me with an audible voice, “Well now, Les, I want you to go to….”   No, I don’t go by that, but I go by the circumstances. 

So just about the time that I was praying the hardest, we got a note from one of our oldest supporters, one of our first listeners of channel 40 in Indianapolis.  She said, “Les, you used Daniel for a cross-reference, but have you ever done it verse-by-verse?”  No.  So that’s it.  I think, unless the Lord steps in, we’re going to do our next taping beginning with a verse-by-verse in Daniel.  I’ve done it in Isaiah and Ezekiel, and I don’t know why I skipped Daniel all this time.  But anyway, that’s the way the Lord works.  So if the Lord tarries, that’ll be next.

But for today, we’re going to finish up these four programs, hopefully, from the Messianic Psalms.  Now you’ve got to remember, not all the Psalms are Messianic.  And we determine their Messianicness by references to the New Testament that corroborate His Messiahship. 

All right, so I’m going to start, as we have quite often through this Psalms series, with I Peter chapter 1.  I like to use these verses as a kick-off, because the theme remains the same.  All right, back in I Peter chapter 1 we can jump in at verse 10.

I Peter 1:10-11

“Of which salvation the prophets (that is the Old Testament writers) have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: (Now, again, referring back to the prophets, they were--) 11.  Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ who was in them did signify, when it (the Holy Spirit) testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory which should follow.” 

Now, the reason I use these verses all the time, is because that is the very theme.  Now come back with me for just a moment; we’re not going to stay there long.  But the next Psalms that we’re going to look at is 68.  The whole theme of everything, almost from the time of Abraham on up until the end of Christ’s earthly ministry and His rejection and on into the Book of Acts, was that constant theme of the sufferings of Christ and the glory that would follow. 

Now that was the two-fold concept of prophecy that the Old Testament prophets themselves, nor the average rabbi or priest or whatever—they could not put the whole thing together.  And you know, I put it on the board, but I guess it’s been washed off since then.  But I have put it up here more than once over the years.  That all through the Old Testament there were two concepts as parallel as a pair of railroad tracks. The top one was the Suffering Messiah.  The Suffering Messiah as Peter puts it there in his epistle.  And then the glory which would follow—and I always put that as the King and His Kingdom.

I’ve always asked the question over the years.  Which one of those two concepts interested the Jews the most?  The glory that should follow—the King and the Kingdom.  Hey, they were all for that.  Throw off the heavy boots of the Babylonians and the Greeks and the Medes and the Romans.  Hey, what could be better?  But a suffering Messiah?  They couldn’t put it together, even though Isaiah 53 was plain.  And here we have a verse that’s plain.  They just couldn’t get it. 

All right, so remember as we look at these Psalms again all afternoon, that that is what’s behind all of this—the Suffering Messiah and the Glory that should follow.   All right, but now I’m going to use Psalms 68 verse 1 in a way that I’ve never seen anybody else use it.  So I use it with trepidation.  Somebody may just blow me out of the water.  But read verse 1 of Psalms 68 with me, and then I’ll show you why. 

Psalms 68:1

“Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him.”  Now probably one of the most often asked questions—turn with me now up to the Book of Acts chapter 7.  And the most often asked question through the mail and on the phone and seminars, wherever I go it comes up constantly.  “Les, what was the reason that Stephen saw Jesus standing?”  So, let’s look at it a minute.

This is a departure from our Psalms study.  But verse 1 is what I have used to answer these questions, because I can’t find anything that’s more appropriate.  Let’s go back to Acts 7 and get the reason for the questions.  Stephen, of course, is appearing before the religious leaders of Israel—the High Priest and so forth.  And at the end of his dissertation (the whole chapter) they, of course, turn on him and begin to put him to death and so forth.  All right, but in verse 55 as they have now begun to throw the stones and he’s probably already prostrate on the ground, he cries out:

Acts 7:55

“But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, (As we’ve seen all through chapter 7, that’s what sets Stephen apart.) looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and he saw (I’m putting that in for emphasis.  What?) Jesus standing on the right hand of God,”

Now, let’s do this as a Bible study.  Keep your hand in Acts and drop back, if you will, to Psalms 110 verse 1.  I’ll give you time to find it.  Psalms 110 verse 1 and this is what you read.

Psalms 110:1

“The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.”  Now, what have we got here?  We’ve got God the Father commanding the Son to sit at His right hand until the day would come when He would arise and return at what we call the Second Coming. 

But you know, as I was mulling this over the last couple days, we always have to realize that for the most part the Jewish people from day one up until the very present do not believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Old Testament Messiah.  And I may have shared it with you before on a program.  I had a Rabbi call one time a while back rather testily upset because of something that his Jewish listeners of my program thought they’d heard.  They had totally misunderstood me.  But they thought they had heard me say things that had riled them up, and they called the Rabbi, and the Rabbi called me. 

Well, anyway, after I got him down off his pedestal of anger, we finally had a decent conversation.  And he said, “Well now, Les, surely you know that we Jews do not believe one word of that New Testament.”  I said, “Yes, I know that for the most part.  But, Rabbi, isn’t it great that we’re living in a free country.  You are entitled to what you believe, but so am I.  I happen to believe that the New Testament is just as much the Word of God as the Old Testament.  It’s all inspired.”  But you’ve got to remember this: the Jews for the most part have absolutely no concept that Jesus was the promised Messiah. 

You know you’ve all heard the anecdote.  I’m sure you have—where the Evangelical and the Rabbi were arguing about Christ having been here before and so forth.  And the Rabbi says, “No, He’s never been here before.”  And the Evangelical says, “Yes, He has. That’s what His whole…” and back and forth they went.  Finally the Rabbi—I’m sure you’ve heard it.  Finally what did the Rabbi say?  “Well, let’s just wait until He gets here, and we’ll ask Him if He’s been here before.”  Well you see, that’s the typical mentality of the Jewish people.  They cannot accept the fact that Jesus was the promised Messiah.  Consequently, they have nothing to do with the New Testament—not all, but for the most part.

All right, now when you look at this verse in the Old Testament, how in the world could an Old Testament believer have a clue of what it was talking about?  Well, they couldn’t.  And they didn’t.  But yet they knew it was there.  They knew the Psalms.  They used them constantly in their worship.  All right, so look at it again, “The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” 

Now there are a couple of other references where it’s used, but the one that comes to mind the easiest to find and everything would be up in Hebrews.  So now turn up to Hebrews chapter 1 with me.  Here we find the writer of this epistle saying the same thing.  Hebrews chapter 1 and we might as well start at verse 1 so that we get the flow.  That’s the best word that I can find for it, so that we don’t just pull a verse out of its slot. 

Hebrews 1:1-2

“God, (The Triune God and we’re going to see that same term all the way through Psalms 68 when we get back there.) who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2. (That same God) Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made (or created) the worlds;” Now here it comes in verse 3.

Hebrews 1:3a

“Who (God the Son) being the brightness of his glory, (He was a member of the Godhead.) and the express image of his person,…” Now remember we studied Colossians 1 not too long ago.  And how did Colossians put it, or the letter to Colossians? That Jesus the Son was the visible manifestation of the invisible God.  You remember that in Colossians chapter 1?  All right, here it is again. 

Hebrews 1:3

“Who (the Son) being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, (since He was the Creator of everything) when he had by himself purged our sins, (Finished the work of the cross, what did He do?) sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high;”

Oh, now another thought just comes to mind.  I’ve shared it with many of you, especially in my Oklahoma classes.  I don’t remember putting it on a program.  Maybe I did.  But I use it quite often, even in personal witnessing to get people’s attention. There were two times in Scripture—now most of you have heard me do this.  Two times in Scripture when God did something so perfect, so flawless, so totally without any need for correction, that He could sit down and rest.  Well, the first one was when He finished creation in Genesis chapter 1.  He looked at it.  It was perfect.  So what does He do in chapter 2 verses 1 and 2?  He sat down.  He rested.

All right, here’s the second time in Hebrews, now.  In Hebrews chapter 1 after He had purged us of our sin, and He’d finished the work of the cross.  It was so perfect.  It was so complete.  It was so completely without any need of addition or correction, what could He do?  Sit down.  There’s nothing else He could do.  But He had no more than revealed this glorious, perfect work of the cross through Paul the Apostle of the Gentiles in what we now call the Gospel of Grace, and what did mankind start doing with it? 

