THE BIRTH OF OUR SAVIOR PART 2

TEEN TREE OF LIFE
The Birth of Our Savior
Part 2
December 22, 2019



Before you begin, ask yourself a very important question: Do you believe that Jesus Christ died on The Cross for all of your sins? If you answered yes, you will need to be sure that you are filled with The Holy Spirit. How do you do this? You name your sins to God The Father in His Son’s Name. This is called Rebound. As a Christian, you must rebound any time you sin. This is taught in 1JOHN 1:9: If we confess [name] our sins [directly to God], He [God] is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now, if you have never believed that Jesus Christ died on The Cross for all of your sins, all you have to do is say to yourself that you believe in Him and you are saved! The Bible verse which teaches us this is ACTS 16:31: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.”

As we continue in our study of The Birth of Our Savior, let’s look at the Greek word “Christ” which translates to English as “anointed.” It’s the word that is used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, for the word “Messiah.” The literal translation of the Hebrew word mashiach (messiah) is also "anointed." The Savior, Who was born on Christmas day, was the individual that had been promised from long ago to come as the Savior of Israel. And there was an expectation that the Messiah would bring Salvation on several levels.

At the time the angel came to the shepherds in the field, the nation of Israel was under the control of the Romans. The Jews had a great hope and desire to see the Messiah come to save them from the political oppression that had been upon them, to various degrees, since the fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar. Many of the prophecies connected with His Coming and Reign speak of the nation breaking its bondage to other nations and being free again. Look at the prophecy in ISA 9:2-7 (The Message Bible): The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. For those who lived in a land of deep shadows—light! sunbursts of light! You repopulated the nation, you expanded its joy. Oh, they’re so glad in your presence! Festival joy! The joy of a great celebration, sharing rich gifts and warm greetings. The abuse of oppressors and cruelty of tyrants—all their whips and cudgels and curses—Is gone, done away with, a deliverance as surprising and sudden as Gideon’s old victory over Midian. The boots of all those invading troops, along with their shirts soaked with innocent blood, Will be piled in a heap and burned, a fire that will burn for days! For a child has been born—for us! the gift of a son—for us! He’ll take over the running of the world. His names will be: Amazing Counselor, Strong God, Eternal Father, Prince of Wholeness. His ruling authority will grow, and there’ll be no limits to the wholeness he brings. He’ll rule from the historic David throne over that promised kingdom. He’ll put that kingdom on a firm footing and keep it going With fair dealing and right living, beginning now and lasting always. The zeal of God-of-the-Angel-Armies will do all this.

There was also an expectation that the coming Messiah would bring about an enlightenment of all the nations. He would bring about justice and world peace with Jerusalem as the center. They would be saved from the ignorance and injustice that had plagued mankind since the beginning: “Get out of bed, Jerusalem! Wake up. Put your face in the sunlight. God’s bright glory has risen for you. The whole earth is wrapped in darkness, all people sunk in deep darkness, But God rises on you, his sunrise glory breaks over you. Nations will come to your light, kings to your sunburst brightness. Look up! Look around! Watch as they gather, watch as they approach you: Your sons coming from great distances, your daughters carried by their nannies. When you see them coming, you’ll smile—big smiles! Your heart will swell and, yes, burst! All those people returning by sea for the reunion, a rich harvest of exiles gathered in from the nations! And then streams of camel caravans as far as the eye can see, young camels of nomads in Midian and Ephah, Pouring in from the south from Sheba, loaded with gold and frankincense, preaching the praises of God. And yes, a great roundup of flocks from the nomads in Kedar and Nebaioth, Welcome gifts for worship at my altar as I bathe my glorious Temple in splendor. (ISA 60:1-7 The Message Bible)

Another verse that teaches this is PSA 22:27-28 states: All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, And all the families of the nations will worship before You. For the kingdom is the Lord’s And He rules over the nations.

The prophet Zechariah wrote: “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘It will yet be that peoples will come, even the inhabitants of many cities. The inhabitants of one will go to another, saying, “Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts; I will also go.” So many peoples and mighty nations will come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the Lord.’” (ZEC 8:20-22)

Now, let’s look a bit more closely at Judaism for a moment. The Jews believe that the Messiah is flesh and blood. The Hebrew Bible states that God will be a father to Him, and he will be a Son to God in 2SAM 7:14: I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men… The meaning of this verse is apparently symbolic. This is because the Messiah will enjoy the benevolence of God as a son enjoys the benevolence of his father. In Judaism, the Messiah has not come yet. As we know with certainty, in Christianity the Messiah has already arrived. A perfect example of this is found in the dialogue between the Samaritan woman at the well and Our Lord and Savior in JOH 4:25-26 (The Message Bible). She says to Jesus Christ: “I do know that the Messiah is coming. When he arrives, we’ll get the whole story.” “I am he,” said Jesus. “You don’t have to wait any longer or look any further.”

Let’s now look at the prophecy in DAN 9:24-25: “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place. So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.” This statement of Daniel specifically states that The Messiah would come within the seven weeks’ and sixty-two weeks’ time-period which started with the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. This means that The Messiah could only come within a limited timeframe which is long past; so, those who reject Jesus Christ, and are looking for another Messiah, are looking in vain. No one else can fulfill the prophecy.

DAN 9:26-7 states: Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.” This means that it was told before-hand that The Messiah would not accomplish all that was prophesied about Him after His Birth and would do it at a later time. It would be after He had made a complete destruction of “the one who makes desolate.” The Jews should have recalled Daniel’s prophecies that there would have to be two distinct periods of activity for the promised Messiah. The first would end and would then be followed by a later, second period in which The Messiah would conquer and set up His Eternal Kingdom.

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ teaches about “the one who makes desolate” in MAT 24:15: “Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation [Antichrist, a Prince from a Middle East country who will sit on the throne in Jerusalem claiming to be God] which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand)…” Now let’s look at the meaning of “the abomination of desolation.” The word “abomination” is the Greek word bdelugma (pronounced bdel-oog-mah), which means something that is disgusting and associated with that which is defiling and or idolatrous. In Hebrew, the meaning is the same and is associated with pagan idols or the worship of false gods.

The word “desolation” means to be in a condition that is uninhabitable and devastated. Also notice in MAT 24:15, that this individual is said to be “standing in the holy place.” The term “holy place” is found in only one other place in the New Testament – when the apostle Paul was seized in the temple in ACT 21:27-28: When the seven days were almost over, the Jews from Asia, upon seeing him in the temple, began to stir up all the crowd and laid hands on him, crying out, “Men of Israel, come to our aid! This is the man who preaches to all men everywhere against our people and the Law and this place; and besides he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.” Here it refers to the Temple in Jerusalem.

Look at the first two Commandments found in the Bible in EXO 20:3-4: “You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.” This is what the Antichrist is going to do. Who could this individual be? Many Theologians believe he will be of Roman descent and may even have ties with Islam and the Muslims. This is confirmed in the New Testament in two separate passages which also provide pieces of the puzzle as to what the actual act of “the abomination of desolation” is.

For example, in his letter to the Thessalonians, the apostle Paul describes the “end times Tribulation period” and gives his readers an interesting sign of that period that concerns the Antichrist and the blasphemy he commits: Let no one in any way deceive you, for it [the Tribulation period] will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. (2TH 2:3-4)

{to be continued}