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Common Traps and Pitfalls in Bible Interpretation, 2 of 5
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Category Archives: Nature of Bible Prophecy
Prophecy Practice: Micah and the Christ, Part 4 of 12
Micah says they should cry and plead and repent
He says it will go badly for those who plot wicked schemes, especially in those final times when Yahweh will call all of us to account. In chapter 3 Micah is rebuking the rulers and all of the false prophets
Will all of this end in nothing but disaster? Starting in chapter 4, Micah says no, and that will lead to our verses about Bethlehem. The immediate context starts in Micah 4 with a description of the coming of the gospel.
“But in the latter days, It will happen …” Mic 4:1
Good Things Are Coming!
That is according to this ancient prophet Micah, and his contemporary Isaiah. Isa 2:2-3 and Mic 4:1-2 are just about the same. Compare them for yourself in almost any translation. However it does says that despite all of the horrors of their times that,
“1 But in the latter days,
It will happen that the mountain of Yahweh’s temple will be established on the top of the mountains,
And it will be exalted above the hills;
And peoples will stream to it.
2 Many nations will go and say,
“Come, and let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh,
And to the house of the God of Jacob;
And he will teach us of his ways,
And we will walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion will go forth the law,
And the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem;”
Micah 4:1-2
Now the Mountain of the Lord’s House
is an important subject.
It was pointed out in the posts on mountains in September of 2019 that mountains continually carried religious significance in themselves. “Mountains for Places of Worship,” “Mountains a Blessing, Mountains a Snare.” Lastly “God’s Mountain Will Rule ALL,” which is what Isaiah 2 and Micah 4 deal with.
It does say that “out of Zion will go forth the law,” at the end of verse two. The gospel was preached first on Mount Zion in Peter’s sermon to the worshippers in Acts 2. In this way “the law of Christ” (1Cor 9:21, Gal 6:2) began going forth. And nations have streamed to this glory, and are still doing so.
Then it goes well beyond anything that
has happened so far.
In Mic 4:3 it says the Messiah will judge between many peoples. And then it says
“Nation will not lift up sword against nation,
Neither will they learn war any more.”
Mic 4:3d-e
This has NEVER happened, either spiritually or physically. Wars are still going on, both physical and spiritual, and we are to put on the full armor of God (Eph 6:13) and wage the good warfare (2Cor 10:4). Jesus says not a single letter of this can fail, Mtt 5:18. But this WILL happen. How much time is between Mic 4:2 and Mic 4:3. We do not know.
Then notice how prophecy works
It relates the immediate thing of which the prophet speaks, to the end, the objective, of all things. We will look at a very easy to understand example of this in Part 5.
Scriptures are from the World English Bible (WEB), a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901
Prophecy Practice: Micah and the Christ, Part 3 of 12
But to get to Mic 5:2, and to see how we should have understood from that the Christ was to be born in Bethlehem, first we need to get our bearings in the book of Micah the prophet. First of course would be to see what the prophet says of himself.
“The word of Yahweh that came to Micah the Morashtite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.”
Mic 1:1
So here we see the grand subject matter of the prophet. Jothham’s reign started around 750 BC and Hezekiah’s reign ended around 686 BC, so we can see the range of years in which included Micah prophesying. You can read of those kings in the books of Kings and Chronicles, and so get some historical background on conditions in those days. This would make Micah and Isaiah contemporaries of each other, and some of the verses in Isaiah chapter two and Micah four overlap each other, but we do not know how this happened.
These were turbulent times in Israel and Judah.
Crime and idolatry and unfaithfulness to the Lord were rampant in those days, and neither most of the rulers or the people were close to really repenting.
The first three chapters of Micah prophesy the destruction of both the Northern kingdom of Israel and the Southern kingdom of Judah, because of their bloodshed and idolatry and other sins.
In Mich 1:2-4 talks about the coming day of the Lord, when Yahweh will come out of His place and bring an end to this world. Some brush this aside as poetry which is irrelevant to us, but they SHOULD NOT! Almost always, the immediate things of history are related to the ultimate end of all things. Mic says that this things will happen because of their sins, Mic 1:5; and talks as if these things are pertinent to them, and to us. Indeed they are, for “they” and “we” will all be there on that final day when
“28 … for the hour comes, in which all that are in the tombs will hear his voice, 29 and will come out; those who have done good, to the resurrection of life; and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.”
