Shadows of the Cross

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. (Luke 23:32-33)

Jesus’ dying for us at “The Skull,” is the completion of a plethora of shadows. For example, we see one such shadow of the cross when Joshua was commanded to make flint knives and circumcise all the Israelites:

² At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites again.” ³ So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath Haaraloth. (Joshua 5:2-3)

⁹ Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So the place has been called Gilgal to this day. (Joshua 5:9)

Gilgal, Golgotha, and Calvary, are names for the same place.-It’s worth noting then, that on “Calvary”, God “rolled away all reproach” from His children. We see another such shadow with Abraham, when he was commanded to sacrifice his son, Isaac. You may be familiar with the story, but if you aren’t, this is the gist of it:

After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”² He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” (Genesis 22:1-2)

¹³ And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ So Abraham called the name of that place,“The Lord will provide”;^[b] as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.” (Genesis 22:13-14)

We aren’t told the exact mountain on which Abraham was commanded to go, however, it was on the same mountain range as Mount. Calvary. Regardless though, it is worth seeing that “the son who was loved” (look at John 3:16 if you want to see the connection between us, and Isaac) was to be killed, but in his place was sacrificed another. That being said, though the ram here is a shadow of Christ, so is Isaac. In earlier verses, we see that Abraham and Isaac’s journey took three days.-The son was under the death sentence for three days. On the third day though, the death sentence was lifted.

We see many such places in the Old Testament; places where something similar to what would happen at the cross was demonstrated. As Paul tells us, all Scripture is useful (2 Timothy 3:16), and certain passages in the Old Testament are “useful” for telling us what exactly happened at the cross.–All our reproach from our old life living in sin (our “reproach of Israel”) has been rolled away. Likewise, we who are loved by the Father (like Isaac) will always be “provided for” on God’s mountain.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

From Guilt to God

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus, and he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” (Matthew 14:1-2)

We see here a guilty man; Herod. We see his guilt in that, once he hears of the “fame of Jesus”, his mind automatically makes the completely logical and reasonable conclusion (bit of sarcasm there) that John the Baptist (who he had earlier executed) has risen from the dead and is now performing miracles. Someone who wasn’t plagued by guilt, may have wanted to see Jesus, maybe even fear Him. However, Herod’s guilt over the murder of John, caused him to end up at a next to impossible idea.

Guilt isn’t only Herod’s to endure, though. Guilt also can play a role in the life of any other unbeliever, and sometimes Christians too have guilt, even if that guilt is unfounded. Having guilt is inescapable, in fact, but guilt itself isn’t. God, as in all temptations, makes a way out. Take this example:

Then he showed me Joshua^(A) the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan^[a](B) standing at his right side to accuse him. ² The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you,^(C) Satan! The Lord, who has chosen^(D) Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick^(E) snatched from the fire?”^(F)

³ Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. ⁴ The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.”

Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin,^(G)and I will put fine garments^(H) on you.” (Zechariah 3:1-4)

Those verses could be stated rather like this: the chosen people of God stand under Satan’s accusation. We, in spite of our best efforts to be our own “high priest”, and offer sacrifices to God, are still filthy and dirty with sin. Yet, then, the one whose standing between us and God comes and removes our filth, and give us clean robes of righteousness!

This is how we can now stand; clean and forgiven. Yes, we will still be accused by Satan, and His accusations always have a grain of truth in them. But if we ask Christ to come and remove our sin and guilt from us, He will. Not only will He do that, but He’ll give us His righteousness. (We can see from Herod that guilt and sin are connected, which is why the “filthy robes” of sin which Joshua wore, also signify guilt). — Guilt is simply a tool which God uses to turn us to Christ. We shouldn’t see a “professional” over it, we should see the professional and great physician, Jesus Christ, and receive the free prescription of grace which He gives us. So, let’s turn from our guilt, to God.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Our Sabbath

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in his word:

Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. (Hebrews 4:1-2)

The, “them” The Writer (who from now on we’ll refer to as, “he”) is referring to, is the Israelites (you can see that in chapter 3). With that established… He says here that “the message they heard did not benefit them,” why didn’t it benefit them? Because, “they were not united by faith with those who listened.” How does that figure? How could anyone actually be united with someone else by faith? Do we need to be untied with these people by faith?

Who exactly are ‘the people who listened’? … 

For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’” although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. (Hebrews 4:3)

Seeing as he’s talking about the Israelites, who weren’t able to enter the promised land because of their disobedience, it’s safe to assume the ones who listened are Moses, Joshua and Caleb. Seeing as the afore-mentioned all said they could take Canaan and what with the giants, everyone would have had to believe them by faith. But he isn’t talking about that it seems. In fact, it seems we’ve sort of left behind the whole, “promised land” idea and replaced it with, “rest”. He continues:

For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” And again in this passage he said, “They shall not enter my rest.” Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, (Hebrews 4:4-9)

“there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God,” This does not mean we have to continue keeping the Sabbath like the Israelites did. On the other hand, it does mean we still need to keep the Sabbath. Not physically however, but Spiritually. ‘He’ is talking about our rest is Jesus. This why he talks about the Sabbath in context with not hardening our hearts. And what is there to harden our hearts against, except the same thing that everyone today seems to have hardened their hearts against? i.e. The Gospel of Jesus.