They have thrown everything at it but the kitchen sink, totally perverting it (Galatians 1:7.  And God won’t have it.  And that’s what most of Christendom has been doing for 2,000 years.  They’ve added baptism.  They’ve added repentance.  And they’ve added this and that, and they’ve added tongues.  They’ve added tithing, and they’ve added church membership.  They’ve added good works as means of salvation, but God won’t have it.  They are going to be accursed (Galatians 1:8-9)!!!  Because when He finished the work of salvation, it was perfect and flawless.  Paul tells us all we have to do for salvation is believe that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and rose again; as we see in I Corinthians 15:1-4.  

All right, but that’s not the point I wanted to make.  After He purged my sins, “He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”  All right, now come back to Acts chapter 7 again, and maybe you can get a little inkling of why the Jews, the religious leaders who, of course, knew the Old Testament—they certainly didn’t know Hebrews yet.  It hadn’t even been written, if I’m not mistaken.  But they knew the Old Testament concept that this Favored One would be seated at the right hand of the Father.  All right, come back to the one in Acts chapter 7 again, so we pick up before I go back to Psalms.  And verse 56 now.  Stephen repeats it.

Acts 7:56

“And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.”

Well, that seems harmless enough, doesn’t it?  But what happened to those Jewish religious men?  Hey, they lost it (as we’d say today)!  They just went into orbit. Look at the next verse.

Acts 7:57-58

“Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, 58. And cast him (they threw) out of the city, (outside the city walls) and stoned him: (until he was dead) and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.”

All right, if you’ll come back to Psalms 68, this is the only place in Scripture that I can find something that would fit.  Verse 1 again, these religious leaders knew these Psalms forwards and backwards.  And no doubt, I have to feel, these two verses just hit them right between the eyes.  And as was typical in all of Israel’s history, if they didn’t like the message, what did they do?  They killed the messenger.  Well, this is another time they didn’t like the message. So they killed the messenger.  Well, why didn’t they like it?  I think it’s appropriate.  All right, verse 1 again of Psalms 68: 

Psalms 68:1-2

“Let God arise, (Well, who’s the God in this instance?  God the Son who was seated at the right hand of the Father.) let his enemies (That is these religious leaders out there now stoning Stephen.) be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him. 2. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.” 

You think those priests of Israel enjoyed that thought?  Well, of course not.  That’s why I think after Stephen made the statement, they were so willing to stone him to death and get rid of him—because they did not like the end result.

All right, now I’m sure the most routine expression here, or interpretation from most of what I’ve been able to read, is that it is simply getting ready for the Kingdom.  Here we have Christ rising from His seated position to return and establish the Kingdom that has been promised to the Nation of Israel.

Now again, I’ve got to renew everybody’s thinking as we do these programs from month to month.  Everything from Abraham until we get almost to the Apostle Paul is speaking of this promise of a glorious earthly Kingdom over which Israel will be the predominant nation.  It’ll be worldwide.  It’s going to be absent of anything pertaining to the curse.  The curse is removed.  Satan is removed.  It’s going to be heaven on earth.  But it will still be an earthly environment. 

Amos speaks of the reaper and the sower, and other portions speak of the animal kingdom and so forth.  But the whole concept was it was going to be such a glorious existence because God the Son is going to be the King.  He’s the member of the Godhead that will rule from Jerusalem over this Kingdom

Now, most of Christendom knows nothing of that.  They never hear it taught.  They never hear it preached from the pulpit that this is the whole concept of the Old Testament Scriptures.  And the Psalms, as we’ve been showing you, have been showing it—not only His suffering, but the glory which should follow.

All right, now pick this up then in this Psalm.  We have the threatening judgment and wrath of God on His enemies, then from verse 3 all the way down to about verse 17 or 18 is the description of this glorious coming Kingdom.  We’ll look at it in that light, verse 3:

Psalms 68:3a

“But let the righteous be glad;…”  Well, my goodness, why not?  They’re going to be in this Kingdom.  They’re going to be citizens of it.  They’re going to be enjoying all the righteousness of it. 

Psalms 68:3-4a

“But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice. (Because of the tremendous atmosphere of this heavenly Kingdom.  All right, now verse 4:) Sing unto God, (Well, except for the “rock” people, why do people normally sing?  Because of their happiness.  But here we have it again.) sing praises to his name: extol him (lift him high) that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH,…” This was the contraction of Jehovah which was first used back in Exodus chapter 6.  As I mentioned earlier, this chapter is full of the references to Deity in one way or another.   All right, here’s one of them. 

Psalms 68:4b

“…by his name JAH (Jehovah), and rejoice before him.”  Now then, when the Kingdom comes in, this is how the King is going to be toward those who were, in this part of Creation, pretty much trampled under foot.  He will be:

Psalms 68:5a

“A father of the fatherless, (Not because there’s going to be so many orphans in the Kingdom, but just that His rule is so benevolent.) and a judge (or a benefactor) of the widows,…” Who are normally at the bottom of the totem pole. 

And I always have to think of Haiti, don’t we, Honey?  Oh, those poor widows.  Just awful how those poor widows would just exist. You want to remember, in a lot of portions of the world there’s no government help for people like that.  They didn’t have a Social Security system.  And the Haitian people had no money to help the widows. So they lived in abject poverty—just a life of staying alive from moment-to-moment.  But you see, all that’s going to be removed when we come into this glorious Kingdom. 

Psalms 68:6

“God setteth the solitary (or seeth the solitary) in families: he bringeth out those who are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.”  In other words, all the bad things of planet earth under the curse will be removed under this glorious Kingship of God the Son. 

Psalms 68:7a

“O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people,…”  Now remember, who are God’s people?  Israel.  That’s the congregation that we speak of here.  This is who all the promises are made to first and foremost. 

Psalms 68:7-8a

“O God, when thou wentest before thy people; when thou didst march through the wilderness; (back in their post-Egypt experience) 8. The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God:…”  Now here we go back to Exodus.  When God came down on Mount Sinai, what happened?  Thunder and lightening and earthquake and the mountain shook, remember? 

Psalms 68:8b

“…even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel.”  The God of Israel.  And that’s the point we have to make.  The world is full of gods, but there’s only One God; and that is the God of Israel.

Psalms 68:9-10

“Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, whereby thou didst confirm thine inheritance, when it was weary. 10. Thy congregation (again the Nation of Israel) hath dwelt therein: thou, O God, hast prepared of thy goodness for the poor.”  Now remember, there are no poor as such in the Kingdom because of His goodness.  It was the people that in this economy would have been poor.

I think I’ve got time.  Now, I say this with no put-down of poor people.  Not one bit.  My heart goes out to them.  In fact, for years—I don’t so much anymore, because Iris does all the shopping. But for years, if I was in a check-out and there was a young lady up ahead of me with little kids, it would just pull my heartstrings to see her pour out her little bit of cash to buy her groceries, because I could just feel that they were economically strapped.  So don’t think I don’t have a heart for the poor.  But, what did Jesus say concerning the poor?  You’ll always have them with you.  The biggest socialist in the world cannot remove poor people. 

As I was mulling this over the last day or two, I was reminded back shortly after World War II.  I was still up in Iowa, of course, and we were in a German community.  We had some emigrants from Germany come over after World War II, and one was a young fellow who did some work for us.  He was a veteran of the German Army.  He survived the Russian Front, believe it or not.  But as we were talking one day about economics and those things, he says, “You know, I learned a big lesson when Germany went through the horrible inflation of the ‘20s”. 

Now, I’m sure you’ve all heard the expression that they had to carry their money to the market in a wheelbarrow.  Because it was so worthless, they had to take an armful to buy a loaf of bread.  That’s really what it was.  That’s what inflation does.  But he said, “You know, during that inflation everybody lost everything.  The rich lost everything.  The poor lost what little they had.  Everybody was a common denominator.  But ten years later after everything started going again, who were the wealthy?  The same ones.  Who were the poor?  The same ones!  The same people that were poor before they were broke were poor when everything started going.” 

