January 30, 2011
Scripture:
I’d like to read a verse in Exodus; I’m thinking of Exodus 28, which speaks of the garments of the high priest. In v. 2, they are called “holy garments, for glory and for beauty.” I won’t go into the details of all the separate pieces, but think about the breastplate. It has 12 different precious stones, each representing one of the tribes of Israel. Read v. 29: “And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart.” You would expect it to say that he bears the stones on his breast, because it is the breastplate. But no: he bears the names upon his heart. “When he goeth in unto the holy place, for a memorial before the Lord continually.” We sang, “Lord, let us ne’er forget.” He never forgets us; this memorial was continual.
Hymn 358 - Tell me the story of Jesus
Prayer
1 Samuel 17:50 - 57
We are almost finished our story of David and Goliath; last time, we ended with vv. 50-51. Since David didn’t have a sword with him, he took Goliath’s sword and cut off his head. Now that Goliath is dead, he isn’t an enemy. Similarly, the Lord has delivered us from our enemy; however, we are still going to have to fight daily.
Goliath - Enemy - Satan
Soldiers - Captive Delivered - Man by Nature Man with a New Nature
David - Saviour - Lord Jesus
Since David killed Goliath, the Israelites are not captives any more. Goliath had them captive by fear, but David delivered them.
Remember what Goliath’s challenge was: “If I kill you, you will serve us; but if you kill me, we will serve you.” In v. 52—when the Philistine army saw that Goliath was dead—they fled. Right behind them came the men of Israel. Read v. 53: after chasing after them for a while, the men of Israel came back to the Philistine’s tents and spoiled them.
Vv. 54 - 57: David took Goliath’s head and brought to Saul. When he came to Saul, Saul inquired about who his father was. David informed Saul that he was the son of Jesse, the Betdhlehemite.
Such a picture of the Lord we see here: the Father sent the Son, the Son goes into the valley and came out victorious. Although the Lord was victorious over Satan, Satan is still very much alive and he will attack us. But He that is in us is greater than he that is in the world; through the Lord, we can defeat Satan’s attacks. This ends our story about David and the battle against Goliath.
We see God’s cloud of glory throughout Scripture - when God led the Children of Israel through the wilderness, or when He gave them the law on mount Sinai - and now we see it suddenly appear here with the shepherds and angels. Often in the Old Testament, God’s presence brought fear; as was the case with Jacob, and so the first words that the angel spoke are, “Fear not”. We can now have to do with God without being afraid.
The angel went on to say that his tidings were for “all people”, not just for the Jews. There is a Saviour for “whosoever will”. “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord”. There have been many saviours in Israel’s history; people like David, Barak, and Gideon. But this is King David’s greater Son. In Matthew He is known as “Jesus”, meaning “Saviour”; and also as “Emmanuel”, which means “God with us”. It was angels who brought this message - about the One that was made lower than the angels - as they came to peer at their God.
“And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” This is precious because it is Christ the Saviour that has stooped so low. He came from riches to poverty, and from royal robes to swaddling cloths. Isaiah and John didn’t see the Lord like this. They saw Him in majesty and glory. But Philippians reminds us that though He was in the form of God, he made Himself of no reputation. If He didn’t, there could be no salvation. What a sign this was! It wasn’t the sign of a king coming in pomp and glory. That will come later.
There was no great cheer from the shepherds, but there was one from the heavenly host of angels. The shepherds could have rejoiced over the fact that One had come to save them from their sins, but these creatures had never sinned. Heaven was opened so that these angels could cry “Glory to God in the Highest!” because they understood all that was to be accomplished. Up until then, God hadn’t been given much glory from earth. It is interesting, because God was in the highest, while the Lord was in the lowest. But that brought God into the lowest as well.
In chapter one of Luke, Jesus was called the Son of the Highest; and John the Prophet of the highest. Now we have “glory to God in the Highest”.
J.N.Darby translates the last part of V.14 as, “on earth peace, good pleasure in men”. This was the first man that God could have full pleasure in. There isn’t much peace on earth right now; rather war after war. This is because people have rejected the Prince of Peace. One day He will bring peace.
After the angels have gone, the shepherds said, “Let’s go see this.” They might have been part of the remnant that feared the Lord and waited for the Messiah, because they didn’t doubt. They didn’t say, “Let’s go see if this is true”; but rather, “Let’s see this thing which has come to pass”. They made haste, like those that went to see the Lord’s tomb that resurrection morning. But instead of an empty grave, they found Mary and Joseph and the Babe, lying in the manger. This was the sign for the shepherds. The wise men had the star for a sign, but the shepherds had the Lord in the manger.
It was the Angel of the Lord that visited them, and in verse fifteen the shepherds say that the Lord revealed this to them. They accepted this as a Divine revelation. Once they saw it, they made it known to others. The news went from the shepherds and those they told, to Simeon, and then to Anna. This was a promise that had been handed down for many generations. We have a hope, and it, too, will happen suddenly.
344 - Jesus my Saviour to Bethlehem came
Prayer