Jn 5:28-29
These are common patterns in prophecy we should recognize: the present things are related to the coming ultimate things. Sometimes the present things seem very distant from the future things, so such things mystify some, but they shouldn’t
So Micah says Samaria, the capital of Israel will be (future) made a ruin, Mich 1:6-8. That happened during Micah’s day in 722 BC with the Assyrian conquest. Then he says that the same will happen to Judah, Mic 1:9. That didn’t happen until 586 BC, another 136 years later, well after Micah’s time. That was not nearby in human terms, but very close by in historical terms, and almost nothing in the grand time scale of Scripture.
Indeed, all of their things and our things are related to that final end which is coming.
Scriptures are from the World English Bible (WEB), a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901
Prophecy Practice: Micah and the Christ, Part 2 of 12
We saw in the last post that the chief priests and scribes accurately knew where the Christ was to be born. Also we know from Matthew chapter one that the Christ, had just been born there! The rest of the story told here is a standard piece of Herod’s paranoia and duplicity
“Then Herod secretly called the wise men,
“and learned from them exactly what time the star appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem, and said, “Go and search diligently for the young child. When you have found him, bring me word, so that I also may come and worship him.””
Matt. 2:7-8
The “wise men” are treated as just that. Wise gentiles who are able to seek and know as any Jew can. There are others in Scripture, including Job and Melchizedek, and even Balaam before he turned bad for money. Also the magos are treated as worthy to be warned about what was about to happen.
“Being warned in a dream that they shouldn’t return to Herod, they went back to their own country another way.”
Mtt 2:12
Also Joseph and Mary were warned.
“13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.””
Mtt 2:13
When Herod realized he had been tricked, was in a rage, and his solution was to simply kill all of the male babies in and around Bethlehem, Mtt 2:14-17. All of that was of course completely in character with evil man Herod had become.
And others also knew about Bethlehem
It was discussed in one of the posts on “Common traps and pitfalls in interpretation,” that most thought Jesus was “from” Nazareth. But they thought the Christ was to be from Bethlehem!
“41 Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “What, does the Christ come out of Galilee? 42 Hasn’t the Scripture said that the Christ comes of the seed of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?””
Jn 7:41-42
This makes our investigation even more interesting, for many understood that the Christ would be born in a specific place: Bethlehem. But that means we must be aware of another central idea in the interpretation of prophecy:
We need to be aware of recurring themes
and ideas in Scripture.
There are many of them. Among them are the idea of the Christ coming from a special seed, and the “day of the Lord,” and a special uproar or tumult of the nations, and the “root of David,” the binding power of sin, and a day when all will be released from their sins, and so on and so on.
One of these ideas is about a special ruler of the Jews who will come and deliver them from all of their troubles. It is assumed that you the reader are familiar with this recurring theme in prophecy.
Scriptures are from the World English Bible (WEB), a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901
Prophecy Practice: David, Jesus and the Righteous in Psalm 69, Part 9 of 9
Psalm 69 is explicit about those who reject the Messiah of the Jews.
“27 Charge them with crime upon crime.
Don’t let them come into your righteousness.
28 Let them be blotted out of the book of life,
And not be written with the righteous.”
Psa 69:27-28
That means eternal death of course, if you are not in the Lamb’s book of life. That is of course is echoed in Scripture after Scripture, of both the Old and the New Testaments. Of the Christ it says,
“Kiss the son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
For his wrath will soon be kindled.
Blessed are all those who take refuge in him.”
Psa 2:12
And we also, Christians, are counted as sheep for the slaughter,
Rom 8:36
Jesus promises us,
“… If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will keep yours also.”
Jn 15:2-
So this psalm is very relevant to the Christian and his struggles, Christian Age long!
Though in pain, the psalmist praises God, Psa 69:29-30.
The humble will see this and be glad!
This sacrifice He makes will be exceedingly pleasing to the Lord. It does indicate that God will in the end save Him from all of this unfaithfulness and treachery.
“31 It will please Yahweh better than an ox,
Or a bull that has horns and hoofs.
32 The humble have seen it, and are glad.
You who seek after God, let your heart live.
33 For Yahweh hears the needy,
And doesn’t despise his captive people.”
