On The Road To Emmaus

[Beetow]

.
● Luke 24:13-27 . . And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded
unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

Well; I'm not positive about all the things Jesus may have expounded concerning
himself, but I think we can probably guess a few.
_

 

[Beetow]

.
● Ps 16:8-10 . . I have set The Lord always before me. Because he is at my right
hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my
body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to sheol, nor will you
let your Holy one see decay.

That prophecy is very useful in an unexpected way, to wit: it connects to Acts 2:25-30
which, in so many words, declares Jesus is one of David's paternal descendants.

"Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is
both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a
prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of
his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne . . ."

So then, if Jesus really is one of David's blood relatives, then of course Jesus is also
one of Adam's blood relatives too because David descended from Adam.

"From one man He made every nation of men" (Acts 17:26)
_

 

[Beetow]

.
● Ps 110:1 . . The Lord said to my lord: Sit at My right hand, till I make your
enemies your footstool.

There's two distinctly different Hebrew words translated by the English word "lord"
in that passage

The first is Jehovah (a.k.a. Yahweh) which is a name restricted to God's use. (Isa
42:8)

The second is 'adown which is a common word for superiors and/or seniors in the
Old Testament; both human and divine. For instance: Sarah referred to her
husband as 'adown (Gen 18:12) The people of Heth addressed Abraham as 'adown
(Gen 23:5-6) Abraham's trusted servant referred to his master as 'adown (Gen
24:12) Rachel addressed her father Laban as 'adown (Gen 31:35) Jacob addressed
Esau as 'adown (Gen 33:8) And God is spoken of as 'adown too. (Isa 1:24 and Isa
3:1 et al.)

Jesus said Ps 110:1 pertains to Christ (Matt 22:42-45) who his audience believed
was David's descendant. But in ancient Jewish culture, fathers were superior to
their posterity; so Jesus asked his audience how it could be that David's son would
outrank him.

Well, the thing is: biblical preeminence relative to primogeniture is transferable, i.e.
it can be taken from a senior and bestowed upon a junior, for example: Ishmael to
Isaac (Gen 20:11-12) Esau to Jacob (Gen 25:23) Reuben to Joseph (Gen 49:3-4 &
1Chr 5:1) and Manasseh to Ephraim. (Gen 48:13-14)
_

 

[Beetow]

.
● Mic 5:2 . . But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah-- too little to be among the clans
of Judah --from you one will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth
are from long ago, from the days of eternity

NOTE: I believe it would be a mistake to assume that passage is saying the
ruler is an eternal being when a better application would be that the ruler's
birth was scheduled very long ago; before the world began. (1Pet 1:18-21
& Rev 13:8)

Anyway: although the Bible gives a location for the ruler's birth, it doesn't give a
date for it. However, the Bible does give the date of his official presentation;
beginning with Zech 9:9 which says:

"Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king
comes to you: righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a
colt, the foal of a donkey."

That prediction was fulfilled during what is customarily known as Palm Sunday.
(Matt 21:1-10, John 12:12-16) The date of that event can be determined with little
difficulty from Dan 9:25 in combination with the 1st and 2nd chapters of the book
of Nehemiah.

* If perchance someone out there wants to give this a try, be sure and use
prophetic years of 360 days in your arithmetic instead of solar years or the
result won't come out right. Also; be very sure to begin your reckoning with
Artaxerxes' decree to rebuild Jerusalem rather than Cyrus' decree to rebuild the
Temple as those two projects were not concurrent.
_

 

[Beetow]

.
● Ps 110:4 . .The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: "You are a priest
forever, in the manner of Melchizedek."

Now the interesting thing is: Mel's wasn't a succession kind of priesthood like
Aaron's, nor was Mel's restricted to a particular nationality nor a particular family.

Anyway; Mel was a high priest (Heb 5:10) which is a sacred trust exercised by one
man alone rather than a responsibility shared among a guild of priests. And the
position isn't something men win, viz; the high priesthood is neither an
achievement nor a career path. In other words: men don't compete for the job
because it's an appointment (Heb 5:4-6) In point of fact; a lifetime appointment,
i.e. the high priesthood is a position that the man occupies till he's deceased.

