February 6, 2011
Scripture:
Scripture:
Ministry:
Turn to the gospel of Mark, chapter 7. Look at the last verse. Here we have the Lord Jesus in His ministry, before He went to the cross. We have been looking at the question, “What hast Thou done?” In this verse, we see that “He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.” We can all say that there was a day when we were deaf to the things of God; we were dumb and did not speak His praise. But now, “he hath done all things well.” Now let’s look at the divine commentary in Hebrews 10:14: “For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.” He has perfected forever those that have come to Him. V. 17: “And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.” What a Saviour; how wondrous! He reminds us of what he has done; may we praise Him!
Hymn 309 - I think when I read that sweet story of old
Prayer
We had gotten to the point in our story where Jacob was on his way home and Esau was coming to meet him. Jacob was afraid of this because Esau was coming with four hundred men. However, before Jacob met Esau, he had someone else to meet.
Genesis 32:24 - 31
V. 24 - 26 - Jacob was all alone; everybody else had gone ahead of him, across the river. As he was alone, he started to wrestle with someone. In wrestling, you are trying to pin the other player down, and it seemed that Jacob was pinned and couldn’t get free. Jacob didn’t prevail over this angel of God; Jacob wasn’t used to being defeated. Jacob was used to winning: he got the birthright, the blessing, and Laban’s animals. Then, the angel did a maneuver and put Jacob’s hip out of joint. Since Jacob’s hip was popped out, the wrestling match had become a clinging match. Jacob was just clinging to the man and the man said, “let me go.” Jacob said that he would not let him go until he blessed him.
V. 27 - Next, the angel of the Lord asked Jacob what his name was. This isn’t the first time Jacob had been asked his name; he was asked his name when he brought the “venison” for Isaac. Jacob told the truth and said his name is Jacob. The name Jacob means cheat, deceiver, supplanter; basically, it means sinner.
V. 28 - Then a change took place: the angel of God told him that his name would not be Jacob anymore, but Israel. Before Jacob’s hip was popped out, he was relying on his own strength. After, he was clinging onto the man. We can put ourselves in Jacob’s shoes, we are sinners and have to lean on the Lord to give us strength.
V.29 - 31 - As Jacob continued on his journey, he hobbled because of his hip and the sun was beautifully shining in his face.
So this ends our story of the wrestling match that became a clinging match.
In this chapter we see those who were so affected by our Lord’s birth. First there are the shepherds, then Simeon, and finally Anna. The shepherds came to the Lord’s manger with haste; maybe they were excited. There they found Mary, Joseph, and the Babe. Mary is mentioned first, probably because she is the one directly related to the Lord. Joseph was not Jesus’ biological father, even though he was His legal father.
The shepherds told others of the angelic message that had been brought to them, and people wondered. One wonders what they told Mary and Joseph. Whatever it was, Mary pondered it in her heart. She usually had a right spirit about things. You can just see her drinking the story in, because she had had her own revelation. It would have calmed any doubts that they had. They were in an awkward situation, with no room in the inn, in a strange place. They might have started wondering, “If this baby were really the Christ, would he come this way?” Then the shepherds came and said, “This is good news!” Most thought that the Messiah would come in pomp and glory; but He didn’t, and they missed it. The shepherds then returned, giving thanks for all that they had seen and heard. This was a promised child, who needed miracles to be born. He has been promised the throne of David, and it will take more miracles to get him there.
Jesus was brought up very Jewish; and, accordingly, was named and circumcised on the eighth day. They then went up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord, (after the purification of Mary) and to do sacrifice as God had commanded Moses.
Leviticus 12:6 These are two different offerings. The burnt offering was a sweet savour to God, while the sin offering wasn’t. One was God-ward (for God) and the other was man-ward (for man). Vv. 7 & 8. These were sacrifices for the child, to be done at his birth. But the child had never sinned! The sacrifice was necessary because the child had been born in sin; or what some call original sin. The chapters that follow in Leviticus deal with leprosy, which—in type—is the practice of sin. The Lord put Himself under the law, and the Father had Joseph and Mary go up to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices. Even though the Lord was holy and wasn’t born in sin; He still submitted to the law by His parents, and honoured and magnified it.
Hymn 342 - Jesus came from Heaven, many years ago
Prayer