All right, so you have that class of humanity all the way up from time immemorial.  But in the Kingdom, the people who would be normally of the poor won’t be!  Am I making my point?   That’s what’s going to make the Kingdom so glorious.  There won’t be any poor.  There won’t be any suffering widows.  There won’t be any poor, neglected, fatherless children.  It’s going to be Heaven-on-earth.

All right, so when the Scripture speaks of these things, it’s just to show that that which has been normal under the curse is absolutely absent in the Kingdom.

You mean this half hour’s gone?  Oh, oh.  Okay let me go one more verse.  Down to verse 15 and then we’re going to have to close. 

Psalms 68:15

“The hill of God (That is the mountain, the Kingdom of God.) is as the hill of Bashan; an high hill as the hill of Bashan.” I just looked that up the other night. I often wondered where Bashan was.  It’s that area right east of the Jordan River where the River Jabbok flows.  My, you would be clear up into the mountaintops. So yeah, there were mountains in that area.  That’s what it’s a reference to. 

Psalms 68:15

“The hill of God is as the hill of Bashan; (head and shoulders above everything else) an high hill as the hill of Bashan.”  Because nothing is going to compare to the Kingdom that Christ is going to set up on planet Earth.

LESSON THREE * PART II

PART 5 of the MESSIANIC PROPHECIES

Psalms 68, 69, and 72

Okay, good to see everybody back from your break.  For those of you joining us on television, if this is your first experience, we’re just a simple verse-by-verse Bible study.  I’m not a pastor.  Please don’t write and say Reverend so and so.  I’m just a layman.  I always say I’m just a glorified Sunday school teacher, if anything.  We’re just lay people, and we’re cattle ranchers; and you’ll see we refer to that from time-to-time.  But the Lord has given us this ministry, and we just praise Him for it.

All right, for those of you in the studio, you’re already where we left off in our last program.  For those of you out in television, we’re going to continue on in Psalms 68 and finish our book number 79—which is all in Psalms, if I remember right.  Then we’ll move on probably to the Book of Daniel in our next taping.

But for today, Psalms 68 and we’re going to continue on from where we left off.  But I’m going to back up a verse or two, because we kind of ran out of time in the last lesson.    Remember we’re talking about the Kingdom that’s coming over which Jesus the Messiah will one day rule and reign.  Hills and so forth and mountains in the Old Testament usually refer to earthly kingdoms. 

Psalms 68:15a

“The hill of God (In other words, this kingdom that’s coming.) is as the hill of Bashan;…”  Now I have to stop and explain that a little bit.  Bashan is the mountainous area just east of Galilee and the Jordan River through which the River Jabbok flowed. 

If you remember the story of Jacob, it is quite mountainous.  Not like the Tetons in Wyoming, of course, nor like our Rocky Mountains—but nevertheless, for the Middle East they’re pretty good sized mountains.  All right, so the analogy here is that this kingdom that’s coming will be as much higher than the normal kingdoms of the world as the mountains of Bashan are above the other hills and mountains of the Middle East.    In other words, it’s going to be so glorious and so complete in its control of the planet.  Now verse 16:

Psalms 68:16

“Why leap ye, ye high hills? this is the hill that God desireth to dwell in; yea, the LORD will dwell in it for ever.”  In other words, this Kingdom is going to go right on into eternity.  Now let’s drop down to verse 18.  This is where we get the connection that this is a Messianic Psalm, in that it is tied also to a New Testament reference—in this case from the Apostle Paul.  And that is in verse 18.

Psalms 68:18

“Thou (speaking of the King) hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them.”

Now let’s just go chase that down in Ephesians chapter 4. This is exactly what Paul is quoting from.  Now for the skeptics and the scornful, they probably say, well, he just went back and found that.  No.  That’s not the way the Scriptures came together.  The Scriptures came together as the Holy Spirit inspired these writers to write.  They did not go back and try to find another Scripture that would fit where they’re writing.  This is just one of the supernatural aspects of our Bible.  That even the Apostle Paul by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit refers to this verse in the Book of Psalms.

Ephesians 4:8-9

“Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, (In other words, from His post-resurrection and His 40 days with the Eleven from the Book of Acts, we got the account of how He ascended back up into Glory.) he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. 9. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?”  You see, now this wasn’t in the Book of Psalms. Here we have an extension of what the Psalmist does not tell us.  He not only ascended, but He first descended.  And I think we’d better take the time to explain what Paul is talking about.

Ephesians 4:9-10

“(Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?  10. He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all the heavens, that he might fill (or fulfill) all things.)”  Now, the only way I can explain that is by the use of the Scripture itself.  Come back with me, if you will, to Matthew chapter 12 verse 38. 

Now what we’re talking about is where did He descend to, and what did He take from where He descended?  We’re going to chase this down from Scripture. 

Matthew 12:38

“Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.”  Now you remember the Scripture tells us the Jews always required a sign. (I Corinthians 1:22)   So this is typical Jewishness of these people.  Show us a sign.  Verse 39:

 Matthew 12:39-40

“But he (Jesus) answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah: 40. For (Now remember, this is Jesus Himself speaking.  So what does this tell us?  Jonah is not just a legend.  Jonah is not a myth.  Jesus puts His stamp of approval on it as the Creator of everything, and He says-)  as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” 

Now that’s not a play on words.  He’s speaking of the place to which He will descend and take those who are there in captivity out and ascend up into Glory with them. 

Now the only way we can explain this lower region of the earth is, again, to let the Scriptures do it.  And that would be in Luke chapter 16 where we have the account of the rich man and Lazarus.  And most of you here know it.  But remember, we’ve got a lot of people listening out there who have never heard these things before.  That’s the kind of mail we get, “I’m hearing things I’ve never heard before.”  Had a letter yesterday, “Been in church all my life.  Caught your program three months ago.  I’ve learned more in three months than I did in the previous 60 years.”  Well, they don’t hear it.  So that’s why I have to use the Scriptures. 

Luke 16 and we can’t take it all verse-by-verse, or it’d take all afternoon.  But we’ll just hit the highlights. Here we have Jesus again speaking.  And if He isn’t an authority, I don’t know who is.  And He says:

Luke 16:19-20

“There was a certain rich man, (Now this is not a parable.  It doesn’t call it a parable.  It’s, I think, a reference to a real scenario.) who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: (on the other side of the coin) 20. There was a certain beggar named Lazarus, who was laid at his gate, full of sores,” He was poor.  Destitute!

Luke 16:21-22a

“And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. (In other words, he was a sad, sad piece of humanity.) 22. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom:…”  In other words, into the Paradise side of this place of the departed. 

Luke 16:22b-23a

“…the rich man also died, and was buried; (Verse 23, now this is unfortunate in our King James anyway.) 23. And in hell he lifted up his eyes,…” Now, the first thing people think of when they hear “hell” is fire and brimstone.  But you’ve got to understand that in the three words—let me put them on the board.  That’s the best way to get them cleared up. 

We have three words that all mean the same thing—Hell in the English, Sheol in the Hebrew, and Hades is the word in the Greek.  Now this is unfortunate, because Hell is also described later as the Lake of Fire.  But in this instance, we’re not talking about the Lake of Fire.  We’re talking about the place of the dead, the departed—saved believers as well as the lost—before Jesus died on the cross. 

So when it says, “in hell he lifted up his eyes,” we’re talking about the Hebrew Sheol or the Greek Hades.  All right, so in Hades, in this place of the departed dead, which included both Paradise and torment—got that?  It’s divided, and we’re going to see that in just a minute. 

Luke 16:23

“And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.”  In other words, Abraham and Lazarus are over there in Paradise.  The rich man’s in torment.  Verse 24:

Luke 16:24-25

“And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. 25. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime received thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.”   The two totally different scenarios, and now here comes the clue. 

Luke 16:26-28a

“And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would come pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. 27. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldst send him to my father’s house: 28. For I have five brothers;…” And so on and so forth.  All right, so what we have here is this place of the departed in the lower regions of the earth as Jesus said in Matthew chapter 12.  On the one hand is Paradise—Abraham.  On the other side is torment. 

Now in order to understand this concept of why did the Old Testament believers have to go down into this place of the departed instead of up to Heaven is a theological one.  Hebrews tells us that the blood of animals and goats and bulls could not atone for men’s sin.  All they could do was cover them.  So, since these Old Testament saints did not have their sins totally atoned for, they could not go into Glory.  They had to go down to Paradise and wait for the True Atoning Blood, which was Jesus Christ.

