In the last program we began to look at the different elements that were part of the tradition of the Ancient Jewish Wedding. All this is in the context of God’s relationship with man, God’s intimate relationship with Israel and now, Jesus’ relationship with the church. The three main players in this tradition were the [...]
We’ve spent some time learning about God’s relationship with Israel and how God Himself describes that relationship as that of a husband and his wife. We also know that everything in the Bible is significant and even if we can’t initially see it, it has prophetic significance. There is also a great deal of rich [...]
The Redeemer came from the relationship between God and His wife Israel and in turn, the Son – the Redeemer – paid the bride price for His bride whom He would make spotless and without blemish.
Almost at the end of Ezekiel 16, after telling Israel His wife of the punishments she’d endure, God promised that He’d remember the covenant He made with her when she was young, and would in fact enter an ‘everlasting covenant’ with her.
God made Adam and Eve, the first married couple that once joined, became ‘one flesh’ and we learned that in that context, God described His relationship with His people like that of a marriage, and that’s what we’re going to look at over the next few programs.
God created Adam and Eve, they became the first married couple, the first two people created by God, the first two human beings to breath God joined together and said they were one flesh, and the word ‘one’ is echad.
The primary reason for the giving of the Law is to reveal what sin is, to make us aware of how utterly sinful we are, how perfect and holy God is and how far away we are from Him.
God gave the Jewish people the Law after their rescue so that they would know what sin was and that they were law breakers, as well as a system that would provide them a temporary means of forgiveness through animal sacrifices.
Mosaic Covenant was not only broken by God’s people repeatedly, it was completed through the sacrifice of Jesus the Messiah and since there’s no Temple in existence today, it’s not possible to fulfill the rituals and sacrifices anymore either.
When God gave the Law and instruction for life to His people (the Jews) they were either described as eternal, perpetual or permanent.
Isaiah 46:9-10, God said through the prophet, “Remember the former things long past, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, “My purpose will be established and [...]
If prophecy wasn’t important, God wouldn’t have included so much of it in His Word. All His Word is prophecy, be it instructive or predictive, but the predictive prophecy is what we tend to focus on when we think of prophecy. Remember that Jesus told the religious leaders of His day that all pointed to [...]
Last time we looked at the meaning of ‘The Law of First Mention’ and how the first time a thing is mentioned in the Bible it provides us with the original meaning of that thing. The next time you read about that thing, you’ll already have a basic understanding of what the text is saying. [...]
What is the ‘Law of First Mention?” This is the answer I read from the Got Questions website. ‘The law (or principle or rule) of first mention is a guideline that some people use for studying Scripture. The Law of First Mention says that, to understand a particular word or doctrine, we must find the [...]
Last time we began looking at some Jewish history and prophecy, particularly the book of Malachi, and how God warned the religious leadership of impending judgment, particularly the priesthood, because they were very corrupt and keeping the best of the tithes and offerings for themselves. We also looked at Jeremiah 24, and a prophecy that [...]
Sometimes when we read about some of the things Jesus did we can get a little confused because they seem to be out of character for the Son of God. For example, He cursed a fig tree for not having any fruit on it and He seemingly lost His temper in the Temple. Neither of [...]
John 16:33, Jesus said, “These things I’ve spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I’ve overcome the world.” This is an encouraging verse to begin with! J It has to be said that it’s not a question of if we’ll have troubles [...]
There is a powerful word in Hebrew that sums up three words in English. The word is hineni (הנני), which means “Here I am!” But you’ve got to watch out how you say it, because it’s a way of expressing total readiness to give oneself. We mentioned it in our last program when we learned about how [...]
We’ve talked in previous programs about the fact that we’re bond-slaves to Christ. This is absolutely true. But just like the many and varied names of God reveal different characteristics to God’s nature and personality, we can be children, slaves and friends of God all at the same time because our relationship with Him is [...]
Leviticus 23:9-14, 'Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. He shall [...]
For seven days from Passover, only unleavened bread – symbolically ‘sinless, perfect’ bread that is both pierced and striped during the preparation and cooking process is eaten.
Jesus fulfils every element of the Passover and is Himself the means for our freedom from slavery to sin and redemption from our own sinful lives and He paid for that redemption with His own blood. This has resulted in death passing over us so we can experience new life in Him.
This cup is drunk in celebration of deliverance as the people were led out of Egypt, finally free of their slavery. We too, celebrate for the same reason, deliverance was given because God granted us mercy through the sacrifice of His Son.
Last time on Foundations we began looking at the issue of prayer and in particular, repeating our prayers which in some quarters is seen as a lack of faith. However, we saw through the example of the prophet Elijah, who knew the voice of God and had seen the power of God demonstrated in extraordinary [...]
This washing with water is not about physical hygiene, it’s a symbolic ritual for spiritual renewal and cleansing in much the same way that water baptism isn’t about physical hygiene, but rather spiritual death and rebirth.