Monthly Archives: December 2019

Men, Angels and the Christ in Prophecy, Part 9 of 9

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The author of Hebrews concludes that the purpose of angels is to serve those who will inherit eternal life, Heb 1:14. Then he turns to the subject of men in chapter two. He quotes part of Psalm 8 by David about “man,” and “the world to come,” Heb 2:5.

“6 … “What is man, that you think of him?
Or the son of man, that you care for him?
7 You made him a little lower than the angels;
You crowned him with glory and honor.
8 You have put all things in subjection under his feet.” …”
Heb 2:6-8a WEB

This is man made in the very image of God, for now a little lower than the angels, and ordained for great things.

So mankind is SUPPOSED TO HAVE dominance
over ALL.

Then comes those things which we all run into in prophecy. Those things which seem odd or out of place. The author notes it appears nothing is left out of man’s control.

“… For in that he subjected all things to him, he left nothing that is not subject to him. …”
Heb 2:8b WEB

Indeed this is the fabric of much of our lives here on earth. We work at this function or that function in managing this earth, and bringing to usefulness its many resources. Those functions may range from killing flies in the kitchen, to managing water resources, to making useful tools and machines for using these resources.

But then there is that part which just does not fit the facts.

“But now we don’t see all things subjected to him, yet.”
Heb 2:8c

Man does not yet have all of this power. There are things missing. There are holes in man’s dominance. We would like to have control of this or that, but, frustratingly, despite great progress in many arenas, much remains outside our control, just as Heb 2:8c says so clearly!

As my books note, such gaps between what is often prophesied, and what is seen in reality, is often the sign of symbolism in the prophecy, of a “type” or a “prototype”.

So man does not have the mastery he should have, yet.

“But we see him who has been made a little
lower than the angels, Jesus,

“because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God he should taste of death for everyone. ”
Heb 2:9 WEB

So Hebrews sees man’s dominance as always to be accomplished through Jesus! Through Jesus man recovers his position before God, and achieves his rightful position over creation. So it is not Satan and his angels, or even angels overall, who will dominate the world to come. It is man.

“Don’t you know that we will judge angels?” 1Cor 6:3.

Permanent punishment is prepared for those that oppose God, whether in heaven or in earth.

“Then he will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels;”
Mtt 25:14 WEB

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Men, Angels and the Christ in Prophecy, Part 8 of 9

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Satan was able to appear to Jesus in the flesh.

Compare the story in Matthew chapter four. Both knew who the other was. Satan has been granted considerable latitude in testing and trying to seduce men. He tries to get Jesus to worship him, and fails. He is “the ruler of this world” Jn 12:31. He is allowed to make great offers to Jesus.

“8 Again, the devil took him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory. 9 He said to him, “I will give you all of these things, if you will fall down and worship me.””
Mtt 4:8-9 WEB

Yes, though constrained to this creation in our day, Satan has much power, but that is not all of the story.

Elisha was in a terrible bind in 2 Kings chapter 6.

The King of Aram has Elijah surrounded in the small town of Dothan. What the Hebrew text calls “Aram,” the KJV calls Syria (which it is today.) When Elisha’s servant arose the next day, look! The whole city was surrounded by horses and chariots. He asked Elisha, What shall we do?

Greater are those who are with us

“16 He answered, Don’t be afraid; for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. 17 Elisha prayed, and said, Yahweh, Please open his eyes, that he may see. Yahweh opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.”
2Kfs 6:16 WEB

But it not just the number of men versus the number of angels, or even of good angels versus bad angels.

“What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
Rom 8:31 WEB

We as Christians have the living God Himself living in us, if we stay with Him.

“Don’t you know that you are a temple of God, and that God’s Spirit lives in you?”
1Cor 3:16 WEB

What good news it is to have Yahweh God Himself as our deliverer. Or as the apostle John put it,

“You are of God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.”
1Jn 4:4 WEB

Or as the psalmist put it,

“Though he stumble, he shall not fall,
For Yahweh holds him up with his hand.”
Psa 37:24

What is it then that can overcome us?

“38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. ”
Rom 8:38-39 WEB

Powerful enemies for us? Yes! But powerful supporters also.

and book of Revelation?

It is a series of parallel overlapping visions which show … many trials? Yes. And ultimate victory! Also yes!

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Men, Angels and the Christ in Prophecy, Part 7 of 9

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In the fall of man, the key conflicts of our age
have been set off.

The serpent of the old has successfully drawn mankind into conflict with the Lord our God. Now on one hand, Satan is described as the the god of this age.

“among whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe so they would not see the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God.”
2Cor 4:4 New English Translation,

Here the New English Translation copyright 1995-2005 is more accurate in translating this as “age” (ai?n), but it is sometimes translated as “world.”

“Now is the judgment of this world. Now the prince of this world will be cast out.”
Jn 12:31 WEB

Here the regular word for world is used, kosmos. And Satan has enough power to deceive the whole world.

“The great dragon was thrown down, the old serpent, he who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. ”
Rev 12:9 WEB

“We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. ”
1Jn 5:19 WEB

So God ordained that there be opposition, hostility,
between the woman, and Satan.

““I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.””
Gen 3:15 WEB

Now it speaks of warfare between the seed/ offspring/
descendant, of Satan,

and the offspring of the woman. But the Hebrew word (zera) is here singular in both cases. The hostility is between the singular descendant/seed of woman, and the singular descendant/seed of the serpent.

As the fall came through the woman,

so also came the deliverer (Jesus the Christ, the singular seed of woman) through the woman (not through the man).

“4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent out his Son, born to a woman, born under the law, 5 that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of children.”
Gal 4:4-5 WEB

The word that is translated as “bruise” in the WEB and KJV in Gen 3:15 can also be translated as to snatch or grab or seize or a blow per the Hebrew Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, Koehler and Bumgartner, 1994,2000. Surely the Bible in Basic English 1965, gives the sense of that last phrase in Gen 3:15 as well as any:

“by him will your head be crushed and by you his foot will be wounded.”

And the “seed”/offspring of Satan?

He still remains to be revealed in our own day, as it was with the Thessalonians (2Thes 2:6). He is what 2Thes 2:3 calls the “man of lawlessness,” and what Revelation calls “the beast.”

So Gen 3:15 is still in the process of being fulfilled.

KJV is the King James Version, 1611.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901