So when Christ shed His blood on the cross, then that was now sufficient for the whole human race provided they appropriated it by faith.  So after His death and during the time of His three days in the tomb, His Spirit went down into this place of the dead.  Not to the torment side, but to the believers’ side.  And what could He tell them?  The Atoning Blood has now been shed, and I can now take you with me up into Glory.  Whereas the lost are still going to the same place.  That hasn’t changed. 

Now then, with that in mind, we have to come back again to how Paul puts it.  Because like I said, he carries it a little more in detail than the Psalmist does.  But it’s still the same concept.  That the Old Testament believers went down into Paradise waiting for the shedding of the True Blood of Atonement.  Whereupon, then, Christ could take them out and up to Glory with Him after he had spent His three days and nights down there.

All right, come back to Ephesians once again.  Hopefully now it’ll make more sense, especially if you’ve never heard these things before.  So after His death on the cross, while His body is up in the tomb, His Spirit goes down into Hades or Sheol.  And He announces to those believers from the Old Testament that He had now accomplished that which they were waiting for.  Now back to Ephesians again.

Ephesians 4:8a

“Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive,…” In other words, those souls and spirits of believers confined down there in Paradise in the center of the earth, because they couldn’t go into the Glory of Heaven until their sins had been atoned for.  Verse 8 again:

Ephesians 4:8b-9

“…When he ascended upon high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.   (Which, of course, was poured out at Pentecost.) 9. (Now that he ascended, (up to Glory) what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?”  Exactly as Jesus spoke of it concerning Jonah—that as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish, so must the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.    Same identical language.

Now I imagine everybody has the same problem I do.  And for me it’s not a problem, because I certainly believe the Scriptures.  But if we understand the makeup of planet Earth, what have we been taught is at the center?  The core of molten, molten material.  That’s our concept of the center of the earth.  But you see, we have to overcome that and realize that God is still able to—in spite of all that, there had to be a place that He was able to describe as we’ve seen here—where the departed believers were on one side and the departed unbelievers were on the other.  And, of course, they’re still there.  The unbelievers will be there until the Resurrection of John chapter 5.  Now verse 10:

Ephesians 4:10a

“He that descended (the same Jesus Christ) is the same also (Jesus Christ) who ascended up far above all heavens,…”  Well now, the Psalmist used it as “above all the highest hills.”  He is above and beyond everything that man can think of.  And then, of course, Paul goes on how that He gave gifts to men which were apostles, prophets, evangelists, and so on and so forth.   All right, let’s go back and pick up our account in Psalms 68 verse 19. 

Psalms 68:19a

“Blessed be the Lord,…” See all these references to Deity as we come through this chapter?  It’s just over and over and over.  It’s either God or Lord or Jehovah or whatever.  All right, verse 19 again:

Psalms 68:19

“Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation.” Now you remember, I’m always stressing what is the main theme of Scripture?  Salvation!  The whole Book is constantly trying to bring lost people to a knowledge of salvation.   You remember the very verse we started with this afternoon in Peter?  “Of which salvation the prophets searched…”  Well, it’s the theme of Scripture. It is to bring lost people to a place of God’s salvation.

Psalms 68:19b-20

“…even the God of our salvation. 20. He that is our God is the God of salvation; and unto GOD the Lord belong the issues from death.”  But now we step in again to the wrath of God that’s going to precede this glorious Kingdom.  Now He comes back to the Tribulation experience.

Psalms 68:21-22

“But God shall wound the head of his enemies, and the hairy scalp of such an one as goeth on still in his trespasses. (speaking of lost humanity.)  22. The Lord said, I will bring again from Bashan, I will bring my people again from the depths of the sea.” 

In other words, He’s still going to bring His people Israel from wherever they are in the planet to be ready to come into this glorious Kingdom that is being promised.  All right, now verse 23, yet another picture of His wrath and the horrors of the Tribulation.

Psalms 68:23

“That thy foot may be dipped in the blood of thine enemies, and the tongue of thy dogs in (will lick) the same.”   Now let’s go back and compare this to Revelation 19. We have the same scenario, the horrors of these final days of the wrath and vexation that’s coming on the planet. 

Now I know that I have people listening to me, not in here, but out in TV land that just ridicule this.  They just can’t imagine that the so-called God of the Bible is going to bring on such mass death and destruction.  Yes, He is.  And I’ve been giving the reason in all the programs lately.  Why?  Because during these last 6,000 years of human history, God has been merciful and gracious and offered salvation at every turn.  And when the mass of humanity rejects it, then, yes, His wrath is going to finally fall.  Hasn’t happened yet, but it will.   All right, Revelation 19 and let’s see how that compares with Psalms 68:23.   Now look how Revelation puts it, chapter 19 verse 17.

Revelation 19:17a

“And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven,…”  Now, I’ve got to stop again.  Can’t help it.  People get all hung up on simple terms of Scripture.  And they say, “Well, Les, you speak of three heavens.  What are they?” 

Well, here’s one example.  What is the heaven in which the birds fly, for heavens sake?  Oh, our atmosphere, the air around us.  Get a bird in here and he can fly.  What’s the second heaven?  Well, outer space.  The Space Program is penetrating deeper and deeper into space.  And then Paul speaks of the third heaven, and what was that?  The very Heaven of the heavens, the Presence of God.  Those are your three heavens of Scripture.  All right, that’s why I had to think of it.  The birds of the heaven—that just simply means the birds of our atmosphere.

Revelation 19:17b

“…saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;”  What is it?  To clean up the death of the human race that’s laying on the surface of the earth. 

Revelation 19:18

“That  ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, small and great.”  That’s going to be the end result of this final seven years.

Now, I’ve got time.  A verse comes to mind, I don’t think you’ll find it in the margins of your Bible.  But, Jeremiah, I think it’s 25.  Now see, some of these verses I don’t even think of while I’m preparing.  It’s a good thing the Lord brings them to mind while I’m at it.  But here it is—Jeremiah chapter 25.  We’ve used them before, and the Bible is full of these kinds of descriptions for those final seven years, especially the closing months and days.  And I think it’s going to be nuclear war.  You’ve heard of the “nuclear winter,” where everything is just barren.  Well, I think it’s coming. 

In fact, they’ve been advertising—you know, the only TV I watch is pro-football.  Forgive me, those people that think it’s violent, but I love my Cowboys.  But what have they been advertising lately?  A movie is coming some time in the month of December, “The Last Days” of some sort. 

And as I looked at that preview, I just said, Lord, you’re getting them ready.  They’re going to see all that stuff that Hollywood dreams up.  It’s going to become a reality, and it’s going to be beyond human description.  Now look at it.  This is what the Scripture says.  It’s not what Les Feldick thinks.  It’s what the Book says.  Jeremiah 25.  I’ve got time.  Go all the way back to verse 30.  Jeremiah 25 and I know some of you see me use these more than once.  But again, there are people out there that have never heard this before. 

Jeremiah 25:30

“Therefore prophesy (or speak forth) thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The LORD (Now that’s God the Son in the Old Testament, or Jesus Christ of the New.) shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.”  Not just Israel.  This is going to be for the whole world’s population, all seven billion of them. 

Jeremiah 25:31a

“A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations;…”  Why?  Because of their rejection of everything that He’s ever said or done.  Their hatefulness and their rebellion toward Him.  Their corruption, as we’re seeing every time we turn around lately.  The corruption.  And don’t think it’s confined to America.  My, you get into these Banana Republics, and corruption is what everybody thrives on.    Well, God is putting all that on their account. 

Jeremiah 25:31b

“…for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations; he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, (that is to death) saith the LORD.”  Now, here’s where it’s going to come.  Compare this with the Psalms and compare it with Revelation and it all fits.  Verse 32: 

Jeremiah 25:32

“Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the (borders) coasts of the earth.”  That to me is nuclear power being exercised.  Now here it is.

Jeremiah 25:33a

“And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth:…” My, we thought the tsunami a few years ago was horrible, but that was just a little, just a little speck of planet earth.  This is from pole to pole and from east to west. 