Psa 69:31-33
Ah! At last it specifically make an application that is wider than David and Jesus. “His captive people.” Are you among the humble who hear?
Lastly this psalm indicates that even the Jews
will finally recover from this rejection
“For God will save Zion, and build the cities of Judah.
They shall settle there, and own it. “
Psa 69:35
One could argue that “Zion” applies to Zion above in Psa 48:2, and Gal 4:24-26, and Heb 12:22. But God building “the cities of Judah,” seems clearly to speak of Judah of this earth! Likewise Zechariah, after the first return from captivity pictures says,
“… “‘Jerusalem will be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of men and cattle in it.”
Zech 2:4
But that has never happened … YET! And that is NOT Jerusalem above, because it has walls, Rev 21:1-2, 12-15. And Jesus says not one jot or a tittle of prophecy will fail until ALL of it has been fulfilled, Mt 5:18. So there remains a rebuilding by God of Jerusalem in Judah.
And who among the Jews will share this blessing?
“The children also of his servants shall inherit it.
Those who love his name shall dwell therein.” Psa 69:36
Of course these last verses are yet to happen. It is not that Jesus will at last relent and have a worldly kingdom. Rather that in a later time of distress, the Jews will repent, and will become a strong Chistian nation, Deut 4:30, Deut 30:6, Rom 11:11-12.
Scriptures are from the World English Bible (WEB), a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901
Prophecy Practice: David, Jesus and the Righteous in Psalm 69, Part 7
Psalm 69 goes right on talking about Jesus toward the end of the pslam, although we saw early that this psalm is also about David.
So what was the Christ to drink?
When the death sentence had been given, all the soldiers had gathered around Him. They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him, and crowned Him with a crown of thorns, and mocked the King of Heaven and Earth, and spit on him, an beat Him about the head. Then they took Him to the place of execution. Psalm 69 says,
“They also gave me gall for my food.
In my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink.”
Psa 69:21.
And that is how it happened. Matthew says,
“They gave him sour wine to drink mixed with gall. When he had tasted it, he would not drink.”
Mtt 27:34.
Mark says they tried to give him wine mixed with myrrh, Mk 15:23. Evidently these concoctions were intended to dull the pain. John records that a jar of vinegar/sour wine was standing there, and when He said He was thirsty, He was offered some on a sponge.
“When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, “It is finished.” He bowed his head, and gave up his spirit.”
Jn 19:30
We can see that this also fit Him. And what then of those who plotted His death? The death of the “one and only son” of God, Jn 3:16?
May their food even be a snare a to them.
It is obvious that bad things can become a snare and a trap for us. Less obvious is it that sometimes even good things can be a snare to us. Such men deserve deserve the very worst, so it says
“Let their table before them become a snare.
May it become a retribution and a trap.” Psa 69:22.
Then it says,
“Let their eyes be darkened, so that they can’t see.
Let their backs be continually bent.” Psa 69:23
Paul quotes these verses of the Jews under a curse
for rejecting their own Messiah, Rom 11:9
This is speaking of Jews who rejected the “one and only Son” of God, for,
“11 He came to his own, and those who were his own didn’t receive him. 12 But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God’s children, to those who believe in his name:”
Jn 1:11-12
And here again, Paul like the author of Hebrews quotes this psalm as being of David, Rom 11:9.
God sometimes pours a spirit of sleep over people,
Sometimes they don’t deserve to know what will deliver them. Isaiah says that of the Jews.
“For Yahweh has poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes, the prophets; and your heads, the seers, has he covered.”
Isa 29:10
Paul also quotes this of the Jews in the context of rejecting their own Christ, Rom 11:8.
Is this failure of the Jews permanent?
Paul says no, in Rom 11:11-12, and that is a grand subject, but not until later in Psalm 69.
Scriptures are from the World English Bible (WEB), a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901
Prophecy Practice: David, Jesus and the Righteous in Psalm 69, Part 6
You know my reproach the psalmist says
Plainly Jesus was the one who was especially reproached. He was, you remember, really God in the flesh.
“18 Draw near to my soul, and redeem it.
Ransom me because of my enemies.
19 You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor.
My adversaries are all before you.”
Psa 69:18-19
Jesus was, we need to remember, really God
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
Jn 1:1
What then was Jesus really like?