Well; Jesus came back from death with immortality (Rom 6:9) so we need not be
concerned that he might some day be replaced. (Heb 7:23-25) In other words:
Jesus is the last of his kind; hence there won't be any more after him.

Now, Mel was a high priest on Earth, whereas Jesus is a high priest in Heaven (Col
3:1) which implies Jesus has direct access to God's ear-- a tremendous advantage
for folks for whom Jesus is their mediator between God and Man.

● Heb 4:14-16 . .Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through
the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we
do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we
have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-- yet was without sin.
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive
mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

The Greek word translated "confidence" basically pertains to all out-spokenness,
i.e. candid, man to man, heart to heart, and straight from the shoulder, so to
speak. So let's not be trying God's patience with rote prayers when we are so
strongly urged to just be ourselves.
_

 

[Bruce.Leiter]

.
● Ps 110:4 . .The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: "You are a priest
forever, in the manner of Melchizedek."

Now the interesting thing is: Mel's wasn't a succession kind of priesthood like
Aaron's, nor was Mel's restricted to a particular nationality nor a particular family.

Anyway; Mel was a high priest (Heb 5:10) which is a sacred trust exercised by one
man alone rather than a responsibility shared among a guild of priests. And the
position isn't something men win, viz; the high priesthood is neither an
achievement nor a career path. In other words: men don't compete for the job
because it's an appointment (Heb 5:4-6) In point of fact; a lifetime appointment,
i.e. the high priesthood is a position that the man occupies till he's deceased.

Well; Jesus came back from death with immortality (Rom 6:9) so we need not be
concerned that he might some day be replaced. (Heb 7:23-25) In other words:
Jesus is the last of his kind; hence there won't be any more after him.

Now, Mel was a high priest on Earth, whereas Jesus is a high priest in Heaven (Col
3:1) which implies Jesus has direct access to God's ear-- a tremendous advantage
for folks for whom Jesus is their mediator between God and Man.

● Heb 4:14-16 . .Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through
the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we
do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we
have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-- yet was without sin.
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive
mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

The Greek word translated "confidence" basically pertains to all out-spokenness,
i.e. candid, man to man, heart to heart, and straight from the shoulder, so to
speak. So let's not be trying God's patience with rote prayers when we are so
strongly urged to just be ourselves.
_

Isaiah 53 describes Jesus as our Substitute in his suffering and death (verses 1-9) as well as his resurrection (verses 10-12). The result must be that we need to overcome our old, sinful nature and put on God's new nature more and more in our lives. The key is constant prayer (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

 

[Beetow]

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● Gen 3:15 . . I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your
offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.

Just about everybody on both sides of the aisle concurs that prophecy predicted
Christ; and in point of fact, the new testament emphasizes a woman brought Jesus
into the world, viz: he didn't just magically appear on the scene out of nowhere.
(Luke 1:26-31, Gal 4:4)

FAQ: Who are those "your offspring" spoken of in Gen 3:15?

REPLY: According to John 8:38-44 they're people.

FAQ: How so?

REPLY: The Serpent-- a.k.a. the Devil (Rev 20:2) --has the power of death (Heb
2:14) and the ability to tamper with the human body and the human mind in ways
not easily detected. (Ps 51:5, Luke 13:16, Mark 5:1-5, Eph 2:2)

FAQ: Are you suggesting the Devil tampers with people's birth so that they come
into this world with a demonic nature instead of a divine nature?

REPLY: Yes.

● 1John 3:7-8 . . Little children, let no one deceive you; the one who practices
righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of
the Devil; for the Devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for
this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the Devil.
_

 

[Beetow]

.
● Gen 49:8-10 . .You, O Judah, your brothers shall praise; your hand shall be on
the nape of your foes; your father's sons shall bow low to you. The scepter shall not
depart from Judah, nor a ruler from between his feet

That prediction looked ahead to Jesus' tribal affiliation.

