Today’s Bible Study, Authored by Arthur Cincotti. 12/29/2024
Listen to our Bible Study Discussion at: A New Thing Audio Podcast
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A New Thing
“Look among the nations and watch –
Be utterly astounded!
For I will work a work in your days
Which you would not believe, though it were told you. Hab. 1:5
The context of the above verse is not pretty. Verse 6 goes on to say, “For indeed I am raising up the Chaldean, A bitter and hasty nation Which marches through the breadth of the earth, To possess dwelling places that are not theirs.” This prophecy speaks to a one time event which did indeed take place in time. But verse 5 unveils a principle with God that we should be mindful of if we wish to understand His ways. Verse 5 can most definitely be said of Christmas and many other events in the Biblical narrative.
We have been talking quite a bit about God using dramatic effect in order to telegraph His hand in events. The Christmas narrative includes a bizarre series of events that I highly doubt even the best fiction writer could concoct. The virgins conception, (which George Lucas borrows to explain “the force” that rested upon Anakin Skywalker) the visitations, the census, the angelic displays, the star, the Anna prophecy and the Simon prophecy all compel us to say “wow!!!”
Regarding the Immaculate conception and the virgin birth, which are the bookends of the Christmas narrative, we quickly discover that God has never done anything like this before. In all His exploits to garner the attention of man; parting seas, fire from heaven, pillar of smoke, burning bushes, sticks changing into snakes, floating axe heads, frogs, locust, flies, bloody rivers all appearing out of nowhere, He’d never done anything like this before or since. Personally, I don’t know if I would have believed it if I were told me beforehand.
The Isaiah 7:14 prophecy, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” had a fulfillment in it’s time which did rendered deliverance and hope to Judah and spoke to King Ahaz lack of trust, but this was a natural birth that came about by natural means, though it had not yet come to pass. The word “virgin” in the Isaiah context could have meant and actual virgin, or a young woman of marriageable age. No pun intended, but nobody could have conceived the application of Lk. 1.
As we look back on the annals of Scripture we will recognize that God is frequently doing a “new thing” that violates our sensibilities but doesn’t violate Torah. Any time we try to put Him in a box with the suspicion that we have figured Him out, He digs into His vast supply of creative resources to wow us once again. He conceals Himself to an ungodly people not because He wills to but because He yields to the free will He has given us. Thus we hear Jesus unveiling the “hardened” heart, by saying “Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember?” Mk. 8:18. Earlier this week Marc sent out Is. 43:19, “Behold, I will do a new thing,
Now it shall spring forth;
Shall you not know it?
I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
Nobody expected Messiah to come in the manner in which He came, even though there were clues. There was much messianic fervor in the first century and there was even some Greek mythology about a virgin becoming pregnant apart from natural intercourse, but this was an entirely “new thing.” Even the religious leaders didn’t get it. God used some simple-hearted folk who were keeping Torah but probably not obsessing over how or when Messiah was going to come. They were living their lives in alignment with God’s plan.
Sounds a lot like today with theologians and the like being very obsessed with how and when Christ will return; scrutinizing world events and attempting to connect the dots with Biblical prophecy. We missed it the first time and most likely won’t get right the second time.
This is not to say that we shouldn’t take heed to the guide posts. I Jn. 4:1 says “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” Jesus warns us about the end times, “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘Look, He is there!’ do not believe it.”Mk. 13:21. And Paul warns, “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” II Thes. 2:3,4. And finally, Jesus warns, “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” Mk. 13:22
What then should we be doing???
Live a lifestyle of repentance. Jesus said, Jn. 14:15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” Since non of us do, perfectly, it should be our aim to pursue holiness. Heb. 12:14 says, “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see God.”
We must cultivate our relationship with God, through Christ. He won’t forsake His own. Jn. 10:27, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” Jn. 10:5, “Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee form him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”
Jon Thompson writes, in his book “Deliverance” that, “The Church Fathers lived in a world eerily similar to the world I see around me in Toronto, were Christianity is sidelined at best and considered dangerously out of step at worst. The conditions we face today are much more comparable to Rome and Corinth in the first century than to Wittenburg and Geneva in the sixteenth.” We should consider and be aware of the playing field.
When Christ returns we will all be surprised like the shepherds, and the scribes in Herod’s palace, and the magoi, and the people in the little town of Bethlehem. Jesus said, “Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
Mt. 24:40-44
He goes on to say, Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing.” Mt. 24:45,46
“Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of the birth pains, more will come.” Mt. 24:8
Jesus dwelt bodily in Mary and His Holy Spirit dwells in us today. The ushering in – or the birthing – of the “age to come” will be a new thing. As with our opening verse the occasion will be catastrophic for some. But for those who know Him, even though we may be surprised, we won’t be left behind.
“Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” Rev. 22:20
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Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship
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