HF141 - Reading Between the Lines
To: Hebraic-Foundations@yahoogroups.com
From: "Pastor Buddy Martin" <Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org>
Date: Mon, June 20, 2005
Subject: Bible Study HF141 - Reading Between the Lines
Hebraics,
During my devotion this morning I could not help but
rejoice as the Scriptures continued to unfold before me. I
thought how amazingly wonderful it is. I've been reading the
Bible on a daily basis for over 40 years, and yet to this very
day my heart rejoices over newfound treasures. Perhaps Paul
had this in mind when he wrote Timothy, saying, "Consider
what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in
everything." (2Ti2:7)
In the study to follow we will consider how the secret
treasures of the Bible are reserved especially for the child
of God. (Caps will be used for emphasis only.)
This is Bible Study HF141 - Reading Between the Lines.
From early times the Hebrews knew that the Torah of Moses
was filled with treasures that they were then unable to see.
They connected their seeing to a time when Messiah would come.
It will help to see this idea as it is found in Talmudic and
other Jewish literature. Here are a few quotes ---
(Eccl. Rab. 11:1) "For in this world a man learns
Torah and forgets, but in the future to come he will not
forget, as it is written, "I will put My Torah in their
inward parts and in their hearts will I write it." (Jer31:33)
(Mid. Tanh., Ki Tavo, par. 4) "It is not necessary
that Israel should receive the Tora in this world, since all
of them will learn Tora from the mouth of the Holy One,
blessed be He, in the world to come. Why then was it given to
them in this world? So that when the Holy One, blessed be He,
will come to teach them in the world to come all of them
should know which section He deals with."
(Halakbot G'dolot. p. 233) "Zerubbabel and Elijah will
come in the Messianic age and explain all the secrets of the
Tora and all that which is crooked and distorted..."
There are many more writings in this regard, but pay
particular attention to this one:
(Levi Yitzhaq of Berdichev, Imre Tzaddiqim) "In the
Future to Come, the Name [i.e. God], blessed be He, will
reveal to us even the [meaning of the] blank spaces in the
Tora, so that we should understand the blank letters in our
Tora. And this is the meaning of 'For [a new] Torah shall go
forth from Me..." (Isa51:4)
Did you catch it? Listen again, "He will reveal to us
even the meaning of the blank spaces in the Tora." This
is what we call 'reading between the lines.' The point at hand
is that the early Jewish writers knew that when it came to the
Word of God, their understanding was deficient. And yet out of
this deficiency came all the errors and myths and lies and
twistings of the Talmudic literature.
What are all these 'blank spaces' in the Old Testament
writings? These are the spaces that can only be filled by
Jesus Christ. When Jesus was rejected, the book became a
closed book. All they had left was dead letter. So they built
their religion around the dead letter, hoping somehow to
breath life into deadness. I'm afraid they went horribly
amiss. Only God can call to life that which is dead.
Did you know that all this was written in Moses and the
prophets? Moses wrote about the secret things of God. He also
wrote, as did the prophets, that the Jewish peoples by and
large would turn from God and enter into a period of spiritual
blindness. And Moses and the prophets also wrote about the
revealings of God that would take place in the covenant to
come - that is, in the eternal covenant of Jesus Christ. You
see, it is only in God's Messiah that we have the ability to
read between the lines.
Let's come back to what Moses said about secrets. In Deuteronomy
29:29 we read, "The secret things belong to the Lord
our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons
forever, that we may observe all the words of this law."
The term 'secret things' is the Hebrew satar [saw-thar'].
This is a verb meaning to hide or conceal. It carries the
sense of preventing someone from knowing or seeing something.
These 'secret things' belong to the Lord Himself. If they can
be revealed, then there must be someone to whom they can be
revealed. That is to say, the Lord God must truly be Lord of
the person before these privileged secrets can be known.
What are these secret things? It is often said that the
secret things simply speak of Israel's future in regard to
judgments, and the curses, and so on and on. That may be the
case. But perhaps there is an intimation that goes beyond the
letter, that is to say, the secret things are the things of
eternity, the things of wisdom, the things of life, and in
particular, the things that belong to the Messiah and thus to
His people.
Of course a key word is the word 'observe.' Here again we
have a verb that means to do, to make, to accomplish, or
perform, or to complete. Notice again that Moses said,
"The things revealed belong to us and to our sons
forever, that we may observe ALL the words of this law."