The point? We have a promised land just like the Israelites did/do. it’s just we don’t have to fight for our’s (it’s Heaven). There is still a Sabbath rest, it’s just not the weekly one the Israelites had. Instead, as long as we have Jesus, we have his rest. – But now there’s a question, “what does it mean to have Jesus as our Sabbath rest?” It mean’s temptation no longer is unbeatable. It means our Spiritual life can rest in Jesus. The point is simply that through Jesus, the Sabbath is fulfilled.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Mere Words

Hello again!

Here is what God gave me today in his word:

Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? (Isa 36:5)

What do you think? Will simply confessing Christ as Lord save your soul? It’s a simple yes or no answer. Please, take your time answering… If your still looking at this screen with a blank expression 30 minutes from now… Here’s the answer; No it’s not, and do you know why? Because Christianity isn’t a simple saying of a prayer! It’s much more; it’s giving your very soul to God to do with as he wishes… Which turns out to be a good thing:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

But what war are we fighting exactly? A spiritual one? And if so, why on Earth (excuse the pun), would we need battle strategy. I thought God took care of all that stuff on the cross!

1

Yes, we are fighting a Spiritual battle as shown in Ephesians (6):

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:10-12)

2

Let’s turn our attention to Hosea now to answer the question about quote and quote why we have to worry about battle strategy against the Devil when Christ  ”already took care of that for us”:

¹ Israel empties his vine;
      He brings forth fruit for himself. 
      According to the multitude of his fruit 
      He has increased the altars; 
      According to the bounty of his land 
      They have embellished his sacred pillars. 
       ² Their heart is divided; 
      Now they are held guilty. 
      He will break down their altars; 
      He will ruin their sacred pillars. 
       ³ For now they say, 

      “ We have no king, 
      Because we did not fear the LORD. 
      And as for a king, what would he do for us?” 
       ⁴ They have spoken words, 
      Swearing falsely in making a covenant. 
      Thus judgment springs up like hemlock in the furrows of the field. (Hosea 10:1-4)

Their battle strategy was to claim to be Christians, yet we see the result was their punishment. This is because their “devotion to Christ” was mere words. As such, they could take it back by the same means. i.e. Mere words… My point being this:

We need to have the “battle strategy” of Jesus! By that I mean simply that Jesus was/is/and will be our battle strategy. It’s true that even though, to put words to it, the snake is still writhing though it’s head has been cut off… And once again as seen in Ephesians (6) God has even provided protection (the armor of God) for us even in that!

Wrap Up

In short; because Jesus died and rose again for us, we have a battle strategy to defend against the Devil with! … If you were wondering, this battle strategy is Jesus himself. Also; “mere words” aren’t enough to fight off the Devil anymore than an ant without military grade armor – us without the armor of God – can defend against a boot crushing it.

You are loved!

Joshua Cleveland

P.S. Here’s a video about the armor of God that my siblings and I made:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhnEn-znY0E (will open in new tab)

 

Protection – God’s Wing Covers Us – Answers Comment.

Hello again!

I apologize for making a change from the normal post on a part of Isaiah, but very recently I have received a comment on one of my blog posts, and I would just like to clarify a few things:

First off, I would like you to understand that I appreciate these comments a lot, and that I appreciate everyone’s point of view on a subject… And I in no way am I attempting to harm anyone when I answer their questions in a post – Here’s the comment in question -:

Mitzi says:

May 14, 2011 at 2:47 pm  (Edit)

I’m glad you are so invested in sharing God’s word with others. I’ve been reading a few of your latest posts and had to comment on this one.

“In short; because Jesus took God’s wrath on himself, and in doing so also gave us his spirit, we are protected from God’s wrath – there is none left! – and we are protected from the Devil.” (quote from you)
This is not a fallacy, in itself, but it’s not entirely true because you left something important out. It’s actually not that short of the “once saved, always saved” doctrine, which is false. We’re only protected from the devil and God’s wrath if we obey the call of the gospel by hearing(Romans 10:17), believing(John 8:24; Mark 16:16), repenting(Acts 2:38), confessing Christ(Romans 10:9-10), being baptized(immersed)(Acts 2:38, 8:35-39), and continuing in obedient faith(Romans 12:1-2, James 1:19-27). Revelation clearly tells us that our names can be blotted out of the Book of Life(Rev. 3:5), but if we overcome and keep our robes washed(continue in steadfast obedience), we may enter God’s city(heaven)(Rev. 22:14).