“6 who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross.”
Phil 2:6-8
What was His treatment really like?
“28 They stripped him, and put a scarlet robe on him. 29 They braided a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and a reed in his right hand; and they kneeled down before him, and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. 31 When they had mocked him, they took the robe off of him, and put his clothes on him, and led him away to crucify him.”
Mtt 27:28-31
This is treatment of God in the flesh!
“39 Those who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads, 40 and saying, “You who destroy the temple, and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!” 41 Likewise the chief priests also mocking, with the scribes, the Pharisees,a and the elders, said, 42 “He saved others, but he can’t save himself. If he is the King of Israel, let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God deliver him now, if he wants him; for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 The robbers also who were crucified with him cast on him the same reproach.”
Mtt 27:39-44
Who did they really have heartburn with? It was with God. I just needed a little help, He says,
“Reproach has broken my heart,
“and I am full of heaviness.
I looked for some to take pity, but there was none;
For comforters, but I found none.”
Psa 69:20
Broken hearted, that was Jesus approaching hard hearted Jerusalem, Lk 19:41-42.
Also it can be argued that it was a broken heart
that killed Jesus
An aneurysm. A ruptured artery to His heart. Then He bled to death internally, His body cavity filling with His blood, and being dead long enough, the blood and fluids were separating.
“However one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.”
Jn 19:34
Scriptures are from the World English Bible (WEB), a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901
Prophecy Practice: David, Jesus and the Righteous in Psalm 69, Part 3
It is easy to see in the gospels that the disciples were often very thick headed. Often like us, eh? There was much which they didn’t understand. Of Jesus death they understood nothing from the Scriptures, and even when Jesus explained it very clearly, it still didn’t pierce the void. Of the very simple parable of the sower, they had to have it explained to them. But we noticed last time an obscure passage in Psalm 69, and when Jesus shows his zeal for the Lord’s House, His disciples immediately understood, and they related it to Psalm 69. But I think of both Jesus and David when it says,
“10 When I wept and I fasted,
That was to my reproach.
11 When I made sackcloth my clothing,
I became a byword to them.”
Psa 69:10-11
Jesus did literally weep over the hardness
of heart of the Jews
“41 When he drew near, he saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying, “If you, even you, had known today the things which belong to your peace! But now, they are hidden from your eyes.””
Lk 19:41-42
So also did David, especially of Saul’s enmity toward him, but perhaps not to the extent of Jesus. David was after all, only symbolic of Jesus, without that full majesty. And Jesus did indeed become the song of fools, even to this day
“Those who sit in the gate talk about me.
I am the song of the drunkards.” Psa 69:12
However the prayer of David and of Christ is to God, and their praise was to God. At the acceptable time.
“But as for me, my prayer is to you, Yahweh, in an acceptable time.
God, in the abundance of your loving kindness, answer me in the truth of your salvation.”
Psa 69:13
There IS an ACCEPTABLE time. We do have to
WAIT sometimes!
Evidently David and Jesus asked at the right time, although often times you and I don’t. Then they both had to wait, and plead in anguish, and suffer before they were delivered. Abraham had to wait,
“13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, … 14 saying, “Most surely I will bless you, and I will surely multiply you.” 15 Thus, having patiently endured, he obtained the promise.”
Heb 6:13-15.
But first he had to wait of awhile. Everything worthwhile in life requires some waiting. Making money by getting compound interest has been described as a miracle. But you still have to wait until the interest is paid. You may want to see someone or do something, but you still have to wait for the right time. All of life requires some waiting. A successful famrer plants something, and then has to wait.
Wait until the coming of the Lord, James says,
“Be patient therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it, until it receives the early and late rain.”
Jas 5:7
There are plenty of lessons for us about enduring even unjust suffering from both David and Jesus in Psalm 69.
Scriptures are from the World English Bible (WEB), a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901
Prophecy Practice: David, Jesus and the Righteous in Psalm 69, Part 2
God will lead the humble
May they be ashamed, David says,
“6 Don’t let those who wait for you be shamed through me, Lord Yahweh of Hosts.
Don’t let those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me, God of Israel.
7 Because for your sake, I have borne reproach.
Shame has covered my face.”
Psa 69:6-7.
He goes on to say, I have become a stranger to my own kin,
“I have become a stranger to my brothers,
An alien to my mother’s children.”