Jeremiah 25:33b

“…from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried;…”  How did Revelation picture it?  As food for the birds of prey.  Well, birds of prey don’t go six feet deep to go find a corpse do they?  It’s lying on the ground.  This is what’s coming.  It’s going to be total death and destruction. 

Well, we only have one more minute?  Two.  Let’s go back to Psalms 68, and then maybe we can move on from there in our next program.

Now we come back again to the joy of the Kingdom—the Glory that’s going to follow the horrors of the Tribulation.  Verse 24 back in Psalms 68:

Psalms 68:24-25

“They have seen thy goings, O God: even the goings of my God, my King, in the sanctuary.  (The King in the sanctuary—that’s the Nation of Israel.) 25. The singers (in other words, all the celebration of this coming King and His Kingdom) went before, the players on instruments followed after; among them were the damsels playing with timbrels.”  Can’t you picture it? 

Psalms 68:26-27

“Bless ye God in the congregations, even the Lord, from the fountain of Israel. 27. There is little Benjamin (down on the south part of Israel’s geography) with their ruler, the princes of Judah and their council, the princes of Zebulun, (who is a little further north) and the princes of Naphtali.”  He’s on the north. 

So what have we got?  We’ve got a picture of Israel from south to north. The whole Twelve Tribes are all going to enjoy this glorious heaven-on-earth Kingdom ruled by their Messiah.    Now I’ll take one more verse, and I guess it’ll be time to wind her down.

Psalms 68:28-29

“Thy God hath commanded thy strength: strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought for us.  29. Because of thy temple at Jerusalem (See that?) shall kings bring presents unto thee.”

LESSON THREE * PART III

PART 5 of the MESSIANIC PROPHECIES

Psalms 68, 69, and 72

Okay, once again it’s good to have you all back from break. For those of you out in television, remember we’re producing four programs in a row, and we always take a coffee break in between.  So this is the beginning of program number three for the afternoon.  For those of you who have been listening, we again want to thank you for your prayer support, your financial support, and for your mail.  Oh, how we enjoy our letters.  Rarely, rarely, do we get a letter that we’d just as soon never have seen.  It does happen but not very often.

We’re going to continue now in our study in the Psalms. We are finishing up with our book number 79.  We still have our Question and Answer Book available.  And for those of you who have heard about it but have never got one, it’s still available if you just call or write the ministry. We send them out postage paid and everything for just eleven bucks.  I’ve said I’m not going to put prices on the air, because then if something happens and these programs come out three or four years from now, I’ll wish I wouldn’t have said anything.  But we’ve had them now for several years at $11, and we hope we can continue to do that.  Many say it’s most helpful in answering questions you may have about the Bible.  

We’re a Bible study, and we’re going to go right back at that.  We’re going to move into the next Messianic Psalm, and that is 69.  The next one after 69 is 72.  And remember what I said earlier—a Messianic Psalm is where the writer of the Psalm (usually David) prophecies and so much of it is tied to our New Testament and Christ’s earthly ministry and so forth. 

Now this particular Psalm 69 is definitely going back to His pre-crucifixion suffering.  How He suffered at the hands of His covenant people Israel.  So the language, again, is as if—like we had in earlier Psalms—as though the Lord Himself is saying it, but it’s through the pen of David by inspiration. 

So when it says in the first verse, “Save me, O God;” it’s coming from the lips of the Lord Jesus.  It’s in His pre-crucifixion suffering and anxiety. 

Psalms 69:1-2a

“Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. 2. I sink in deep mire,…”  Now you’ve got to constantly remember His agony in the Garden and leading up to His suffering of the cross itself.  All these are references to that whole event. 

Psalms 69:2

“I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.”  In other words, all of the ramifications of that work of the cross are just flowing over Him. 

Psalms 69:3-4a

“I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.  (Now that’s all evident again from His suffering on the cross itself.) 4. They that hate me without a cause (There’s no reason for them to hate Him so.  But they did.) are more than the hairs of mine head: (That is in number.) they that would destroy me,…”  Now remember, what did they cry out?  Crucify Him.  Away with Him. 

Let’s go back and look at John chapter 15, which is exactly a quote from this very Psalm.  John chapter 15 verse 25 and, again, I’m doing this to show the meticulousness and the intricacy of Scripture. 

Now I’m just reminded. Somebody sent us in the mail the other day a special publication by one of our major news magazines.  I won’t name it.  I don’t want to get in trouble  But it was garbage from cover-to-cover.  And it was supposedly showing people how to read their Bible.  Why, I wrote back to the lady.  I said, “How in the world could you even spend five minutes reading garbage?  It’s written by atheists, or at least people who have absolutely no respect for the Word of God.”  I mean they just chewed it up and spit it out.  The Apostle Paul was worse than an infidel.  He was worse than the worst of criminals.  And that’s the impression that they put on people who read that stuff. 

Well, I want to confront that kind of thing with the perfectness of our Bible.  It is not something to be chewed up and spit out!  It is not something to be ridiculed and scorned and laughed at as though it was written by a bunch of rogues!  This is the inspired Word of God, and here it proves it.  What David wrote back in the Psalms came from the lips of the Lord Jesus Himself.  Now, John’s Gospel chapter 15 verse 25, and it’s in red if you’ve got a red-letter edition. 

John 15:25

“But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.”  Now remember, the Psalms are all part of the Old Testament record, so it is part of the Law.  This is the exact wording from the Psalms.  So here again, what I’ve got to constantly point out, is that the Scripture is so intricately put together.  Now back to Psalms 69.  Keep your hand up there in John.  We’re coming back to Corinthians in just a minute. 

Psalms 69:4

“They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, (Israel had no reason to hate Him so.  He hadn’t done them anything wrong except oppose their wickedness and sinfulness.) are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away.”

Psalms 69:5

“O God, (In other words, God the Son is crying out to the Father.) thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.”  Now be a Bible student.  Be a Berean.  What’s He talking about?  His own sin?  No!  He had none.  So whose sins are we talking about?  The sins of the world. 

Now come up to the New Testament for the answer. That would be in II Corinthians chapter 5. I don’t know what number it is, but I know it’s the last verse in the chapter.  II Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21.  This is what He’s talking about.  I’ll wait until you find it.  II Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21.  Well, we’d better read verse 20. 

II Corinthians 5:20-21

“Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, (Paul writes) as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you (we beg you) in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. 21. For (And that’s why I had to read that verse.) For he (God) hath made him (God the Son.  Jesus of Nazareth.  God hath made Jesus--) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” 

So what sin is He talking about in the Psalms?  The sin of the world that was laid on Him.  Don’t ever lose that.  All our sin from Adam to the end was laid on Him.  That’s why the movie that Gibson produced didn’t even scratch the surface.  All that showed was some of His human suffering.  But where was the majority of His suffering?  In His Spirit as a Member of the Godhead who took upon Himself all the sin of every human who ever lived.  We can’t comprehend that.  That’s why it took a person of the Godhead to do the work of salvation.  No human being can take on the sins of mankind.  And that’s why I confronted a little Muslim girl one time.  I said, “Does the Koran give you a Savior who could take upon Himself your sin?”  Well, I don’t think she even knew what I was talking about.  But see, the whole concept of Scripture is that one of the Members of the Godhead, the Creator Himself, became the epitome of sin.  That’s why God had to turn His head from Him.  That’s why He could not look on Him, because He was covered with the sins of mankind.

Now back to Psalms 69.  I hope I can make that clear, that when He speaks of my sins, it wasn’t His personal sin.  He had none.  But He became sin on our behalf that we might have His righteousness imputed to us.  Verse 6:

Psalms 69:6-7a

“Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel. 7. Because for thy sake I have borne reproach;…” And why did He bear the reproach to become the Savior? By becoming the Savior, lost humanity could be given the opportunity to get right with God the Father?  It all fits if we just understand how it all shakes out.  So verse 7 again.

Psalms 69:7a

“Because for thy sake…”  Remember, what did He pray in the Garden?  “Not My will, but Thine be done.”  And what was the will of the Father?  That this plan of salvation could be completed, so that lost mankind could be brought back into a relationship with God the Father.  Now verse 8:

Psalms 69:8

“I am become a stranger unto my brethren, (His fellow Jews) and an alien unto my mother’s children.”  Now there’s one group of people that don’t like that verse.  And who are they? 