● Heb 7:14 . . It is clear that our Lord descended from Judah

The pathway for Jesus' connection to Judah was via David; who himself was of the
same tribe. (Matt 1:2-6)

The line from Judah to David can be easily traced in the old testament. It's a pretty
interesting journey as it takes Bible readers into and thru the little story of Ruth: an
amazing girl.

● Ruth 4:17 . . And the women, her neighbors, gave the baby a name, saying
"There is a son born to Naomi" and they called his name Obed: he is the father of
Jesse, the father of David.

* Ruth's baby was accounted her deceased husband's posterity in matters pertaining
to inheritance due to a law relative to childless kinsmen. (Deut 25:5-6)
_

 

[Beetow]

.
● Dan 9:25-26 . . Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the
commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall
be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and
the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah
be cut off,

Now, that last sentence, the one that says Messiah shall be cut off, has somehow
escaped the notice of a pretty good number of the Jews' rabbinical scholars. And
Daniel wasn't the only prophet to mention this; Isaiah did too.

● Isa 53:8 . .Who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of
the living

In other words: Messiah was not only supposed to die, but also to leave behind no
posterity.

The thing is: the Jews were expecting an immortal monarch who would liberate
them from foreign dominance and usher in the glorious theocratic kingdom as it's
depicted by the prophets. Because he didn't do as expected. quite a few modern
Jews honestly believe they have sufficient justification for refusing to consider Jesus.
_

 

[Beetow]

.
● Isa 7:14 . .The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call
him Immanuel.

The new testament applies that prophecy to Christ.

"They will call him Immanuel-- which means "God with us" (Matt 1:23)

Well; there is no use in looking for a black and white example of the people
speaking of Jesus by that name because there isn't one. However, it isn't
necessarily an ID tag when it can also speak of divine patronage, for example:

"And fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying: A great prophet
has arisen among us! And: God has visited His people! And this report concerning
him went out all over Judea, and in all the surrounding district." (Luke 7:16-17)
_

 

[Beetow]

.
● Dan 7:9-10 . . I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days
did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure
wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery
stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered
unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment
was set, and the books were opened.

That's very likely an early mention of the great white throne event depicted by Rev
20:11-15 which will be supervised by none other than the man who came into the
world as a sweet little babe in swaddling clothes.

● John 5:21-23 . . Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all
judgment to the Son

● Acts 17:31 . . He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the
man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the
dead.

* This next comment may not be an important note, but it caught my attention that
Christ will have white hair the same as the Ancient of Days in Daniel's prophecy.

● Rev 1:12-14 . . And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And being
turned, I saw one like unto the Son of man, his head and his hairs were white like
wool, as white as snow.

Well; that white hair speaks of seniority, viz: Christ will be presented as an elder;
and according to the Bible, elders are worthy of respect-- not because they earned
it, but simply because the supreme being requires it.

● Lev 19:32a . . Rise in the presence of the aged; show respect for the elderly:
revere your gods. I am The Lord.

The elders among us aren't really divine, but the supreme being identifies Himself
with them that way because He's an elder too, ergo: disrespect for elders down
here is felt by the elder up there.
_

 

[Whatever]

So then, if Jesus really is one of David's blood relatives, then of course Jesus is also
one of Adam's blood relatives too because David descended from Adam.

Jesus was born of a virgin. He did not inherit any of Adam's Y chromosomes.
The two different genealogies are said to be those of Mary and Joseph.

 

[Beetow]

.
● Luke 1:31-34 . . Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you
shall name him Jesus . . and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his
father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever.

Before any man can be considered for David's throne he has to be-- first and
foremost --one of the king's natural descendants, no exceptions.

● Ps 132:11 . .The Lord has sworn in truth unto David; and He will not turn from it:
"Of the fruit of your body will I set upon your throne"

The new testament verifies Jesus is the fruit of David's body spoken of in that oath.

● Acts 2:29-30 . . Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch
David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day.
Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him,
that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on
his throne.