Remember 1 Peter 5:8-9. If simply believing in Christ were enough to keep us safe, God would not have seen it necessary to warn us to resist the devil. The devil is more interested in devouring Christians than the rest of the world because he has already “gotten”, for lack of a better word, the hearts of the ungodly, but we(Christians) are still striving to please God instead of the devil.

So keep spreading the gospel as you can, but spread every side of it because we don’t get justified by God through Christ at no cost on our own part(as tiny as it is in comparison to Jesus giving His life for us).

And mine:

Joshua Cleveland says:

May 16, 2011 at 1:58 pm  (Edit)

Thank you for your point of view and the encouragement to keep on spreading the Gospel. However, I would like to point a few things out, first off Isaiah 64:6 – All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away. – clearly states that it is impossible for us to work our way to heaven. Let me give you two examples:

1. As a pastor once put it; it’s like attempting to row a steam-engine-boat with one paddle against the current. It’s impossible to please God apart from Jesus! … You row as far as you can, and Jesus takes you the rest of the way isn’t going to work.

2. In essence you’re saying that Jesus’ dying for you doesn’t really mean anything… Here’s the example; two people are trying to kill you, some guy sees this happening and tries to stop them at the cost of his own life… What your saying, is that in essence we have to – instead of continuing forward running away – go back and try to beat up the men. It just doesn’t work as seen in romans:

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

I believe you also brought up Revelation 3:5:

5′(O)He who overcomes will thus be clothed in (P)white garments; and I will not (Q)erase his name from the book of life, and (R)I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. (Revelation 3:5)

I can see how you would get their from the “and I will not erase his name from the book of life” section… And therefore from that section we can see that it is possible to be blotted out of the book of life, but the question is now “how does that happen?”. Let’s look at Luke, Mark, and Matthew to answer that question shall we:

“And everyone that says a word against the Son of Man, that will be forgiven; But he that blasphemes against The Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. (Luke 12:10)

“Whoever blasphemes against The Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of everlasting sin.” (Mark 3:29)

“Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. And whoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age, or in the age to come”. (Matthew 12:31-32)

So, by simply not being baptized or “continuing in obedient faith” we won’t be blotted out of the book of life.

As for your argument about; If simply believing in Christ were enough to keep us safe, God would not have seen it necessary to warn us to resist the devil. – I beg to differ. Believing in Christ IS enough to keep us safe, and God simply want’s to prepare us in advance for the hardships and difficulties he will allow the Devil to put upon us.

I would like to point something out now:

By believing in Christ, we have the fruits of the Spirit, I believe you would agree with that… The fruits of the spirit are love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. As we can see by looking at Galatians 5:22-23. Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit when he left as seen in John 16:7:

7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.

Therefore we can say that as a direct effect of Jesus dying for us on the cross and rising again for us, we have the Holy Spirit or “helper” in the NKJV. And as a direct effect of our having the Holy Spirit we will do all the things you mentioned such as being baptized, confessing Christ etc… However, our doing those things is not a necessity to our salvation… Once again I honestly do appreciate your point of view, I just don’t agree with it.

– Joshua

So; thank you Mitzi for sharing your concerns with me about my blog post… And as for everyone else, if you happen to have a concern as well, please feel very free to comment.

You are loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Protection – God’s Wing Covers Us

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in his word:

Like birds hovering, so the LORD of hosts will protect Jerusalem; he will protect and deliver it; he will spare and rescue it.” (Isa 31:5)

OK, but what exactly did Israel need protecting from?

And the LORD will cause his majestic voice to be heard and the descending blow of his arm to be seen, in furious anger and a flame of devouring fire, with a cloudburst and storm and hailstones. The Assyrians will be terror-stricken at the voice of the LORD, when he strikes with his rod. And every stroke of the appointed staff that the LORD lays on them will be to the sound of tambourines and lyres. Battling with brandished arm, he will fight with them. (Isa 30:30-32)

Oh, well, OK then. But, er, I’m not a Israelite, does that mean I get the same wiz-bang-smash treatment?

⁶ It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. ⁷ Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”^[b] 8 In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring. (Romans 9:6-8)

Umm… OK? And that means what again:

In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.

It isn’t necessarily ”the Israelites” who are saved, but it’s “the Israelites” who are saved. It is God’s children who are saved, and they don’t have to be actual descendents of Abraham… OK sure, but why does the verse in Isaiah talk about birds?

 ¹⁶ As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. (Matthew 3:16)

Oh, so that means that the verse in Isaiah is talking about the Holy Spirit. I know that I have the Holy Spirit because I accepted Jesus into my life. Does that mean that I am protected from God’s wrath? … Yes! Jesus took God’s Wrath upon himself on the cross, so that we wouldn’t have to bear it!

In short; because Jesus took God’s wrath on himself, and in doing so also gave us his spirit, we are protected from God’s wrath – there is none left! – and we are protected from the Devil. Thank you Jesus!

You are loved!

Joshua Cleveland