Well, the Roman Catholics are just exercised by the thought that Jesus had physical brothers.  Yes, Mary and Joseph had sons beyond Christ.  She was just a human mother.  She wasn’t the mother of God.  She was the mother of human beings.    So here is a good verse to show these people.  That He is “an alien unto my mother’s (Mary’s) children.” 

Now stop and think.  When did the family of Joseph and Mary recognize and believe who Jesus was?  Not until after, I think, His crucifixion.  Hey, they detested Him just as much as anybody else in Nazareth for the longest time.  But I think they finally came to believe that He was who He said He was.  So it’s evident that Joseph and Mary had other children after Christ was born (Matthew 13:55-56).  All right, read it again.

Psalms 69:8-9

“I am become a stranger unto my brethren, (His fellow Jews.  His family) and an alien (He was a castoff.) unto my mother’s children. (Who would have been His physical brothers.  Half brothers!) 9. For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.”  In other words, all the anger of Israel in rebellion against the Grace of God—they heaped on Him with their scorn and their ridicule and their demand in that He be crucified.

Psalms 69:10-11

“When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach. 11. I made sackcloth also my garment; and I became a proverb to them.”  Now what’s He referring to?  Did He walk up and down the streets and highways of Israel in the apparel of the kings and queens?  NO!  But what?  As almost one who had nothing. 

And I think He put it best when He said that birds have nests and animals have dens but He does not have a place to lay His head.   See, He was absolutely the poorest of the poor from the physical aspect, so that no one could use that as an excuse for rejecting Him.    He was right on their level, and yet, they hated Him.   Verse 11 again:

Psalms 69:11

“I made sackcloth also my garment; (He dressed and He walked and He lived like the lowest of the low.) and I became a proverb to them.”  Now, a proverb in Scripture is a word of scorn.  And not only that, but you come down a little further and He was the subject of the drunkards’ singing. 

Well, I’ve never been around drunkards.  Thank goodness.  Even in service, I was spared that.  I’ve had very little contact with drunks.  But I can about imagine that if you get a bunch of them together, they start singing their ribald type songs and all of the filth associated with it.  And you see, that’s what He’s saying, that even the drunks of Israel—and don’t think there weren’t any—the drunks of Israel even used His name as part of their drunken singing. 

Psalms 69:12a

“They that sit in the gate speak against me;…”  Now in Old Testament language, what did that refer to?  To the city fathers.  To the Magistrates.  They were the ones who were referred to as sitting in the gates.

Psalms 69:12b-14a

“…and I was the song of the drunkards. (as I’ve already mentioned.) 13. But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O LORD, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation. 14. Deliver me out of the mire,…”  In other words, out of this place of reproach and out of this position of being so hated. 

Psalms 69:14b-15

“…let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters. (That is the waters of emotional despair.) 15. Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.”

In other words, what He’s pleading with the Father is that He will be able to sustain life until He can fulfill the work of the cross. Because that’s what He set His mind as flint, remember, to fulfill.  He had to fulfill the work of the cross. 

Psalms 69:16-18

“Hear me, O LORD; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies. 17. And hide not thy face from thy servant; (But did He?  Yes.  God turned from Him.  He couldn’t look on all that sin.) for I am in trouble:  hear me speedily (or instantly). 18. Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies.”

Now I’m curious.  As I’m teaching these for the last several programs, I haven’t heard too much except good.  But even for you in the studio, have any of you ever read these Psalms with this concept?  No.  I’m sure most of you haven’t.  But this is what the whole idea is.  That David was being inspired to write the very things that would be fulfilled in the life of Christ.    And that’s the beauty of the Psalms in this light. 

Psalms 69:18-19

“Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies. (Who were attempting and preparing to crucify Him.) 19. Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonor: mine adversaries are all before thee.”  Now again, was it His personal reproach?  No.  It was the reproach that was poured on Him because of who He was taking the place of. 

Now that wasn’t very good grammar, was it?  But here we have this whole concept.  He became my what?  Substitute!  He took my place.  But not just mine, but every one of you in this room and not just us in Oklahoma—but for every human being around the planet, He became their substitute.

But again, as I’ve always mentioned, how much good is it until you appropriate it by faith.    We have to appropriate it by faith.  For our salvation in this Age of Grace we must believe in our heart that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and rose again—as we are taught in I Corinthians 15:1-4. And that’s what most of the world doesn’t want to have anything to do with.  They want nothing to do with these things.  Okay, reading on, verse 20.

Psalms 69:20

“Reproach hath broken my heart; (And we know His heart was smitten because of His love for the human race—for Israel first, yes, but also for the whole human race.) and I am full of heaviness: I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.” 

Where were the Twelve?  What’s the expression I usually use, especially for us in Oklahoma?  They were scattered like a covey of quail.  Pfffft.  They weren’t there commiserating there with Him.  Now verse 21, you jump right up to the cross. 

Psalms 69:21

“They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.”  I don’t think I have to reference that, do I?  That’s back in Matthew as plain as day. Matthew 27, for those of you who aren’t acquainted with it. 

Psalms 69:22a

“Let their table…” Whose table?  Israel’s.  How did the Psalmist put it in Psalms 23?  “Thou preparest” what?  “A table before me.” 

Now, I’ve had people call or write and ask—what’s He writing about?  Well, just use some common sense.  When Israel was in that Covenant relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they were in that favored place.  Now granted, they didn’t sit down to a banquet table in some great hall in one of the great capital cities of the world.  But spiritually speaking, where could a Jew feast any day of the week?  At God’s table.  And I think it’s the same for you and me as believers.  We have the option.  We can feast at God’s table 24/7, can’t we?  And what is it?  The Word of God!

And so it was with Israel.  They had the Word.  They had the Old Testament. So when it speaks of feasting at God’s table, I feel it is that they had the wherewithal to feast on things of God’s Word.  Now verse 22, here we have a quote used by the Apostle Paul. 

Psalms 69:22-23

“Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap. 23. Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake.”

Now let’s move up and see how Paul uses that in Romans chapter 11.  We’ll probably almost finish our five minutes back here.  Romans chapter 11 verse 1, but the verse I want to really take out of the Psalm, of course, is clear up here at verses 9 and 10.  But we can’t skip all these good introductory words. 

Romans 11:1a

“I say then, (Paul says) Hath God cast away his people?...”  Well, you see, there’s a multitude of people today that would say yes.  They’re trying to tell us that God’s all through with Israel, and that they disappeared and so forth.  Don’t you believe it.  The Word of God says He will never cast them away. 

Romans 11:1-3

“I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. (Just don’t even think such a thought.  Why?) For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. (He knew everything that they were going to say, think, and do.) Know ye not what the scripture saith of Elijah? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, 3. Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.”

Romans 11:4-5a

“But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, (a remnant) who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. 5. Even so then (Paul says) at this present time also there is a remnant…” A small percentage of those Jews of Jesus’ day who had recognized and believed that He was the Promised Messiah.  But the vast majority?  No. 

Romans 11:6

“And if by grace, then it is no more works: otherwise grace is no more grace.  But if it be of works, then it is no more grace:…”  Now, that almost sounds like double-talk.  But he’s saying flat out, you can’t mix grace and works.  You cannot do it, because then you get a conglomerated mess.  Now verse 7, here we come.

Romans 11:7a

“What then?  (Now if Israel has never had more than a small remnant of true believers, is it any different today?) Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for;…” Now stop right there.  What has Israel been on the surface looking for?  This glorious King and Kingdom.  Oh, they wanted that.  They wanted those Gentiles off the streets of Jerusalem. 

My, I’ll never forget.  The first time we stopped at Caesarea, the guide pointed out at the gates to the city, stone pillars.  There were grooves where the Roman stirrups were constantly hitting those gateposts.  Grooves into the stone.  Well, that just told you that it was a constant riding back and forth of those Roman legions into their city.  And the Jews hated them.  Well, we would too.  You know, we’re so blessed.  We’ve never been under the heavy boot of an adversary.  But Israel was.  So here it is.  They wanted that king.  They wanted their kingdom.  But to get it God’s way?  No way. 