Psa 69:8
Now that was true of Jesus as we see in John chapter 7. Opposition to Jesus was increasing, so Jesus was staying in Galilee because the Jews in Jerusalem were wanting to kill Him (Jn 7:1), and the time was not yet right. Now the feast of Booths, or Tabernacles was coming. This was the time when the Jews for a while lived in temporary shelters (booths) as they did in the wilderness before conquering the land. Jesus brothers were were harassing Him about why He didn’t go to the feast, and show off His great works. For it says,
“For even his brothers didn’t believe in him.”
Jn 7:5.
As far as I know being “An alien to my mother’s children,” doesn’t really fit David at all. When David was in serious trouble with Saul and his army, it says,
“David therefore departed there, and escaped to the cave of Adullam: and when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him.”
1Sam 22:1
So David had some bitter enemies, but not as such among his brothers. But Jesus did, and Psa 69:8 really doesn’t fit David, the first person author, but it does fit Jesus. So here is further evidence of the future Messiah being the subject of this first-person psalm
“6 Jesus therefore said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. 7 The world can’t hate you, but it hates me, because I testify about it, that its works are evil. 8 You go up to the feast. I am not yet going up to this feast, because my time is not yet fulfilled.” Jn 7:6-8.
And zeal for Your house has consumed Me
“For the zeal of your house consumes me.
The reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.”
Psa 69:9.
And when Jesus did the first cleansing of the temple in John 2, it says,
“His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will eat me up.”
Jn 2:17
Now notice here from the gospel of John what might be seen and look carefully. Psa 69:1-4 apply to both Jesus and David, and more especially to Jesus. Verse 4 applies especially to Jesus, and verse 5 about David’s sin applies only to David, and then 6-7 applies especially to Jesus, and then verse 9 especially applies to Jesus.
So here is more evidence of the main subject
being Jesus the Messiah,
All of this in what is another curiously written prophecy.
Scriptures are from the World English Bible (WEB), a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901
Prophecy Practice: David, Jesus and the Righteous in Psalm 69, Part 1
Save me Lord, David says, Psa 69:1.
A psalm of David. It is clear from the start of this psalm that the author is in a very bad way. I’ve just been overwhelmed Lord, things are just covering me up. I’ve been crying and waiting for God. And there are a bunch of men who hate me without cause. He says he is sinking in the mire. His feet are not on firm ground, and waters are flowing over him, Psa 69:2. He says he is worn out with crying. He throat is dray, and his eyes are failing him, Psa 69:3. Then he says,
“Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head.
Those who want to cut me off, being my enemies wrongfully, are mighty.
I have to restore what I didn’t take away.”
Psa 69:4.
He has more enemies than the hairs of my head! I think that would be hyperbole, exaggeration, when speaking of David. Not to say that he did not have many enemies, but more than the hairs of his head?
That last quote of course is referring to Jesus
Jesus is speaking in John 15 about the persecution which is coming on Him and His followers. He says He has come and spoken to them so that they would have no excuse. But now men have seen His works and have hated both Him and His Father. So He says,
“But this happened so that the word may be fulfilled which was written in their law, ‘They hated me without a cause.’” Jn 15:23.
That is a reference to Psalm 69:4. Here is the interesting thing. The psalm is about Jesus and it is also about David, and there is not a clear dividing line. Now Saul became the enemy of David without cause, when David was not a threat to him. But notice in the very next verse it is talking David and only about David, because he says …
“God, you know my foolishness.
My sins aren’t hidden from you.” Psa 69:5,
So Psa 69:5 is CLEARLY and ONLY
about David.
David, even as a prophet of God, is acknowledging his many sins, and he speaks about all of David’s foolishness. But you can’t say that of Jesus, because he was the one without sin.
“For we don’t have a high priest who can’t be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but one who has been in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin.” Heb 4:15.
Of course it says that in more than one place.
“You know that he was revealed to take away our sins, and in him is no sin.”
1Jn 3:5
But Psa 69:4 could include both Jesus, and David.
This psalm is about both Jesus and David, and you have to look and think to realize what applies to which one. Would you have spotted the dual subjects by verse 5? Would you have even known there were dual subjects? How would you, could you?
Scriptures are from the World English Bible (WEB), a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901