Keep in mind that the term 'Torah' simply means
instruction, or in this case 'divine instructions.' What then
does the ALL refer to? God wants His people to see the
completion of all the words of the Law. Of course again we
know that the sum total of the Bible wraps itself around Jesus
Christ. Jesus is the 'all' of God's Word, which includes the
Torah of Moses, and the writings of David, and of the
prophets.
Now listen to the apostolic writings:
"Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets,
He [Jesus] explained to them the things concerning Himself in
all the Scriptures." (Luke
24:27)
"Now He said to them, 'These are My words which I
spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which
are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and
the Psalms must be fulfilled.'" (Luke
24:44)
"But we speak God's wisdom [Christ Jesus] in a
mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the
ages to our glory ... just as it is written, 'Things which eye
has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered
the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love
Him." (Cf. 1Co2:7-9)
"Of this church I was made a minister ... so that I
might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, that
is, THE MYSTERY, [secret things of the Lord] which has been
hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been
manifested to His saints." (Col1:25,26)
"... and attaining to all the wealth that comes from
the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true
knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ Himself, IN WHOM
ARE HIDDEN ALL THE TREASURES OF WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE." (Col2:2,3)
What then happened to Israel 'after the flesh', that is,
those of Israel who rejected Jesus Christ God's Messiah? A
spirit of slumber came over them. The slumbering spirit
remains over the Jew to this day. This is why Jesus wept over
Jerusalem...
"If you had known in this day, even you, the things
which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your
eyes ... and they will level you to the ground and your
children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone
upon another, BECAUSE YOU DID NOT RECOGNIZE THE TIME OF YOUR
VISITATION." (Luke
19:42-44)
The apostle added to this in saying, "But their minds
were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the
old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is
removed in Christ. But to this day whenever Moses is read, a
veil lies over their heart; but whenever a person turns to the
Lord, the veil is taken away." (2Co3:14,15)
Now back to the beginning where I shared concerning the
unfolding of the Scriptures. I have often said to our
congregation that the greatest thing that can happen to anyone
on this planet - rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief - is to
have his eyes opened to Jesus Christ and to His unfolding
glory. This is what the new covenant offers.
But there is a point to be made. Being able to read between
the lines is not an issue of finding things in the Scriptures
that are not there. That is gnosticism. And that is both
cultic and generally leads to heresy. The things we discover
are already there. The Lord simply opens our eyes to see them.
And this is why we hear Paul praying this kind of prayer;
"[I pray] that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of
revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of
your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is
the hope of His calling, etc." (Cf. Eph1:15-23)
David knew full well about reading between the lines, or,
as the sage said, '[We will] understand the blank letters in
our Tora." David said it this way; "For with You is
the fountain of life [Jesus]; and in Your Light [Jesus] we see
light." (Ps36:9)
A brother recently confided in me in his wonderment in how
I could find so much of Jesus in the Old Testament. Well, it
wasn't easy at the first. But over the years the more I
studied the Scriptures, the more God's light poured forth.
Do you know where I was reading this morning that caused me
such excitement? Sure you don't. Actually it wasn't in the
former testament. Believe it or not my devotion time took me
to 2
Timothy 1:8-14. But I'll not comment on that portion
unless you see something and wish to talk about. You may do
much better in sharing some of your own treasures.
Have you been able to find Jesus throughout the Psalms of
David? Do you know what David meant when he said, "Thus I
have seen You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and your
glory?"
Can you find Jesus in Psalm
85:13; "Righteousness will go before Him and will
make His footsteps into a way."
Let's see if anyone on the forum has a thirst on this
awesome subject of reading between the lines. Have you been
reading between the lines? Have you been able to find Jesus in
the garden of Eden, on the mountains of Moriah, in the Old
Testament high priest, in the writings of David, in the angel
whose name was 'Wonderful'?
Share with us where you have found Jesus in the Old
Testament writings, especially where it may not be as obvious
to others, but it filled your own soul with excitement. (Did
you know that it is the revelation of Jesus that carries the
glory of Jesus?)
Feel free to contribute to the study. After all, we are all
talmidim. So, show me your treasure and I'll show you mine.
The Lord bless you,
Buddy
Lawrence E. (Buddy) Martin, HF Host
email: Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org
Web:
http://www.christianchallenge.org/
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causes trouble, and by it many be defiled." (Heb12:15)
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