Romans 11:7b

“…but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded. (Now this is the thing that I have a hard time comprehending.  And yet it’s a fact of Scripture that Israel has been blinded when they should have been able to comprehend.) Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election (that little remnant) hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.”  Oh my, now I’ve got to hurry. 

Romans 11:8-10

“(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, (That is Spiritual.) eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. (Now here Paul goes back to Psalms 69.) 9. And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, (In other words, they were proud of their relationship as the Sons of Abraham.) and a stumbling block, and a recompence unto them: 10. Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back always.”  Now Paul continues on.

Romans 11:11

“I say then, (Now here’s what we have to take to heart.) Have they stumbled (the Nation of Israel) that they should fall? (And be completely out of God’s program, and what’s his answer?) God forbid: (Don’t think such a thought.) but rather through their fall salvation has come to the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.”

Romans 11:12

“Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, (That is the work of the cross becoming the Plan of Salvation—Gospel of Grace for the Gentile world.) and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles: how much more their (What?) fullness.”

Oh, their day of Glory is still ahead of them.  Yes, they’ve had a rough 2,000 years.  We know that.  But God hasn’t given up on the Jew.  God hasn’t given up on Israel.  The best is yet to come.  That’s why we admonish to—what?   Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

LESSON THREE * PART IV

PART 5 of the MESSIANIC PROPHECIES

Psalms 68, 69, and 72

Okay, good to have everybody back in for program number 4. That’ll finish book number 79.  We’ll be starting something different in our next taping.  But for those of you out in television, again, we just want to remind you we still have quite a few copies of our one and only book—Questions and Answers from the Bible—and the girls will get them out to you.  Just give them a call, drop us a note, or whatever.

Transcriber’s note—I know many have that little question and answer book already.  But for those of you who don’t – let me encourage you to buy one.   So many have used that book—even to find salvation.   That little book covers almost 100 questions you might have about the Bible.    I bought the book for my brother, whom I thought believed as we do for salvation.  But after reading that little book, he asked me a question: “Why did you almost let me go to Hell?”   Enough said!    They also make a wonderful gift to give and only cost $11 which includes shipping.   Thank you, Jerry Pool

And again, we always want to thank our audience for all your prayers and your financial help.  We just can’t say it enough.  We can’t repeat it often enough.

Now we’re going to move right on to where we left off in our Psalms study. Remember in our last program we were showing how graphically the suffering and the crucifixion is shown in Psalms 69. We’re going to finish that one before we go on into number 72, which will kind of wind up our series in Psalms.  So come back with me to Psalms 69 where we left off as Paul quoted from it in verse 22.

Psalms 69:22-23a

“Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap. 23. Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not;…”  Remember, we’re talking about Israel.  

Psalms 69:23b-25a

“…and make their loins continually to shake.  24. Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them. 25. Let their habitation be desolate;…”   Did it happen?  My, after A.D. 70 Israel became a total desolation for 1,900 and some years.  All this was fulfilled. 

Psalms 69:25b-28

“…and let none dwell in their tents. 26. For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded. 27. Add iniquity unto their iniquity: and let them not come into thy righteousness. 28. Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.”  Which is called the Book of Life. 

The Book of Life is referred to, of course, throughout Scripture.  It’s just one of the facets.  It’s not unique to Israel.  We know that Paul alludes to it.  The Book of Revelation alludes to it. And here the Lord just simply makes a statement of judgment because of their unbelief and their rejection of Him.  He said, “Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.”  Now He comes back to His own estate.

Psalms 69:29

“But I am poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.” And as I said in the last program, remember, salvation is the theme of Scripture—to bring lost men to a knowledge of eternal life.  Now verse 30 and He comes back speaking of Himself. Now remember, these are the words of the Lord Jesus although written by David in 1,000 B.C. 

Psalms 69:30-31

“I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. 31. This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs.”  In other words, the animal sacrifices would be completely done away with by His work of the cross.

Psalms 69:32-33a

“The humble shall see this, and be glad: and your heart shall live that seek God. 33. For the LORD heareth the poor,…”  In other words, those that have been downtrodden under the curse—but when they come into the Kingdom, there will be no downtrodden.  There’ll be no one less blessed than the other.  Now verse 35, here’s the promise. 

Psalms 69:35-36

“For God will save Zion, (They are not going to destroy the Nation of Israel or the City of Jerusalem.) and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession. 36. The seed also of his servants shall inherit it: and they that love his name shall dwell therein.”  And that, of course, is the Glory that’s going to follow.

Now let’s just skip across to Psalms 72 to finish up our fourth program today.  Here again we have all the joys and the blessings of the fruition of David’s prayers, the Kingdom.  Oh, my goodness, David just couldn’t talk enough about this glorious coming Kingdom—which, of course, was promised to him clear back in II Samuel. 

Psalms 72:1

“Give the King (that’s the Messiah) thy judgments, (or thy government) O God, and thy righteousness unto the king’s son.”   All right, now let’s use Scripture.  Jump up to Isaiah chapter 9 so that you can see that all of this fits over and over and over. 

These are verses that we’ve used many, many times before. But they’re always appropriate when we can prove that Scripture fits with Scripture.  Now remember what he just said.  Give the King thy judgments—or thy government or thy rule.  Now Isaiah 9:6 and here’s the promise from the prophet—the same Kingdom, same King, and the same Messiah.

Isaiah 9:6-7a

“For unto us (to the Nation of Israel) a child is born, (speaking of Bethlehem) unto us a son is given: and the government (this coming King and His Kingdom) shall be upon his shoulder: (Whose shoulder?  The Babe of Bethlehem.  The One who has come to the Nation of Israel.) and his name shall be (when this Kingdom becomes a reality) called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, (It’s going to go on into eternity.) upon the throne of David,…” 

Do you see that?  It’s going to be on David’s throne as he held forth in his kingdom time on Mount Zion in Jerusalem.   That’s why we have Jerusalem mentioned so often.  It will always be the capital of the Nation of Israel. 

Isaiah 9:7b

“…and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever.  The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”  In other words, the Creator, the Sustainer, will make sure that all these prophecies will come to pass.  All right, back to Psalms chapter 72 verse 3.

Psalms 72:3-4

“The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness. (Which is probably a reference to some of the other Gentile kingdoms that will be part of the Lord’s Kingdom.) 4. He shall judge (or rule) the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor.”

Now let’s pick up again what Isaiah says.  Jump back again to Isaiah, this time to chapter 11.  All of this is fulfilled when the King finally sets up this glorious Kingdom. 

Isaiah 11:1-2a

“And there shall (Future—it’s still future, even though Isaiah wrote in 700 B.C.  It’s still future.) come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, (Who was the father, remember, of King David.) and a Branch (Capital B—that’s one of the terms of Deity in the Old Testament.) shall grow out of his roots: (And this is what He’s going to show forth.) 2. And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,…”  Upon whom?  This Son of David, the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, born of Bethlehem—however you want to put it, when He becomes King and the Kingdom is established.

Isaiah 11:2-3a

“And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear (or the wisdom) of the LORD; (That’s all going to be His attributes as King.) 3. And (these things) shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge (or rule) after the sight of his eyes,…”

I’ve explained that over the years.  Every ruler, whether he’s a king or whether he’s a president or whether he’s a governor has to have advisors.  They can’t possibly know every segment of their kingdom, or of their rule.  So they have these various departments. In America we call them cabinets. 

Every cabinet secretary has a particular section of our government, or whatever you want to call it. He has to report to the President and make his requests and so forth, because no one man can keep track of everything.  So, it’s necessary.  But with Him, He won’t need a cabinet.  He’s going to have full knowledge.  He’s the Creator God.   He won’t have to listen to the reports of some of His underlings.  He won’t have to go by what He sees on their charts or listen to what they have to report.

Isaiah 11:4-5

“But with righteousness (as the absolute, sinless, holy member of the Triune God) he shall judge (rule) the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: (In other words, they’re no longer going to be the downtrodden segment of society.  They’ll be up here with all the rest of them.) and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, (That is building up to this.  That’s the Tribulation again.) and with the breath of his lips (as we saw in the last program) shall he slay (or bring to nothing) the wicked. 5. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.” 

