Archive for January, 2014

Isaiah 11:5 Jesus and His Clothes

Posted in Gospel, Isaiah with tags , , , , , , , on January 26, 2014 by paulthepoke

Isaiah 11:5 Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, and faithfulness the belt about His waist.

Isaiah 59:17 He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head; and He put on garments of vengeance for clothing and wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle.

Isaiah and the Old Testament tell what the Messiah will do. The New Testament confirms the promise. Steadiness and firmness are hallmarks of His character. In Revelation 19, the Apostle John confirms Jesus is the identity of the person in Isaiah 11:5 and 59:17.

Revelation 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.

As believers, we are called to be Christ-like and follow His example of dress.  Ephesians 6:14-17 Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Do not budge. Our faith, our belief in Christ protects us. He is our foundation. His truth and justice should hold us in place just as a belt supports our pants. This is how to protect ourselves from Satan. Jesus is synonymous with the Word. He is called and is the Word of God (Revelation 19:13).

Isaiah 11:3b-4 Jesus, the Judge

Posted in Isaiah, Prophecy with tags , , , , , , , on January 19, 2014 by paulthepoke

Isaiah 11:3b-4 And He will not judge by what His eyes see, nor make a decision by what His ears hear; but with righteousness He will judge the poor, and decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; and He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.

The He is Jesus. He will not rely on His senses, hearing and vision, to make determinations. Righteousness will be the determining factor. The Hebrew word for righteousness is “tsedeq”. It means what is just and right (Strong’s Concordance). It is fair and honest. It cannot be bought or bribed. It is equitable and has integrity. It does not care how much money somebody has.

…and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked… In the Hebrew, the word for slay is muwth. It means to die, kill, or have one executed (Strong’s Concordance).

2 Thessalonians 2:8 Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming…

The lawless one is the Antichrist. In the Greek, the word for slay is anaireo. It means to take up, to lift up (from the ground), to take up for myself as mine, to take away, abolish, to put out of the way, or kill slay a man (definitions per Strong’s Concordance).

With this definition, the understanding would be Jesus is going to take the Antichrist as a possession and escort him to the Lake of Fire. Revelation 19:20-21 And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.

The Father is consistent with the expectation and intent of His Son throughout Scripture. Wickedness does not pay.

Psalm 2:9 “You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.”

Isaiah 11:3a The Smell of Obedience

Posted in Gospel, Isaiah, Prophecy with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 12, 2014 by paulthepoke

Isaiah 11:3a And He will delight in the fear of the LORD…

The Hebrew text reads literally, “and his smelling is in the fear of the Lord.” (NET Bible).

Reyach is Hebrew for smell. The word is translated as “delight” by the NASB version. It can be translated as scent, fragrance, aroma, odor of soothing (technical term for sacrifice to God). Definition provided by Strong’s Concordance.

He, Jesus, will enjoy and desire to respect and revere the LORD as if it had a pleasant smell.

“Reyach” is the word used as God’s response to the sacrificial system in the Old Testament.

Numbers 15:7 and for the drink offering you shall offer one-third of a hin of wine as a soothing aroma to the LORD.

Leviticus 23:13 ‘Its grain offering shall then be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering by fire to the LORD for a soothing aroma, with its drink offering, a fourth of a hin of wine. This is a recipe for bread. God delights in the smell of baked bread. This aspect of the sacrificial system is also looking to the future. Notice the elements, bread and wine. The New Testament equivalent is Communion.

Animal sacrifices were required in the Old Testament to be a reminder of sin. These animal sacrifices upon a burning altar produced a soothing aroma to God. The smell of burning animals with spices, God likes the smell of grilled meat. The blood of these animals could not take away sin. But the blood of Jesus could. See Hebrews 10 for detail.

This same word “reyach” is used for “delight” in Amos 5:21 “I hate, I reject your festivals, nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. Translation to the religious ones of the day, your religious actions stink. God does not care for performance religion. He wants your heart.

Our response to all of this is to pray. In the throne room of Heaven, prayers are equated with incense. Our prayers are a fragrant aroma to God. Revelation 8:3-4 Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel’s hand. Prayers smell good to God and He likes them.

He, Jesus, will enjoy and desire to respect and revere the LORD as if it had a pleasant smell.

Isaiah 11:2 Jesus, The Spirit Rests

Posted in Isaiah, Prophecy with tags , , , , , , , , on January 5, 2014 by paulthepoke

Isaiah 11:2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

The Gospel accounts of Matthew and John confirm Jesus is the person who the Spirit of the Lord will rest. Matthew 3:16-17 After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

Jesus is not the first king blessed with the Spirit of God. David was indwelled with the Spirit. This is an example of an Old Testament believer who was indwelled with the Spirit.  1 Samuel 16:13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah.

Wisdom: chokmah in the Hebrew. It means: skill in war, in administration, shrewdness, prudence in religious affairs, skill in ethical and religious endeavors.

Understanding: biynah in the Hebrew. It means: discernment, faculty.

Counsel: `etsah in the Hebrew. It means: advice, purpose.

Strength: g@buwrah in the Hebrew. It means: strength, might, valor, bravery, mighty deeds (of God).

Knowledge: da`ath in the Hebrew: It means: perception, skill, discernment, understanding, wisdom.

Definitions provided by Strong’s Concordance.

Notice, wisdom and knowledge are different. Biblical wisdom is about the application of a knowledge base. Doing what one knows.

Fear of the Lord: The term yara’ (noted in Proverbs 1:7 and Isaiah 8:12) is the common word for fear in the Old Testament and has a basic three-fold range of meanings: (1) “dread; terror” (Deuteronomy 1:29, Jonah 1:10), (2) “to stand in awe” (I Kings 3:28), (3) “to revere; to respect” (Leviticus 19:3). With the Lord as the object, it captures the polar opposites of shrinking back in fear and drawing close in awe and adoration (NET Bible notes).

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