● Rom 1:3 . . His son; descended from David according to the flesh

FAQ: From whence did baby Jesus obtain a Y chromosome for his male gender?

REPLY: In the beginning, Eve's entire body-- inside and out, front to back, top to
bottom, and side to side --was constructed with material taken from Adam's body
(Gen 2:21-22) So if God could construct an entire woman from material taken from
a man's body, then it shouldn't be too difficult for Him to construct a teensy little
chromosome from a woman's body.

The practicality of it is that a Y chromosome constructed with material taken from
Mary's body wouldn't be an alien substance created ex nihilo; but would be 100%
natural; easily traceable from Mary's flesh to her parents' flesh, and from thence
to David's, and last of all to Adam's flesh.

FAQ: You're saying Mary was Jesus' natural mother rather than his surrogate mother?

REPLY: The angel informed Mary that she would conceive in her womb. Well;
according to the birds and bees, a woman's ovum has to be involved in a baby's
beginning in order for the little tyke to be considered a conception.
_

 

[Beetow]

.
Seeing as how we've been touching on Jesus' human origin, then we really ought to
include some comments about a particularly wicked king in David's dynasty.

● Jer 22:29-30 . . O land, land, land, hear the word of the Lord! Thus said the Lord:
Record this man as without succession, one who shall never be found acceptable;
for no man of his offspring shall be accepted to sit on the throne of David and to
rule again in Judah.

The bad king's name was Jeconiah (a.k.a. Jehoiakim and/or Coniah) and Mary's
fiancé Joseph was one of his descendants. (Matt 1:11)

It's commonly believed that the curse extended to Joseph, so that had Jesus been
Joseph's paternal descendant, it would've prevented Mary's son from ascending
David's throne.

But that's of no consequence because Joseph adopted Jesus; which put the lad in
Jeconiah's line, and seeing as how adopted kids inherit from their dads the same as
his paternal children; then had the curse extended to Joseph, it would have
extended to Jesus too because the throne and the curse were a package deal.

FAQ: Is it certain that Joseph adopted Mary's little guy?

REPLY: Joseph was instructed to give Mary's baby the name Jesus. (Matt 1:21)

Joseph complied. (Matt 1:25)

In ancient times when a man stood with a woman to name her child, he officially
declared it his (cf. Luke 1:13 & Luke 1:59-63). So from then on the neighbors, and
Jesus' mom, identified Joseph as Jesus' dad. (Luke 2:27-28, Luke 2:41, Luke 2:48,
& Luke 4:22)

Plus: Jesus is in Jeconiah's genealogy which he wouldn't be had the little chap been
Joseph's foster child.

FAQ: Since when did the Jews begin placing men in positions of power by adoption?

REPLY: Jacob was the first. He took possession of Joseph's two sons Manasseh &
Ephraim and elevated them to tribal heads equal in position to his eldest sons
Reuben and Simeon. (Gen 48:5-6)

Anyway: the wording "to rule again in Judah" indicates that the curse on Jeconiah's
royal progeny was limited to the era of the divided kingdom. That condition came to
an end when Nebuchadnezzar crushed the whole country and led first Samaria, and
then later Judah, off to Babylonian slavery.

When Messiah reigns, the country of Israel will be unified. His jurisdiction won't be
limited to Judah within a divided kingdom, but will dominate all the land of Israel.
So the curse doesn't apply to him.

● Ezek 37:21-22 . .You shall declare to them: Thus said the Lord God: I am going
to take the Israelite people from among the nations they have gone to, and gather
them from every quarter, and bring them to their own land. I will make them a
single nation in the land, on the hills of Israel, and one king shall be king of them
all. Never again shall they be two nations, and never again shall they be divided
into two kingdoms.
_

 

[Whatever]

FAQ: Who are those "your offspring" spoken of in Gen 3:15?

REPLY: According to John 8:38-44 they're people.

Mat 13:24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.

Mat 13:37 He answered and said to them: "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. 39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil

This is about people. Wheat people and Tares people.
The Son of Man sowed the good seed (sperma) that was wheat.
The devil sowed the tares.