That always brings me to another thought.  I didn’t intend to do this, but come up with me a minute to Romans.  I’ve come to a stronger conviction of my use of the word faithfulness, because it is so a part of Scripture.  Romans chapter 3 and this is just a little aside.  Verses 21 and 22—this is where we are so far as salvation is concerned.  Verse 21—this is after he’s showing us in verses 19 and 20 that the Law had nothing to do with saving us.  All it could do was convict us.

Romans 3:21-22a

“But now (on this side of the finished work of the cross) the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, (It’s brought into the spotlight.) being witnessed by the law (Absolutely, that was all part of the progressive revelation.) and the prophets; (Now here it comes.) 22. Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ…” And I’ve always put in there “faithfulness,” and I used to quibble my ear a little bit.  I thought, well, maybe I’m not treating Scripture right.  But I’m seeing more and more, even from other commentators, that that is the true word here.  It’s the “faithfulness of Jesus Christ.”

You’ve heard me give this illustration as long as you’ve been coming in here.  Do you examine your chair before you sit on it?  No.  Why?  You trust it.  You know it’s going to be faithful to hold you.  Well, that’s the way it is with Christ.  He didn’t die that death as a wimp.  He didn’t die that death as a defeated something or other.  He was victorious.  And when he proclaimed salvation on that finished work of the cross, He remains faithful.  Now, I want you to go home with that word ringing in your ears.  He is faithful to the very end of eternity—which will never come.  He’ll always be faithful.  No matter what our need, He’s faithful.  And the Old Testament brings that out so clearly.

Now come back again, if you will, to Psalms 72.  In faithfulness He’s going to rule and He’s going to provide.  Now verse 5:

Psalms 72:5

“They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations.”  Now there’s another portion of Scripture that says the same thing, only from a different prophet.  Turn up with me to Jeremiah.  I’m always confronting these people who maintain that God is all through with the Jew.  They disappeared after A.D. 70.  There is nothing of prophecy left concerning the Jew, because they disappeared.  How can they proclaim such stuff? 

And these are good men.  I mean, these are highly educated, well thought of men.  I get a magazine every once in a while that says everything was fulfilled in A.D. 70.  Christ returned and everything.  Israel disappeared and they are no longer of any account for end-time prophecy.  How can these good men fly in the face of Scripture?

Now remember what you just saw in Psalms.  Verse 5, remember, “They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations.”  All right, now look how Jeremiah puts it in chapter 31.  Now, beloved, this is the Word of God.  How can any man tamper with it?  I’ll never know.  But they do. 

Jeremiah 31:35

“Thus saith the LORD, (the prophet writes) which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; (In other words, that’s the ebb and flow of the tide.) The LORD of hosts is his name:” Now look at verse 36.

Jeremiah 31:36

“If those ordinances (Concerning the sun and the moon and the universe in general—If they--) depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.”  But not until.  Is it ever going to happen?  Never.  Israel will never disappear.  That joker in Iran can say all he wants.  He’s never going to get the job done.  He’s spitting into the wind.  That’s the way one old preacher in Oklahoma used to put it, and I can appreciate it.  That’s all they’re doing.  It’s just flying back in their face if they think they can obliterate Israel, because God says it is not going to happen.

Now come back to Psalms.  Another point I want you to take.  Not only is God faithful, but He’s going to remain faithful and to Israel in particular. 

Psalms 72:6

“He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.”  Now, I know city people can’t enjoy this.  But those of us in rural America: is there anything more fragrant than new-mown hay?  Nothing!  And Scripture is saying the same thing.   Oh, my goodness, “He shall come down like rain upon the mown hay: as showers that water the earth.”

Psalms 72:7-8

“In his days (That is when the King sets up this Kingdom.) shall the righteous flourish; (Because there’ll be no unbelievers in this kingdom.  It’s going to be nothing but righteous.) and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. 8. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.”  Now flip up to Zechariah 14.   Keep your hand in Psalms.  This is a verse that we’ve used over the years.  And how can anybody miss this? 

Zechariah 14:9

“And the LORD (God the Son, Jesus Christ) shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.”

Now when Zechariah writes around 500 B.C., he’s got another 2,500 years to wait.    Two thousand five hundred years have gone by since Zechariah wrote.  But look what he says, “The LORD shall be king over (Not all of Heaven, but what?) all the earth:…”  He’s going to be King over this planet earth that all these Psalms have been writing about, and all the prophecies refer to.  Back to Psalms 72 again. 

Psalms 72:9

“They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust.”  Well, that’s before the Kingdom comes in.  There won’t be any enemies to deal with during the Kingdom. 

Psalms 72:10

“The kings of Tarshish (That’s probably from the western end of the Mediterranean, maybe even Great Britain.) and of the isles shall bring presents: (all the way to Jerusalem) the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.”   Now, you remember, it was the Queen of Sheba that brought all the gold for Solomon.  Now verse 11:

Psalms 72:11-12

“Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him. 12. For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth, the poor also, and him that hath no helper.”  Now let’s just back up.  I’ve got time.  I don’t want to miss this one.  Come back with me to Daniel.  Because I want you to see how all of prophecy is looking forward to this glorious King and His Kingdom.  And it’s going to be ordained by the Triune God Himself.  Daniel chapter 7 verse 13:

Daniel 7:13-14a

“I saw in the night visions, (Now this is Daniel.) and, behold, one like the Son of man (capitalized) came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 14. And there was given him (What’s the next word?) dominion…”  Same word that was used for Adam.  He would have dominion over everything on the earth. 

Daniel 7:14a

“And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, (not just Israel now) nations, and languages, should serve him: and his dominion is an everlasting dominion, (It will never end.) which shall not pass away, and his kingdom…”

Now, let’s jump all the way up to Revelation. You have the same scenario.  Now we have it from the pen of the Apostle John. 

Revelation 5:5

“And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, (Coming out of the line of David and Solomon and all of the way down to the time of Christ and His earthly ministry) the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, (Jesus of Nazareth) hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.”  Now here it is. 

Revelation 5:6-7

“And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.  7. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him who sat upon the throne.”  In other words, He took over the admonition to set up this glorious, glorious Kingdom that is promised all the way up through our Old Testament.  All right, back to Psalms again.  We’ll finish 72, and we can go home.

Psalms 72:7-8a

“In his days (In other words, while He’s ruling and reigning on planet earth.) shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. 8. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea,…”  And then you come all the way down to where I left off earlier in verse 11.

Psalms 72:11-12

“Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.  12. For He shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper.”  In other words, no one is going to end up on the bottom of that—what we call the totem pole.  He’s going to bless them as much as anybody else.

Psalms 72:13-14

“He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy.  14. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: (in other words, from their past lifestyle) and precious shall their blood be in his sight.”  Well, that’s a reference to all the shed blood that has taken place for 6,000 years—beyond our comprehension.  Now verse 15:

Psalms 72:15-16a

“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. 16. There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon:…” 

Now stop a minute.  What kind of soil do you usually have at the top of a mountain?  Rich or poor.  Poor!  I mean, there’s not much topsoil on the top of a mountain.  But the analogy here is that this is going to be such a supernatural kingdom, that even the kernels of grain that are sprinkled on a mountaintop will be able to produce whatever comes from it like Cedars of Lebanon. 

We were close to Lebanon a few weeks ago.  I wish we could have gone.  I’d like to see the Cedars of Lebanon.  They’re still there.  Lebanon is still known for their cedars.  They’re tall, and they’re majestic.  But the analogy here is that this Kingdom is going to be so glorious that even a mountaintop with it’s poor soil and just a sprinkling of some seeds of grain will produce stems or stalks or whatever like unto the Cedars of Lebanon.    Verse 17:

Psalms 72:17-18

“His name shall endure for ever: (It will never be anything less than the Eternal Sovereign God.) his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed. 18. Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things.”

Now you’ve always got to remember.  Throughout all of Israel’s history, even in their unbelief, the miraculous was almost an everyday occurrence, except during the 400 years of silence.  But for the most part, Israel was always aware of the miraculous power of her God.   All right, I’ve got to get down to the last verse.

Psalms 72:19-20

“And blessed be his glorious name for ever: let the whole earth be filled with his glory;  Amen, and Amen. 20. The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.”

What does he mean?  When the Kingdom becomes a reality, all of David’s prayers are fulfilled.