Notice in verse 38 it says the good seeds (sperma) are the sons of the kingdom.
It doesn't call the "tares" seed, it just calls them tares.

If the Son of Man only sows good seed (sperma) how does the devil sow tares.
The same word is used for "sow" or "sows" for both.

 

[Beetow]

The Talmud says the 53rd of Isaiah refers to Messiah. (Sanhedrin 98)

The Targum of Jonathan begins it with the words Ha yatslakh avdee Mashikha
which mean: Behold my servant the Messiah shall prosper.

Others believed the 53rd of of Isaiah speaks of the sufferings of Messiah, e.g. Rabbi
Moshe Kohen Ibn Crispin. (a.k.a. Ibn Krispin)

Rabbi Mosheh El-Sheikh (a.k.a. Alshekh) claimed: "Our Rabbis with one voice
accept and affirm the opinion that the prophet [Isaiah] is speaking of King
Messiah."

So; not every Jew has, nor has had, difficulty labeling the righteous servant spoken
of in that chapter. Now as to whether Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah is another
debate, but seeing Messiah in that chapter at all, whoever he might be, makes for a
good start.

Anyway, the 53rd of Isaiah shows up in the new testament at Acts 8:26-34 which
says:

"And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying: Arise, and go toward the
south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.
And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia-- an eunuch of great
authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her
treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship --was returning, and sitting in
his chariot read Isaiah the prophet. Then the Spirit said unto Philip: Go near, and
join thyself to this chariot.

. . And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Isaiah, and said:
Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said: How can I, except some man
should guide me?

. .The place of the scripture which he read was this: He was led as a sheep to the
slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth. In
his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation?
For his life is taken from the earth. And the eunuch answered Philip, and said: I
pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? Of himself, or of some other man?

. .Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached
unto him Jesus."
_

 

[Beetow]

.
The 2nd chapter of the book of Daniel tells of a rather curious statue constructed
with a variety of materials representing a number of significant Gentile empires.

It's my understanding that the several empires represented by the statue have
come and gone except for the one down at the bottom represented by an
aggregate of iron and clay.

The thing to note is that a world controlled by Gentile emperors will finally and
conclusively be ended when a mysterious stone, quarried by the hand of God,
smashes the statue to pieces; which of course will include that one last empire
down at the bottom yet to be identified.

It is very, very tempting to assume the stone quarried by the hand of God
represents Christ, but in my estimation it's far more likely the stone represents the
empire that Christ is destined to rule.

● Dan 7:13-14 . . In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like
a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of
Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign
power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His
dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one
that will never be destroyed.

Now, the kingdom described in that passage won't start out big at first but instead
will start out relatively insignificant.

● Dan 2:34-35 . .While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human
hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the
iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the
same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind
swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue
became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.

The rock destined to become a huge mountain begins its journey to greatness with
David's little pee-wee realm in the land of Israel.

● Luke 1:31-33 . . You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give
him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.
The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the
house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.
_

 

[Beetow]

.
● Isa 42:1-2 . . Behold My servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom My soul
delighteth; I have put My spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the
Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.

That prophecy came to pass at Matt 12:16-21 where it looks to me that Jesus did
not want people to go about advertising him as a thaumaturgist, which is often
associated with occult practices, especially magic.

* Not long after that incident; some of Jesus' opponents began to accuse him of
sorcery. (Matt 12:24)
_

 

[Beetow]

.
● Luke 24:25-26 . . He said to them: How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to
believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these
things and then enter his glory?

The prophets said nothing of the church age so it would be excusable had the two
men been in the dark about that because the prophets were constrained by inspiration
to limit their remarks about Messiah to just two things: his sufferings and his
kingdom.

● 1Pet 1:10-11 . . Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace
that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find
out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing
when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.

I can well imagine Jesus' disgust, and his disappointment, that the men with whom
he spoke on the road to Emmaus were so ill-informed. It's like their version of the
old testament was a whole other set of scriptures instead of the ones given by God.
_